Army worms taking no prisoners

VILLAGE MAHANGU farmers in the North are increasingly worried about an outbreak of army worms that is causing havoc in their mahangu fields.

The headman of Olungalunga village near Ondangwa in the Oshana Region, Jack Shimanya, told The Namibian that the worms invaded his seven-hectare field three weeks ago, eating everything in their path. “This year I’m a poor man as far as mahangu is concerned, and I don’t know where I will find food for my people.We are 23 people in my household and all of us rely on mahangu,” he said.The worms are but the latest natural disaster to hit the area.Shimanya says he lost 37 cattle to drought before the rains came, and then, when the drought was broken, a quarter of his mahangu field was flooded.The Councillor for Oshakati East Constituency, Loth Kuushomwa, says villagers in his constituency are also devastated by the army-worm outbreak.”Many mahangu farmers will not have a good harvest, or no harvest at all,” he said.The Oshana, Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions have not been spared either.Regional governors said on NBC National Radio recently that millions of army worms had invaded mahangu fields there and Government could not help exterminate them.”The pesticides used to kill these army worms are not good for mahangu plants, because to kill these worms you have to spray them on the mahangu plants, and that will then cause the mahangu plants not to grow if the rain stops falling in the process,” Oshana Agricultural Extension Officer Yaha Nakaande explained to The Namibian.”This year I’m a poor man as far as mahangu is concerned, and I don’t know where I will find food for my people.We are 23 people in my household and all of us rely on mahangu,” he said.The worms are but the latest natural disaster to hit the area.Shimanya says he lost 37 cattle to drought before the rains came, and then, when the drought was broken, a quarter of his mahangu field was flooded.The Councillor for Oshakati East Constituency, Loth Kuushomwa, says villagers in his constituency are also devastated by the army-worm outbreak.”Many mahangu farmers will not have a good harvest, or no harvest at all,” he said.The Oshana, Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions have not been spared either.Regional governors said on NBC National Radio recently that millions of army worms had invaded mahangu fields there and Government could not help exterminate them. “The pesticides used to kill these army worms are not good for mahangu plants, because to kill these worms you have to spray them on the mahangu plants, and that will then cause the mahangu plants not to grow if the rain stops falling in the process,” Oshana Agricultural Extension Officer Yaha Nakaande explained to The Namibian.