The government, through the State Department for Agriculture, is using drones to spray over 5 million quelea birds that have been a threat to wheat, sunflower, and barley farmers in Narok County.
Speaking when he launched the five-day exercise at Sansora farm at the border of Narok and Nakuru counties, the Principal Secretary for Agriculture, Dr. Paul Ronoh, revealed that the farmers were losing approximately Sh2.2 million per day as the birds have a capacity of consuming over 50,000 kilograms of grains per day.
Dr. Ronoh said they have released five drones that will be used to spray the breeding spaces of the birds during evening hours when they are believed to be resting.
“Each bird is capable of eating up to 10 grams of grains daily; the infestation poses an unprecedented risk to food production, potentially leading to loss of up to 30 metric tonnes of wheat per day,” he said.
The PS revealed that his department is in consultation with Agriculture Finance Corporation (AFC) to compensate farmers who have lost their harvest to the birds.
“The exercise is being carried out in collaboration with county governments. We want to kill over 5 million quelea birds that have been feasting on our harvest,” he said.
Narok County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in charge of Agriculture Ms. Joyce Keshe said the two levels of government are collaborating to ensure the losses caused by the birds are a thing of the past.
Keshe asked the farmers to collaborate with her department to report the breeding grounds of the birds so that they can all be finished during the five days of spraying.
The CECM lamented the great loss caused by the birds, saying many wheat farmers had been forced to withdraw from the practice because of the birds’ menace.
“We want to encourage our farmers to continue planting wheat in large scale as the government is committed to ending the quelea birds’ threat. We will continue using modern technology to ensure the birds are destroyed,” she said.
The extension officers were instructed to closely monitor the movement of the birds to identify the roosting areas.
Narok County is one of the leading counties in the country in the production of wheat and barley, which are grown in large scale in the Mau region.
The farmers led by Daniel Naikuni thanked the government for the initiative acknowledging the losses that the birds were causing to wheat farmers in the area.
“Some of the farmers had quit farming wheat in favour of potato farming. With the assurance from the government that they will completely eradicate the birds, we will continue planting the crop in large plantations,” he said.
One acre of land produces up to 20 bags of wheat. Currently, a bag of wheat is selling at Sh5,000 per bag.
The planting season of wheat in Narok County begins in January and extends to April, depending on the region being planted.
By Ann Salaton
