MILLIPEDES INVADES TEBEKROM, KICKING FARMERS OUT OF BUSINESS

Farmers at Tebekrom have been kicked out of business by millipedes while both residents and farmers surfer itching skin rashes which is reported to have been caused by the invasion of the village by the same Millipedes.

According to residents and farmers at Tebekrom in the Prestea Huni-Valley District of the Western Region, they have been living with these Millipedes in the last five years. But they feel their destructiveness heavily on their habitation and farm produce around this time of the year when they expect bountiful harvest.

The Millipedes which started devouring farms lands some five years ago are now found everywhere in the village even on their beds.

Residents and farmers told the news team on arrival in the village on Thursday morning at about 7.43am that they have lost their Water melon farmers, pineapple farmers, pepper, tomatoes and cassava farms to these Millipedes which have invaded their land leaving them with debt to settle.

Most of the children and the adult living in this village are suffering from itching skin rashes believed to have been caused by these Millipedes. But according to Wikipedia, Millipedes are fairly harmless to human, usually causing only minor effect on skin with the main effect being discoloration.

Millipedes are detritivores and slow moving eating decaying leavings and other dead plant matter but in this case, every fresh harvested food crop from Tebekrom has Millipedes in them making it difficult for them to eat their own harvested food staffs or sell them for money. This they say has compelled them to stay out of business eating more of rice or buy food staffs like yam from other farming communities.

Chief Farmer of TebekromUssif Aiddo Mensah told us that he could not harvest any of his farm produce latter past last year and has also not been able to cultivate any thing this years looking at the way the Millipedes are destroying the crops of other farmers in the area. And called on the government and the ministry and agriculture to immediately fine the solution to this problem before it completely get out of hand and extent to some other villages in the area.

According to them the Prestea Huni-Valley District Assembly always fumigate and disinfect the village around this time of the year to allow the farmers go about their duties but has failed to do so this time and has rather send personnel from the Crop Research Institute in Kumasi to take samples of the Millipedes to their laboratory and see how best they can be eliminated from the village.

We also meet the Community Health Officer for the Huniso Chip ZoneAgnes Ackah at the chief house who told us that she was asked by the Prestea Huni- Valley Director to come and see the kind of rashes the residents complain of and send her report for them to see what the can do about the situation.

It is the plea of the residents and farmers of Tebekrom that a concert solution is found to deal with these Millipedes denying them of their farm produce, money to survive their families and causing them the itching skin rashes we found on most of the resident of Tebekrom.

End…