Story: News Desk

More than 100 hectares of maize fields in the Nabdam District in the Upper East Region have been infested with armyworms, compelling farmers to spray their crops with chemicals.

Mr. Rasheed Imoro, the Nabdam District Director of Agriculture, said there was a need for regular supplies of pesticides to control the spread of the armyworms and encouraged farmers to ensure that the worms were killed.

He noted that armyworm infestation had become endemic in the Nabdam District and other parts of the country since 2017, but that there was no cause for alarm, as measures had been put in place to combat the menace.

Mr. Imoro was speaking to the media  at Zanlerigu, where he inspected some of the affected farms.

“Extension officers cannot possibly locate every single farm in the district, so it is possible that some affected farms have not been brought to the attention of the department,” he said.

He reiterated the destructive effects of the armyworm invasion and dispelled a media report that he had denied the invasion of the pests.

The invasion of armyworms on some farms in the Nabdam District that were destroying maize crops and some concerns raised by farmers on July 18, but some media reports emerged a day later to suggest otherwise.

Mr. Imoro said, “If I say in one breath that some farms have been affected but the situation is under control, does that suggest that there are no armyworms, especially when it is not possible to locate every single farm? I think sometimes people take headlines of stories out of proportion.”

Mr. Francis Aberese, an Agricultural Extension Officer responsible for the Asonge and Gane areas, who toured some of the farms at Zanlerigu-Gane with the GNA, admitted that the situation was serious and needed urgent attention.

“I can estimate that this maize farm we have toured is about three acres, and as we have all seen, it is a very serious case that needs urgent attention before it escalates to other places,” he noted.

He handed over some chemicals to the farmers to spray on their crops and said that more pesticides would be distributed to cover all of the affected farms.