By Daniel Itai.
Gobabis, Namibia. (News of The South) – Farmers in the Aminuis area of the Omaheke Region are experiencing an alleged armyworm outbreak which is rapidly feeding on fragile crops.
The Agriculture ministry confirmed it was aware aware of the outbreak, and had deployed a team to the region to investigate the issue.
Deputy director of Plant Health, Margaret Matengu, said they were still assessing the issue, “we are monitoring the situation on the ground, a team from the ministry has been deployed to investigate the situation.”
However, Joseph Hailwa acting executive director of the Agriculture ministry said the worms were not armyworms but rather acacia worms.
Last year, an outbreak of the armyworm in the Zambezi region destroyed almost 100 hectares of crops.
In the 2016/17 cropping season, approximately 50 000 hectares of maize and millet were damaged by the pest, which adversely affected 27 000 households.
Comments
About Author
