The federal government
has put in place adeq
uate measures to fore-stall a possible emergence of locusts and other pests in Nigeria, the minister of agriculture and rural development, Malam Adamu Bello, has said.
The minister gave the assurance in an exclusive interview with Daily Trust just as there was a reported case of locust invasion of farmlands in Shinkafi local government area of Zamfara State.
Hundreds of farming communities in the area are now living in fear of these pests which have destroyed crops worth millions of naira. But the minister told Daily Trust that the government has just concluded an aerial spray of all frontier states to stop the emergence of the pest and others, like the grasshopper and queala birds. The exercise, which he said was successful, would have destroyed the pests if they have emerged in the country.
The Dan Iyan Adamawa, who was visibly worried with the invasion of locusts in Africa further added that the government has put on standby, an aircraft operator to combat the pest should they emerge in Nigeria soil.
According to the minister, the pests have not cros-sed over to Nigeria. “There is no such thing coming to Nigeria, not according to my knowledge. Locust have been invading North African countries for the past 15 years without stepping into Nigeria,” the minister assu-red, stressing that the government is prepared to forest-all the appearance of the pests.
The government, he reiterated, will do everything possible to protect crops against any form of destruction. He disclosed that enough chemical has been procured and the number of aircrafts will be increased, pointing out that all these are measures put in place to forestall the emergence of the pests.
He also pointed out the Agro Aviation Unit of the ministry of agriculture is undergoing rehabilitation to that able to effectively combat any outbreak of pests in Nigeria. According to theminister, the ministry of agriculture and rural development is pursuing the task of ens-uring increased food production in the country.
While expressing hope that the country will experience a bumper harvest this year, Malam Adamu Bello further maintained that government distributed over 120,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser as at July ending.
He explained that this year’s fertiliser distribution was far more successful than that of last year. “Even the state governments and other private sector participants in fertiliser business brought in the products 50 percent more than what they brought last year,” he disclosed.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has anno-unced plans to undertake a study on the locust invasion along the Hadejia/Nguru wetland.
Also, the House is expected to summon the minister of agriculture and rural development, Malam Adamu Bello, to explain plans against locus invasion.
Dr Ahmed Lawan, a member representing Bade/Jakusko Federal Constituency of Yobe State, said in an interview with Daily Trust that the issue of locust invasion in the wetland areas pose a serious threat to the lives of over one million people living on the Hadejia/Jama’are River banks
“I think the invasion is real and imminent because we already have the news that locusts have already arrived in Chad or Lake Chad and you know this part of it is in Nigeria. So, the invasion is already on farmlands in some neighbouring countries, like Niger, Mauritania, Chad and Benin have been swept by locusts.
“So, we see this as a real and imminent danger to Nigerian agriculture and we have carried out our investigations on the invasion last April by going to Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara where there were destructions by locust and queala birds to find out the level of destruction and what the federal government needs to do to forestall future occurrence.
“Our recommendations among other thing, was that the federal government sho-uld enter into partnership with the governments of Chad, Niger and Benin Republics to fight the locusts. Nigeria cannot fight it alone.
“I feel that the federal government should take urgent steps and as soon as we are through with our retreat in Bauchi, we will invite the minister of agriculture and rural development to the House committee on agriculture to give us the run-down of plans of the state of preparedness to fight these locusts. We don’t have to with until destruction by them before doing anything,” Dr Lawan added.
