Farmers in Kisii County are worried over a strange tea pest that is destroying their crop and lowering their yields for a month now.
According to Dennis Ombongi, a farmer at Ting’a sub-county in Kisii, they have experienced this strange pest for a while now, and are calling upon the county government to bring researchers who can identify the pests and find a remedy.
“The pest is becoming a threat to our crops and we have tried to apply all kinds of sprays we know but it is still spreading from one farm to another, for now we have not yet gotten the right pesticide,” said Ombongi.
According to the Tinga sub-county Agrculture officer Eric Mogere, they have taken the samples to the lab so that they can identify the pest, and also know the right spray that will contain it.
“We assure all the farmers in the area to stop panicking because we are trying our best to identify the best spray and we know it’s available, it is only a matter of time before we solve this problem,” said Mogere.
The farmers in the area now fear for more loses, being that tea is the main cash crop in the area and earns most of them a living.