Planned activities are being carried out in the Akmola region to protect agricultural lands from locust insects. This year, chemical treatments will cover an area of 226.5 thousand hectares, including 89.0 thousand hectares funded by the republican budget and 137.5 thousand hectares funded by the regional budget.

Recently, an operational field task force on locust pest control convened in the Zharkainsky District. The event was attended by Murat Balpan, Deputy Akim of Akmola Region; Zhasulan Kozhabekov, Head of the Akmola Regional Territorial Inspection of the Committee of State Inspection in the Agro-Industrial Complex of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Nurbek Sadykov, Head of the Akmola Branch of the Republican Methodological Center for Phytosanitary Diagnostics and Forecasts; as well as local agricultural producers.

During the event, specialized sprayers for treating agricultural lands, vehicles for monitoring locust pest outbreaks, and unmanned aerial systems (drones) for surveying large areas were demonstrated. All equipment was shown in operation — drones were flying in real time, and specialists presented monitoring and treatment protocols.

"The majority of chemical treatments are concentrated in the Zharkainsky District, which poses a serious threat to agricultural crops. Specialists have previously identified locust pest hotspots. Today, these areas were shown to the members of the operational task force. Currently, the pests are in the larval stage, so chemical treatments will be carried out in these territories in the near future," noted Nurbek Sadykov, Head of the Regional Branch of Phytosanitary Diagnostics and Forecasting.

This year, unmanned aerial systems of the Republican State Enterprise on the Right of Economic Management "Phytosanitary" are being used for the first time in the Zharkainsky District to treat agricultural lands covering 5,000 hectares. The capacity of one drone is up to 50 hectares per day.

To date, 3,800 hectares in the district have been treated with funding from the republican budget. Due to the complex terrain, treatments were conducted using hang gliders: 2,310 hectares in the Prigorodnoye village area and 1,490 hectares in the Valikhanov rural district.

Murat Balpan, Deputy Akim of Akmola Region, emphasized the importance of promptness and responsibility in implementing anti-locust measures.

“We have a clear task not to allow the spread of the pest. This requires coordinated work of all services, the use of modern technologies, and constant monitoring of the situation. We must protect the harvest and ensure the region’s food security,” Deputy Akim Murat Balpan stated.

Following the meeting, he instructed to ensure coordinated, timely, and high-quality work of all involved services during the chemical treatment period.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/aqmola/press/news/details/998589?lang=kk