Demise of an ‘indispensable' department

Business Recorder

29-05-2025

For decades, the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) was one of Pakistan's most quietly effective institutions. It didn't make headlines, but it made food security possible by fighting desert locust and crop / orchard pests.
From overseeing pesticide regulation to conducting aerial locust spraying, this department formed the frontline of Pakistan's battle against pest outbreaks including desert locust that could cripple agriculture and destabilize rural economies. That is, until May 2, 2025, when a presidential ordinance dissolved the DPP and replaced it with a new body—NAFSA, the National Agri-trade and Food Safety Authority.
The move, packaged as a leap toward modernization and international compliance, has instead raised serious questions about Pakistan's preparedness to deal with agricultural emergencies.
The dissolution of DPP marks the end of a chapter that began before Pakistan even founded.
The department's origins stretch back to colonial India, and after independence, it became a formal arm of the federal government. As Pakistan's designated National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO), the DPP operated under international treaties and frameworks like the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC – 1951 revised 1997) and FAO's regional pest control systems including DLCC – desert locust control committee established in 1955 and FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in South-West Asia (SWAC) is the oldest of the three regional commissions within the global locust early warning and prevention system, which was established in 1964.
At the helm in the early days was Dr. Taskhir Ahmed, a British-trained entomologist whose innovations—especially in aerial spraying and pesticide formulation—earned international recognition and laid the groundwork for a modern plant protection regime. Under his guidance, Pakistan developed a pioneering aerial wing including many critical research portfolios / schemes which were later on transferred to what would become the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council.
Yet despite this proud legacy, the DPP began its slow decline decades ago. Since 1998, it has not had a permanent, qualified Plant Protection Adviser and Director General, originally the position was PPA&D having its own qualification, experience, and fitness.
Political appointments and bureaucratic interference replaced technical leadership caused in appointments from PAS, Pakistan Post and Pakistan Custom cadres too.
Resultantly, infrastructure decayed, and staff numbers dwindled, key functions like locust surveillance and aerial operations became neglected. By the time the locust crisis of 2019–2020 hit, the department was already struggling.
No benefit was accrued, even by a big grant offered by the World Bank of USD 200 million. Although post-crisis reforms were promised; these were never materialized. Instead, the final blow came this year with the creation of NAFSA—a body that, though well-intentioned, has started off 'dangerously incomplete'.
NAFSA was created to align Pakistan with modern plant and animal quarantine under Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement viz-a-viz food safety standards, including those set by the WTO and Codex Alimentarius. It replaced outdated legislation from the 1930s and 1970s, and included functions like animal and plant quarantine and pesticides registration too.
But two of DPP's most vital operational pillars—desert locust control and aerial pest management—were not absorbed into NAFSA's framework. This is not a technical omission; it is an existential gap.
Without a mandate or structure to monitor and respond to pest outbreaks, particularly desert locust, Pakistan has essentially disarmed itself in the face of an environmental as well as recurring threat that knows no borders.
The risks are significant. With no operational aerial wing and no active locust division, the country is exposed to future invasions it will be institutionally unequipped to handle. Expertise is being lost as specialists retire or are sidelined.
The country risks falling out of compliance with FAO and regional cooperations, jeopardizing its relationships with regional partners like India, Iran, and Oman—a cooperation that is essential for effective cross-border pests / desert locust surveillance.
More immediately, any future outbreak of trans-boundary pest could spiral into a national emergency, simply because no federal body will be legally or logistically ready to respond.
All of this, ironically, is unfolding in the name of modernization. But modernization without continuity is not progress—it is reinvention without memory.
The institutional knowledge built over generations through DPP's field operatives, scientists, and aerial teams being our assets cannot simply be replaced by legislation or an administrative reshuffle. What is needed now is not just a new name, but a coherent structure that blends regulatory reform with operational capacity.
The way forward must include the immediate establishment of a Plant Protection Operations Wing under the Ministry of National Food Security & Research. This unit should house the locust control and aerial functions, staffed with trained entomologists, pilots, GIS experts, and pest surveillance officers.
Legal support if needed is also critical: a Federal Plant Protection Emergency Act would enable rapid mobilization and coordination across provinces and borders.
Pakistan must also reaffirm its commitments to international bodies like FAO and reestablish formal cooperation with neighbouring countries on desert pest control. And in keeping with modernization goals, the aerial wing should be digitized—pivoting toward aircraft / drone-based surveillance and spraying technologies.
A dedicated Desert Locust Research and Operations Centre in Balochistan or southern Punjab could serve as the nerve centre for all of these activities, combining real-time data with legacy field intelligence.
It is not too late to act. But time is short, and the pests like desert locust won't wait. Pakistan's agricultural resilience now hinges not on its willingness to modernize—but on its ability to do so without forgetting what once made its plant protection system work. Reform must be built upon the legacy, not by erasing it.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025