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Sukulwenkosi Dube- Matutu, Plumtree Correspondent
THE fall armyworm which was reported in Matabeleland North, Bulawayo and the Midlands, has spread to Matabeleland South.

The pest was first seen at Moza Irrigation Scheme in Bulilima District last week and has now spread to several wards in the district.

In a Command Agriculture report presented during a District Drought Relief Committee meeting on Thursday in Plumtree, Bulilima District Agriculture and Extension Officer, Mr Peter Masoja, said they identified the pest during a visit to the irrigation scheme on Friday last week.

“On 6 January we visited Moza Irrigation Scheme where we noted that the fall armyworm has started to damage some plots. Pesticides are required urgently for the control of fall armyworm which will cause havoc very soon.

“Farmers are also encouraged to buy pesticides instead of waiting to get them from Command Agriculture,” he said.

Moza Irrigation Scheme chairperson, Mrs Esnathi Ngwenya, said the worm had affected most of the maize crop within the scheme.

She said farmers were now worried about incurring huge losses due to the pest.

“Officers from Agritex visited the irrigation scheme last week and we informed them that there was a strange worm which was eating up our maize crop which is below knee height.

“Several plots within the scheme have been affected and the maize crop that has been spared is the one which was planted earlier and is nearing the tusselling stage,” said Mrs Ngwenya.

She said the worm was brown in colour with yellow stripes.

Bulilima East National House of Assembly Member, Cde Mathias Siqhoza, said he had received reports from villagers on the pest.

Bulilima Farmers’ Association chairperson                                     Mr Obert Sibanda said he had received reports from farmers in three wards that the pest had invaded their area.

“This is a new pest that farmers are not familiar with. The worm attacks the crops as early as they are a week old. We fear that if not controlled the worm will spread into all wards of the district.

“So far I have received reports from Matjinge Ward, Ndolwane and Figtree-Solusi areas but it’s likely                                           that it will spread because that is the nature of pests,” he said.

Mr Sibanda appealed to Government to assist farmers to contain the spread of the pest, saying some farmers did not have the capacity to buy pesticides.

He said Command Agriculture was a great initiative which could go to waste if help was not provided on time.

Matabeleland North provincial Agritex officer, Mr Dumisani Nyoni, recently said in Matabeleland North almost all farmers participating in Command Agriculture have been affected by the fall armyworm. In Bulawayo the fall armyworm was reported about two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Government said it had started distributing Carbaryl 85 Wettable Powder across the country to control the outbreak of the fall armyworm.

Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, department of Plant Protection and Research Institute chief entomologist, Dr Godfrey Chikwenhere, said the pest had 12 cycles and could continue recurring after the first spray. He urged farmers to continue scouting the crop even after spraying.

Dr Chikwenhere said the fall armyworm should be controlled during the early days of its life to reduce the rate of occurrence. He said if left to grow, it would require more chemicals to control and could also become resistant to chemicals.

— @DubeMatutu