Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) has launched a fully subsidised seed treatment programme for maize farmers in Nyagatare and Gatsibo districts.

This comes after millipede infestations spread across more than 2,500 hectares of farmland in Eastern Province, threatening production ahead of the next planting season in the country's leading maize-growing region.

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The intervention follows studies by RAB, which identified Nyagatare and Gatsibo as the country&039;s current hotspots for the emerging pest. The surveys found millipede infestations on 1,575 hectares in Nyagatare and 925 hectares in Gatsibo.

John Kayumba, RAB's agriculture officer for Nyagatare and Gatsibo, said the scale of the infestation prompted the government to introduce the fully funded seed treatment programme.

"We identified 1,575 hectares with millipede infestations in Nyagatare and another 925 hectares in Gatsibo. These are the areas where the problem has been confirmed," Kayumba said.

Under the programme, RAB in partnership with the district and sector agronomists will provide chemicals to be used at planting in seed dressing to repell the millipedes. The purchased seeds from agrodealers are always coated against grain weevils and other pests but not millipedes. Therefore, where milepeds were identified seed dressing with imidacroplid is mandatorly.

Kayumba said millipedes have been present in the region for about five years but only recently have they become a serious pest.

"Previously, they were not considered an agricultural pest. We have now observed changes in their behaviour, and they are attacking germinating maize by feeding on young shoots and roots, preventing seedlings from establishing," he said.

The infestation has emerged as a growing challenge for farmers despite increased adoption of modern farming practices.

Antoinette Nyiradende, who grows maize on two hectares in Nyagatare District, said the pest destroyed part of her crop during the previous planting season.

"The millipede attacks the roots and feeds on the germinating seed, preventing the crop from emerging,” Nyiradende said.

"Last season, it destroyed an area of about 30 by 50 metres wide. I normally harvest between 800 kilograms and one tonne from that section, but because of the millipedes I lost the crop," she said.

Besides treating the seed, RAB is encouraging farmers to strengthen integrated pest management by using well-decomposed organic manure and adopting conservation agriculture practices.

"We encourage farmers to use only well-decomposed organic manure because poorly decomposed manure creates favourable conditions for millipedes to multiply. We also advise them to adopt conservation agriculture, including mulching, as part of integrated pest management," Kayumba said.

While mitigating the scale of the pest in the affected areas, officials said that awareness campaigns about prevention are underway in other sectors.

Nyagatare is Rwanda's largest maize-producing district, with annual production estimated at about 150,000 tonnes.