S Apertura Likely to Join Forces with Armyworms in Attacking Farmers

The Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organization (KALRO) has warned of the likelihood of the invasion of a new pest on Kenyan farmers, the S Apertura.

According to KALRO, S Apertura is known for its acute destruction of drought-resistant crops like broccoli, cassava, potatoes and even amaranth, which are among the main crops for Kenyan farmers.

Currently, the pest has attacked a number of African countries including Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, and Benin thus the likelihood of finding its way into Kenya too.

This early alert from KALRO is meant to prepare farmers and the agricultural sectors at large to have preventive measures ready.

According to Zachary Kinyua, a scientist from KALRO, the S Apertura worms attack other types of crops other than maize and they can cause serious harm if they will not be intercepted.

Kenya has not yet recovered from the invasion of Fall Armyworms which attacked maize farmers in 2017 and destroyed a total of 250,000 acres of land, an equivalent of 3.5 billion shillings in losses. This, in turn, led to a decline in production at the end of the season.

USAID earlier this year reported that Kenya was not off the hook from the invasion of Fall Armyworms disclosing that the country could lose half of its maize crop and face a massive food crisis as a result of the pest.

Although the Ministry of Agriculture has no reliable data on the extent of the infestation and the impact it will have on food, USAID estimated that up to 50 percent of the maize crop could be destroyed.

Agriculture secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri said the government has already released over 300 million shillings to fight the worms and that the fund will be increased to 1 billion shillings.

Fall armyworm is a migratory pest native to North and South America and spreads to nearly all the regions of the continent.

The pest also attacks millet, sorghum, cotton, and sugar cane.