Additional than twelve farming communities in the Assin South District of the Central Region have noted of the re-emergence of the devastating Tumble Armyworms on maize farms in the location.
The worms have destroyed in excess of 65 acres of maize and vegetables and rendered hundreds of farmers and family members disillusioned.
The affected communities are Akufful-Beposo, MbaaMpehia, Homaho, Appiahkrom, Haruna, Domeabra, Nfanti, Yaw Boamah, Abodweseso, Adadientem, and Beyerden.
The farmers in an job interview with the Ghana News Company said the worms have amplified in quantities more than the final one-thirty day period destroying maize and some vegetable farms.
They described the predicament as disheartening and a disincentive to farming.
“The worms are feeding on nearly each individual green-leafy-edible. This is incredibly bizarre due to the fact I have not noticed worms that consume and multiply with these speed” said Mr Kofi Nkyi from Abodweseso.
He mentioned the extent of the invasion required urgent reaction and a re-energized countrywide effort to wage a relentless war in opposition to the pests.
“The fall armyworms are tremendous-hungry tinny caterpillars feeding on all our crops. They seem uninteresting yellow to gray colour with stripes jogging down the length of the physique and lives on leaves of vegetation and hatch to re-launch a significant onslaught on food items crops,” Mr Nkyi included.
They blamed the circumstance on the non-availability of the encouraged spraying substances which had pressured farmers to use unauthorized and unsafe chemical substances intended for spraying cocoa farms.
“I have sprayed my farm about three instances with chemical substances meant for spraying cocoa farms, however they maintain coming in their figures. I have utilised two various chemicals to spray my farm but it appears they have not been effective,” Mr Enock Baidoo, an additional farmer explained.
The farmers appealed to officers of the District Directorate of Agriculture to get them the suggested substances to help you save their remaining farms.
In reaction to the farmers’ claims, Mr John Tawiah Aidoo, District Director of Agriculture who verified the invasion by the worms and urged them to adhere to the greatest agronomic practices to conserve their farms.
They should invest in the advised chemical compounds from the accredited agro-inputs suppliers and end the use of unscientific solutions and concoctions to spray the worms.
Amongst many others, he especially suggested them to develop their maize in traces, spray farms before sunrise and immediately after sunset and inspect their farms often for early detection of the nocturnal worms which are not familiar to Ghanaian soil.
