Hanks Saisai
The recent outbreak of Fall Armyworms across Namibia’s north-eastern Zambezi region poses a significant threat to local food security.
Pest outbreaks are usually a crop farmer’s worst nightmare due to the associated negative effects such as crop failure, financial losses, food shortages and dwindling local economic activities in such regions.
Several factors must be considered when growing crops, from the sowing of seeds, through weeding, fertilising, until harvesting and storage.
To mitigate the risk of pest outbreaks, it is advisable for farmers to fully understand the problems associated with growing crops, and devise a detailed crop management plan that outlines how to care for the crops.
The first step to addressing the pest outbreak dilemma is to understand that these organisms are crop specific. To this end, farmers are advised to avoid monoculture which is the common practice of growing the same crop on the same piece of land each season or each year.
Crop rotation is, therefore, highly recommended to break the lifecycle of pests. When farmers change from growing maize on the same piece of land each season (or each year), organisms such as Fall Armyworms that are a usual occurrence in maize are forced to struggle as their targeted crop‘s absence forces them to have zero access to food.
The second step is to understand the importance of field scouting and the implementation of a spraying programme to eradicate potential pest outbreaks.
When growing a crop such as maize, it is essential for a farmer to implement a scouting programme that allows maize crops to be checked for the possible development of diseases or pests.
Scouting should be done daily or at least weekly to allow farmers to detect problems early on and address them before crop losses or failures are experienced.
Scouting goes hand in hand with a simple spraying programme that is aimed at eradicating even the presence of pests’ eggs.
Selective pesticides such as spinosyns, emamectin or chlorantraniliprole have the potential to provide effective control if used correctly.
Additionally, one can use Acelepryn: A systemic insecticide that quickly controls existing outbreaks and prevents future ones. Spinosad: A bio-rational pesticide that can kill 99.99% of larvae within 24 hours. Spinetoram: A bio-rational pesticide that can kill 100% of larvae within 24 hours. Clove oil: A bio-rational pesticide that can be effective against Fall Armyworms.
Bacillus thuringiensis: A biopesticide that can be effective against Fall Armyworms. Neem-based products: A product that can kill worms and larvae, and prevent re-infestation.
In a small-scale maize operation, farmers can Handpick: This entails picking and destroying egg masses and caterpillars or Monitor moths: Look for moths to detect the presence of Fall Armyworms.
The third step is to be cognisant that after a drought year, most conditions become favourable for most micro-organisms to reproduce at a fast rate, and this requires farmers to prepare before planting crops.
Farmers must always incorporate fumigants that destroy the eggs of pests that may be present in the soil before they have a warm and moist environment that will enable them to hatch and become a major headache for farmers.
Additionally, farmers can report any suspected pest outbreaks to their respective Agricultural Development Centres (ADCs) that will notify the Ministry of Agriculture, Water & Land Reform‘s Plant Health Sub-division to respond accordingly, or advise on measures that can be implemented to mitigate a crop failure crisis due to pest outbreaks.
Lastly, record keeping must also be implemented by farmers to highlight pests encountered, the damages caused, the targeted crops, and mitigation measures.
In a nutshell, it is essential for a farmer to be prepared and take the necessary precautions to avoid losses or crop failure.
*Hanks Saisai is Agribank’s technical advisor on crops and poultry.