Army worm: Farmers advised against planting with early rains

The Southeast Regional Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Mr Nnamdi Ibezim has advised farmers not to rush into planting of maize with the onset of the early rains.

Ibezim told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Monday that the advice became necessary to save farmers from the invasion of army worms which attack maize and other cereals.

He said that the incidences of army worms in the last few years had been devastating, causing farmers huge loses.

He said that the most natural remedy to avoid attack by the deadly worms was ‘delayed planting’.

Ibezim said that the eggs of the worms lived in the soil and were activated by early rains.

“The eggs of the worm stay in the soil and they don’t die. Immediately the rains start they will hatch, turn into lava and attack cereal crops in their numbers.

“So the most natural remedy is delayed planting of maize and other cereals. This system of delayed cropping is called disease/pest evasion,” he said.

The regional director, however, said that the challenges were better overcome by the month of May when the life span of the hatched worms would have been cut short.

“By the month of May, you would have been able to overcome the incidences of the army worms,” he said.

Ibezim, however, said that farmers with the resources could still plant but must be ready to use systemic insecticide to fight the worms.

“We are lucky that the army worms are not very prevalent in the Southeast. They are so destructive in other parts of the country,” he said.

He said that while the scattered early rains were not good for the planting of certain crops, adding that heavy crops such as cassava, yam and oil palm could be planted.

“Early rains have some advantages because you make full use of the rainfall, especially were irrigation facilities are not available.

“Time of planting depends on the crop because there are crops that have short duration, “Ibezim said.