Fall Armyworms
The Plant Protection and Regulatory Service Department under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has started monitoring the situation in farms that were recently reported to have had some levels of fall armyworm infestations in some six districts in the Upper East Region.
Barely one week after farmers in the Bawku West, Talensi, Garu, Builsa South and North and the Kassena-Nankana Municipality had planted their crops in June 2018, some farmers in these areas saw traces of the fall armyworms in their farms, indicating a possible resurface of the worms.
In an interview, Plant Protection and Regulatory Service Officer, Patrick Yensingit, said it was too early to mention the level of devastation because planting had just been done. He noted that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture had begun the distribution of chemicals meant for fighting the worms in the affected districts and municipality.
On Wednesday, July 4, 2018, personnel from the Plant Protection and Regulatory Service Department of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in the Upper East Region were in the Builsa North District to ascertain the success rate of the fight against the fall armyworms in farms that reported the presence of the worms earlier in June 2018.
The personnel also checked if the early distribution and application of the chemicals had resulted in reducing the population of the fall armyworms in other farms.
Meanwhile, Patrick Yensingit in an interview with A1 Radio on July 4, noted that the fall-armyworm situation in the Builsa District was not bad as compared to last year’s and was hopeful that the population of the worms on the affected farms would further reduce after the farmers had done their second spraying of the chemicals.
He observed that many farmers in the districts were yet to start sowing, but was very optimistic that they would start taking measures to either prevent or reduce the rate of infection after sowing their crops.
Mr. Yensingit advised that farmers and members of communities in areas that have already reported cases of the fall armyworms should be vigilant and quickly report any case of infestation they come across in order to get them sprayed as early as possible.
From: Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Bolgatanga