Charles Kimani
The onset of rains marks the beginning of a busy calendar for farmers and this year is no exception despite the poor rainfall distribution. For Maximum yields, farmers should remain vigilant and practice good agronomy practices for both plant and animals. In this issue of TOF, we feature some of the common challenges that farmers are likely to face in the coming month.
Disease outbreaks are common after the rainy season as rains present a conducive environment for the multiplication of insect vectors. The following are the common diseases affecting cattle, poultry, and crops during and after wet seasons.
Cattle Diseases
Lumpy Skin Disease
Lumpy Skin Disease is an infectious viral disease that is spread by biting insects and ticks. The key symptom for the disease is bumps on the skin of infected animals and loss of appetite. The disease can be confused with sheep and goat pox and farmers should not under any circumstance self-diagnose the animal. To control the disease farmers should maintain a high standard of cleanliness to deter biting flies. As a viral disease, it has no cure and as a preventive measure, farmers should engage veterinary officers to advise them on vaccination.
Rift Valley Fever (RVF)
Rift Valley fever is a zoonotic disease, which affects humans, ruminants and camels.it is transmitted from sick to healthy animals and humans through mosquito bites. The disease is prevalent in the months succeeding the rainy season as stagnant water provide a breeding ground for Mosquitoes. The disease is controlled by the Management of Mosquitoes by draining stagnant water and clearing bushes around animal pens.
Poultry Diseases
Newcastle Disease
In this season, there is a likelihood that poultry farmers will deal with the dreaded Newcastle disease. Farmers need to look out for the following signs: Gasping, coughing, sneezing, nervous signs, depression, lack of appetite, muscular tremors, drooping wings, twisting of head and neck, circling, swelling of the tissues around the eyes and neck, paralysis of wings and legs, greenish, watery diarrhea. Birds may also look tired and dull. The disease spreads through direct contact with infected birds, droppings, nasal discharge, contaminated food, water, feeding equipment and even human clothing. The disease has no cure and vaccinating your birds against it when chicks are 2-3 weeks old and then after every 6 weeks is key to its control. Vaccines are available in agrovets. You also need to take other precautionary measures; isolate those birds with such symptoms from the healthy ones as quickly as possible, clean and disinfect your poultry house and all feeding and water equipment, isolate and vaccinate new birds before mixing with the old flock. If the problem had just set in and affected most of your flock. Kill all the sick birds and leave the house empty for four months to give it time for the viruses to die. For more information contact your nearest agricultural officer.
Plant Diseases
Fall Armyworm
Fall Armyworm is an insect pest that attacks more than eighty varieties of crops but primarily attacks maize. Fall armyworm larvae attack maize plants at all stages. When the larvae feed on young maize plants, they can kill the growing plant and as a result, no new leaves or cobs will develop. In older maize plants, the larvae create tunnels into the cob and feed on developing seeds. Fall armyworm can be physically identified by spotting its egg masses, larvae, pupae, or moths, or it can be identified by the damage caused by the larvae.
There are various ways that farmers can control the pest. For small scale farmers, the following are simple mechanical ways that they can use to control the pest.
• Crushing egg masses
• Handpicking and crushing larvae, handpicking and drowning larvae in soapy water, or handpicking and feeding larvae to chicken.
• Pouring wood ash, soil, sand or chilli pepper down the maize whorl to kill larvae
• Use of sugary sprays, oil or lard, ‘fish soup’ or other material to attract ants and wasps to the maize plants, which also find and eat the Fall armyworm larvae.
- Some biopesticides such as Stop gel have been proven to reduce Fall army worm populations significantly.
Hygiene and vigilance are key
As you can tell from some of the diseases we have just mentioned, farmers need to maintain a high level of cleanliness and sanitation. Dirty and moist habitats are breeding grounds for pests and by ensuring simple hygiene farmers will avoid a lot of losses brought by pests. We urge farmers to remain vigilant and monitor their crops and livestock as to notice any slight change that may affect production.