AFTER ARMY WORMS BLACK BEETLE PESTS RAVAGE SOYA FIELDS IN MKUSHI
….8000 farmers affected by black beetle pest attack on soya beans…
MORE than 8,000 farmer households in Mkushi District have reported pest attacks on their soya bean fields over the past week.
Confirming the matter to ZANIS, Mkushi District Senior Agriculture Officer (SAO) Patrick Mutale said 8,426 households from 10 agricultural camps have been affected by pest attacks on soya beans.
Mr. Mutale stated that the pests have been identified as ‘black beetle’, adding that a total of 5,017 hectares has been ravaged since the beginning of the year.
The Senior Agriculture Officer noted that the government is making concerted efforts to address the situation, and that the recommended intervention would involve applying chemical pesticides such as Benzoic Emelectine.
Mr. Mutale said out of the 10 affected agricultural camps, Lweo camp has so far recorded the highest with 1,892 farmers affected and 1,005 hectares ravaged by pests.
He explained that the pest attacks were also high in other camps such as Nshinso which recorded 1,672 affected farmers and 628 hectares.
Mr. Mutale mentioned that the pest attacks were at lower scale in some camps such as Chibefwe camp where 231 farmers reported attacks on 78 hectares.
He however stressed that his office is making plans to ensure the situation is addressed to protect all 35 agricultural camps that are spread over the 7 agricultural blocks.