The invasion of quelea birds in rice farms is a big problem that keeps happening to rice farmers in Kenya.
The invasion of quelea birds in some area, especially in states where rice is mainly grown, has been identified as the main cause of food shortage. Farms in certain areas of Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto, Jigawa, Abia, Kano, Borno, Yobe, Benue, Gombe, Adamawa, Sokoto, Kastina, and some parts of the Southwest have suffered significant losses due to the attack of these birds. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) states that a single quelea bird can consume up to 10 grams of grain per day. In western Kenya, farmers are at risk of losing nearly 60 tonnes of grain to these birds. In 2021, the FAO estimated that crop losses caused by the birds amounted to $50 million annually.
Quelea birds are just like dangerous parasites, and capable of wiping out everything in the farm within hours and days, whenever they invade any farm. Though efforts had been made in the past to prevent the quelea birds, it appears more strategies need to be adopted in winning the war.
The chairman of the Rice Growers Association in Ogun State, Pastor Bode Adenekan, mentioned that addressing the issue has been time-consuming and requires a lot of manual labor, using basic methods. He explained that dealing with the pests necessitates human presence for approximately 12 hours per day during the critical 30-day period when the grain’s endosperm needs to become firm. After this period, the quelea bird will lose interest in the grain. If proper measures aren’t taken during this stage, farmers may end up with no harvest by the end of the season. The challenge is more severe in low-lying, wet areas where the yield is around 2.5-4.0 tonnes per hectare, while upland areas also experience poorer performance.
At that period farmers needed to get to their farms as early as 6:00am to 6:30pm for a period of one month and that has been the most effective way of combating the birds. People also use objects like scare scrow, but the funniest thing is that the quelea birds are very intelligent when there is nobody on the farm for two days, they come back and acclimatize and pounce on the farm.
Some farmers try to use nets, but only those who have around one or two hectares of land can do it successfully. However, when it comes to large-scale commercial farming with multiple hectares, using nets becomes very costly. It is not cost-effective for larger farmers to apply this method.
Large scale spraying of fenthion is currently the favoured and effective method of control. Using ground and airborne means, the quelea swarms are sprayed while in their roosting sites. However, fenthion is toxic to non-target species including rodents, fish and other birds.
Farmers can suffer as much as 90% losses, if the birds are not effectively dealt with within the one-month period when the rice is actually forming. The only solution to combat quelea birds’ is to research and produce pest repellant that works, without any biological damage to the birds.
As the most technologically powerful animal repellent R&D and manufacturer in China, we recommend our Kenya customer to use Pestman bird repellent to treat the quelea problem. Pestman bird repellent can repel mostly harmful birds on damaging various crops. According to experiment on sorghum, rice, millet, and wheat, Pestman bird repellent is an excellent bird repellent product against quelea quelea in the crop fields in Kenya.
The main active ingredient of Pestman bird repellent is MethyI Anthranilate (MA) which is a natural compound derived from plants and has a long history of use as a flavor additive and aromatic in perfumery. Numerous studies have confirmed that MA has excellent bird repellent effect. With MA and other natural flavors combination, our bird repellent can repel the birds through smell, taste and sight sense which will make the quelea birds to feel very uncomfortable, and the birds will not fly back to the treated fields during their memory period.
It is worth mentioning that The liquid of Pestman bird repellent is prepared by the latest slow-release microcapsule embedding technology in biomedicine. It is slowly released and degrades in the crop field, continuously protecting the crop from quelea birds for 30 days.
Product Benefits:
-Highly effective and long lasting time – Effective for more than 30 days;
-Works on birds in multiple technology – Repels the birds through smell, taste and visual sense;
-Easy to use – It is very labor-saving, and can be sprayed by Aircraft , Vehicles or other spray equipment. Suitable for applicating in large areas;
-No pesticides or harmful chemicals – The main active ingredient is food-grade flavor. It is safe for humans, animal and environment;
-Humane bird repel – Only repels the harmful birds, and not kill birds or any other animals. Maintain the ecological balance;
-The best bird control product for Quelea birds in Africa.
Stop wasting time with products that high-cost or toxic, and give Pestman bird repellent a try. Please contact us to get more information about the product.
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