ARMYWORM BATTLE RAGES
DROUGHT killed 20 of his cows, and now a Limpopo farmer is faced with more losses as the fall army worm (FAW) plague continues to ravage his crops.
Ackron Baloyi, 38, from Shivulane village near Giyani in Limpopo, is one of thousands of farmers hit by the plague that is wreaking havoc across countries within the SADC region and posing a serious threat to food security.
The FAW, a foreign pest, affects crops such as maize, sorghum, potatoes and others. It is said to spread through flight, making it impossible to contain in one area.
When Sowetan visited his fields on Saturday, Baloyi opened one of the maize plants revealing a green caterpillar which wiggled its way onto his index finger.
“It destroys maize crops like this. This has affected us badly. We will not get anything this year,” he said.
Baloyi, a father of three, has depended on small-scale commercial farming for the last 10 years to earn a living.
He stands to lose about R60 000 as a result of the maize fields that have been infected.
His okra and onion crops have also been infected and, with the moths flying around the area, there’s bound to be more damage as they lay more eggs.
Baloyi’s losses also include the R5 000 per hectare spent on hiring a tractor and labour to clear out the weeds.
“You can’t even plant more crops now because as long as these butterflies are flying around, they will be on top of everything,” he said.
Baloyi said most farmers in the area were left stranded as they could not even afford the cheapest pesticide on the market.
He said the cheapest costs about R150 per litre, while a farmer would need 20 litres to spray one hectare.
But, Baloyi said, the situation was even worse for his neighbours who practise subsistence farming and depend on the crops for food.
There are about six hectares of communal land shared among eight locals next to Baloyi’s fields. After harvest, they store some of the maize and take some to the milling plant in exchange for maize meal.
One of the locals, Winnie Mabasa, 71, said she had been coming to the fields every day at 6am hoping the situation would change.
“These crops help us to have enough food, but there will be nothing this year,” Mabasa said.
Some of the produce from the crops was kept inside wooden silos which supplements Mabasa’s pension grant, meaning she would not have to buy maize for at least two years to feed her family.
Sarah Makamo, 57, who looks after six family members, also said their storehouses would remain empty. Makamo trudged barefoot through the field to show Sowetan the damage.
“It hurts us because we will not get any food this harvest,” she said.
President of the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa in the province, Tshianeo Mathidi, said commercial farmers were badly affected across the board.
Mathidi said most black farmers in Limpopo planted maize for subsistence, which means the armyworm would have a direct impact on their household food supply.
“For them it means hunger. You cannot help a person by giving them spray. He should be compensated with mielie meal bags because his target is food security and survival,” he said.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said earlier this month an emergency plan to fight pest issues in the country was already in operation.