Pests a threat to plant health, food security – FAO

Fildah Gwati

Since summer seasons bring hope for new plant populations, they also present the best conditions for pest breeding, which leaves crops at high risk of being attacked, thereby compromising yields and production targets set by farmers hence the need to religiously protect crops from pests to ensure food security and the availability of raw materials for industry.

In a recent X (formerly Twitter) post, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said: “Only nine percent plant species account for 66 percent of all crop   production, yet plants are threatened by plant pests that cause the loss of 40 percent of all food crops globally thereby protecting plant health is key to safeguarding food security.”

Pests present a major threat to household and national food security, as they mainly attack maize, sorghum and millet – crops that are part of the staple foods basket.

FAO has since revealed its readiness to work with the Government and farmers in strengthening their capacity to respond and ensure sustainable management of this transboundary pest to improve livelihood opportunities and the food security of rural communities.

This requires farmers to regularly scout their fields for pests to detect outbreaks before moving to control them.

“Since we are in December, incidences of pests such as African and Fall armyworm increase, as their breeding season has just started. Late planting means the breeding season coincides with the time when our crop is still young and easily attacked hence farmers must up their pest and disease control especially scouting, which may be increased to three times a week instead of the normal two,” the Agricultural and Rural Development Advisory Services (ARDAS) said then.

Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development migratory pest and biosecurity deputy director Simbarashe Nyamasoka said: “El Nino is associated with an increase in temperatures so the higher the temperatures the faster the rate of reproduction among adult armyworms, hence the need to control them. As a nation we have put up what we call early warning systems where we have more than 50 traps set up across the country. What we need now is for the traps to be monitored and checked for the moth.”

He added that, fall armyworm was a migratory pest, which attacked maize and had the potential to cause yield losses in the range of 8, 3 million to 20, 6 million tonnes a year right across Africa if not controlled.

With climate changing and global trade rising, crop-damaging pests such as fungi and moths have also moved into new territories faster than other wildlife, according to a 2013 report in the journal Nature Climate Change. In the last 50 years, insects have expanded their range by dozens of kilometres a year, scientists say, blaming the movements on climate change. In Africa, a deadly pest called the fall armyworm has invaded large swathes of land, causing major damage to crops.