Scientists find solution for destructive Mwea rice snails

Research scientists from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology have embarked on controlling snails which are wreaking havoc at the giant Mwea Rice Irrigation Scheme in Kirinyaga County

Already the snails have destroyed 40 percent of the planted rice, causing panic among the farmers.

Wipe out rice crop

Led by Dr Paul Kinoti, the scientists are using a farm chemical extracted from chenopodium quinon tree to fight the voracious feeders which are threatening to wipe out more than 22,000 acres of rice crop.

The scientists came up with the chemical after research financed by the Japan African Innovation Project Organisation to the tune of Sh12 million.

Earlier, the scientists used extracts from garlic and neem plants but they were not effective in controlling the snails.

"The extract from chenopodium quinon plant, known as saponins, worked wonders. We made a pesticide from saponins and it is killing snails when applied in water," Dr Kinoti, who is the Biosnail Project Coordinator at JKUAT, explained.

Dr Kinoti observed that the snails are highly destructive but there was no cause for alarm since research on an effective pesticide had borne fruit.

"The snails have destroyed 40 percent of the crop and farmers are replanting," he said.

He revealed that his team was coordinating well with the scheme manager Innocent Ariemba to make the control measure successful.

Most affected areas are Kimbimbi, Mathangauta, Thiba, Kiorugari, Murubara and Nguka where rice is grown in large scale.

According to the farmers, the aquatic snails  are eating up the young rice plants, leaving a trail of destruction in the rice fields.

Urgent measures 

The farmers had expressed fear that the snails  may clear everything if urgent measures were not taken.

A farmer, Mr Robinson Kibicho, recalled how the snails destroyed his crop at Kimbimbi.

"I had to plant again after the rice I had planted was eaten by the snails," he explained.

A majority of the farmers are counting losses and they had appealed to both the national and county governments to intervene.

The farmers said they depended on rice to feed and educate their children and thanked the scientists for coming up with a solution to their problems.

"This is the first time the snails have invaded the scheme. Prior to the invasion, we did not know they feed on plants," another farmer said.

The scheme, which is the largest in East and Central Africa, produces 80 percent of the rice consumed in Kenya.

Another farmer, Edwin Muriuki, said the snails had defied the locally available pesticides, leaving him and his colleagues a frustrated lot.

" We have been spraying the snails but they are not dying. It is very demoralising to farmers," said Mr Muriuki.