27 Apr 2020

Some commercial and small-scale farmers in Pandamatenga may end up losing their harvest after quelea birds invaded their crops and destroyed sorghum at its maturing stage.

The birds were reported earlier this month and have already covered a sizeable number of hectares in the eastern part of Pandamatenga near the border with Zimbabwe where the bird are reported to have originated.

A commercial agronomist at Pandamatenga, Mr Kabo Bowe said the birds were difficult to control because some colonies were breeding in neighbouring Zimbabwe.

He said they had tried to scare away the birds by using spray drones, which proved ineffective because they did not cover a wide area of hectares at a time.

He said they had opted to use explosives combined with fuel to create firebombs to kill the destructive birds.

Mr Bowe, however, noted that the technique was labour intensive, dangerous and had negative effects on the environment, adding that it also had associated security issues.

He said they located the colonies during the day and set explosives during the night to kill as many birds as possible.

Mr Bowe noted that they had already covered seven hectares with the use of the explosives and that they would continue to use the method until they had eradicated the birds.

About 2 700 hectares of land in Pandamatenga has been allocated to small-scale farmers whilst 45 000 hectares has been allocated to commercial farmers.

All the farmers practice arable farming and grow crops such as maize, sorghum and beans. There are a few trials with wheat and chickpeas. Ends