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........

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