Ministry of Agriculture field teams have been fighting an infestation of African armyworms which have attacked crops in several governorates since the end of May, officials told IRIN.
Armyworms are caterpillars that develop into nocturnal moths and can migrate thousands of kilometres, covering over 100km a night, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The armyworms attack cereals, grazing land and sugar cane.
Shihab al-Shamiri, a senior official at the Ministry of Agriculture, told IRIN they have spread to the governorates of Taiz, al-Dhalei, Lahj and Ibb.
He described the outbreak as big. He could not give even a rough estimate of pest density, but said: "Over 25 vehicles are being used by field teams to fight the outbreak in these areas."
Al-Shamiri said armyworms can pose a real threat to grain crops (corn, wheat, millet, sorghum) if not dealt with promptly. So far, however, they had caused only slight damage and the situation was under control, according to officials.
Abdul-Salam Naji, a Ministry of Agriculture scientist, said the moths had come from African countries like Tanzania and Kenya. "Appropriate conditions - abundant rain and available plants - have helped the armyworms to spread," he said.
Pesticide spraying
According to him, field teams were using pesticides to fight the armyworms. "In Taiz alone, 10-15 of the 19 districts are infected. The field teams have sprayed 650 hectares and plan to cover 900 hectares in that area," he said.
Ismael Muharram, head of the Ministry of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Authority, said the armyworms migrate to Yemen at least once a year, during rainy periods. "Over the past 10 years, African armyworm infestations have caused major damage to grain crops," he said.
The pests destroy grain crops only in their early stages. "When these grain crops have passed their early stage [the first month and a half], the spread of the armyworms is inconsequential," he said.
According to Ministry of Agriculture statistics for 2007, sorghum was planted on about 453,000 hectares of land, millet on 82,276 hectares, maize on 65,890, and wheat on 27,745 hectares. Yemen imports 75 percent of its food and 95 percent of its wheat.
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