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The agricultural season has been progressing really well — abundant rains falling across the country and the Command Agriculture initiative showing much promise.

However, farmers are facing a threat of armyworms. Cases have been reported in the northern parts of the country as well as in Matabeleland North Province where the fall armyworm was spotted.

The Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made, pointed this out yesterday but assured farmers that the Government was ready to deal with any outbreaks.

It is critical for farmers to know that there is a number of species of armyworms, many with a special taste for a specific crop although some eat every plant. Fall armyworms which are common in North and South America are brown with distinct yellow stripes. There is also the common armyworm, also known as true armyworm that is native to the same region. Beet armyworms are green with light stripes and are commonly seen in Asia. As its name suggests, the African armyworm is often sighted in Africa.

Adults are grey moths with a small white dot in the centre of each forewing and dark margins on the hind wings.

Armyworms are caterpillar pests that affect grass pastures and cereals, such as maize and wheat. They mostly feed on leaves, but in certain circumstances that can feed on the seed stem, resulting in head loss. The change in the feeding habit is caused by a depletion of green leaf material or crowding. In the event of food depletion and high populations, the caterpillars move on enmasse in search of food elsewhere, hence the name armyworm.

They are most active at night and hide in plants during the day. The armyworm is a strong flier, and disperses long distances every year during summer. In summer, they complete their life cycle in about 30 days, but take longer in other seasons — 60 days in the spring and autumn and up to 90 days in winter. It is one of the most destructive pests.

We look forward to the Government and farmers controlling the armyworm, if detected, before it mars what should be potentially our best season in decades.

Dr Made said farmers should be on alert and always scout for the pest, among other measures of course, doing so early every morning.

He confirmed that some of the maize grown under Command Agriculture in parts of Matabeleland North was affected by the pest, possibly having spread from Zambia.

It is unfortunate that the worms grow in huge numbers soon after a drought as is the case in our country at this stage and attack the early crop, the first green material that they come across after a barren spell.

“So, we are on full alert on that particular aspect,” said Dr Made. “Obviously, once the outbreak is there everybody has got to play their part.

“But the first people who play a part are the farmers and the extension people. It is a notifiable pest and we immediately move in to control as a country. And once we have an armyworm we must also be alert on the locusts as well because these pests and insects are kind of interrelated.”

Insecticides are usually applied to maize to protect against damage by fall armyworm.  Apart from applying insecticides, farmers can adopt cultural practices which are generally cheaper.

The young larvae feed initially on the leaf surface of the crop. As they grow, they feed on edges of leaves. Later on the larvae are reaching full growth and are at their most voracious in terms of food consumption. It is this stage that farmers most frequently notice as complete leaves and tillers may be consumed or removed from the plant. This is why Dr Made said early detection was important.

Indeed an armyworm outbreak is bad news to governments and farmers. Zambia has been grappling with an invasion by the pest and on Monday, President Edgar Lungu’s government declared a national crisis, calling on development partners to assist. This followed his deployment of the army on December 28 to fight the armyworms. Military aircraft are flying pesticides to six of the southern African state’s 10 provinces.

We expect our farmers to be vigilant to quickly detect and report any invasions for appropriate remedial action to be taken.  Being a notifiable pest, which, by law, must be reported to government authorities when discovered, we hope that the Government is ready also with chemicals, staff, equipment and transport to use in controlling the pest if outbreaks are reported.