Deodatus Mfugale, AfricaNews reporter in Dar es Sallem, Tanzania Photo: Job de Graaf
Tanzania's ministry of agriculture, Food and Cooperatives has warned farmers about the possibility of an outbreak of army worms, advising them to inspect their farms regularly and report to authorities any signs of the pests.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mohamed Muya, said in a statement that Tengeru Institute of Agricultural Research in Arusha region, Northern Tanzania had predicted the outbreak citing maize, sorghum, millet, rice, wheat and barley as crops that are vulnerable to be attacked on the first phase of the outbreak. Armyworms have also been known to attack leguminous plants such as beans, peas and groundnuts and indeed all green plants.
“The government has taken the necessary precautions including distributing insecticide in regions which are likely to be attacked by the worms. It will be distributed to other areas as the situation unfolds, and we have warned farmers and livestock keepers to be on the alert,” he said.
Experience shows that army worms usually surface when the rainy season starts unusually late due to prolonged drought, attacking food crops a few weeks after germination and then moving to other vegetation.
This year, many parts of the country did not get the short rains which start end of October and extend through December. Coastal regions and some northern parts of the country usually have two rainy seasons, with the long rainy season starting mid February or early march.
Regions that have frequently been attacked by armyworms include Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Morogoro and Iringa.
Between February and April 2006, Tanzania experienced serious outbreak of armyworms that destroyed about 60,000 hectares of cropland mainly in the northern regions of Arusha and Kilimanjaro. The problem was so severe that it prompted the intervention of the U.S Embassy in Dar es Salaam which donated USD 50,000 to the government to support emergency measures.
There was another outbreak in 2002 during which armyworms destroyed about 30,000 hectares of crops mainly in the northern part of the country.
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