The Department of Agriculture in Kajiado county has reported the emergence of the destructive variegated grasshopper. The threat of desert locust, Lenku said, is real and his government, on the advice of pest experts, is setting up a disaster preparedness plan against the desert locusts and the variegated grasshoppers. Lenku directed the Agriculture department to urgently form a joint coordination team to spearhead the response plan. He said the county coordination team should liaise with the inter-county coordination committees of neighbouring Narok, Makueni, Machakos, Kitui and Taita Taveta counties against the threat of the desert locust. Lenku directed the county coordination team to make a formal request to the Plant Protection Department for pesticides, pesticide protective equipment and other civic education materials.

Source: The Star January 18, 2020 01:52 UTC