By Chinyere Anyanwu
A large quelea bird swarm allegedly ravaged fields recently in Argungu Local Government Area in Kebbi State, causing losses to at least 100 farmers.
A farm might be entirely destroyed by a harmful swarm of quelea birds in a day or even a matter of hours. Locals claim that the hazardous birds devastated more than 75,000 hectares of rice crops.
The threat posed by quelea birds, red-billed birds that moved from the nearby Niger Republic, has only so far afflicted Kebbi.
However, they argued that developing insect repellant that works without harming crops is the best approach to address ing the threat posed by quelea birds.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Umar Na’amore, a PDP assemblyman from Argungu Constituency, has urged the Federal Government to spray pesticides on trespassing quelea birds on farmers’ fields.
According to Na’amore, the residents of Kebbi State’s Argungu Local Government Area are pleading with the federal and state governments to spray pesticides on fields to kill invasive quelea birds to prevent more agricultural losses in the region.
According to later accounts, the quelea birds have decimated about 95,000 hectares of dry season rice farms in the state. The region has been severely damaged, which might have repercussions for food security.
According to records, the majority of the farmers in the region have received loans from Labana as well as WACOT Rice Mills, among others, to start up large-scale agricultural operations and contribute to the nation’s efforts to achieve food security and provide for the needs of the local population.
According to Na’amore, once the rainy season began, people were shocked by the bombardment and swarm of quelea birds that were migrating from the neighbouring republics of Benin and Niger.
He went on to warn that the area’s cereal crops, including rice, wheat, maize, millet and sorghum, are seriously threatened by migrating birds including quelea birds, locusts and grasshoppers. He said this is due to the region’s favourable position, which makes it a crucial flash point for the admission of migratory pests into the nation. The legislator encouraged the governments to help the afflicted farmers recover from the losses by offering them humanitarian aid.