Vanishing wings: the neglected guardians of Pakistan's food security
Once a symbol of innovation and national preparedness, this fleet of aircraft—designed for pest control especially desert locust and crop protection—is now languishing in neglect, its future uncertain.
The Aerial Wing has a proud legacy that dates back to the early 1950s when the government deployed Piper Cub aircraft to monitor and combat locust swarms in the desert regions. Over time, its role expanded. In the mid-1960s, the government added 20 De Havilland Beaver aircrafts to the fleet.
By the 1970s, additional Fletcher and Cessna aircrafts brought further capability and reach. These aircraft weren't just used for agricultural pest control on paddy, cotton, sugarcane, apple and dates orchards, including desert locust—they were employed in forest regeneration through aerial seeding, hygienic spraying in urban areas, artificial rainmaking in coordination with the Meteorological Department and Pakistan Army, and even uranium exploration with the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.
The Aerial Wing didn't stop at Pakistan's borders. In 1988, three aircrafts were sent to Kuwait on request of the Kuwaiti government to help combat locust infestations. That operation earned the Pakistani government over $50,000.
Two additional missions were conducted in Oman between 1989 and 1991. These international operations demonstrated Pakistan's capacity not only to manage its own agricultural emergencies but to assist other nations in times of need. Above were few precedents to refer its post glorified operations in the Middle East.
Despite its long record of success and innovation, this fleet today is hanging by a thread. Only four Beavers, seven Fletchers, and eight Cessna aircrafts remain, many grounded, others at risk of being lost forever.
Two operational Beavers viz. AVJ and AMA currently parked at Walton Hangar in Lahore face an immediate threat. With the hangar's closure underway, the aircraft may be disassembled and removed on trucks—an action that could render them permanently inoperable due to the department's limited mechanical and technical capacity augmented by disinterest by the heads. This is more than just administrative oversight—it is the slow erosion of a national resource that cannot be easily replaced.
The irony is stark. During the most recent desert locust emergency in 2020–22, the government invested Rs. 185 million in spare parts and equipment, which now sit unopened and unused.
The problem isn't a lack of investment—it's a lack of vision, leadership and urgency. There is no shortage of experienced retired aviation professionals willing to serve. What is missing is the initiative to harness their experience before the country finds itself scrambling during the next sudden desert locust crisis.
Globally, agriculture is moving toward precision farming, powered by AI, drones, and satellite data. These tools allow early detection of pests, weather-based forecasting of outbreaks, and precision spraying that minimizes pesticide use while maximizing efficiency.
Pakistan's existing aircraft—particularly the Beaver fleet—may be retrofitted with modern spraying systems and AI-supported technology. Doing so would not only preserve their relevance but also place Pakistan on par with leading nations in agricultural defense and food security.
There is also an opportunity to reclaim the Aerial Wing's role in international cooperation. The Middle East and parts of Africa are again vulnerable to locust invasions, especially with forecasts of higher-than-average rains creating ideal breeding conditions. Offering aerial support missions abroad can earn revenue, boost Pakistan's international standing, and reaffirm the value of this fleet as a strategic and humanitarian tool.
But time is running out. If decisive action is not taken immediately — particularly the relocation of aircrafts from the soon-to-be-demolished Walton Hangar — Pakistan risks losing not just machines but an entire era of national preparedness. This is more than just a story of fading aircrafts; it's a warning about what happens when institutions with proven value are left to decline.
Reviving the Aerial Wing is not a matter of nostalgia — it's a matter of necessity. In a world increasingly prone to climate shocks, pest outbreaks and food insecurity, Pakistan cannot afford to let this asset fall silent. The departmental aircrafts though old (is gold) can still fly. The question is: will we let them?
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) Exceeds Q2 Expectations
Global advertising giant Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) reported Q2 CY2025 results beating Wall Street's revenue expectations , with sales up 4.2% year on year to $4.02 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $2.05 per share was 0.8% above analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy Omnicom Group? Find out in our full research report. Revenue: $4.02 billion vs analyst estimates of $3.97 billion (4.2% year-on-year growth, 1.2% beat) Adjusted EPS: $2.05 vs analyst estimates of $2.03 (0.8% beat) Adjusted EBITDA: $613.8 million vs analyst estimates of $632.7 million (15.3% margin, 3% miss) Operating Margin: 10.9%, down from 13.2% in the same quarter last year Organic Revenue rose 3% year on year (5.2% in the same quarter last year) Market Capitalization: $14.17 billion "We delivered solid 3.0% organic revenue growth this quarter even in the face of ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty - underscoring once again the resilience and agility of our business," said John Wren, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Omnicom. With a vast network of creative agencies that helped craft some of the most memorable ad campaigns in history, Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) is a strategic holding company that provides advertising, marketing, and communications services to many of the world's largest companies. Examining a company's long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years. With $15.91 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, Omnicom Group is a behemoth in the business services sector and benefits from economies of scale, giving it an edge in distribution. This also enables it to gain more leverage on its fixed costs than smaller competitors and the flexibility to offer lower prices. However, its scale is a double-edged sword because it's harder to find incremental growth when you've penetrated most of the market. To accelerate sales, Omnicom Group likely needs to optimize its pricing or lean into new offerings and international expansion. As you can see below, Omnicom Group's 2.6% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was sluggish. This shows it failed to generate demand in any major way and is a rough starting point for our analysis. Long-term growth is the most important, but within business services, a half-decade historical view may miss new innovations or demand cycles. Omnicom Group's annualized revenue growth of 5.2% over the last two years is above its five-year trend, suggesting some bright spots. We can better understand the company's sales dynamics by analyzing its organic revenue, which strips out one-time events like acquisitions and currency fluctuations that don't accurately reflect its fundamentals. Over the last two years, Omnicom Group's organic revenue averaged 4.4% year-on-year growth. Because this number aligns with its normal revenue growth, we can see the company's core operations (not acquisitions and divestitures) drove most of its results. This quarter, Omnicom Group reported modest year-on-year revenue growth of 4.2% but beat Wall Street's estimates by 1.2%. Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 2.6% over the next 12 months, a slight deceleration versus the last two years. This projection is underwhelming and implies its products and services will face some demand challenges. Software is eating the world and there is virtually no industry left that has been untouched by it. That drives increasing demand for tools helping software developers do their jobs, whether it be monitoring critical cloud infrastructure, integrating audio and video functionality, or ensuring smooth content streaming. Click here to access a free report on our 3 favorite stocks to play this generational megatrend. Operating margin is a key measure of profitability. Think of it as net income - the bottom line - excluding the impact of taxes and interest on debt, which are less connected to business fundamentals. Omnicom Group has been an efficient company over the last five years. It was one of the more profitable businesses in the business services sector, boasting an average operating margin of 14.5%. Looking at the trend in its profitability, Omnicom Group's operating margin decreased by 1.7 percentage points over the last five years. This raises questions about the company's expense base because its revenue growth should have given it leverage on its fixed costs, resulting in better economies of scale and profitability. In Q2, Omnicom Group generated an operating margin profit margin of 10.9%, down 2.3 percentage points year on year. This contraction shows it was less efficient because its expenses grew faster than its revenue. Revenue trends explain a company's historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth – for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions. Omnicom Group's EPS grew at a solid 9% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, higher than its 2.6% annualized revenue growth. However, this alone doesn't tell us much about its business quality because its operating margin didn't improve. Diving into Omnicom Group's quality of earnings can give us a better understanding of its performance. A five-year view shows that Omnicom Group has repurchased its stock, shrinking its share count by 8.7%. This tells us its EPS outperformed its revenue not because of increased operational efficiency but financial engineering, as buybacks boost per share earnings. In Q2, Omnicom Group reported EPS at $2.05, up from $1.95 in the same quarter last year. This print was close to analysts' estimates. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Omnicom Group's full-year EPS of $8.19 to grow 5.9%. It was good to see Omnicom Group narrowly top analysts' revenue and EPS expectations this quarter. On the other hand, its EBITDA missed. Still, this print had some key positives. The stock traded up 2% to $72.25 immediately after reporting. Is Omnicom Group an attractive investment opportunity at the current price? We think that the latest quarter is just one piece of the longer-term business quality puzzle. Quality, when combined with valuation, can help determine if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it's free. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Red tape is ‘boot on the neck of businesses', says Reeves
Red tape is a 'boot on the neck of businesses' and risks undermining the UK's dash for growth, Rachel Reeves has said. In a major City speech, the Chancellor on Tuesday night urged Britain's regulators to ditch their 'excessive caution' as she rewrote rules for banks and building societies to help more people on to the housing ladder, deliver better returns for savers and boost economic growth. She set out the plans in an address to City leaders and financial watchdogs at London's Mansion House alongside Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England Governor. It marked her first major speech since the Government's climbdown on welfare reforms, which have left the Chancellor scrambling to find billions of pounds to balance her Budget. Ms Reeves has been left with a choice of either raising taxes, attempting to cut spending again or relaxing her fiscal rules to allow her to borrow more. On Tuesday night she insisted there would be no change to the Government's borrowing policy. She said: 'The Prime Minister, this Government and I remain committed to our non-negotiable rules.' Instead, she set out plans to unshackle Britain's financial sector in bid to boost both growth and tax receipts. 'In too many areas, regulation still acts as a boot on the neck of businesses choking off the enterprise and innovation that is the lifeblood of growth,' she said. 'Regulators in other sectors must take up the call I make this evening not to bend to the temptation of excessive caution but to boldly regulate for growth in the service of prosperity across our country.' Ms Reeves said slashing red tape would create a 'ripple effect' across the economy 'putting pounds in the pockets of working people'. As part of the offensive, the Treasury has unveiled a string of City reforms targeting consumers, banks, insurers and international investors in an attempt to revive Britain's sluggish economy. The measures, called the Leeds Reforms, will rewrite mortgage rules to make it easier for people to borrow up to 4.5 times their income when buying a house, as well as making it easier to remortgage. Banks will also be allowed to start pitching stocks and bonds to ordinary investors through a new regime known as 'targeted support', having been banned from doing so in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Major financial institutions such as Barclays and NatWest are also backing an advertising campaign with echoes of the 'Tell Sid' British Gas scheme in the 1980s to urge people to buy shares. Despite pledging to rip up red tape, Ms Reeves has been accused of excessive Government meddling after handing herself the power to force pension funds to invest in the UK. Charlie Nunn, the chief executive of Lloyds Bank, recently compared the scheme to capital controls in Communist China, while Mr Bailey has also spoken out against the powers. Ms Reeves downplayed the significance of the new regime, saying she was 'confident that I will not need to use that power because firms see the urgency and importance of this as clearly as I do'. Since taking over as Chancellor, Ms Reeves has proved to be one of the most interventionist politicians to hold the post since Gordon Brown took power in 1997. Earlier this year Ms Reeves wrote to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) along with a number of other watchdogs asking them for a list of five things to boost growth. In a sign of her intent, the Chancellor effectively removed Marcus Bokkerink – the chairman of the CMA – after losing faith in his leadership. As part of her reform package, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) will also have a number of its powers removed amid fears that its rulings were creating onerous new rules for the City through the backdoor. Ms Reeves said the changes would return the FOS to its 'original purpose as a simple, impartial arbitration service and ensure that it no longer acts as a quasi-regulator'. The Chancellor's attempt to unshackle the City echoes similar measures announced by her predecessors. Jeremy Hunt set out his own package of Mansion House reforms in 2023, while Rishi Sunak set out a 'road map' to make Britain a world leader in green finance in 2021. Past reforms have yet to meaningfully change the country's growth trajectory. Karim Haji, head of financial services at KPMG, said of the reform package: 'The critical test will be in their execution and how quickly these proposals can translate into real, measurable benefits for firms, investors and consumers.' Ashok Gupta, of New Capital Consensus, a campaign group, said: 'The Chancellor's first shot at fixing the system is in the right direction, but the ball has barely landed on the fairway. It needs to swing harder and with greater purpose with its next shot, or it's game over. 'The future of the UK economy and Labour's re-election hopes depends on getting this right.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Cardinals Announce Injury News After Loss to Braves
Cardinals Announce Injury News After Loss to Braves originally appeared on Athlon Sports. At 50–46, the St. Louis Cardinals sit in third place in a highly competitive National League Central race. After a solid start to the year, the club has dropped seven of its last ten games, hampered largely by nagging injuries to key contributors such as third baseman Nolan Arenado and first baseman Willson Contreras. Advertisement Following Saturday's game against the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis announced that outfielder Lars Nootbaar was placed on the 10-day injured list with left rib pain after he left the game early, clearing a roster spot for catcher Ivan Herrera's return. Nootbaar also exited the series finale against the Washington Nationals on Thursday. After attempting to play through the discomfort, the 27-year-old admitted the pain persisted, prompting the Cardinals to shut him down before the All-Star break. An eighth-round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, Nootbaar debuted with St. Louis in 2021 and has been a reliable run producer ever since, posting an OPS near .800 in each of his last three seasons. Advertisement This year, in 88 games, his bat has cooled considerably. He's batting .227 with a .712 OPS—career lows for a player who once provided consistent production. When he eventually rejoins the lineup, Nootbaar will aim to recapture his prior form and, just as importantly, stay healthy down the stretch. St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar (21) © Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images With only one game remaining before the break, the Cardinals remain just 2.5 games back of the third NL wild-card spot. As St. Louis fights for a postseason spot, Nootbaar's return and steady production will be essential to keeping their playoff hopes alive. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 13, 2025, where it first appeared.
