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Agriculture Reporter
FOLLOWING its decision to incorporate traditional grains in the Pfumvudza/Intwasa programme to climate-proof rural agriculture, the Government has since shifted focus to procuring resources for the control of quelea birds.
In an interview, acting director Migratory Pests and Biosecurity Control Department, Mr Shingirai Nyamutukwa said they were preparing to start surveillance activities during the breeding season with procurement of chemicals already underway ahead of the planting and production of traditional grains countrywide.
“As the 2022/2023 cropping season is fast approaching, resource mobilisation for quelea bird control is also underway. We recently procured 30 additional motorised backpacks and our aim is to procure more to make sure we cater for the requirements of the whole country. Sprayers and additional chemicals are also under procurement as we speak.
“Through support from the Government, we are also mobilising chemicals, protective clothing, vehicles among other fundamental resources to protect traditional grain crops from the quelea pest so that the farmers can also achieve bumper harvests,” Mr Nyamutukwa said.
He added that the objective of the initiative was to boost the yields or hectarage of traditional grains to ensure food security for the country.
Zimbabwe Integrated Commercial Farmers Union (ZICFU) president, Mrs Mayiwepi Jiti said mobilisation of resources to control the quelea menace by the Migratory Pests Department was a great move in the right direction, which would ensure food security.
“The Pfumvudza programme has introduced traditional grains such as sorghum, pearl millet, sunflower, African peas, which will provide smallholder farmers mostly in arid regions with a fallback position in the event of outright failure by crops such as maize.
“Small grains are prone to attacks from by quelea birds, as they are naturally the birds’ favourite food. The provision of chemicals will be a great relief to farmers. We applaud the Department of Migratory Pests and Biosecurity Control for the initiative and are certain the yields for traditional grains will increase as a result,” observed Mrs Jiti.
However, other non-chemical ways of controlling birds such as netting and harvesting hatchlings can also be used to control quelea birds
Quelea birds have been a threat to summer subsistence traditional grains in Zimbabwe for years. According to experts, a single bird accounts for about 10 grammes of the yield per day. If not controlled adequately, they pose a serious threat to traditional grain farmers, who can easily record huge losses and low yields.
The birds have always been a threat to summer subsistence traditional grains and commercial winter cereal cropping in Zimbabwe for years.
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