A
total area of 1,273.6 hectors of farmlands have been attacked by the Army worm.
According to the Regional Director of MOFA, Reverend John Manu, about 993
hectors of crops have been sprayed, 842 hectors recovered and 178 hectors
destroyed.
Rev
Manu made the disclosure at a day’s training workshop at Bazua in the Bawku
Municipality, dubbed “the life cycle of a fall Army worm”.
In
attendance were 86 farmers drawn from Bawku and its adjoining communities. The workshop was organized by the Savanna
Agricultural research Institute SARI, in collaboration with MOFA and Ariku
Farms, runner up of the 2016 National Best Farmer Awards winner.
Participants
were taken through the various developmental stages of the life cycle of a fall
Army worm, how to identify it from the egg, the larvae through to the
destructive caterpillar stage to its fully grown butterfly adulthood.
According
to the facilitator of the workshop Dr. Francis Kusi, an Entomologist, the
devastating nature of the pest cannot be underestimated.
As
a result, Aliens for Green Revolution in Africa AGRA and SARI together with
Feed the Future Innovation for Climate Resilience Cow pea Project and legume
Innovation Love Project LILP pulled resources together to acquire five
Pheromone Traps, to sample the pest invasion in the affected areas in the three
northern regions.
He
explained that the Pheromone Traps, which contain some chemicals are placed at
vantage points to trap all flying insects including the army worm for later
sampling.
This,
he added, forms part of their contribution to support the National Task force
formed to fight the fall army worm invasion in the country.
He
said the pupation stage takes between 1-2 weeks before the worm emerges, and it
breeds so fast that spotting it in an area needs swift response and urged
farmers to be vigilant in monitoring their farms daily in order to report to
the Agriculture Extension Officers, AEA, in their areas for attention.
Dr.
Kusi indicated that, at the first star larvae detection, the farmer should
spray in four days interval.
He
further revealed that the pest lays between 150 -200 eggs a day and it takes
about 4 days to hatch.
This
he added translate to about 2000 eggs during the pest productive life span of
two weeks before dying.
Dr.
Kusi explained that it is easy controlling the pest at early detection, than
later days because at the caterpillar stage, it enters into the heart of the
maize plant.
At
that stage, not even all the required chemical can easily kill the pest. In his presentation at the workshop, the
Regional Director of MOFA Reverend Manu indicated that government has provided
free pesticides for farmers for onward distribution to the various districts,
to help fight the fall army worm.
He
added that a team of task force have been formed in the various districts to
assist the agricultural Extension Agents AEAs.
He
further advised the farmers to as a matter of urgency report any incident to
the task force for assistance If Ghana must forged ahead in her quest to achieve
food security, then all of us must learn our support to the laudable policy of
the government to bring about the needed results.
GBC END
GBC END
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