Experts are currently meeting in Harare at an emergency UN meeting over how to deal with the fall armyworm which has already affected staple  food crops  in many African countries. However, a pest control organisation has warned that a bigger threat is coming and should be dealt with as soon as possible. Red locusts which are breeding in central Zambia pose a huge threat to Southern African farmers as they are 10 times worse than the army worms.
Moses Okhoba, director of the International Red Locust Control Organisation for Central and Southern Africa in an interview on Tuesday said:
<blockquote>If you had an outbreak of locusts, the situation will be about 10 times worse when compared to when you had fall armyworms
You do not want to see a swarm of locusts in your field because then you will not be talking of anything to harvest or to see.</blockquote>
More: <a href="http://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/africa/2017-02-15-forget-alien-armyworms-africas-maize-may-face-a-bigger-threat/">Business Live</a>

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As Zimbabwe battles army worm, threat of even more destructive red locusts looms

Experts from 13 countries are expected to spend three days in Harare at an Emergency UN summit to find a way to combat the fall army worm which is spreading rapidly in African countries. The army worm caterpillar feeds on rice, maize, millet and rice and has already caused damage to staple crops in Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique and Namibia.
This particular variety is native to the American continents and is now causing damage in Africa partly because farmers do not know how to deal with it. Farmers are also unsure of how the pest managed to reach Africa from the American continents. In Zimbabwe the pest has been reported in all 10 provinces.
David Phiri, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s coordinator for southern Africa said:
<blockquote>…Nobody seems to know how it reached Africa
You use different methods. One of them is pesticides, another is to use biological control. Another is to use natural control, like digging trenches around the farm (or) natural predators, like birds, to eat those worms
If it is a small level of the worms, it’s easy to control, using pesticides. Otherwise, it’s very difficult to control it, so they will have to use different methods — including sometimes burning the crops.</blockquote>
The summit is starting on Tuesday (today).
More: <a href="http://www.france24.com/en/20170214-emergency-un-meeting-harare-over-armyworm-outbreak?ref=tw_i" target="_blank">France24</a>

International experts to meet in Harare for emergency UN meeting over armyworm outbreak

An outbreak of army worms has Zimbabwean farmers worried.  The pest, which feeds on maize has already been reported in seven of Zimbabwe’s eight maize growing provinces.  The army worm has already affected 124 00 hectares of maize in neighbouring Zambia.  The outbreak was so bad that Zambian president Edgar Lungu ordered the air force to airlift pesticides to fight the outbreak.
Late last year Agriculture Minister <a href="http://www.pindula.co.zw/Joseph_Made">Joseph Made</a> advised farmers to check their crops for the worm everyday.
More: <a href="http://www.financialgazette.co.zw/armyworms-hit-zimbabwes-corn/">Fingaz</a>

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