At least 700 Murang’a rice farmers face heavy losses caused by snails.
The cereal growers from Thangathi in Kiharu subcounty are seeking help from relevant authorities lamenting that the snails have been causing massive losses and rendering some areas agriculturally poor.
One such farmer is Peter Irungu, who said he loses at least 400 kilogrammes every season on his two acre farm.
Irungu said the available pesticides were ineffective as the snails shield themselves in their shells. The pests infestation started three years ago.
The snails lay thousands of eggs, which after hatching cause massive destruction.
The farmers said the snails came from a neighbouring farm belonging to a Korean investor who had kept snails. They spread out to their farms after a floody season in the area.
Irungu said farmers are forced to plant double the amount of seedlings to keep their harvests up.
He is forced to drain the rice pond several times after planting to force the snails to hide for him to harvest some grains.
The draining however stunts the crops and reduces his harvest.
The farmers started planting rice in 2010 after the national government completed the Thathawa Irrigation project.
The Sh25 million project that draws water from Sagana River through gravity initially benefited about 350 homes with the number increasing to 700 over the years.
Most of the beneficiaries embarked on horticulture while about 50 families with low level farms started planting rice.
They sell their produce to brokers at Sh65 per kg as the poor road network in the area makes it hard for them to take it to the market themselves.
“I get at least 2,500 kg of rice every harvest from each acre but I used to get more before the snails got to my farm,” Irungu said.
He still prefers rice farming to horticulture as it has a steady price and a ready market.
Catherine Syokivata, another farmer, said the snails have eaten up a sizeable chunk of her rice.
“I had previously leased out the land but the lessee gave it back following the invasion of the snails,” Syokivata said.
She had at one point harvested only two bags of the cereal from half an acre and got frustrated.
The farmers now want both county and national governments to come up with an appropriate pesticide.
They also appealed for the expansion of the irrigation project. They say it is overwhelmed by the number of farmers using the water and the gravity is no longer effective in the supply of water to farmers downstream.