The Asante-Akim South Municipal Directorate of the Food and Agriculture Ministry (MoFA), has taken steps to promptly and effectively tackle any fall armyworm invasion during the coming farming season.
As part of this, it has intensified the engagement with farmers to educate them on ways to help reduce the destruction of food crops by armyworms.
[contextly_sidebar id=”E9oYefJF6Uw6RHmxznyZoOfBWOkQTlt0″]It has also held a day’s workshop to train 35 extension officers, national service personnel and other auxiliary staff of the Ministry to fight future infestations.
The Municipal Officer in charge of Plant Protection and Regulatory Services, David Obeng Dauda, underlined the need to strengthen the skills and capacity of extension officers to deal with the pests.
They usually lay their eggs beneath the leaves of plants to avoid detection, and he said that was why it was important to aid farmers to do proper and thorough inspection of the leaves.
He added that the inspection should be done seven days after planting, to verify if there was a pest infestation for early application of chemicals.
Farmers with smaller farms could crash the eggs after wrapping their hands with polythene bag as a first measure before they sought help from the extension officers.
He advised those with large acres of farmland to immediately report any detection of the worms to the MoFA office for prompt action.
He reminded the extension officers to teach farmers on the safe use of chemicals and the right dosage to achieve maximum outcomes.
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Source: GNA