This archive report was first published on 9 January 2020.
On Thursday, Meru County Agriculture department issued a statement claiming that the insects sighted in Meru are green hoppers, not locusts.
According to Carol Mutiga, the Executive in charge of Agriculture, officers dispatched to Ndumuru in Igembe North had established that the insects were not desert locusts.
“After we got the alert we sent a team of agriculture experts who have identified the insects as variegated green grass hoppers at young stage. They appear in groups and feed on euphorbia plants,” she said, adding that the insects had been eliminated by spraying.
Despite this, the department remains on a “very high alert” following reports that the locusts had reached Garba Tula and Merti in Isiolo County from Northern counties of Garissa and Wajir.
Ms Mutiga said the crop protection department of the Ministry of Agriculture had promised to dispatch an aircraft to carry out aerial spraying.
However, Igembe North Deputy County Commissioner Charles Langat downplayed the situation, stating that there was no cause for alarm.
