Armyworm attack on maize crops escalates in Parbat

PARBAT: Farmers in Parbat, the district in Gandaki State, are worried to see fall armyworms continue to ruin the maize crops.

The insect menace has been further intensified. Maize cultivation mainly in Dhairing, Nagliwang, Mallaj and Bihadi of Jaljala Rural Municipality, and Bahakithanti, Ranipani and Barrachaur in Bihadi Rural Municipality has been damaged with a plague of armyworms.

Farmers are worried much as they find no solution to control the damage by insects.

Nawaraj Acharya of Dhairing of Jaljala -7 said armyworms are storming the corn fields for the past two weeks.

“The attack has become more intense since a week. The attack which starts from the leaf gradually reaches to the stem causing it to ruin,” he added.

Rural Municipality Chair Yam Bahadur Malla said the pest attack in Salyangaun has now been rampant. According to him, agricultural technicians have confirmed that the attack was by armyworms.

Earlier, the District Agricultural Knowledge Center Parbat visited the affected site and confirmed the havoc was by armyworms.

According to Center’s Chief, Basudev Regmi, the issue was indentified through field visits. As he said, maize crops in around 15 ropani of land in Jaljala has been attacked by worms and the havoc was likely to further spread if it was not controlled on time.

The Center also sent a technicians’ team to Bihadi that lies in the southern belt of Parbat after the farmers complained that insects inflicted damages on the corn crops.

Maize cultivated in 2,000 hectares of land including in Bihadi-4 has been affected. Local farmer Deepak Bhusal said they expected help from the local government and agricultural-related offices to stem the attack and had requested bodies concerned for the same.

According to the Center, last year, these insects had ruined off-season maize crops at Mudikuwa of Phalebas Municipality-4.

But, this time, the attack scale has further increased, posing a challenge to food security in the areas.

Regmi said farmers were being aware of domestic methods and use of pesticides to minimize the damage.