1,083 hectares of farmlands attacked by armyworm in Northern Region

About 1,083 hectares of farmlands in the Northern Region alone have been affected by the fall armyworm that was detected in the country late last year.

The region currently trails beind the Brong Ahafo Region in the number of hectares attacked by the fall armyworm with over 2,765 out of a total of 18,000 hectare of farmlands nationwide.

Dr Roger Kanton, the Deputy Director of CSIR- Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) at a sensitisation programme organised by Savanna Agriculture Research Institute (SARI) with support from USAID and Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa disclosed that the fall armyworm first was detected in the Yilo Krobo District in the Eastern Region but has since spread to all the 10 regions.

Head of Crop Protection at CSIR-SARI Dr Abudulai Mumuni, advised farmers to work hard and be abreast of the features of the pest to avoid large destruction in the future.

Meanwhile Dr Kanton believes the importation of seeds from different parts of the world into the country is to blame for the threat of fall army worm invasion in Ghana which is wreaking havoc to farmlands.

Dr. Roger Kanton, a principal agronomist and Deputy Director of Center for scientific and industrial research of the Savannah Research Institute (SRI), Tamale has advocated to government to de-emphasize and discourage the system of importing seeds for use for farmers from outside the country.

He added, “Relying on others for seeds is a way of killing farming in order to make others dependent on them for everything which is not good for the country. As a country, we should be able to come up with our own seeds for our farmers”.

He said the disease is not new revealing that it came from Kenya and it’s all because of the importation of seeds that are not properly checked before accepting them into the country.