ISLAMABAD, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's Ministry of National Food Security and Research said on Tuesday that no locust was found during a survey conducted by special teams in affected areas of the country.

The National Locust Control Center (NLCC) surveyed around 129,072 hectares of land during the past 24 hours, and the presence of locust was not reported in any of the affected areas of Pakistan, said a statement released by the ministry.

Earlier in September, while declaring the country's eastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces locust-free, the ministry said that one district each of the southern Sindh and southwest Balochistan provinces witnessed the presence of locusts during the NLCC survey.

Anti-locust spraying operations have been carried out on around 1.13 million hectares of land across the country over the last six months to eradicate the pests and save agriculture land from their harmful impacts, the ministry said on Tuesday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has also lauded Pakistan's massive control operation to bring the menace of locust under control.

FAO National Coordinator for Locust Control Operation in Pakistan Mubarik Ahmed told a weekly meeting of the NLCC on Friday that the FAO was quoting the locust control operation in Pakistan as ideal, according to local media reports. Enditem

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