The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) has disclosed that it has put mitigating and preventative measures in place to control the Fall Army worm and African Army worm infestations in parts of northern Namibia.
Since January, farmers from mostly the Zambezi, Kavango East and West, Oshikoto and Oshana regions complained about the infestations that in their maize, sorghum and pearl millet fields, prompting assessments from the ministry and the Namibia Agronomic Board.
Remedial actions, especially as it pertains to training of farmers on the use of pesticides, have so far benefited a combined 51 farmers in the Zambezi region, comprising of 33 females and 18 males. The ministry will directly carry out spraying activities for farmers in other regions who have reported cases of infestation to the agricultural development centers i.e MAWLR extension offices.
Additionally, the training carried out in the Zambezi also covered the mixing of pesticides, timely applications of pesticides, first aid treatment in case of incidences of direct contact with pesticides, the disposal of pesticide containers, the safe storage thereof, dressing of protective clothing as well as practical demonstrations on the use of knapsack sprayers.
Each trainee received a pesticide kit ranging between 30 to 50 millilitres, depending on the size of the farmers’ field. Assessments have revealed that infestations caused minimum damage to the various grains and even grass species used for pasture, proving the efficiency of the fast-tracked response of the assigned task team, that has assisted farmers to curb pest infestations since the locust outbreak in 2021.
According to MAWLR, farmers are urged to constantly inspect their fields for the presence of pests, and to report, especially problematic species like the army worms and recommended the use of traditional control methods of pests like ash, soils and the hand picking of pests to prevent mass infestations.