Farmers staring at losses as armyworms attack

Hundreds of farmers in Busia County are counting losses after their farms were invaded by African armyworms.

Farmers in Matayos, Butula and Nambale sub-counties lamented that one week after planting, the worms were already eating up their crops.

Mr Francis Wafula, from Bumutiru village in Butula, noted that drought delayed planting and after planting they are now counting losses.

“It has been dry for months, and now that the rains are here we embarked on planting. One week later the worms have attacked the crops. The worms feed on young crops from leaves to the stems, leaving behind nothing,” he noted.

Mr Wafula said he bought farm inputs at a high price, and seeing his crops damaged at a tender stage is discouraging.

“Fertiliser was expensive, the price of maize seeds was also expensive, and the whole process really drained us financially.

Seeing our field empty like this is discouraging. We don’t know where we will get the money to buy them again,” he said.

Pascal Okumu, a farmer in Nasewa village in Matayos, said her millet farm had been destroyed by the worm.

She said she had exhausted the seeds she had kept and she has no idea where to get more.

Lethal for crops at tender age

The worms eat everything at a tender stage, she said. She warned that if the worms are not destroyed, there will be a terrible famine later in the year

Farmers appealed to the government to intervene and find a way of eradicating the pests before the damage worsens.

“As much as we are trying to eliminate the worm, we can’t do it effectively due to lack of enough resources to fight them. This is where the government should come in and help address the situation,” Ms Okumu said.

“They should support us with chemicals to spray our fields or provide seeds and fertiliser to plant afresh.”

Lucas Meso, a former managing director of the Agricultural Finance Corporation urged the national and county governments to supply chemicals to stop the worms from spreading.

“The government should come in and address this menace. It is not fair for farmers to invest heavily in buying farm input such as fertiliser and maize seeds only for them to count losses at this early stage,” he said.

Agriculture executive Osia Mwanje said farmers were being sensitised on how to handle the worms. He said extension officers had been deployed in each ward and farmers can report armyworm attacks to them.

“We are aware of the African armyworm in Busia. We have mapped the affected areas but we have embarked on a sensitisation programme for the farmers on how to deal with the worm,” he said.

“We have also purchased chemicals that we plan to distribute to farmers to spray on their farms.”