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Fall armyworms wreak havoc in southern Africa: FAO

Xinhua, February 4, 2017 Adjust font size:

A fall armyworm outbreak is causing considerable damage to crops particularly maize in southern African countries, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Friday.

"If the pest damage aggravates, it could dampen prospects for good crop harvests that is anticipated in the current farming season," FAO said in a statement.

Maize, a staple food in the region, has been the most affected, as well as other cereals including sorghum, millet and wheat, the UN agency said.

Southern Africa has already been reeling from the effects of two consecutive years of El Nino-induced drought that has affected over 40 million people, reduced food availability by 15 percent and caused a cereal deficit of 9 million tonnes.

FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa David Phiri said the situation was constantly evolving.

"The situation remains fluid. Preliminary reports indicate possible presence (of the pest) in Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has positively identified the presence of the pest while the rest are expected to release test results soon," he said.

The Zambian government has already spent 3 million U.S. dollars trying to control the pest that has affected approximately 130,000 hectares of crops.

The full extent of the damage in the country and other affected countries is yet to be established.

The pest, which primarily spreads through wind dispersal and host plant products, is reported to be still active.

The affected countries are also in different stages of assessing the damage to the crops as the outbreaks did not occur simultaneously.

Fall armyworm is a relatively new pest originating from the Americas, whose presence on the African continent was first reported in Sao Tome and Principe around January 2016.

The pest is known to cause extensive crop losses of up to 73 percent depending on existing conditions and is difficult to control with a single type of pesticide, especially when it has reached an advanced larval development stage.

FAO, in partnership with the Southern African Development Committee (SADC) and the International Red Locust Control Organization for Central and Southern Africa (IRLCO-CSA) will hold an emergency regional meeting of key stakeholders from Feb. 14 - 16 in Harare to shape coordinated action in response to threats posed by crop pests.

Phiri said the Harare meeting will discuss the strengthening of surveillance, preparedness and coordinated emergency responses to transboundary crop pests and livestock diseases, including the fall armyworm infestation. Endite