The
Gambia Government through the Plant Protection Services, the Ministry of
Agriculture and the Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations
(FAO), Tuesday organised a one day stakeholders sensitisation workshop on Fall
Armyworm (FAW) at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.
The
workshop funded by FAO, was aimed at raising awareness on the Fall Armyworm and
to help kick-start strategies to effectively respond to the looming threat
posed by the ravaging FAW that has
already devastated crops in several countries in Central, East, Western
and Southern Africa.
Fall
Armyworm, is an insect pest of more than 80 plant species, causing damage to
economically important cultivated cereals such as maize, rice, sorghum, as well
as vegetable crops and cotton.
It
is the larva stage of the insect that causes the damage.
Speaking
on the occasion, Hon. Omar Jallow, Minister for Agriculture, said the damages
pests cause are a serious deterrent in Agriculture, hence the need to be
effectively managed to avoid massive crop losses.
Minister
Jallow disclosed that developing countries are in the process of intensifying
their agriculture to meet national demands for food and to increase
agricultural exports.
“New
crops have begun to replace traditional crops either as potential export
commodities or as substitutes for imports. Such intensification could lead to
increase pest problems and reliance on external inputs.”
The
new Gambia has agricultural development high on its agenda, the minister
highlighted, adding that the government was committed to the millennium
development goals.
For
her part, the FAO country representative, Dr Katepa Kalala, said the Fall
Armyworm was first detected in central and western Africa in early 2016, mainly
in Sao Tome and Principe, Nigeria, Benin and Togo.
She
said in late 2016 and 2017, it had spread to Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cote
d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi,
Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania,
Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, and it is expected to spread further.
Dr
Kalala added that the pest is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the
Americas, adding the adult moth is able to move over 100km per night and over
2,000 km during its life cycle.
High
infestation could lead to significant yield loss as currently being experienced
in Ghana, Kenya and Southern Africa, she said.
She said the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations advisory noted that Fall Armyworm could not be eradicated
from Africa but pesticides may be needed to control the pest locally.
