ARMENIAN AGRICULTURE MINISTRY STARTS COMBATING PEST AND FOREST DISEASES

YEREVAN, June 14. /ARKA/. Armenian agriculture ministry has embarked on struggle against pest and forest diseases.

Gevorg Harutyunyan, acting chief of the agriculture ministry’s division in charge of plant cultivation, forestry and plant protection, told journalists on Thursday that the struggle that targets 9,000 hectares in Syunik, Vayots Dzor, Aragatsotn and Kotayk provinces will be launched on June 14 and wrapped up on June 26. 

He recommended that residents of nearby settlements should refrain from entering these areas in the next 20 days to avoid poisoning. 

Harutyunyan said that the campaign will be run also against locusts and rodents. 

He said that more than 3 tons of zinc phosphide had been distributed among villagers for combating gophers, mice and rats. 

To fight locusts in Ararat and Syunik provinces, the government has released pesticides to process around 1,000 hectares of land. 

According to the latest data, Armenian forests occupy 332,000 hectares, 11.17% less than in 1993. M.V.-0--