The destructive Fall Army Worm pest has emerged in all the 11 districts of the Upper West Region.
Fall Army Worm earlier on infested six districts but had now spread to all the other districts in the region causing fear and panic among farmers who were yet to crop grains, Mr Hudu Abu, Deputy Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has said.
Mr Abu who spoke about the rate of the pest invasion in the region in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Wa on Tuesday, said the Fall Army Worms destroyed about thousands acres of crops within the region.
Mr. Abu said, reports from districts indicated that the Nandom District was the most affected followed by the Nadowli-Kaleo District and chemicals had since been distributed to all the districts to help control the worm.
He assured farmers and the general public to remain calm as MoFA was committed to fighting the pest invasion.
He urged farmers to report any suspicious cases to the Agricultural Extension Officers, saying “If you see any unusual leaf perforations on your crops, kindly report to the nearest agricultural agent in the community to take immediate actions”.
Mr Abu said the worms multiply very fast and farmers should be on the lookout for any signs of pest while advising them to carry out spraying of the farms strategically, that is early in the morning and late evening during which periods the worms appear on the crops.
The Deputy Regional Director said inadequate staffing and logistics were the bane to the effective control of the worm and commended ZOOMLOIN Ghana Limited and National Disaster Management Organisation for their support so far in the fight against the fall army worms.
He also appealed to private agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations such as; AngloGold Ashanti Malaria Control Limited to come to their aid to fight the pest.
