Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
THE Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement is on high alert after a swarm of African migratory locust was spotted in Kazungula on the border with Botswana before disappearing into the game park.

While the country is off season in terms of farming, the threat posed by the migratory locusts is very high as the cropping season is nigh. They can also attack crops under irrigation.

The swarm was first spotted a few months ago and the issue was somehow dismissed as a hoax as there was no confirmation until recently when it was spotted again.

It emerged neighbouring countries — Botswana, Namibia and Zambia — have been battling with the African migratory armyworm for some months now, raising fears the pests might migrate into Zimbabwe once the cropping season starts effectively.

An SOS was raised at the Matabeleland North Provincial Development Committee (PDC) meeting held at Mhlahlandlela Government Complex early this week where the department of Agritex urged farmers to be on the alert.

Head of Plant Quarantine and Plant Protection Services Research Institute in the Ministry of Lands, Mr Shingirai Nyamutukwa confirmed that African migratory locusts were spotted in Kazungula, about three months after an outbreak in Chiredzi in the Lowveld.

He said a massive awareness campaign had been initiated to train agritex officers and farmers with the help of partners under the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF).

“After African migratory locust outbreaks were reported in mid-July this year, the swarms were controlled through harvesting for consumption by farmers although Government had provided chemicals for its control. No secondary outbreaks were reported ever since the July locust populations were seen in Chiredzi.

“However, in mid-October, populations of African migratory locust were seen flying into Zimbabwe at Kazungula border. Tracking the population for some days yielded no results of their whereabouts in Zimbabwe although neighbouring countries Botswana, Namibia and Zambia had serious outbreaks until now as they struggle to contain the African migratory locust,” said Mr Nyamutukwa.

He said there are challenge controlling the locusts because the swarms also fly in residential areas and near water bodies feeding the Zambezi River where concerns about aquatic life are an impediment.

“While there are reports of effective control using esfenverelate, populations of locusts keep increasing with Namibia reporting that the swarms invaded their second region close to Muhembo/Shakawe today (Wednesday),” added Mr Nyamutukwa.

“We have trained 163 extension staff from 61 wards in Chiredzi and Mwenezi under ZRBF and other partners are also joining. The training will spread countrywide to raise awareness as we want to be alert,” he said.

Similar desert locusts damaged 200 000ha of sorghum, wheat and maize crops in Ethiopia early this year where they also vastly reduced the amount of available land for cattle grazing thereby posing a threat to food security in the region, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe also fears for an outbreak of an African armyworm likely to attack the country this coming farming season, following a similar outbreak mid-December last year.

Mr Nyamutukwa said the research institute had set a network of traps throughout the country to check likelihood of an outbreak and ensure farmers are advised on time. — @ncubeleon