ARMY WORMS INVADE MAIZE FIELDS IN LOWVELD

NGCINA – It appears nothing seems to be going well for maize farmers in the Lowveld.  

Just recently, vast tracts of maize fields in the region, which is characteristically dry and hot, were destroyed due too much sunshine and inadequate rainfall.
And now the maize fields which survived have been invaded by army worms, which are eating the leaves and destroying the cobs.

The affected farmers are based in areas including; Ngcina, Mpolonjeni, KaShoba, Ndzangu and Magwanyane. However, the Ministry of Agriculture said the worms have also been spotted in other places across the country.
In the aforementioned areas, the army worms were spotted in maize fields following the recent rains which swept across most parts of the country.

According to the maize farmers, the worms feed on the leaves of the maize plant, thus stunting the plant’s growth. They also attack the cobs and further destroy the grains, said other farmers.
Female farmer Thandi Mziyako of Ngcina, said she was shocked when she discovered that the leaves of the maize plants in her field were peppered with holes.

She said at first, she assumed that a particular chemical had been sprinkled on the maize plants but she later discovered some army worms.
“The worms first attacked a few maize plants but after a while, the whole maize field was attacked,” she stated.

Her husband Stanford Mziyako, who is also a prominent farmer in the area, said the worms were peculiar because they do not only attack the cobs but also the cause the maize plant to wither by destroying the leaves.
“We grew up knowing worms which attacked the cobs but these ones attack the whole maize plant and if you do not apply pesticides, they can destroy the whole field,” he stated.

Ravaged

Another farmer said the worms which destroyed his maize fields were similar to the fall worms which ravaged maize fields around south-eastern parts of Africa last year.
 However, he said these ones were not resistant to pesticides.

The farmers are worried that the invasion by the worms could affect the quality and quantity of the yields during harvesting time.
Others, like Thandi, have already accepted that they would not have a good harvest because of the damaged caused by the worms.

“From this maize field, I was expecting to harvest about 16 bags but now I will get something between seven to nine bags,” she stated.
Another farmer, who identified himself as Dlamini, said even if he could get the quantity, he had anticipated from the harvest, the quality would be poor due to the fact that the cobs would be peppered with grains that have been eaten by the worms.
Last year, there was a crisis in east and southern Africa following the discovery of fall worms which were destroying maize fields.

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