adminFresh outbreaks have been reported at Adare and Dalesfield farms in Shurugwi and Somabula respectively.
In an interview yesterday, Midlands Agritex Officer, Mr Peter Chamisa, said the province had inadequate resources in the form of chemicals and transport to combat the challenge.
He said Plant Protection Research Institute, the major sponsor of Carbaryl 85WP, were giving them only 50kg worth of chemicals to cover the whole province.
Carbaryl 85WP is the recommended chemical for spraying armyworm.
“The armyworm invasion is everywhere in the Midlands. All the districts, save for Mberengwa, have reported cases of army- worm invasion. In the case of Mberengwa, it could be a question of mobility and communication challenges but we suspect our officers there would have contacted us if they had spotted the armyworms.
We are facing challenges in getting adequate chemicals to spray the deadly caterpillars. Our major sponsor, Plant Protection Research Institute, gave us only 50kg of the chemical and all the chemicals were exhausted within a day (yesterday). So this means that we need more than 50kg of chemicals per day. It is, however, difficult to come up with the exact amount of chemicals needed to contain the armyworm menace as the outbreaks are sporadic and spontaneous,” said Mr Chamisa.
The challenge of accessing carbaryly 85WP comes amid concerns that some traditional leaders in Shurugwi were now opting for a more traditional solution to terminate the armyworms.
Mr Chamisa said he learnt from his field officers that some Shurugwi chiefs wanted to conduct rituals in their respective areas to deal with the caterpillars.
“I now hear through our officers in Shurugwi that the chiefs there now want to conduct rituals to contain the deadly caterpillars. We doubt that this will work as it is just a myth. We hope we will receive more supplies of chemicals and distribute them to all affected areas,” he said.
Mr Chamisa appealed to non-governmental organisations that operate in the Midlands to help curb the armyworm through providing transport and chemicals to affected areas.
He said there was need to engage other stakeholders, especially in the agriculture sector, to help curb the armyworm.
“We have since informed the Provincial Administrator, Ms Cecilia Chitiyo, about the armyworm problem. She promised to engage the provincial Civil Protection Unit team so that they could start mobilising resources. Instead of limiting the problem to the Ministry of Agriculture, she is now taking a broader approach,” said Mr Chamisa.
Meanwhile, Shurugwi farmer, Mr Sibangani Mutandavari, who spotted the armyworm at his Adare Farm plot yesterday, said he was disappointed by the Agritex officers when they told him that they could not help him.
He said the armyworm attacked his sorghum crop and was now threatening his cow beans.
“There are so many of these caterpillars at my six-acre plot. I was just checking on the cow bean crop when I came across the armyworm in my sorghum crop. They are now moving towards my cow bean and I am really worried. An Agritex official told me that they could not help me and advised me to buy my own chemical. They had the Carbaryl 85 WP chemical but they told me that it was not enough. I also heard from my colleagues at Dalesfield Farm in Somabula that they spotted the caterpillars in their area yesterday,” said Mr Mutandavari.
The 72-year-old veteran farmer said the high cost of Carbaryl forced him to look for a less expensive alternative chemical and he settled for Fenvalerate 200EC.
He said he had to travel all the way to Gweru for the chemical as there was no reputable shop that sold agricultural chemicals and inputs in his town.
However, Mr Chamisa warned farmers not to experiment with any chemical as it could have detrimental and fatal consequences in the end.
“Please stick to Carbaryl 85WP for the meantime until such a time when we engage experts on which other alternative chemical could be used. There are some chemicals that are dangerous to crops and plants if they are misused,” he said in an earlier interview.
Online Reporter