Armyworm devastates crops in Zimbabwe

Agriculture officials in Zimbabwe said Tuesday large swarms of armyworms had invaded farms in the main cropping northern and eastern areas of the country, threatening to severely reduce crop output.

They said the pests were mainly targeting the maize crop, the country's staple food.

Godfrey Chikwenhere, a director at the Plant Protection Institute, said the armyworm was spreading, and feared vast areas in the two regions would be destroyed by the pests,  which were also targeting sorghum crops.

He said teams had been dispatched to the affected areas, but progress was slow.

The pests were being sprayed, but it appeared the efforts were not enough to control the outbreak.

Zimbabwe is often hit by outbreaks of armyworm which it fails to deal with effectively because of lack of resources such as chemicals.

Chikwenhere said the government had enough chemicals this time, but lacked manpower to spray the pests.

"Farmers should also participate in the control of armyworm. We have enough chemicals, 4,000 kilogrammes of Carbaryl 85 wettable powder," he said.