How to protect crops from African armyworms

Crop scientists have advised farm operators to increase monitoring of their gardens and timely apply pesticides to minimise damages by invasive African armyworm. 
The advice comes a day after the Agriculture ministry confirmed the outbreak of the pest in about 38 districts, just a few weeks after initial cases were reported in Luweero in March. 
 READ: Experts tip farmers on how to fight armyworms
Dr Herbert Talwana, a crop entomologist at Makerere University College of Agriculture, told Monitor yesterday that the African armyworm is an indigenous pest that attacks far more crops than the fall armyworm, which caused major havoc in the country about four years ago. 
“The fall armyworm prefers maize because it is a big worm, so it prefers a big crop. This African armyworm prefers cereals such as maize, millet and sorghum… but it is always in the grassland,” he said.

Dr Talwana said if a farmer identifies the African armyworms early when they are still young, they are very susceptible to being killed with any insecticide. 
“But the moment they grow older, they become harder to kill and obviously because they are sporadic, they will have caused damage to your crops already,” he said.
“You can go to your garden today and you don’t find them, but you may go back tomorrow and find them because they are migratory. They are always moving. If you detect early, you spray and kill them, if you leave them, they grow quickly and move from crop to crop and destroy the garden,” he added.
 
Mr Stephen Byantwale, the commissioner for crop protection at the Agriculture ministry, told this Publication that they have determined the most effective chemical to combat the African armyworm.
“What we do as the ministry is to do bio-assays where we test in the field immediately there is an outbreak and we identify the best choice of the pesticide. So for this one, the choice is cypermethrin 5EC (emulsifiable concentration five). This will kill this pest,” he explained.

Spray ratios
On the reports from some farmers that the pesticides are not working, the commissioner said farmers should mix 100 to 120 millimetres of the pesticide in 200 litres of water to effectively kill the pest. 
“If you put only 40 millilitres of pesticide in 20 litres of water, the pest will not die. Will you blame the pesticide for this or it is the farmer who is not doing it right? Use the recommended rate. For us, we have tested and it works,” he said.
Mr Fred Kyakulaga Bwino, the State minister for Agriculture, said more than 23,000 litres of pesticides, 100 motorised pumps and 200 sets of protective gear have been procured and distributed to affected districts. 

“The cost of a litre of this pesticide is Shs20,000 and one litre of pesticide can effectively contain one acre of affected crop and pasture land,” he said, adding: “What we have can only be used for demonstration purposes for farmers to learn and do the same in their gardens.”
“The damage is even more serious if the growing point is affected. Damage to pasture and rangeland can be extensive and severe leading to a shortage of fodder,” he said. 

Safety concerns

    Dr Talwana said: “The chemical we are using could be dangerous if we don’t know how to use it. Go to a registered shop, ask the person about the chemical, look at the safety measures, and then spray.”
    “If where you are spraying has chicken, please don’t spray because the chicken will eat those dead insects, which have chemicals and they will die. Chemicals are inherently dangerous, so take precautions while applying. Wear protective gear –masks, gloves and waterproof clothing while applying. Don’t spray on pastures and the cow eats. It will cause problems to the cow,” he advised.