Luwero District Senior Agriculture Officer Wilberforce Ssemigga has cautioned farmers about the reoccurrence of devastating pests and diseases as the rainy season starts.
Luwero district is experiencing heavy downpours, albeit after a prolonged dry spell. However, according to research, such changes in weather patterns, often come with an increase in moths, aphids, mites and blossom weevils.
Ssemigga, an agricultural entomologist explains that during the rainy season, pests that have been in the dormant stage will transit to adults, lay eggs which emerge into the larvae stage and attack crops. He said that they also expect enhancement of fungal infections by rains from one garden to another.
Ssemigga advises farmers to make routine inspections in gardens after planting for early detection of pests and diseases so as to spray against them using the recommended pesticides to avoid losses. He adds that agriculture officers at sub-counties are on the alert to respond to farmers’ queries in case of large-scale invasion by pests.
Livingstone Musisi, a farmer at Bwaziba village in Luwero sub-county welcomed the advice but asked the government to donate free pesticides to districts as a mitigation measure against the pests. Musisi says that in the past season, the Ministry of Agriculture failed to respond in time when their gardens were devastated by the African armyworms.
Luwero sub-county Chairperson Richard Ssimbwa says that despite the prolonged drought, the fall armyworms have been noticed in struggling maize crops and they expect them to multiply in the rainy season. Ssimbwa warned farmers against buying pesticides without consultation with agriculture officers.
Last season, maize farmers in Luwero suffered huge losses after African and Fall Armyworms attacked maize gardens. The fall armyworms are caterpillars that march across the landscape in large groups feasting on young plants and leaving devastation in the fields.
The pest can cause crop losses of up to 73 per cent and once it is at an advanced larval development stage can become difficult to control with pesticides.
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