Johannesburg - The
fall armyworms that have ravaged corn fields from Ghana to South Africa since
arriving on the continent last year could spread to Asia and the Mediterranean,
a research body said.
Infestations of
the pest that arrived from the Americas last year have been confirmed in
Ghana, the Oxfordshire, UK-based Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences
International said. South Africa also verified Febuary 3 that the caterpillars
have arrived in the continent’s biggest producer of corn, a staple, after they travelled
from Zambia through Zimbabwe. There are reports that they’ve reach Malawi and
Namibia too.
“It can be
expected to spread to the limits of suitable African habitat within a few
years,” the organisation said in an e-mailed statement Monday. The fall
armyworm “could spread to tropical Asia and the Mediterranean in the next few
years, becoming a major threat to agricultural trade worldwide.”
Read also: Armyworm confirmed
The caterpillars
that get their name from the large numbers that invade fields and eat the
leaves and stems are probably more dangerous than the native African armyworm,
and their introduction will pose a lasting threat to crops on the continent,
according to a paper published in October by scientists including Georg
Goergen. The pest can devastate corn fields, risking production of the staple
food in a region that’s emerging from its worst drought in more than 35 years.