Deputy Minister George Oduro flanked by some staff of MoFA
DEPUTY Minister of Food and Agriculture, George Oduro has reassured farmers of government’s commitment to battle the crop-eating pest known as the fall armyworm after fresh infestation was reported at some farmlands across the country.
According to him, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), from last year’s experience, has put in place adequate measures to manage the new pest which is becoming difficult to deal with.
Speaking during an interaction with some farmers at Domeabra in the Obuasi East District of the Ashanti Region, Mr. Oduro said large stock of insecticides had been deposited at various district agriculture offices for free distribution to farmers to tackle infested areas.
He explained that the spraying of the insecticides would enable affected crops to recover in order not to erode gains in the agriculture sector, particularly the maize crop.
The fall armyworm is a caterpillar that devours crops, especially the corn plant. The crop pest is said to be a native of North and South America, but it was identified for the first time in Ghana and the rest of Africa, last year.
MoFA officials and agriculture experts are still not sure how the pest got onto the nation’s soil, even though one theory suggests the eggs or the caterpillars themselves might have hitched a ride in some imported produce.
The Deputy Minister said the pest is a danger to government’s Plant for Food and Jobs flagship programme as it targets maize (corn) and other cereal crops and destroys them upon invasion.
He called on farmers, District Chief Executives, assembly members and other concerned Ghanaians to report any fall armyworm infestation in their area to the Agriculture office for immediate attention.
Ashanti Regional Director of Agric, Rev John Manu said 349.1Â hectares of farmland which were infested last year, were recovered after the spraying exercise by staff of the Ministry in the various districts.
“The awareness creation and education were intensified last year and will continue. This helped in bringing the situation under control,” he said adding that no farmer would lose his or her investment if the person timeously reported the infestation.
The Member of Parliament for Obuasi East, Dr Boakye Yiadom, who reported fresh infestation of the fall armyworm in the district to MoFA officials, was full of gratitude to government for the timely intervention.
He stated that farmers cannot be left out in the scheme to ensure food security and provision of agriculture-related employment, hence the importance attached to the fight against the crop-pest invasion.
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi