Armyworm Outbreak Blamed Ultimately on Climate Change
Farmers in Southern Africa, still smarting from an El Nino-induced drought, are battling a new calamity, this time in the form of the fall armyworm, which invaded farms in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Reports suggest that the alien armyworm munched some 2,000 hectares of maize fields in Malawi and infested 124,000 hectares of maize fields in Zambia.
In Zimbabwe, the fall armyworm attacked 10 farming provinces, heightening fears of food shortages in the country. Southern Africa should be worried because the spread capacity of this strange armyworm is very high, says David Phiri of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).
He adds that if not controlled, the fall armyworm can have devastating effects on food security.
In the first report of outbreaks of the fall armyworm in West and Central Africa, entomologist, Georg Goergen, of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), also says the fall armyworm is voracious and, given its polyphagous nature, it is expected that its accidental introduction in the African continent will constitute a lasting threat to several important crops such as maize, millet, sorghum, rice, wheat and sugar cane.
“Feeding damage is also observed on other major agricultural crops such as cowpea, groundnut, potato, soyabean and cotton,” he adds.
FAO/Lesotho/Lechoko Noko