Dr Owusu Afriyie, Minister of Agric
Maize farmers in the Sunyani Municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region have called for increased government support to stop the destruction of their farms by fall armyworms.
They said their farms were being threatened by the pests and expressed the fear of losing their investments.
Many of them took loans from the banks and would struggle to pay back the monies.
They made the plea during a meeting with the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Evelyn Ama Kumi-Richardson at Yawsan.
Farmers from nine predominant maize growing communities in the area were in attendeance.
They claimed the pests’ invasion substantially reduced their crop production levels last year, and complained that the inadequate supply of chemicals to deal with the attack did not help matters.
Mrs Kumi-Richardson assured them that the assembly would work together with the Municipal Directorate of the Food and Agriculture Ministry (MoFA) to save the situation.
She added that the destruction of food crop farms pose a threat to national food security.
Francis Dwomoh, an agriculture extension agent, advised people whose farms had been destroyed by the worms to report to the municipal office of the MoFA for the supply of chemicals.
This, he said, is to contain the worms and prevent their spread to other farms.
“Some farmers have been spraying their farms with washing powder solution, and this is done early in the morning. This is proving to be effective in wiping out the pests,” Mr Dwomoh added.
– GNA