Accra, June 14, 2017//- Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) says it is working feverishly to contain the spread of the destructive fall armyworms in the country.
To this end, over 276,000 hectares capacity chemicals have been disbursed so far, more are being disbursed as and when the orders come, Ridwan Issah Alhassan, the Press Secretary to the Minister of Food and Agriculture disclosed this to African Eye Report in an interview in Accra.
He added that the Ministry is currently embarking on mass spraying exercise in areas affected by the invasion of the pests.
The exercise, according to Mr Alhassan is being coordinated by a National Taskforce inaugurated by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, some few weeks ago.
The Taskforce is made up of institutions such as the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Department for International Development (UK).
Mr Alhassan was emphatic that the current monitoring and surveillance being taken by the taskforce and the ministry , awareness creation through traditional and non-traditional media, formation of spraying gangs across the country to search and kill would bring the armyworm outbreak into control.
He stated that the farmers are also being educated to know how to detect the worms once they invade their farms.
“The infestation has occurred in every part of the country. However, the effects vary from district to district, farm to farm”, Kwesi Kroboe USAID embedded advisor to MoFA said.
He explained that total hectares can’t be determined now because data are still being collected, also some farmers under or over estimate the destruction.
“Infestation does not necessarily mean destruction, there is high percent chance of recovery with the application of chemicals.
The fall armyworm, a recent interloper in Africa widely prevalent in the Americas attacks more than 80 different plant species, including maize, a major food staple in sub-Saharan Africa on which more than 200 million people depend.
So far, a number of African countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya are battling the pests.
According to the Agric ministry, last year, the armyworms destroyed 4,500 hectares of farmlands in Ghana. Since March this year, the pests have destroyed more than 1,370 hectares of maize, cowpea and cocoa farms. The Brong Ahafo, Ashanti and Western Regions are the most affected areas.
African Eye Report
