UPDF battles second wave of desert locusts in Moroto

A second wave of desert locusts believed to be five times bigger than the past swarms that appeared in Amudat district in February has entered Moroto district.

The Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) in collaboration with the desert locust control organisation - East Africa have since deployed manpower as sophisticated equipment acted faster to destroy the huge swarm, which had by press time spread over 10 kilometres.

For several hours on Tuesday night, the army sprayed and killed tonnes of the insects as they roosted on trees before the aircraft wiped out more during the aerial spray operations covering 1,200 hectares on Wednesday morning.

The operation was a success. Heaps of the immature adult swarm pinkish in colour fell dead. In an area estimated about 3,000 acres, more locusts struggled to devastate trees and grass as they struggled for their lives.

Even the cactus trees were weighed down with the locusts among other balanite tree branches that threatened to give way due to the bulging weight of the immature insects.

Residents reported that the swarm crossed over the neighbouring Kenya Turkana County before settling at Naput village, Lobunet parish in Rupa sub-county.

Betty Akol, a Lobunet parish councillor, said the pests settled on the trees along the river, stretching a width of three kilometres on the Moroto-Kaabong security road.

"We are experiencing a lot of destruction of balanite trees that act as vegetables for the Karimojong families.

The locusts that began arriving in the area early July have since destroyed some maize gardens in the Moroto-Loima corridor.

We are only lucky that the locusts do not eat sorghum," Akol said, adding that since there is a lot of the tender balanite leaves, they were concentrating on the trees," Akol said.

The district chairperson of Moroto, Andrew Keem Napaja, is worried that the locusts could threaten the food security in the region, since most people across Karamoja region had just planted crops.

Napaja added that if the swarms persist without proper control, we may lose crops, yet Karamoja has only one season in a year.

Dr Pontiano Nameye, an entomologist working with the ministry of agriculture in the control of desert locusts, described the immature adult insects as voracious eaters that are likely to cause severe damage to the vegetation.

"This stage is destructive as they translate into the yellowish stage to begin laying eggs," he said.

He, however, said the locusts, since their entry into Karamoja, had not caused any damage on food crops, adding that the Government has secured enough logistics to ensure the locust issue is history in the country.

He commended the UPDF, alongside the DLCO-EA aircraft team for battling the locust overnight, saying they had done a tremendous job to stem the spread of the destructive insects.

The UPDF 3rd Division Commander, Brig. Joseph Balikuddembe, recently confirmed that Moroto district was facing a new wave of locust invasion from Kenya.

He said the weather had favoured the control of the locusts restricting the swarms from flying far from Moroto district apart from roosting in Rup sub-county.

"The weather has been instrumental in the fight of locusts in the past weeks,'' Balikuddembe noted adding that is why we have managed to kill them.

He commended the UPDF and the DLCO-EA for the fight that has seen billions of locust swarms destroyed.

According to the Food Agricultural Organisation July 21, 2020 update, the locusts' swarms have declined in the North West mainly in Marsabit county, but continue to be present in Turkana, where aerial and ground control operations are in progress.

However, it is indicated that swarms could migrate northwards to Ethiopia and Sudan via South Sudan.

There is a risk that few swarms may cross the border into north eastern Uganda.