Fall armyworms appear in UWR

Wa, June 8, GNA - The fall army worm have invaded six districts of the Upper West Region devastating 100 acres of sorghum farms at Busa in the Wa Municipality.

The worm which is devouring maize farms in the southern sector of Ghana has now surfaced in Wa Municipal, Jirapa, Lawra, Sissala West and Wa West Districts of the region.

Chemicals such as Eradicoat, Topstar, Supertop, Dipel and Dipel among others covering about 3,600 acres of farm lands, had so far been distributed to the district directors of Food and Agriculture to help control the worm.

Mr Seth Osei-Akoto, Director of Crop Services at a meeting with officials of Food and Agriculture in Wa, said the worm is spotted at gardens and valleys and the situation was not as bad as it is in the south.

He said the timely distribution of the chemicals was an intervention to control the spread of the worm and save crops from the wanton destruction.

He urged officials of the Food and Agriculture in the districts to work harder to stop the spread of the worm.

Mr Akoto said about 1,000 sprayers have been provided and jingles developed to help educate farmers on the fall army worm, while appealing to Food and Agriculture officials to use community radio stations in the districts to raise awareness on the worm to allay fears of farmers.

He said development partners were all ready to support government to fight the fall army worm, and explained that the devastation of crops especially maize farms in the south was huge and nothing of that sort should happy in the north.

GNA

By Bajin D. Pobia, GNA