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| Army Worms eating grass |
By Paul Shalala
Zambia’s President
Edgar Lungu has deployed the Airforce to join in the fight against army worms
which have so far attacked maize fields in six of country’s 10 provinces.
Army Worms attack in
their thousands and they eat and destroy any vegetation on their way.
The creatures have
wrecked havoc in maize fields.
Maize is Zambia’s
staple crop which millions of citizens eat on a daily basis.
According to a
statement by President Lungu’s press aide Amos Chanda, the head of state has
directed the Zambia Air force, the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit and
the Ministry of Agriculture to curb the spread of army worms.
“The Zambia Air Force
has since began to airlift chemicals to Ndola on the Copperbelt, Chinsali in Muchinga
Province, Kasama in Northern Province and Chipata in Eastern Province. The
District Agriculture Coordinators for Lusaka, Luapula and North Western
Provinces have already collected the chemicals,” stated Mr Chanda.
He revealed that the
President had directed that the chemicals that were purchased under emergency
operations should be distributed to all parts of the country.
“The President is
concerned that if the outbreak of the worms is not controlled speedily, the crop
yield for 2016/2017 may negatively be affected. He has assured farmers that all
provinces will receive the chemicals,” he stated.
The army worms were
first spotted in Kitwe District on the Copperbelt last month.
Within two weeks, the
worms spread to the whole district and by last week they had destroyed over
300,000 hectares of maize.
This forced the
district administration in the area to buy and distribute cyclone and
nimbecidine to farmers to help them halt the spread of the army worms by
spraying it in the fields.
Last week, Agriculture
permanent Secretary Julius Shawa confirmed that nine of the 10 districts on the
Copperbelt had already been invaded by the army worms.
“Farmers who are
suspicious of any creatures in their maize fields must report to the nearest
agricultural office. Those who are sure its army worms, please buy cypermethrin
at any nearest agro shop and spray,” said Mr Shawa.
Army worms were first
reported in several parts of Zambia in 2013.
That time, they
destroyed maize fields and left farmers with losses.
Since the directive
was made yesterday, the Zambia Air Force has continued flying the chemicals to
various provinces.
The allocation for the
Copperbelt landed in Ndola yesterday and today, Provincial Minister Bowman
Lusambo is physically distributing the chemicals to Lufwanyama, Mpongwe and
Kalulushi Districts.
