Mwanza,Geita farmers worried of avian pest invasion

HUNDREDS of paddy growers in the Lake Zone regions of Mwanza and Geita have expressed concern over the invasion of avian pests quelea quelea in their farms, saying it threatens bumper harvest.

Villages which have been affected with the destructive birds are in Sengerema District of Mwanza Region and Nyang’hwale District in Geita Region.

One of the farmers in Igalula Ward, Gaspar Mugwesera said more than 500 acres of rice are vulnerable due to the avian pests’ invasion. Sota Village Chairman Mwina Lusana said that three years ago farms in the village were invaded by the birds prompting the government to send helicopters to fumigate the farms and exterminate the pests.

Ward Councilor Onesimus Shili said his office received complaints from farmers and reported the matter to district authorities. 

Acting District’s Agricultural, Cooperative and Irrigation Officer, Lameck Nyaruga admitted to have received the information on the destructive birds. “We are working on the matter and we’ll send experts to the areas that have been affected,” the official said.

 Sengerema District Disaster Coordinator Miatilo Bernard said: “Three years ago the area experienced similar invasion and the government conducted an aerial bird control operation to wipe-out the cereal-eating birds.”

The red-billed quelea is a serious bird pest of cereal crops in Africa. It occurs in at least twenty countries, where it damages millet, sorghum, rice, and wheat causing losses of variable severity. 

Often the losses are quite high and sometimes have resulted in or induced famines in some parts of Africa. In Tanzania quelea birds are thought to do damage costing US$2.4 million annually.