Published on :
The concern of cotton farmers in the Kédougou region, in the south-east of the country. The fields have been infected by a new parasite: a “jasside” type insect, qualified as a “stinger-sucker”. According to professionals in the sector, almost two thirds of the estimated production for this campaign would be lost.
With our correspondent in Dakar, Charlotte Idrac
It looks like a small grasshopper, green in color, visible to the naked eye, explains a grower. The insect stings the cotton sheet, who curls up “. The sector is used to parasites, but this one is new, says Hamidou Diao, of the National Federation of Cotton Producers (FNPC)
“At the end of July, we started seeing the attacks. We do not currently have an insecticide product that can stop it. So he took everyone by surprise. We thought we would do 27,000 tons, we risk ending up at 10,000. He screwed up everything. »
This is a blow for the sector, following four years of increased cotton production. The parasite also affects other countries in the region: Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and Burkina Faso, underlines Papa Fata Ndiaye, general manager of the cotton company Sodefitex, the Development and Textile Fibers Company.
« It is a total of 20,500 hectares for Senegal that are impacted. No area is spared. The struggle is primarily national in relation to Isra, which is the research institute in Senegal. We are also working with other producing countries. We hope that in the perspective of the next campaign, we will find a solution to control this parasite. »
In the immediate future, the producers are asking the authorities for aid to repay their campaign credits. On a field visit to the Kédougou region on Monday, the new Minister of Agriculture Aly Ngouille Ndiaye promised state support.
