Northern farmers are facing financial devastation as armyworms ravage their fields and destroy crops, leaving families with little hope for the harvest.

Crop farmers fear widespread food shortages as the worms eat all grass and crops in their way.

Ompundja constituency councillor Adolf Uunona yesterday said crop farmers from four villages reported the outbreak to his office both last and this week.

“The worms are a lot and they eat crops such as millet, maize, sorghum and other staple crops. They also consume grass meant for animals,” Uunona said.

He said those who reported the outbreak to his office are from the Enguwantale, Onamavo, Onathinge and Oshipumbu Shomugongo villages.

“We have made arrangements with Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform officials to spray the affected areas.

I urge everyone who happens to see the worms in the fields to report it to my office,” Uunona said.

Omusati region’s Okalongo constituency councillor, Lauretius Iipinge, yesterday said the worms were also seen at Omufituwonyama village in his constituency.

However, he said only two households from this village have reported the outbreak to his office.

“They said it only eats at night but they don’t see it during the day. We have informed officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform to trace it and investigate,” Iipinge said.

Ileni Nandjato, from Ekolanaambo village in the Ondangwa Rural constituency, is one of the farmers whose crops have been destroyed by the worms. Nandjato says the worms destroyed one hectare of his field.

“It’s very devastating. It has destroyed the entire hectare.

We saw it at the beginning of last week. We called the ministry of agriculture and they came to inspect it but they did not contain it,” he says.

Nandjato says the last time his village saw these types of worms was between 2008 and 2009.

Oshakati East constituency councillor Abner Shikongo says residents of three villages, Omeege, Iikuku and Oshakati shaPinehas, reported the presence of the worms in their crop fields.

He says the matter was reported to the directorate of agriculture, water and land reform at Ongwediva last Friday. Shikongo says the officials sprayed the worms on Sunday.

“As we speak, no single report has been made to my office,” Shikongo says.

According to him, the worms were also reported in other constituencies in the region such as Okatyali and Ongwediva.

This brings the number of the affected constituencies in the Oshana region to five.

Meanwhile, in the Zambezi region, the ministry has trained about 51 farmers to safely spray their armyworm-infested crop fields.

Farmers at the Sesheke, Kongola, and Choi areas have reported not-so-severe infestations of armyworms in their maize fields, agriculture ministry spokesperson Simon Nghipandulwa said yesterday.

He told The Namibian the fall armyworms were found in isolated patches within maize, sorghum, and pearl millet fields.

“Additionally, some damage was observed on leaves of bird palm trees, but the overall damage was not widespread,” he said.

According to Nghipandulwa, they thought it would be more effective if the farmers themselves were provided with training on the use of pesticides.

“The training covered essential aspects such as mixing pesticides, appropriate application times, first aid treatment, proper disposal of pesticide containers, and the safe storage of pesticides.

Furthermore, practical demonstrations were held on how to use a knapsack sprayer,” he said.

He added that the 33 women and 18 men were supplied with pesticides for their fields, with quantities ranging from 30ml to 50ml depending on the size of the farmers’ land.

“Similarly, these resources, both in terms of pesticide and human capacity, can be mobilised relatively quickly to respond to outbreaks in other regions, should the need arise,” Nghipandulwa said.

He implored farmers to be on the lookout for pests and use traditional pest control methods such as ash, soil, and hand-picking pests before resorting to pesticide use.

“This community-level involvement is essential to complement the more formal pest control strategies, such as pesticide application, and ensuring that infestations are detected early and addressed promptly before they can cause significant crop damage,” Nghipandulwa said.

He said in the long term, the line ministry will focus on developing and promoting more sustainable agricultural practices that reduce the likelihood of pest outbreaks.

Source - https://www.namibian.com.na