*lack of fund hampers control
REDBIILED QUELLA IN FLIGHT |
About six
states of the federation have been ravaged byquella birds. This is according to
the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) as lack of
fund may have halted the control of the invaders that have destroyed over 3,000
hectares of land with food crops in the Northern part of Nigeria.
The Deputy
Director, Pest Control Services Division, FMARD, Mr.Danlami, Aliyu Chafe
disclosed that quella birds have destroyed farms in Katsina, Adamawa, Yobe,
Kebbi, Zamfara and Sokoto states, and that there is no solution yet due to lack
of fund to combat and ensure further prevention.
He said that
already about six states have officially reported the incident added that “tiny quella
birds are swooping into the country in their thousands from neighboring Niger
country while millions of people are being threatened by famine as rice, maize,
sorghum have been destroyed in many states who have reported such incidence
coupled drought and plague of locusts last year”.
He lamented that
quella populations are notoriously getting robust evenas millions of them are
yearly killed. It is highly problematic, they are highly mobile, have few
natural predators and breed extremely fast.
Other sources
across the affected states confirmed the incidence to Food Farm News and pointed out that farms in less than two hour
invasion of the birds were being destroyed as several crops were eaten up at
once. They added that action towards prevention has been very slow on the part
of government.
One of the sources
said that farmers no longer feel safe whenever they see the birds
flying in the sky, stressed that all plans to curb them by both the Federal and
State governments have been halted by fund scarcity occasioned by none budgetary
allocation for the ministry.
Another
farmer who only wanted to be called Mallam Jafa also confirmed that no fewer than
3,000 hectares of land comprising rice, sorghum and other plantations have been
destroyed by these ravaging birds across the six states, despite the fact that
the areas are known for its natural soil fertility with big harvest period
every year.
Jafa added
that the rate at which farmers from the northern states, particularly, suffered
losses is very alarming, considering the economic meltdown, and pointed out the
need for all the three tiers of government to come to farmers’ rescue with fund
to purchase quellatox spraying chemicals, herbicides and pesticides that can be
sued to control the bird and harmful insects.
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