AfricaPress-Tanzania: AS part of efforts to contain the reportedly invasion of desert locusts in Arusha’s Monduli District, Agriculture Minister Prof Adolf Mkenda camped at the Engaruka area where spray planes from the International Red Locust Control Organisation have started to kill the fast-moving insects with poison.
Prof Mkenda who is accompanied by his deputy, Hussein Bashe told journalists yesterday that after successful control of the desert locust invasion in Longido and Simanjiro districts, the focus is to fight the insects in Monduli District.
“We have camped at Engaruka to support our experts’ efforts to fight off the desert locusts. We successfully killed the grasshoppers in Simanjiro and Longido districts by using poison; we will also kill them in Monduli,” said the minister.
Prof Mkenda added: “After Monduli our efforts will be directed on the Kenyan side to reduce migration and breeding. Efforts are also done to ensure the desert locust does not cross the borders to our country.”
The minister thanked district commissioners for their corporation towards containing the grasshoppers. He said the spray planes from the International Red Locust Control Organisation in Ndola Zambia will remain in the country until the insects are completely killed.
Earlier, when the desert locust invaded Tanzania, they attacked crops causing devastating effects in three districts namely, Siha, Mwanga and Simanjiro.
The desert locust poses threat to food security due to their flying speed of about 150 kilometers per day.
The grasshoppers’ eating capacity differs from one another whereas a single group estimated to have 40 million locusts can destroy crops at an area covering one squire kilometer.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has recently called on all countries to maintain the necessary survey and control operations to reduce migration and breeding.
It also warned that dry conditions in some areas where the swarms are arriving could facilitate their spread throughout southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya.
