Army worm ‘lookalike’ pests detected in Kafue

Some pests that look like army worms have reportedly been detected in Mungu area in Kafue district in Lusaka province.

Mungu Ward Councilor Clement Chidila said the pests, which are different from army worms but causing the same destruction, were detected last year.

Mr. Chidila said the pests are destroying the middle part of the crop and leaving it weathering.

He said the pests have so far been detected in some maize fields in Chikoka and surrounding areas.

He further said he had received a lot of reports from farmers whose fields have been invaded by the pests which were destroying crops.

Mr. Chidila has since called on government through the Ministry of Agriculture to quickly address the situation before the pests spread to other maize fields and cause more destruction to the crops.

And when contacted for a comment, Kafue District Agriculture Coordinator Mwanji Chellah said samples of unconfirmed army worms were collected and sent to Mount Makulu Research Institute for verification.

Mr. Chellah however said some chemicals have been sent over to the affected areas for spraying the fields as a precautionary measure.

He stated that the Kafue district agriculture office was on alert of any threat to crop production especially that the rains have come late.