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Armyworm invasion under control despite 20,000 hectare spread – Ministry

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General News of Tuesday, 11 July 2017

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2017-07-11

Armyworm SpreadHeavily infested crop with armyworms

The Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has assured that although about 20,000 hectares of farm yields have been affected by fall army worms invasion the infestation is under control.

“We are managing the situation and we are on top of the issue” Kwesi Korboe stated.

Speaking to Joy News’ Joseph Gakpo he said there is no need for panic.

The country is once again suffering from an attack by fall armyworms which are still permeating through farm yields in various parts of the country. In April 2017, about 1,400 hectares were attacked by the fall armyworms.

The Agriculture Minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto had said then that “it is under control, we’ve seen them spraying and by the end of the week, all the farms affected would have been sprayed and that will be the end of it.” But by the end of May 2017, an estimated 18,200 hectares of maize farm had been affected by the worms.

In the Assin South District in the Central region, the farms of about 250 farmers with about 4,000 acres of land have been infested.

“I’ve applied chemicals on about 13 different occasions since the invasion but there have been no positive results”, one farmer, whose two acres farm of corn have been destroyed, said.

The District Chief Executive, Derrick Owusu Ambrose told Joy News that “day in day out we see the worms infesting the farm sprayed before”.

He added that a research must be done about the infestation to control the invasion of these worms.

However, Mr Korboe said that the ministry is ‘continuously’ working to ensure that the situation is controlled adding they are sending resources out to affected areas to help curb the situation.

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