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Ethiopia deploys helicopters to spray desert locusts
Ethiopia has deployed helicopters to spray new swarms of desert locusts that are eating crops and threatening the country’s food security. The U.S. Agency for International Development warned that billions of the pests which have descended on East Africa in recent weeks targeting crops and pastures across a region already facing widespread hunger and humanitarian needs are bound to get worse than they already are.
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According to Ethiopian officials in the latest development, huge swarms swept into Ethiopia’s potato seed multiplication program in six counties to address seed shortages that occur perennially. The Agriculture CS Peter Munya said the seeds have been produced under the highest level of genetic control to ensure they are pure and accurately represent the variety characteristics identified by the breeder during selection. He added that the two-year project intends to add 2,500 metric tonnes of certified potato seeds into the national supply annually. He also explained that the output will be achieved through training of county extension staff on climate-smart potato production practices with an emphasis on revitalizing seed production and distribution. southern Oromia region last week from Kenya and Somalia, displacing thousands of people. Furthermore, thousands of people have been displaced from Wachile in the Southern Oromia region of Ethiopia, since the beginning of this month.
Top advisor in the crop protection department at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture Zebdios Salato said that Ethiopia engaged the swarms by spraying pesticides from the air, using three helicopters leased from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He further added According to media reports, approximately 60 staff from Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo-Marakwet, Bomet, Nyandarua, Nyeri and Taita-Taveta counties have been trained on the multiplication process. The new seeds, which have been produced by plant breeders at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro), will improve farmers’ access to certified potato seeds. This, in turn, will mitigate the effect of COVID-19 on potato production.
Production challenges
Potato farmers in these counties continue to face various production challenges leading to an average production of 10 tonnes per hectare against a potential of 60 tonnes. Conversely, that this method proved to be effective as hours after spraying the locusts lay scattered on the ground dead.
Displacement of people
But in some cases, aerial spraying is not enough. Huge swarms of locusts, the size of a city, forced more than 15,000 people to flee their homes this month in the Wachile region, said another agriculture official, Mohamed Abaqoda. Abaqoda further explained that the displacement is because these are immature, wingless locusts that get around by hopping. As such, he added, they feed on every green leaf, flood lakes, houses, anywhere. Well over 12 villages in the area have been displaced.
Experts have described the ongoing desert locust infestation in the Horn as the worst in 25 years. Salato said widespread rainfall in late March created an ideal environment for locust breeding. The situation may get worse when the insects mature and grow wings. The desert locust can fly up to 19 kilometers per hour and cover up
Industry has pesticides ready for locust spraying, as swarms threaten on delays
The government of Kenya has launched a
to 130 kilometers per day. climate change remains a major challenge generally to agriculture, including potato production.
Yara East Africa country manager William Ngeno notes that local potato farmers face numerous challenges, especially lack of quality seeds, which eventually dips their productivity and incomes.
“Most potatoes used by processors in Kenya are imported because the local produce is of poor quality and comes with a lot of defects,” explained Ngeno. To produce high quality tubers, according to him, farmers need good seeds, the right fertiliser and proper crop husbandry.
