KATIMA MULILO: The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform on Wednesday dispatched extension officials to some parts of the Zambezi Region's river field areas, following an outbreak of African migratory red locusts. According to the ministry's spokesperson, Jona Musheko, in an interview with Nampa, the locusts were detected at Lake Liambezi and old Masokotwani, destroying maize crops, with about 10 hectares destroyed last week. He said the locusts were also detected in the Ohangwena Region, on 29 February 2024. Farmers in the surrounding areas of the Kapani, Kanono, Linyanti, Nakabolelwa, Masikili, Ngoma, Isuswa, Loma, Mutikitila, Ibbu, Mahundu, Ngala, Kapani, Chinchimani, Singobeka, Maunga, Sangwali and Oshikunde village have been warned to be on the lookout for locusts and to report any sightings to the constituency offices. Musheko said four teams consisting of extension officers were dispatched on Wednesday to intensify surveillance and spray the affected areas. 'In most of the areas where the locusts were reported, they are still in the hopping stage, which is easy to control, which is why we are in a hurry so we can start spraying because it becomes very challenging when they start flying and they can spread to other reshoots not presently affected,' Musheko said. Source: The Namibia Press Agency