Armyworms destroy crops in eastern Sudan

Farmers in eastern Sudan’s El Gedaref and Blue Nile states complain about the appearance of fall armyworms on their sorghum crops.

Farmers in the eastern region of El Gedaref said that crop-eating caterpillars known as fall armyworms entered the areas of El Fashaga and Doka from Ethiopia.

One of them reported to Radio Dabanga that a research team arrived in El Gedaref to investigate the situation.

In Blue Nile state, farmers reported armyworms eating their maize and sorghum crops.

A federal plant protection unit conducted research in the affected areas. They concluded that the pest is difficult to control, as the number of worms multiplied six times within one week.

Earlier this year, Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia reported an invasion of fall armyworms and the destruction of large numbers of crops.

Fall armyworm, the larva of night-flaying moth, is a pest indigenous to the Americas. It was first detected in Africa in early 2016.