Agriculture extension development officer for Mbawa EPA, Dickson Chanza, said Monday there is a slight increase in size of fields affected by the army worms this year compared to last year

“We have 1585 hectares affected by fall army worms which is a slight  increase if we can compare with the number of hectares affected last year,” said Chanza.

Grevance Kamende, agriculture extension development officer for Edingeni told Zodiak Online on that farmers need more and urgent assistance. Some, he observed, have resorted to using other methods like sprinkling the crops with surf solution and sand.

“Government is supplying some chemicals for farmers to use so that these fall army worms can be controlled though in very little amounts.

“You know farmers are many so if the government to date has supplied only eight bottles of chemicals since the onset of the rains it means a lot of farmers are still in need of these chemicals,” Kamende said.

Other areas like Kazomba and Macherechete sections have also been affected.

Fall army worms attack leaves and stems of maize plants and other greens and have caused damage in over 18 other districts in the country.

The attacks this year, point to another possible year of low maize harvest in a country that is annually without adequate maize.

Over 144,000 hectares of maize fields have been affected by the army worms across the country.