Farmers in Boame, Sool region, say agricultural production has severely declined this year due to insects and disease causing widespread damage to crops in the area.
Mohamud Hirsi Farah, Puntland’s Agriculture and Environment officer in the town, said there are four different pests and diseases destroying the crops, including maggots and other insects eating vegetables and fruits. “The worst affected crops were onions and tomatoes. We are yet to identity the type of that disease,” Farah told Radio Ergo’s local reporter.
A farmer, Faysal Dahir Jama, said he planted onions, salads, peppers and chillies on his three hectares of farmland but insects and disease had destroyed almost everything.
“We don’t have treatment for these diseases,” said Jama. He added that it was not the first time he had lost crops to pests. Farah said the ministry was trying to help local farmers to access the pesticides to protect their crop.
