Experts meet over armyworm

MORE than 10 experts from different countries met in Ghana for a three-day workshop on how best to deal with the invasion of the fall armyworm.

The workshop was organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

In a statement yesterday, FAO said the meeting, which ended yesterday, assembled more than 10 experts from Brazil, Argentina, the United States, South Africa, Benin, Uganda, Cameroon and Ghana to build knowledge and share information and collaborate in dealing and managing the fall armyworm.

Fall armyworm has invaded rapidly across many countries in Africa, destroying crops and threatening food security.

The characteristics of the pest has made it difficult to control, especially the moth that are strong flyers, and the fact that they breed at a high rate, while their larvae can feed on a particularly wide range of host plants including maize, sorghum, rice, wheat, sugarcane, cowpeas and vegetable crops.

“The worm is damaging crops, especially maize, across the continent and has the potential to cause significant yield losses,” reads the statement.

The fall armyworm is native to the Americas, where farmers and researchers have been managing and studying it for many years.

According to FAO, fall armyworm was first detected in Central and Western Africa in 2016 (Benin, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, and Togo) and in late 2016 in Southern Africa.

In 2017, it was detected in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and it is expected to continue spreading.