IRNA - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on Wednesday in the scheme of an emergency technical cooperation project, supplied necessary pesticide sprayers to Iran to assist the country in its effort to control the unprecedented desert locust infestation.

As part of an ongoing support provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to Iran for controlling desert locust infestation, the first consignment of pest control equipment supplied by the Organization, was delivered to the country�s plant protection authority. According to a press release published by the FAO Representation in Iran, this delivery includes 25 vehicle-mounted Ultra Low Volume (ULV) sprayers worth around USD 125,000.

Iran is now experiencing the worst desert locust outbreak in the last 50 years and the country needs to expand the scope of desert locust control operation and spray at least one million ha of surface areas.

In this regard, FAO has financed a USD 500,000 emergency Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) project to assists the Plant Protection Organization of the Ministry of Agriculture Jahad with increasing its technical capacity through training workshops and learning programmes for 320 pest and agriculture officers in the locust affected provinces of the country.

This project also provides the country with additional handheld and knapsack sprayers, Personal Protective Equipment, chemicals (pesticides), and data management and communications software and hardware equipment.