adminRecently, the armyworm was reported to have invaded crops and pastures in Midlands while the attack by these caterpillars had also been experienced in Matabeleland North and some parts of Mashonaland.
In an interview yesterday, the Matabeleland South Provincial Agronomist Mr Innocent Nyathi said following the recent armyworm invasions in other provinces, Matabeleland South Province has always been on the alert of similar invasions.
He said the prevalence of the armyworms was first detected last week in some parts of Matabeleland South Province such as Insiza, Matobo, Mangwe, Bulilima and Umzingwane Districts. Of late, the armyworm has also invaded some parts of Gwanda District.
Beitbridge remains the only district in the province where the armyworms has not been detected.
“We have never experienced an outbreak of armyworm in Matabeleland South Province although we alerted our farmers to be on the guard after we heard reports of the armyworm attack in Matabeleland North and Midlands Provinces. Although frantic efforts have been made to control the armyworm, the blow has been too hard on us and we are expecting a team from our head office in Harare to come with chemicals to control the spread of these caterpillars,” said Mr Nyathi.
He said a chemical called Carbaryl 85WP would be used to spray the affected areas where livestock had to be kept away, as the chemical is poisonous to livestock.
Mr Nyathi said livestock had to be kept away from sprayed areas for a window period of two weeks before cattle can be grazed on that land.
“The challenge is that at the moment there is a shortage of pastures meaning that it would be difficult for some farmers to keep their cattle away from sprayed pastures. However, we encourage farmers to work together with us in the control of the outbreak and feed their cattle with supplementary feeds during the spraying period,” he said.
Mr Nyathi said Matobo District, especially the northern part of the district, was the most affected where 480 hectares of land have been destroyed by the army worm followed by Bulilima with 48hectares of land affected.
In Insiza District 30 hectares of land have been attacked while 10hectares in Mangwe was destroyed and two hectares were destroyed in Gwanda District.
“We will try to vigorously address this problem before it spreads to other areas and we urge farmers to quantify the area under attack so that we do not underestimate the requirement of chemicals we shall need to contain the outbreak,” said Mr Nyathi.
He said although the armyworm outbreak would negatively impact on the crop yields, the damage caused by the caterpillars was not alarming, as everything is under control.
Mr Nyathi said they were also working with well-wishers and the Department of Home Affairs to control the outbreak.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter