Namibia state-owned firm says may suspend maize production to control fall armyworms outbreak

WINDHOEK, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Namibia may have to suspend maize production at its national agricultural projects in a bid to control fall army worms outbreak, said Petrus Ugwanga, managing director of state-owned company Agribusdev on Tuesday.

"We are deliberating on issuing a directive to suspend maize production at affected national agricultural projects going into the next season. This will be done as part of efforts to mitigate and potentially eliminate the life cycle of fall army worms," he said.

The fall army worms, mainly detected in the northern part of Namibia has, for two consecutive years, invaded staple crops such as maize, millet and sorghum.

According to Ugwanga, the national agricultural projects have been ravaged by the fall armyworms, incurring major damage.

"It seems the pests will be around for some time; unless intensified interventions such as crop rotation are implemented," said Ugwanga.

Meanwhile, the government has already commenced to plant rotational crops including groundnuts at its national flagship Etunda Irrigation Project in the Omusati Region to rid off the insects, said Ugwanga.

Efforts will also be intensified to complement measures already put in place by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry which include the procurement of registered pesticides and equipment that will be used to trap the worms on a large scale.

"We further plan to scale up efforts and spray affected agricultural projects and surrounding areas from a helicopter instead of manual spraying to tackle the pest at the core and on a larger scale," he said. Enditem