Cereal farmers are on alert following the resurgence of the fall armyworm invasion in Nyagatare District, in the Eastern part of the country.

The pest, which infested an estimated 17,521ha of maize out of over 60,000ha last year during season B was successfully controlled, but there is concern that the pest is attacking cereal crops and pasture in Nyagatare District.

Currently, over 400 hectares have been damaged in Kagitumba Marshland, Matimba Sector in Nyagatare District. Armyworm pests attack cereals such as maize, sorghum, beans, and rice. Last year, the pests heavily damaged crops across the country.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources reported that 15,699 hectares were damaged, representing 24.7 per cent of all the land cultivated with corn, sorghum and soybeans.There are concerns that the armyworm resurgence, which started in Nyagatare District could spread across the country.

Food security concerns

The Vice Mayor in charge of Economic Affairs at Nyagatare District, Steven Rurangwa said they are concerned about the pests because they could affect food security in the district.

“We fear that 22,778 hectares of land could be affected, which would be bad news for farmers,” he said.

When this infestation started last year, the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) took the lead in the eradication of the pest by ensuring rapid delivery of required pesticides.

“We are urging all those concerned to act as soon as possible in order to protect other parts of the country that could be affected,” said Mr Rurangwa.

According to Nyagatare District agronomist Fulgence Mutabaruka, the armyworm pests attacked crops at a large scale, but they are working closely with farmers to prevent the pests from reaching other areas of the district.

“The main challenge we face is farmers not being aware about prevention measures or how to detect the pests in their farms before they spread,” said Mr Mutabaruka said.

“We know how much damage was caused by last year’s armyworm attack, so we won’t let it happen again. We are now moving from farm to farm teaching farmers about how they should fight the pests before they spread,” Mr Mutabaruka added.

He said crop rotation is one of the best methods to prevent an armyworm attack.

However, farmers say the price of pesticides remains a major challenge despite subsidies from the Ministry of Agriculture.

Prices

James Mushabe, a maize farmer and resident of Nyagatare District said the price of one kilogramme of pesticide costs between Rwf9,000 to Rwf10,000, which he said is too expensive for small-scale farmers.

“If we could get subsidies from the government so that the cost of pesticide reduces to Rwf4,000 a kilo, it would be a huge help to us,” said Mr Mushabe.

“The high cost means farmers are unable to buy the pesticide. This means the pest destroys their crops and even spreads to nearby farms,” he added.

The fall armyworm still poses a major threat to farms in parts of the country and there is a need for farmer education and community action in curbing the spread of the pest.

With the country still building its capacity in terms of research in order to detect and respond to trans-boundary crop pests such as the fall armyworm, the government says it will continue exploring new response methods like the pheromone traps and efficient pesticides varieties.