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Broll Fall Army Worm in Zimbabwe

Fall army worm outbreak, a blow to prospects of recovery for southern Africa

Country Zimbabwe

Duration 13m12s

Edit Version International

Video Type Video News Release (VNR)

Date 02/23/2017 5:22 PM

File size 1.84 GB

Unique ID UF2TDQ

All editorial uses permitted

Production details and shotlist

UNFAO Source FAO Video

Shotlist Footage Location: East Anglia Farm, Shamva Area (25 km from Harare), Zimbabwe

Date: 23 February 2017

Interviews and B-Roll.

00:00:00:00 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Interview: Luxson Zembe: Farm Owner: East Anglia Farm-

We thought initially it was just the stock borer, and then we discovered it was a different ball game altogether, in terms of its impact, how it spreads so fast and devastating. We could have probably lost almost 50% of our crop. So we reacted very fast by coming in with sprays on a weekly basis to try and contain it as well as ensuring that the concentration of these chemicals are doubled sometimes, engaging also the agronomist where we buy our seeds whom we link up with giving us advise and we were able to contain it, were we could have lost 50% we can safely say the impact is reduced to below 2% however, it is still there and is going to come back again so we are going to continue with that process of spraying it and also managing it and making sure we really try and deal with it especially on a long term basis where the spray is important and linking together with other farmers to ensure that we all work together with government ,with Agritex to try and manage the spread of this armyworm and contain it and kill it because it is a terrible pest that can really have major implications on our food security especially as we are coming out of a drought situation and trying to make sure that Zimbabwe is food secure.

00:01:26:08 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Interview: Luxson Zembe: Farm Owner: East Anglia Farm-

We have crops right round the year, because we do a lot of green mealies for the supply of the market because of our proximity to Harare, so its right round the clock, right round the year for our Maize crop and our horticulture that’s why for us it is critical that we maintain it because it will affect our business plan because this is a business, it’s not just a farm where we come and say yah ,we are just doing you know just a bit of by the way type of growing crops’. It’s a full business venture that we have got here and we have got to make sure that it is productive, that is why we work on I very aggressively and we have to contain this challenge

00:02:10:04 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Interview: Luxon Zembe: Farm Owner:East Anglia Farm-

Indeed it is a challenge. Firstly its new and number 2 as I said the challenge of its velocity, how it spreads so fast, number 3 its resistance to the normal chemicals that we use for the stock borers and other pests that we normally deal with, so it is a big challenge that if it is not contained, it can reverse all the gains that have in terms of resuscitating our agricultural production and especially food security in Zimbabwe. Sao moving forward think government, the farmers and the technical experts- FAO included, we have to work together and share information, share strategies and work together in terms of how best we can contain this particular armyworm and the research department becomes key, being able to supply us with information in terms of how best we can be able to deal with this terrible threat to our maize crop and agriculture in general.

00:03:10:00 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Interview: Luxon Zembe: Farm Owner: East Anglia Farm-

If you see, we have crops at different stages, we have some that just about in 2 weeks’ time we will be harvesting and we have the next crop which will be ready in about a month’s time and the 3rd crop we have will be ready in about two months’ time. So we have crops at different stages and that’s why it becomes so critical and it is a cycle that we continue right through ought, we need to manage it because if we don’t, it will certainly have a major impact on our business plan and our yield and ultimately our ability to be able to continue as a business

00:03:43:20 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Interview: Joyce Mulila-Mitti : FAO PLANT PRODUCTION AND PROTECTION OFFICER

An aspect of the fall armyworm which we need to emphasize is the fact that it attacks a lot of other crops in addition to grasses, it attacks sorghums and millets, it attacks rice, it attacks groundnuts, soybeans, cowpeas as well as cotton. This actually means that in terms of trying to reduce the pest pressure from one summer crop to another, you know that even in the winter there are other crops that on which it can survive. So essentially in developing control strategies, we will have to be mindful of the fact that it can survive on so many other crops.

00:04:21:07 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Interview: Joyce Mulila-Mitti : FAO PLANT PRODUCTION AND PROTECTION OFFICER

Oh yes, FAO is doing something. We had a meeting last week in Harare where they were decisions made and some short term and also long term interventions. In the short-term, FAO will be supporting countries with traps and attractants especially those countries that have not yet reported to be able to do surveillance so that they are prepared to manage, to control very quickly. And secondly we are going to have a technical meeting where we will now talk about all the available possible ways of management and this is going to be informed by some work which a consultant is already doing, a specialist, an expert who has worked with fall armyworm is putting together a technical guide and management options. So then we have invited technocrats from all the countries to this technical meeting. Basically we are preparing for how do we handle the irrigated crop and also how we handle the next crop in the summer. And then the other thing is FAO will also be providing feedback to the SADC council of ministers next week, and the recommendations that came and also the steps –moving forward.

00:05:31:11 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Interview: Joyce Mulila-Mitti : FAO PLANT PRODUCTION AND PROTECTION OFFICER

We have learnt some lessons from the Africa armyworm, the one that has existed here for a long time. One of the key aspects is having community based forecasting which we use for the Africa armyworm. So I think we have to use the same experience because it doesn’t make sense, for instance in communal farms where stay close by, it doesn’t make sense if one controls and the other one doesn’t control because it will just move to the other farm. So basically our extension approach should strengthen what we know already about community based armyworm forecasting which we can use for the fall armyworm as well.

00:06:12:09 CLIP DESCRIPTION: WS Luxon walking from house to maize field.

00:06:42:16 CLIP DESCRIPTION: FS Luxon showing Joyce damaged crops.

00:07:03:07 CLIP DESCRIPTION: WS Luxon showing Joyce damaged crops.

00:07:11:18 CLIP DESCRIPTION: MS Luxon showing Joyce damaged crops.

00:07:23:19 CLIP DESCRIPTION: MS from behind, Luxon showing Joyce damaged crops.

00:07:30:15 CLIP DESCRIPTION: CU Luxon showing Joyce damaged crops.

00:07:37:22 CLIP DESCRIPTION: FS Luxon and Joyce speaking in the maize field.

00:07:43:18 CLIP DESCRIPTION: MCU Luxon showing plant with dead armyworm.

00:07:55:08 CLIP DESCRIPTION: CU dead armyworm on plant.

00:08:00:22 CLIP DESCRIPTION: CU dead armyworm on plant.

00:08:06:05 CLIP DESCRIPTION: ECU dead armyworm on plant.

00:08:11:00 CLIP DESCRIPTION: MCU Luxon opens leaves to reveal live armyworms.

00:08:56:16 CLIP DESCRIPTION: CU Luxon kills armyworm with hands.

00:09:24:21 CLIP DESCRIPTION: MS Luxon searching through infected plant.

00:09:32:16 CLIP DESCRIPTION: CU Luxon talking in field

00:09:52:01 CLIP DESCRIPTION: MS Luxon talking in field.

00:10:21:16 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Luxon talking to 3 experts next to field.

00:10:30:08 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Luxon talking to 3 experts next to field.

00:10:38:13 CLIP DESCRIPTION: short from inside field showing Luxon walking.

00:01:57:20 CLIP DESCRIPTION: track shot from CU Luxon’s gumboots to WS Luxon walking in field.

00:10:53:03 CLIP DESCRIPTION: CU Maize cob in Luxon’s maize field.

00:10:57:21 CLIP DESCRIPTION: CU Luxon’s maize field.

00:11:01:04 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Luxon’s maize field.

00:11:08:00 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Luxon’s maize field.

00:11:12:01 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Luxon’s maize field.

00:11:16:17 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Luxon’s maize field.

00:11:24:07 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Luxon’s maize field.

00:11:33:00 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Luxon in pump room.

00:11:49:05 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Luxon POV in pump room.

00:11:53:12 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Luxon shows records, outside reception.

00:11:59:01 CLIP DESCRIPTION: CU Luxon’s records

00:12:08:22 CLIP DESCRIPTION: CU Luxon taking to people outside reception.

00:12:28:20 CLIP DESCRIPTION: MS Luxon taking to people outside

00:12:41:08 CLIP DESCRIPTION: Worker opens reception door.

00:12:55:13 CLIP DESCRIPTION: FS Luxon stands by his irrigation site.

Script A fall armyworm outbreak, the first emergence of the pest in southern Africa, is causing considerable crop damage in some countries. If the pest damage aggravates, it could dampen prospects for good crop harvests that is anticipated in the current farming season. Maize, a staple food in the region has been the most affected, as well as other cereals including sorghum, millet and wheat. Southern Africa is reeling from the effects of two consecutive years of El Nino-induced drought that affected over 40 million people, reduced food availability by 15 percent and caused a cereal deficit of 9 million tonnes. The FAO Subregional Coordinator for southern Africa, David Phiri, said that the situation was constantly evolving. “The situation remains fluid. Preliminary reports indicate possible presence (of the pest) in Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has positively identified the presence of the pest while the rest are expected to release test results soon," he said.

In Zambia, the Government has already spent US$ 3 million in an attempt to control the pest that has affected approximately 130 000 hectares of crops. However, the full extent of the damage in the country and other affected countries, is yet to be established. The pest which primarily spreads through wind dispersal and host plant products, is reported to be still active. The affected countries are also in different stages of assessing the damage to the crops because the outbreaks did not occur simultaneously. Fall armyworm is a relatively new pest from the Americas, whose presence on the African continent was first reported in Sao Tome and Principe around January 2016. The pest is known to cause extensive crop losses of up to 73 percent depending on existing conditions and is difficult to control with a single type of pesticide, especially when it has reached an advanced larval development stage.

As the region faces up to these new and emerging challenges, that are threatening the livelihoods of over 70 percent of the population that depend on agriculture, there is a crucial need to enhance capacity at country and regional levels, to prevent, detect and respond rapidly to any new pests and diseases threat.“The countries need to maintain and, where needed, expand diagnostic laboratory, surveillance and response capacity as well as conduct assessments and research to enable rapid responses to recurrent and new threats”, said David Phiri.FAO is working with governments, the SADC and other stakeholders to develop and roll out an appropriate strategy to determine the level of fall armyworm infestation and its impact on crop production. The organization will continue supporting response efforts as well as contribute to enhancing the resilience capacity of the countries and stakeholders in the region.

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