Crop destroying worms attack Uganda

The Ugandan government on Tuesday announced an outbreak of crop-destroying worms in the east African country.

Vincent Ssempijja, minister of agriculture, while speaking at the launch of the country's food security situation report urged farmers to remain calm as measures are being sought to fight the worms.

"We had prepared early enough and our teams have been deployed to assess the outbreak and define the necessary control actions," Ssempijja said.

According to the state owned New Vision daily, the unknown strain of worms have been identified in at least 20 districts that are known for maize production.

Scientists, according to the paper, are carrying out research on whether the unknown strain is the same as the fall armyworm that has ravaged farms in at least eight African countries.

Armyworms derive their name from the habit of marching in large numbers like an army, as they search for food. The pests eat leaves and stems, leaving only rickety stalks and brown residue as they move from one crop to another.

The armyworms come to Uganda as the country is suffering the effects of a long dry spell that led to crop failure causing a food crisis.

Experts warn that if there is no immediate action, the worms may exacerbate the food crisis as they destroy crops.

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

The agency says 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. Endit