Murang’a residents are on the alert after a swarm of desert locusts landed in Kamuiru village, Kiharu constituency.
The locusts were seen flying from the neighbouring Machakos county before eventually landing in the village on Wednesday evening. According to the county Agriculture executive Albert Mwaniki, the locusts had invaded five maize farms by Thursday morning.
The county government soon mobilised motorised sprayers and pesticides to combat their spread to other areas. Mwaniki led a team of county officials to the affected farms and said the county was receiving more pesticides from the national government to help kill the pests.
He said the locusts are in the brown stage. County officials are working hard to ensure they are sprayed before they mature to the yellow stage.
Mwaniki urged residents to be on the look-out for other swarms and immediately report for immediate action should they spot them. He said the swarms may have regrouped and fled after a spraying exercise in Machakos county.
The desert locusts are only focusing on green vegetation. Mwaniki said most of the maize crops that have fully matured may not be affected.
"They are not too hazardous at this stage as they have not started laying eggs,” he said.
Stephen Kinyua, one of the farmers whose farms were invaded, said he saw the locusts "feast on my nappier grass" on Thursday morning.
He noted that the locusts also fed on trees with green leaves and that his mango trees were destroyed. Kinyua called for a swift response action before they cause massive damage.
For his part, Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro asked the government to urgently send in aircraft to spray the insects and stop them from invading neighbouring villages.
The MP expressed concern that the locusts attacked an area that is agriculturally productive, hence could strike a devastating blow to food security.
"If they are not controlled now, they will move to Kahuro where there are tea plantations and other agriculturally productive areas, and render us dependent on relief food,” he said.
He pleaded with Agriculture CS Peter Munya to send in urgent help saying the locusts menace cannot be handled by an individual county.
“Sprayers will not effectively control the pests. We need helicopters to deal with this menace from the air,” the lawmaker said while attending a prize-giving ceremony at Technology Primary School.
"Until yesterday, we thought locusts were a problem affecting other areas, but now they are here and they land and immediately cause a lot of destruction."
