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Farmers are living in fear of having their crops and pastures destroyed by the armyworm, which has invaded most districts across provinces.
Cases of armyworm invasions have been reported in Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, the Midlands and parts of Mashonaland.
In an interview with Chronicle on Wednesday Sen Ndlovu said reports on the outbreak of the armyworm across the country were disturbing.
He said the caterpillars were likely to affect the farmers’ yields if control measures were delayed.
“We are very concerned about the outbreak of the armyworm especially here in Insiza. The insects are wrecking havoc in the fields and farmers are in trouble.
“It seems the problem is nationwide, but surprisingly nobody from the relevant public institutions has bothered to warn the farmers about this on time,” said the senator for Insiza constituency.
“Farmers are complaining all over, but the intervention by our Agritex officers is very slow. A lot of damage is suffered, but we continue to delay.”
He said Agritex officers should be on the ground working closely with the communities and warn them about the outbreak.
“I understand there are boom sprays that came from Harare for use in fighting the armyworm, but I am told that they are still kept at Esigodini. If we delay there will be more damage in the fields.
“While there could be resource constraints Agritex officers should at least warn farmers and encourage them to make individual efforts to control the armyworm,” said Sen Ndlovu.
Comment could not be obtained from Matabeleland South provincial Agritex officer Mr Bernard Sibanda whose office line continuously rang unanswered.
However, on Tuesday the provincial agronomist Mr Innocent Nyathi said the Agritex Department was not fully capacited to effectively deal with the armyworm.
He said the province was expecting a team from head office in Harare to come with chemicals.
Matabeleland North Governor Thokozile Mathuthu also said her province has not been spared by the armyworm invasion.
She said teams had been set up in the province to control the invasion.
“We have teams that are working with farmers in all the seven districts to control the armyworm. There is however, a problem of fuel,” she said.
Online Reporter