Story by John Nhandara
GOVERNMENT has acquired drones that will complement the services of the department of migratory pests and biosecurity control to control Quelea birds which are a perennial threat to wheat yields.
The development comes as the winter wheat season gathers momentum, with over 60 000 hectares of winter wheat having so far been planted.
According to statistics, quelea birds contribute to over 95 percent of wheat losses annually if left uncontrolled.
“In terms of protecting the wheat yield, the biggest threat to our wheat yield is the quelea bird. In Zimbabwe we have four breeding sites that we have mapped. As part of moving on with technology. We now have acquired nine drones one for each agricultural province and one on standby. We have already trained our technicians on how to utilise the drones, said Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services Chief Director, Professor Obert Jiri.
Government has also encouraged farmers to take advantage of the extended winter wheat planting period up to the 15th of this month.
“Planting is in full swing. We encourage farmers to keep planting up to the 15th, all irrigable land should be put under wheat. We also encourage farmers to start doing good agronomical practices.pest control and irrigation scheduling,” he added.
This season government has earmarked to put 90 000 hectares under winter wheat with a projected output of over 432 000 metric tonnes, thus surpassing the country’s annual wheat requirements.
