Fresh army worm outbreak hits northern Namibia

THE outbreak of the fall and African armyworm has adversely affected northern and eastern Namibia and destroyed several hectares of farmland.

The areas affected are the Zambezi, Oshana, and Oshikoto regions.

The armyworm was first reported on 6 January 2020 in areas such as Sibbinda, Kongola, Ngoma, Bukalo, Itomba, Nsundwa, Kasheshe and Musanga in the Zambezi region.

Agriculture executive director Percy Misika said following these reports, his ministry confirmed that the armyworm had adversely affected several hectares of farmland.

“The crops in these areas are at different growth stages – from germination, vegetative to flowering stages, which are highly susceptible to the fall army worm (FAW) and African worm,” Misika noted.

According to the executive director, FAW is a pervasive agricultural pest that is native to South and Central America. The pest worked its way across Africa, with its first entrance in 2016 being West Africa (Nigeria), and then made its way to south of the Sahara and into Namibia during the 2016/2017 cropping season.

“The FAW has spread quickly due to its short reproductive cycle and ability to travel long distances during its adult (moth) stage. Its lifespan from egg to larva to moth lasts from one to three months. It is during the larval stage that it inflicts the most crop damage,” said the executive director.

He added that controlling FAW is a challenge because it reproduces fast and in larger numbers. The pest can also migrate long distances, hiding within the growing leaves and is resistant to several pesticides.

Misika said regions with stocks of pesticides have been directed to start the spraying programme with immediate effect to contain the pests in areas where they have been reported.

“In addition, all the crop-growing regions were directed to intensify awareness campaigns through local radio services to educate the farmers on the identification, ecology, and control of the pest. The ministry will continue with surveillance and using pheromone traps in areas, which have not yet reported the pest, to ensure timely control of the FAW and African armyworm outbreak,” he said.

The Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU) president, Jason Emvula, says it is unfortunate that there is a FAW outbreak but farmers need to persevere and hope for good rains to help rid the affected regions of these worms. He noted that heavy rains cause the worm outbreak. “It is very unfortunate that we have to go through such situations and, as a union, we are disturbed by that, especially during this time when we are supposed to be recovering from the onslaught of the drought. This is really affecting the farmers negatively, diminishing all the plant material meant for livestock consumption. We just hope more rains fall and the worms disappear in the ground, which is a natural way of getting rid of them as well,” he said.

He added that farmers needed to be tolerant, urging those who are able to move their livestock to areas that are not affected, to do so.

The union president further stated that he was informed of another pest outbreak in the area of Tsumeb and beyond.

“Although it is a smaller worm, the damage is huge, especially when looking at farms along Oshivolo, which have been severely affected,” Emvula noted.