In efforts to contain further spread of the deadly Fall Army Worm which recently broke out in the country, http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/_inc/genericons.php Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, http://cloudninerealtime.com/wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/includes/api/class-wc-api-reports.php Animal Industry and Fisheries has handed out free pesticides and ten motorized pumps to farmers in Mukono district.
The Chemical handed out to farmers in called Striker, distributed by Bukola Chemical Industries and Wandegeya stores at Shs. 32,000 a bottle.
Striker, distributed by Bukola Chemical Industries
Okaasai Opolot, the ministry director for crop resources, told the farmers that so far there are only two trusted places where the pesticide can be obtained.
“The chemical is available; it’s effective when sprayed properly, twice a week according to the level of infection,” he said. “Sometimes you may need you to spray for long hours”
The ministry official first trained the farmers on how to use the chemical and then gave them the bottles.
The Army worm was first observed in June 2016 when farmers reported to the Ministry. But because of drought, it died out and was reported back when the country began getting rains this year.
“Mukono reported the worm on the 31st March and since then we have been working around to address the problem. Soon we will be taking the pesticide to other districts,” said Opolot.
The pest was first observed in Nigeria in January 2016, and is now reported in several other countries including Togo, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Kenya.
It is known to feed on more than 80 plant species, including cereals (maize, millet, sorghum, sugarcane, rice and wheat), legumes (cowpea, groundnuts and soybean), cotton and many pasture grasses (Rhodes grass, Kikuyu grass, Lucerne and other pasture grasses) that are the source of cattle feed in the country.