BOTSWANA on High Alert for African Armyworm Outbreak: Official
BOTSWANA: Agricultural officials in Botswana has been placed on high alert to deal with a suspected armyworm outbreak across the country, the spokesperson of the country’s Ministry of Agriculture said on Monday.
Geoffrey Pheko, the spokesperson in the ministry, said in a telephone interview with Xinhua that teams has been dispatched to monitor the situation and search for clues of the armyworm invasion throughout the country to ensure early detection. “Suspicion has been raised by farmers in the southern part of the country. Moth, suspected to be armyworm, was detected in Mmathethe area near Lobatse (a city in the southern part near the border with the neighboring South Africa),” said Pheko.
Last year, armyworm invaded most parts of Botswana and the better part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The invasion by armyworm caused extensive damage to crops in Botswana together with this diamond rich nation’s neighbors such as Zambia, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
