Shaeria, October 4(Darfur24) Farmers in Shaeria locality in East Darfur state told Darfur 24 that the current agricultural season is threatened with failure after starlings attacked farms in light of government inaction.
According to the farmers, the birds destroyed large parts of the farms in the western areas of the city of Shaeria.
The farmer, Issa Adam Al-Sayer, called on the state government and the competent authorities to urgently and immediately intervene to save the current agricultural season, which is threatened with failure due to the heavy spread of starlings.
A member of the Farmers’ Committee, Muhammad Ishaq Omar, explained to Darfur 24 that they had prepared a comprehensive report, which was submitted early to the competent authorities, in which they demanded the need to expedite measures to combat agricultural pests before the matter develops into a disaster.
The director of the local agriculture office, Adam Suleiman, said that the state authorities announced sending a spray plane to the locality, but the delay in its arrival was that it was working in other places, stressing that the situation on the ground would not bear waiting for additional hours.
Starlings are one of the most deadly pests of agricultural crops, and the government allocates budgets annually to combat it through aerial spraying. However, this year farmers in a number of Darfur states complained about the government’s delay in combating this pest, which threatens the agricultural season with failure.
Suleiman referred to the traditional control attempts by the citizens, but they are not sufficient due to the heavy spread of “starlings” in large areas.