As the government is working hard to tackle tomato vermin (Ebola) , which has ravaged tomato production in the northern part of the country, another disease which affects maize production has surfaced in the South- West and Edo State.
The disease called Army Worm was detected recently in the South-West and Edo, but the government said measures had been put in place to contain the disease and stop it from spreading.
Addressing journalists on Thursday, in Abuja, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, is currently intensifying efforts towards containing the disease.
“We have another small crisis on our hand, apart from the tuta absoluta disease ravaging tomato production. We have another attack on maize which is occurring in the South-West and Edo State.
“The disease is called Army Worm which has been attacking some farms. We are happy to say that it appears on the decline, though our partners in the IITA in Ibadan are working hard to bring this under control,” Chief Ogbeh said.
The Minister said further that the government was making efforts to use bio-safety chemicals compliant to control the disease from spreading.
“There are efforts ongoing to protect these farms with bio-safety chemicals but the report we got from IITA, is that the infestation is declining. We keep watching, if it doesn’t decline, we will have to take some rigorous steps. We need a lot of maize and we are in short of maize,” he added.
(TRIBUNE)
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