Rat invasion threatens Kirinyaga County's rice production
Photo of a rat.
Rats have invaded the Mwea Irrigation Scheme in Kirinyaga County and are wreaking havoc on rice nurseries.
The rats are destroying rice seedlings and farmers express fears that they may not plant this season if the rodents are not urgently controlled.
"We are worried that the rats may wipe out the seedlings in the nurseries we have prepared," one of the farmers Mr Simon Njogu said.
The farmers said the rats invade the nurseries at night and consume the seedlings, some of which are ready for planting.
"We are preparing the rice fields in the Scheme so that we can plant but a lot of our seedlings have been eaten by these voracious feeders," added Mr Njogu.
The farmers lamented that even traps set in the nurseries don't help.
"There are so many rats that can't be effectively controlled with traps," said Mr Njogu.
The farmers appealed to both the national and county governments to intervene.
"It is the responsibility of the two governments to ensure that our rice seedlings are safe for the sake of food security," said another farmer.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Kamau Murango, admitted that the rats had left a trail of destruction in the scheme.
"Farmers are counting their losses and something should be done urgently to ensure that the seedlings are not completely destroyed," said Mr Murango, who is the senator for Kirinyaga.
He promised to lobby the national government to control the pests that are a threat to farmers.
He said farmers play a key role in rice production and should be supported.
The programme, the largest in Kenya, accounts for 80 per cent of the rice consumed in the country.
Recently, the government commissioned a multi-billion Thiba Dam at Rukenya village in Gichugu Constituency to expand rice farming in the Scheme, which is the country's rice granary.
The government plans to increase rice production so that the country can feed its growing population without relying on imports.
