MZUZU-(MaraviPost)-Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development says it is doing everything possible to combat armyworms which have affected a lot of crops in the country.
According to officials in the ministry, at least 342 thousand hectares of crops have been damaged, a situation which is more likely to affect about 669 farming households from the districts of Mulanje, Chikwawa, Machinga, Neno, Balaka and Nsanje as the most hit areas.
Spokesperson in the ministry, Gracious Lungu, said 320, 269 hectares of maize, 18, 922 hectares of sorghums and 2, 841 hectares of Millet have, so far, been affected by the pests.
“As of last Friday, around 9 thousand litres of pesticides were already spreading fields of around 96 thousand hectares. So, it means that still more the ministry is still assessing a lot in making sure that farmers are giving us reports timely and we are also coming timely to help in the way they can mitigate further spread of the pests.
“Not only that, the ministry currently is also procuring around 24 thousand litres of another pesticide so that if the the trend of expectations continue to go up, then still delivery will be considered across all districts in the country,” Lungu said.
In the past years, farmers across the country have bemoaned low crop production level due to emergence of strange pests known as fall army worms which extensively damage their crops.
