Armyworms eat a maize plant in Yambio, Monday, May 24, 2021 | Credit |Charles Wote/Eye Radio.

Some small-scale maize farmers in Yambio, Western Equatoria State, say they are losing their crops to fall armyworms.

According to the farmers, the worms are laying eggs on the foliage of their maize plants and feed on the leaves when they hatch.

“The seeds we planted were of good quality and at the right season but seeing what is happening now is really discouraging,” said Mbaraza Susan a farmer and resident of Duduma in Yambio County.

Charles Zedruna, another farmer expressed disappointment:

“The appearance of my maize farm is not all fine. I am not happy to see it this way.”

In response, the director of Agriculture and Extension Services at the state Ministry of Agriculture confirmed the damages caused by the fall armyworm.

Samuel Datiro explained that they are working with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to spray the affected maize in the area.

“Two weeks ago, FAO office here in Yambio informed us that it had brought new pesticides and they have started spraying some maize farms,” he added.

Since 2017, farmers in some parts of the Equatoria have lost their crops to the fall armyworm.

Fall armyworm is a pest that feeds on the leaves, stems, and reproductive parts of more than 80 plant species, causing major damage to maize, rice, sorghum, sugarcane, cotton, and other vegetable crops.

The UN Food Agency in its 2018 report estimates that up to 17.7 million tons of maize could be lost annually due to fall armyworm in Africa.

The Agency adds that the most direct impact of these losses hits smallholder maize farmers, most of whom rely on the crop to stave off hunger and poverty.