Rice farmers in Mwea raise concern over quelea birds' invasion
Rice crop at Mwea Irrigation Scheme in Kirinyaga county. Farmers have expressed fears following invasion of their crops by quelea birds.
Rice farmers in Kirinyaga have expressed concern over quelea birds’ invasion of their crops at the giant Mwea Irrigation Scheme.
They fear that their crop under 30,600 acres of land could be wiped out by the voracious feeders if urgent measures are not taken.
They appealed to the national and county government to intervene to save the crop yields from the birds.
"If the birds are not removed, then we shall not harvest anything this season," one of the farmers, Mr Pius Njogu said.
The farmers complained that the migratory birds started flocking the area last week and they are a ‘major’ menace.
Following the invasion, farmers are forced to employ six casual workers to guard two acres of rice. Each farmer owns four acres of rice fields.
Each casual worker is paid Sh300 per day to scare the birds away.
"If we continue employing such a big labour force to scare away the birds, we may not make any profit," added Mr Njogu.
The farmers said the birds were a big threat to the crop.
They stressed that they relied on rice farming for their livelihood.
" As farmers, we use rice proceeds to educate our children and meet other financial challenges and we should be assisted to get rid of the birds feeding on the crop," another farmer added.
The scheme which is the largest in East and Central Africa produces more than 80 per cent of rice consumed in Kenya.
The growers expressed fears that there will be an acute shortage of rice nationally if the birds are not tamed.
Mwea produces 114,000 tones of rice annually which is consumed locally.
With the completion of the Sh20 billion Thiba Dam, the government plans to double production.
