Quella birds resurface in six states

*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.