Caterpillars wreak havoc

The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry has confirmed an outbreak of caterpillars causing havoc to fields in north-central and north-eastern Namibia. The ministry's statement did not identify the type of caterpillars but denied newspaper reports that they were American bollworms or army worms. The ministry said a team of entomologists would be deployed to the affected areas to assess the situation and identify the caterpillars. “The ministry is deploying a team of entomologists to the affected areas to carry out detailed inspections aimed at assessing the damage and identifying actual types of caterpillars causing this tragic havoc. Such pest species are well known to pose a serious threat to food security since they cause mass destruction to cereal crops in a short period of time,” the statement read. “The outbreak has been verified by the ministry's regional staff in the affected regions. These caterpillars are highly polyphagous pest species. Whenever they infest crop fields, they initially feed on the fresh and soft leaves of young plants after which they, within a few days, migrate upwards onto older plants where they devour the soft tissues on the leaf edges except the veins and midrib, and cobs.” During a visit to the Etunda Green Scheme irrigation project and a number of small-scale farms in the Omusati Region, it was evident that the caterpillars were causing havoc. Farmers said it was the first time that caterpillars destroyed so much of their fields. One could see how the caterpillars first eat the leaves of crops such as maize before destroying the plants from the inside. The farmers, who referred to the caterpillars as army worms, said they had tried to spray pesticides to rescue their crops but the caterpillars kept going. “They are not new to us but the manner in which they came this year, they are just too many, uncontrollable and they are just destroying everything,” one farmer said. At Etunda some farmers have decided to plough their crops under because the whole harvest is lost. The small-scale commercial farmers at Etunda said they could only rely on their butternut and cabbage crops this season, as the caterpillars did not seem to have that much effect on these plants. Some of them said the caterpillars also feasted on their tomato plants but not much damage had been done so far. The ministry encouraged farmers to use contact pesticides as well as physical control methods such as digging deep trenches around their fields. Farmers with relatively small fields can pick off the caterpillars by hand. “The ministry through the Plant Health Division and the regional extension offices is [distributing] pesticides, spraying machines and equipment to control the spread of the caterpillars in the affected areas. In addition, the ministry is [instructing] extension staff to assist with spraying of affected fields,” the statement read.KENYA KAMBOWE

Caterpillars wreak havoc

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-14

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Caterpillars wreak havoc

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-14

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