Farmers urged to contain army worm

FARMERS in Matabeleland North have been urged to spray their crops regularly following an outbreak of fall army worm in the province.

The Provincial Agriculture Extension Officer, Mr Dumisani Nyoni, said failure to heed the advice may result in crops getting destroyed by the pest.

“Last season all districts were affected with varying levels of intensity with peri-urban Bulawayo, Umguza and Bubi as the most affected while in other districts isolated areas were affected”, said Mr Nyoni.

He said this farming season, there have been reports of the outbreak in all districts with Umguza, Bubi and peri-urban Bulawayo being the most affected.

“As a department we have been training farmers to identify, scout and deal with the pest which is very essential as the worm is a threat to food security”, said Mr Nyoni.

He said farmers should know the varying stages of growth of the army worm as different methods are employed to deal with the pest at various stages in its life cycle.

“Farmers should be able to identify the eggs and crush them before they hatch into larvae and when it reaches the larvae stage spraying is inevitable to destroy the worm,” said Mr Nyoni.

He urged farmers to contain the pest before it reaches maturity as it is difficult to control after maturity.

“It takes 34 days for the worm to grow into a moth therefore farmers should regularly check their crops and take immediate action where necessary. As a department we have put some fly tapes in other areas and if many moths are caught that indicates an outbreak of the fall army worm.

“The department is facing problems where farmers cannot afford to purchase pesticides that are very expensive and mainly available in towns and also due to the erratic rainfall experienced farmers tend to spend more time cultivating rather than monitoring their crops,” said Mr Nyoni. — @YUshamba