Could bio-warfare be a possibility & a threat that could lead to our undoing?

Until recently when I listened to an inooro TV program, ‘Magetha Smart’, i had not seriously thought about the invasive Persian Mite (a pest that is adversely affecting avocado trees in different parts of the country). The the ever present threat & possibility of bio-warfare had not clicked in my thoughts.

According to the avocados expert who gave insights on the crop and answered questions from the program audience farmers, the pest was identified in Kenya in Nov 2023 but farmers  and agriculture sector interested parties somehow  ignored it until months later when the threat became evidently a real concern.

Fortunately, research work has identified a pesticide ‘sprayable’ underneath the trees leaves because the mite invades the leaves underside leading to the leaves turning yellow and eventually drying up and falling.

The trees flowers and developing fruits also fall of the branches.

Noticeably, the mite seems to be affecting mainly the grafted trees more compared to the ‘traditional’ or indigenous avocado crops.

As observed among other crops, indigenous plants tend to resist pests and diseases better.

From my minor research, a cousin, from Gatanga, an avocados hotbed and major producer, had informed me about an organic pesticide or manure rather that is in use and which is reportedly dissolved in water and later poured at the base of the trees in efforts to fight the pest… …

After listening to the expert, i checked the underside of the leaves of the avocado tree in my neighborhood and was dismayed to see the intensity of the invasion.

In my little knowledge, I had earlier started celebrating when I saw new leaves sprouting. I thought that the infrequent rains and natural processes had eventually cornered the problem – – that time i had not even known that the problem is caused by the pest, the Persian Mite .

I’ll now knowledgeably pursue the threat to hopefully find a solution and save the giant Hass tree in my neighborhood.

Someone can or could possibly imagine the near impossibility and even pain of spraying every  underside of the hundreds of leaves in the huge trees strewn all over Kenya to save the crop… … ……

Then i have wondered why the mite should make an appearance in the country as recently as in 2023 when our country has just recently gained recognition as one of Africa’s greatest and biggest avocados producer….

… Is someone apart from satan and his agents out to wreck havoc in our thriving avocados sector?

Or  does nature probably more often than not connive to produces pests that end up destroying crops and other plants /vegetation meant to be beneficial to mankind and the sustenance of proper, healthy Biodiversity?

Is it possible that the mite has been intentionally created somewhere in a laboratory?

I may not get answers to these questions, but evidently such issues must keep troubling our minds if we really care about our environment and our mother earth