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Sembabule, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Pastoralists in Sembabule district have resorted using a concoction of chemicals to fight resistant ticks.
Farmers in the cattle corridor have for many years been grappling with highly resistant Ticks that are no longer responding to synthetic pyrethroids that are supposed to naturally kill the ticks.
The farmers are spraying their animals with high concentrations of chemical mixtures that include pests and insecticides, acaricides and other weed-killers to invent own toxic concoctions that can suppress the ticks.
Robert Tumwebaze, the Chairperson of Miryango L.C1 in Lwensankara parish, Mijwala Sub County is among the farmers that are mixing a range of pesticides to spray their livestock.
He says they resorted to using rudimentary approaches after failing to access the appropriate acaricides that would kill the ticks on local market. Some of the types of pesticides that are being mixed include Ambush, Rocket, Dudu Acelamectin, used pesticides for killings leaf-miners and beetles in plants, Carbofuran among other toxic chemicals.
Patrick Nkalubo, another cattle farmer in Ntuusi Sub County has decried that resistant tick is apparently one of the biggest challenges threatening the livestock industry. Nkalubo has asked government to directly take up the importation of Acaricides to eliminate fake products on the market.
Doctor Emmanuel Kalungi Kawoya, the Sembabule District Production Officer says they are already registering adverse effects from the use of these highly toxic chemical concoctions. He explains that they have registered several cases of animals losing sight and developing strange skins diseases, as well to some individuals who get contact to the chemicals while spraying.
Dr Kawooya has strongly advised the farmers to desist from use of any concocted chemicals for the safety of their animals and lives.
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What should we use to get rid of ticks in cattle