Birds destroy 400 hectares of paddy

Moshi. Over 400 hectares of rice fields at Mkomazi Valley, Same District in Kilimanjaro Region have been damaged by grain eating quelea quelea, leading to fears of poor harvests of the staple cereals this year.

The chairman of the Ndungu Rice Scheme, Mr Kapongo Sonda has told The Citizen recently that the situation was serious, adding that there had not been any response from the responsible authorities in the government despite several appeals.

According to him, the scheme has a total of 680 hectares and that out of them, 442ha of rice fields have been devoured by the red-billed birds which fly from one part of the African continent to another in huge flocks in search of the early maturing cereals and annual wild grasses, seeds and grains.

Mr Sonda said up to 2,500 rice farmers have been affected by the attack of their grain fields by quelea quelea and are appealing for the assistance from the government to contain the menace.

One of the farmers who identified himself as Michael Mavoho said attacks by the birds worsened in the last three weeks, forcing them to keep vigil in their farms throughout the day to avoid. He was worried that should the situation continue the way it is, they would incur huge losses this season. The vicious birds would normally attack farms early in the morning or in the evening. That takes place as soon as the sun comes up when they come together in huge flocks and cooperate in finding a suitable feeding place.

After a successful search, they settle rapidly and can cause serious damage to crops. In the middle of the day, they rest on shady areas near water and preen

Mr Mavoko said their rice harvests have increasingly declined to between 15 and 20 bags per hectare from about 28 to 30 bags due to the damage done by grain eating quelea quelea.

The Same District Commissioner Ms Rosemary Senyamile said they were communicating with the ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Development over the matter, adding that the district has already ordered the chemicals to be sprayed on the fields.

Tanzania is among dozens of countries in sub-Saharan Africa covered by the distribution of quelea quelea birds. But they live mainly in steppe and savanna regions.