Kenya warns of apple snail threat to rice cultivation

Published 2021년 4월 1일

Tridge summary

An invasive apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata, has been discovered in Kenya, causing damage in rice fields. The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) is assessing the risk, particularly in light of the snail's impact in Asia and Europe. The snail was initially spotted in the Mwea irrigation area, a major rice cultivation region. To manage the spread, authorities plan to train farmers, inform the public, construct barriers, use mechanical methods, and implement community management schemes.

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Original content

The Kenyan scientific world is sounding the alarm: an invasive snail - the apple snail or Pomacea canaliculata - which is wreaking havoc in rice fields has been discovered in the country. The Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) underlines the very negative impact it has in Asia and the need to assess the risk for Africa and implement appropriate measures. That said, the risk is known. In Europe, the alarm bells were sounded in 2018, the mollusk threatening Catalan rice in Spain. The Catalan Food Research and Technology Institute (IRTA) then found that sea water, salt water, was a remedy. "In one area in particular, it can be more economical, more efficient and more environmentally friendly to use salt water by flooding the rice fields with sea water," said the agronomist of the Institute, Marie Del Mar Català to Euronews. Coming back to Kenya, scientific authorities are particularly concerned because the snail was first detected in the Mwea irrigation area in the ...

Source: Commodafrica