Outbreak of voracious armyworm potentially devastating

An outbreak of armyworm threatens Zimbabwe's already fragile agricultural sector and experts warn that a shortage of foreign currency may hamper importation of much-needed pesticides.

Zimbabwe's Agricultural Research and Extension Services (AREX) director Shadreck Mlambo told IRIN, "We do have an armyworm situation here, and we're still trying to consolidate all the reports that are coming in from different parts of the country to be able to judge the extent of it. For now, all I can say is that all provinces except Matabeleland South have been affected."

Dzarira Kwenda, executive director of the Zimbabwe Farmers Union, said the situation was potentially devastating for both small- and large-scale farmers, "because the foreign currency needed to import chemicals is in short supply".

He said the Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East provinces were most affected and farmers there could possibly lose "thousands of hectares" of crops to the voracious pest.

The outbreak comes as young maize crops are beginning to sprout, a time when they are particularly vulnerable to the armyworm caterpillar, Dr Clive Levy of the Commercial Farmers Union.