Kebbi State government in Nigeria is set to fight Quelea birds which are invading the farmlands from neighbouring countries.
Commissioner for Agriculture Alhaji Maigari Abdullahi Dakingari announced the State has purchased about 128 trucks of fertilizers for onward distribution to the farmers across the 225 wards in the state as well as N40 million to be used to fight the invasion. The government will distribute the fertilizers to the farmers for rainy season farming and also conduct aerial sparing of chemicals against the quelea birds.
Challenges
“Chemical fertilizer as at today, the price of it has skyrocketed. It is even difficult for the government to procure fertilizers. We did all we could, we faced many challenges, but we successfully got the fertilizers. But at a very high price. These fertilizers we procured at a cost of N23,000. The condition we found ourselves now demanding for reflections, the Rusian-Ukrainian war is affecting the production of fertilizers across the world. And we don’t have enough fertilizers in Nigeria to take care of our farmers in Nigeria. That is why these fertilizers we procured are going to be sold to the farmers at a subsidized price of N15,000 per bag. On the quelea birds’ continuous control, His Excellency has approved the sum of N40 million to continue killing of quelea birds,” said Dakingari.
“We were facing these birds which are crossing borders in millions from the Republic of Niger, Republic of Benin, from Senegal, from Cameroon. It was so overwhelmed and we contacted the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and they came immediately to spray Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states. That’s to large extent reduced the menace of the Quelea birds to be caused to our farmlands.
“As you know, Kebbi state is an agrarian state and very seriously, the governor is concerned about the food security in the state and also on how agriculture would enhance in the state. And that is why the governor approved for the continuation of these quelea bird control,” he added.
