Army worms ravage 37,000 hectares in Chongwe, Chibombo

Wed, 04 Jan 2017 14:13:13 +0000

BY OSCAR MALIPENGA

THE Africa army worms have ravaged about 37, 000 hectares of maize fields in Chongwe and Chibombo districts in addition to the ones reported on the Copperbelt and Eastern Province, according to the latest update by the
Disaster Management and
Mitigation Unit (DMMU).

And the Minister of Finance Felix Mutati has so far released over K10 million towards the eradication of the army worms and the DMMU has requested for more
funding from the ministry.

DMMU national coordinator Patrick Kangwa confirmed that reports reaching his office indicated that in Chongwe district in Lusaka Province over 17,000 hectares and 20,000 hectares in Chibombo districts of Central Province have been affected.

Updating the nation on the situation of Africa army worms, one of the most destructive pests known, Mr Kangwa described the situation as stable and that there was no need for panic but hard work.

“The task team has been monitoring the situation countrywide to see the progress that has been made and among the efforts that were done is that we sent two teams of experts to Chibombo and Chongwe.

“As you may all be aware Chongwe and Chibombo have the largest reported hectares affected,” he said.

Mr Kangwa said the DMMU sent experts to go in and ascertain the situation and to help strategize on how it was going to ensure that the two districts were dealt with as quickly as possible.

“Chongwe has over 17, 000 hectares affected and Chibombo has over 20,000 hectares affected, so we sent experts to go and see how we can strategies and ensure these figures do not move upwards.    “The two teams have just come in and their reports are being analysed, so we will be able to brief you tomorrow on the findings,” Mr Kangwa said.

He also pointed out the situation had remained normal in all the 10 provinces because there were no major shifts in number of hectares affected accept for Eastern Province which had a slight shift from 544 hectares to 823 hectares.

“In short that gives a good sign that we can now await the impact of the chemicals and most likely start seeing reductions in areas where the spraying is being undertaken.