By Omotayo Edubi
Namibia is fighting locust outbreak for the third time.
This time it happened in Karasburg District, Karas Region in the southern parts of the country.
Namibia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Jonah Musheko, said this in a statement on Thursday.
“The first outbreak was reported on Sept. 21, by a commercial farmer and a team was immediately dispatched; unfortunately, they could not trace it,” Musheko said.
“The initial control commenced on Nov. 3 in the Karasburg district and, by then, the infested area was estimated at approximately 800,000 hectares of farmland, and over 240,000 was surveyed with approximate 2,000 treated/sprayed,’’ he added.
According to Musheko, since mid-December, the ministry had been sensed swarms of brown locusts and spraying teams had been dispatched and were in the field to date.
“As at Dec. 5, spraying was carried out at the farms Nakop up to Swartkop, covering approximately a total of 80,000 hectares.
“These first instars locusts are still hatching; they do not move much and did not form groups yet. However, there are large swarms of adult locusts that migrated through the area while reproducing,’’ he added.
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