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An Agricultural Extension Officer formerly working with the Irrigation Development Authority, Mr Simon Nartey, has alleged that the government is applying the wrong insecticides to combat the supposed armyworm infestation on farms across the country.

According to him, the type of worm that has attacked various farms in the country is not armyworm, but is known as a stem borer, which eats into the inner part of maize.

Mr Nartey, in an interview with the DAILY HERITAGE, said the government is wasting money in importing chemicals to control the pests when Agriculture Technical Officers who have the expertise could do the job and save the country the time and cost of applying a wrong insecticide to control the infestation.

“When I saw the pictures on the internet, I realised that they were not armyworms but rather stem borers because they bore into the maize; that is why the farmers complain that they eat in the day and sleep in the night. It is never true,” he said.

According to the Extension Officer, the stem borers are mostly found inside maize and cause harm by feeding on the plant, which damages it.

He added that because it is difficult to see the borers, “you have to use systemic insecticides because it goes into each part of the plant right from the head to the root but the real worms can be prevented through the use of contact insecticides when they can be seen.”

Mr Nartey urged farmers to be cautious when buying the chemicals because there are durations written on the chemicals to use on the plants.

“If you are a farmer, know when to apply the chemicals because people eat at the fresh stage; if you eat the plant before the duration of the chemicals it is very harmful. Try and read the inscriptions on the chemicals to find out the days to use for the plant so that you know the type of chemicals to apply on the crops,” he said.

Background

There have been reports that fall armyworms have infested various farms across the country. The worms mainly attack maize crops and eat everything in an area.

Once ‘their food’ is exhausted, the entire “army” will move to the next available food source.

The armyworms’ diet consists mainly of grasses and small-grain crops. An infestation is hard to detect, as the caterpillars migrate to new feeding areas in the cool of the night.

In early 2017, armyworms infested large swathes of corn crops across southern Africa, devastating the livelihood of many farmers.

Ghana government, through the Agriculture Ministry, has imported pesticides to fight the armyworms that have attacked many farms in the country.

But according to Mr Nartey, the government is using the wrong pesticides to fight the wrong worm.