Farmers demand investigation of ‘spoiled crops’ in Central Darfur

Farmers of Azum locality in Central Darfur state, whose crops were spoiled by pesticides sprayed by the state’s Ministry of Agriculture on their farmlands, demand an investigation into the damage. On Sunday, a committee formed by affected farmers of Wadi Azum handed the Ministry of Agriculture and representatives of Unamid a memorandum in which they reported that ​​about 1,300 acres planted with sorghum, millet, peanuts, okra, tomatoes, and other crops, have been spoiled by the pesticides. “The memorandum called for the formation of a fact-finding committee of officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, organisations, and affected farmers. We also insist on being compensated,” the coordinator of the farmers’ committee told Radio Dabanga. The director general of the Ministry’s Plant Protection unit, Badreldin Yousef Jibril Suleiman, strongly denied that the unit had sprayed damaging pesticides. “This allegation is far from the truth,” he stressed. File photo: A woman tending her crops in Darfur