Garissa begins to spray desert locust nymphs

Two teams have been dispatched to Sankuri and Kamuthey, Garissa county, to spray nymphs.

The second generation of locusts is hatching from eggs laid during the initial invasion in the first week of January.

"The department has been preparing to control locusts after they hatched to stop further destruction of crops and pastures within the county," Agriculture executive Mohamed Shale said on Friday.

Each team has 20 personnel.

“We are determined as a county to stop these pests before they are fully grown and cause more destruction to our fragile environment,” Shale said.

He said the spraying is timely as virtually all the eggs have hatched and the pests are at nymph stage.

At this stage they are wingless, the ideal time to spray and stop their spread according to experts. Once they mature they mate and lay eggs.  

The executive thanked the national government, through the Plant Protection Services, for donating knapsack sprayers, motorised sprayers and other equipment.

He said the National Drought Management Authority and the Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme, both based in Garissa, have been supportive as well. 

Shale called for enhanced support from the national government and other stakeholders to get rid of the nymphs and enhance preparedness for such invasions.

During his visit to Kamuthey a fortnight ago Agriculture CS Peter Munya watched as the nymphs hatched and promised to deliver more equipment to prevent their spread.

The CS said the national government would send a plane, three motorised sprayers, 50 specialised sprayers and 100 hand-held sprayers to the Garissa Locust Response Base to protect the 400km stretch of irrigation farms along the banks of River Tana.

Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya