Maize crops hit by armyworms

Published Jan 8, 2013

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Half of Zimbabwe's 10 provinces are infested with armyworms that threaten maize production because the country has a limited supply of the pesticide required to eradicate them.

The government had 2 800kg of the chemical, carbaryl, in stock, Godfrey Chikwenhere, the head of the Plant Protection Research Institute at the agriculture ministry, said yesterday.

“That's probably not enough given the magnitude of the problem.” The armyworm, a caterpillar-stage moth, could “move from field to field at an alarming rate”, Chikwenhere said. - Bloomberg

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