From correspondents in Kabul May 10, 2008 10:13pm Article from: Reuters

AFGHAN authorities are examining the extent of an unprecedented locust plague that has prompted local officials in some areas to offer wheat as a reward to residents for killing the insects.

Some 300 tonnes of locusts have been killed by people in the northwestern province of Badghis in recent weeks,  agriculture ministry official Abdul Ghafar Ahmadi said.

Local officials in Badghis and neighbouring Herat have promised residents 7 kgs of wheat in return for killing 1kg of locusts, amid a global surge in food prices that has hit Afghanistan hard, Mr Ahmadi said.

"The infestation of locusts has been unprecedented in Afghanistan. It is pretty bad here in Badghis which is also suffering from drought," he said.

He could not say how many hectares of cultivated land had been destroyed by the infestation, but said a mechanical campaign to kill the insects has been going in several parts of the region, which border Turkmenistan.

"This is a regional problem and is not limited only to Afghanistan," he said.

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