The Minister of Agriculture in the caretaker government, Abbas Mortada, inspected the high mountains of the Eastern Chain in Arsal and Ras Baalbek, and the places where locust swarms move from the hillsides of the Syrian town of Fleita towards the borders in areas: Khirbet Dawood, Al-Zamrani and Martabia, accompanied by a force from the Lebanese army and teams specialized in combating the locust pest From the Ministry of Agriculture.

Mortada, who supervised the process of spraying pesticides by helicopter belonging to the army, assured the people and farmers that the quantity of drugs to combat this scourge of deltamitrin is available at Rayak airport and at the Ministry of Agriculture centers in the northern Bekaa.

He said, ” Ministry of Agriculture teams  are in a state of constant alert because of the danger this scourge causes to food security. The situation today is very critical and there are millions of locust insects that have arrived in Lebanon, and the danger is that they are yellow, which indicates their sexual maturity so they can lay eggs and reproduce.” .

He added: “We contacted the Ministry of Defense last week where a state of alert was put into action, we deposited deltamitrine substance at Rayak airport o, and an army helicopter began the process of spraying pesticides, and in parallel, this substance was secured in the northern Bekaa municipalities in anticipation of the locusts moving to gardens, homes and orchards. The situation is frightening, and the number of locust swarms are not reassuring, as they threaten our food security. ”

He indicated that he had contacted the caretaker prime minister, Hassan Diab, and said, “We are working to secure drugs, and we have reserved the required quantities, which are available at Rayak Airport. The fight must be accelerated so that we do not suffer a food setback.