ANALYSIS: Maize worm worries

When contacted about the escalating prices of pesticides and Striker being out of stock in many agro vet shops on Sept. 14, Ssempijja said he would return to the three companies which his ministry last year recommended to import the pesticides with questions.

But for the farmers who suffered with controlling this worm last season when Ssempijja said he had a Shs4.5 billion budget to fight the armyworm but ended up distributing only a few litres, there is little faith in the government offering any help.

Other than Uganda, by April last year, the outbreak of the fall armyworm  had been confirmed by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in 20 other African countries including Nigeria, Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya. It was last reported in South Sudan in June.

But unlike Uganda, countries with a functioning Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system like South Africa, where pest outbreaks are detected early and dealt with, were able to control the worm.

Tips new planting season

As the farmers plant, Joseph Gombya, an extension worker with Nsanja Agro Chemicals which is one of the three companies approved by the Ministry of Agriculture to supply pesticides to control the fall army worm, says report are that the worm is now attacking maize a few weeks after germination whereas last time it was attacking maize starting at about eight weeks old.

He said because the fall army worm feeds on 80 different species, which could mean about 2,000 different plants, when maize is off season it feeds on the other species as it lies in waiting for its best dish of maize.

Also according to Gombya reports they have so far got from the farmers are that the worm is now attacking maize a few weeks after germination whereas last time it was attacking maize starting at about 8 weeks old.

Gombya advises farmers to plant their maize in straight rows and columns to enable them regularly check on it for any early signs of the attack of the fall army worm.

He explains that one of the signs is maize leaves that looked punched with holes and flour like yellowish substance which are the droppings of the worm. He recommends a spacing of 30 by 75cm if one is planting one seed per hole or 75 by 60cm if one is planting 2 seeds per hole.

He warns farmers not to use the big dosage of pesticides they were using for the grown up maize last season as it may scorch the young and tender plants. He says, for instance, if a farmer is using Rocket, which is one of the drugs approved by the Agriculture ministry to kill the worm, they should mix 10mls in a pump of 20 litres of water.

“As the crops grow older and stronger a farmer may increase the dosage of the pesticide as by that stage it can withstand the strong pesticide,” Gombya says.

Gombya also advises farmers to destroy all the remnants from the harvest of last season by burning them or burying them deeply as they may contain eggs of the fall armyworm and leaving them in the garden may lead to a new attack as soon as the new maize germinates.

“Use of fertilisers right when one is planting the seed and afterwards will give the maize strength to even withstand the attack by the fall armyworm or the side effects of the pesticides,” Gombya says.

The Mukono District Agricultural Officer, Steven Mukasa Mabira, says another way of controlling the fall army worm is to practice crop rotation where the farmer does not use the same piece of land where he planted maize last season for the next season.

“Since the larva stage of the worm also burrows deep in the soil tilling whereby the soil is turned upside down may also interrupt the stage of the worm,” Mabira advises.

Like Gombya, Mabira also tips farmers to walk through their maize plantations regularly and, if they notice any sign of the fall army worm attack, to spray the maize with the approved pesticides.

Mabira also advises farmers to spray the maize very early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the worm gets out of hiding to feed. The pumps should be pointed in the funnel shape of the leaves because that’s where the worm hides.

****