BUJUMBURA July 7th (ABP) – Rice farmers in the Rukaramu perimeter in Mutimbuzi commune, Bujumbura province (western Burundi) under the supervision of the Regional Development Company of Imbo (SRDI) report a disease known as yellow variegation who attacked their rice fields in recent days and do not yet know which way to turn. Some of them go so far as to suggest that the rice be pulled up to be replaced by tomatoes, a check by ABP revealed this on Wednesday.
Contacted for more information, the director in charge of rice supervision at SRDI, Mr. Jean Kennedy Samaniro, indicated that the company is aware of this disease which is not, moreover, new, indicating that it is a viral disease called yellow variegation.
At the Rukaramu perimeter, he continued, this disease has broken out, certain fields have been attacked and we are in the process of combating it by popularizing the control methods to rice growers, mainly the application of insecticides against vectors that transmit this disease.
The director in charge of rice supervision recommended that farmers follow the advice given to them by the agronomists in their area. Rice farmers are called upon to weed their fields in good time, to apply insecticides that fight against the vectors of that disease, but also to use all the recommended cultivation techniques.