By Miriam Mangwaya
A CHIVHU communal farmer has lost his entire head of 12 cattle after spraying them with a wrong dipping chemical.
Taziva Madondo’s cattle died on Monday soon after he had finished spraying them with Diazinon 30 EC, an insecticide for garden use.
Chikomba district veterinary doctor, Tafadzwa Mashawi confirmed the incident.
“I received information that a farmer had sprayed his cattle with a wrong chemical, but I have not yet received finer details from the vet officer who attended the scene,” Mashawi said.
Madondo, of Chirinda village in Chief Chivese’s area, told NewsDay that he purchased the insecticide from a pharmacy in Chivhu intending to kill insects in his fowl run and he assumed that it would also work on cattle ticks.
“Unfortunately, all the cattle reacted negatively soon after I had finished spraying them so I couldn’t do anything to save them. Luckily, I had not yet used it in the fowl run,” he said.
The villager said since he uses cattle for draught power, this farming season could be a difficult one after losing his entire head.
