Teso farmers panic as fall armyworms ravage crops
SOROTI– Farmers in the Teso sub-region are counting losses following an invasion of fall armyworms (FAW) pest, which is scientifically known as (Spodoptera Exempta) ravaging thousands of acres of crop fields across the region thus putting millions of people at risk of hunger.
FAW also known as a butterfly is a pest of crops that attacks over 80 varieties of crops including maize, sorghum, sugarcane, cotton, rice, and wheat among others.
It feeds on large numbers of the leaves, tassels, stems and reproductive parts of a plant that is at least two weeks old.
Their damage appears as ragged-edged holes on leaves, tassels and severe feeding may give the appearance of corn that has been damaged by hail.
The most affected districts are Bukedea, Kumi, Ngora, Soroti, Serere and Katakwi, Amuria and Kapelebyong where the worms have reportedly damaged thousands of garden crops in the past two weeks.
Fall armyworms were first spotted in Ngora district following a pest and disease surveillance exercise conducted by the production and marketing department.
The exercise followed reports from farmers about the presence of the strange worms ravaging their crops.
In Ngora district, the most affected villages are Aagu, Orit, Kopelu, Ngora, Kees , and Angod villages.
The sub-counties of Ngariam, Palam and Magoro are the most hit areas in Katakwi district, where an estimated 7000 acres of crops have been damaged by the invasive worms.
Micheal Ilemut, a farmer from Magoro sub-county in Katakwi district said, the worm has in the last one week infested and destroyed the stems and leaves of almost an acre of her maize crops.
Ilemut explained that the damages have left some of the crops withered, while others turned yellowish giving her less hope that they will flourish and produce corn.
According to him, he has been trying to manage the pests by sprinkling his maize crops with ashes mixed with water, however this has yielded no fruits.
He added that the African Armyworms population is very high and has affected almost all his two gardens of maize and three gardens of sorghum.
John Stephen Ariko, the LCII Chairperson Akisim parish in Ngariam sub-county in Katakwi district said, the African armyworms are extremely sluggish, moving only enough to reach another garden after one has been consumed.
According to him, the swarms of African armyworms are spreading to almost every sub county across in the district.
Another farmer by name Moses Omwatum wondered how the pests attacked his maize crop gardens which he said he had maintained very well since the seeds planting period.
Like Ilemut, Omwatum was also applying ashes on the moths of her maize crops with hopes of preventing the pests following advice from a colleague but this has been of no help.
Grace Acham, a farmer of Aagu village in Ngora district told theCooperator that the african armyworms have eaten her only garden of sorghum intended to feed her family of eight people.
“That garden was the only hope for my family,” she said. “I have been buying food for six months following the dry spell that lasted several months”.
Acham lamented that the outbreak of african armyworms at the time crops are germinating has taken them back.
Josephine Anyait, a farmer from Kopelu said, the worms were last seen in their villages in 2016, but had resurfaced.
“The worms have been destroying leafy plants for the last five days,” she said.
According to her, the destruction is happening at a time when they had planned to grow enough crops this season after they lost second season crops to drought which hit the region for the last eight months.
The farmers are now crying out for help to prevent the pest which he says has destroyed almost three acres of his three weeks’ old maize crops in the last two weeks.
James Akoom, the Assistant Agricultural Officer Magoro sub-county in Katakwi district described african armyworms as one of the serious pests that eats cereals and pasture.
“In a number of affected fields, I have inspected, you hardly see grass for livestock to feed on”, he stated.
Akoom, revealed that the fall armyworms normally come during the planting and weeding period.
Meanwhile, Silver Ongom, the Katakwi district production officer was quoted by theCooperator as saying about 20 percent of the households in the district have so far reported the existence of african armyworms in their gardens of majorly cereal crops.
He said, the african armyworms are spread to almost every sub county across the district.
According to him, the invasive worms’ outbreak always follows the dry spell which hit the district for almost five months.
Ongom, also noted that it is not the first time the African fall armyworms are attacking the district.
In a phone interview, the LCV Chairperson Ngora Mike told theCooperator that the african armyworms outbreak has come at a time farmers are planting crops so as to avert the acute food shortages currently being experienced in the region.
According to Odong, the attacks on crops by the fall armyworms adds to the several challenges faced by the community in Teso sub-region.
However, Andrew Oboi, the district agricultural officer Ngora district described fall armyworm as a dangerous crop pest that massively destroys the inner parts of the crops which give them the energy to grow.
Oboi also encouraged farmers to embrace early planting and plant pests’ resistant crops and to carry out routine visits to their gardens to check for pests and diseases.
According to him, pests and diseases have become a challenge to successful crop production, adding that it reduces income and profits for farmers.
Fall armyworm management.
To respond to this global threat and scale-up international efforts to stop and control the spread of FAW worldwide, the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries [MAAIF] is advising farmers to use 100-200 Mls f Cypermethrin 5EC insecticide by mixing it with 20 Liters of water.
Farmers can also deep plough the soil to bury the larvae and the pupae or plough to expose them within the upper soil surface, plant early at onset of rains to avoid peak immigration of adult moths, destroy crop residues by burying or burning as they provide shelter and food to caterpillars
Other control measures include, timely and regularly remove weeds from the crop and destroy the surrounding host vegetation and boosting the crop growth vigor by using optimum fertilizer application.
As the international standards setting body for plant health, the International Plant Protection Convention [IPPC] is called upon to take its part and play a crucial role in implementing the global action to reduce the risk of further introduction of FAW into new territories.
History of [FAW] invasion in Uganda.
The infestation of fall armyworms was 2016 registered in Uganda.
The Food and Agricultural Organization [FAO] report of 2018 says, up to 17.7 million tons of maize could be lost annually due to FAW on the African Continent.
In 2021, fall armyworm outbreak of [FAW] was registered in 14 districts, an invasion that entomologists said is a result of climate change.
Fall Armyworm [FAW] has increasingly spread around the world over the last few years, affecting many countries in Africa, the Near East, Asia and the Pacific.
As a result of its rapid and inexorable spread, the pest soon became a threat to global food security and the livelihoods of millions of smallholder families all over the world.
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