Local farmers in Yei River County said their maize crops are being spoiled by plagues of insects, worms and maggots in the area.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, several farmers said that local production would severely decline due to stem borers infesting their crops, while appealing to the relevant authorities to intervene.
John Malish, a farmer in Yei, urged the government to help them with insecticides. “I have discovered that there are insects that are consuming my maize. I cannot see them, so I call on the agriculture ministry to help us,” he said.
Mary Jada, another farmer in the area, said: “I have cultivated a large maize farm but my maize plants have been destroyed by worms. The worms are destroying the whole maize plant starting from the apex down to the stem, so my crops have been destroyed.”
The complaining local farmers said are spraying their crops with local pesticides made of ashes but to no success. They appealed to the agriculture ministry to supply pesticides as quick as possible.
For his part, Edimon Gogo, who is in charge of agriculture in the area, confirmed the existence of the new pests but urged the farmers to continue using their local means to fight the pests as he calls on agriculture partners to rescue the farmers with insecticides and pesticides.
“Most of the crops in the county are being affected by stem borers and I have already appealed for delivery of insecticides and pesticides so that we can use it for addressing these strong weeds which are emerging,” he said.