-In Zota District, Farmers seek Gov’t quick response
By Emmauuel Mafelah. Mafelahemmanuel29@gmail.com
GBARNGA, Liberia- Several farmers in Zota District in the central Bong County are said to be facing serious challenges in cultivating their farmland, as a result of an the rampaging of unknown army worms similar to army worms, which is damaging crops in the area.
Out www.newspublictrust.com Reporter who visited the District recently said about nine towns, including Tinsue, Flomota, Narwai, and other surrounding villages are seriously being affected by the crops-killing worms.
Garden egg, pepper, cocoa, and cabbage among others are crops mostly being eaten by the strange worms. And this distress for farmer comes at a time when the country is battling the Coronavirus global pandemic, amidst the fast declining economic situation.
According to Josiah Williams, a farmer in Tinsue, the situation could exacerbate if nothing is done to remedy the situation. Continuing, he added: “The situation is making life miserable for us now. The only option we as citizens have is to walk long distances to seek food,” he added.
Mr. Williams is appealing to President George Manneh Weah’s government to provide pesticides and other resources so that farmers in the district can combat this worms’ plague that is threatening the district’s food security.
He said farmers could lose their crops and pastures, if quick action is not taken to fight the infestation.
“The situation is very serious. It has affected most of our crops and farmlands areas. A majority of the farmers who are affected are small-scale farmers who produce more than 90 per cent of crops,” Mr. Williams said.
The farmers’ union of the district has reportedly been advising farmers in the district on the type of pesticides to use in controlling the caterpillars. But said not all farmers have the financial means to purchase the recommended pesticides.
A member of the Zota Farmers Union, Jerry Tokpah said the Liberian government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, has increased efforts to help farmers control the pests. “They are giving out pesticides to farmers who can afford it so that they can spray.”
Mr. Tokpah said the farmers’ union has advised farmers to increase inspection of their fields for army worms and to alert their agriculture extension officers as soon as they detect caterpillar infestations in their fields.
Zota District is largely semi-arid and produces a variety of crops, and farmers also keep livestock as their economic mainstay.
This is not the first of its kind for worm’s outbreak in Zota, it can be recalled that in 2009, Liberia’s then-President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf declared the State of Emergency as a result of an armyworm outbreak that started in the same District and later spread to other parts of the Country.
The situation has left poor Farmers with little or no hope of benefiting from their labor as they call on the National government through the Ministries of Agriculture to quickly come to their aid.
Wornukai General Town Chief Peter Kuamue said they started experiencing the presence of the worms that appear like caterpillars since the beginning of this month but started in another town called Kpaimue, north of Zota District.
He said the invasion began in Kpaimue before spreading into nearby towns and villages in the area.
An experienced Farmer in Denyea, Jerry F. Mulbah has said as the District faces the challenges of the strange worms that are threatening the livelihoods of over 90 percent of the population in the area that depends on agriculture, there is a crucial need to enhance the capacity of farmers at the District and County levels to prevent detect and respond rapidly to any new worms and diseases threat.
He told Reporter that it is not time to sit in the backseat but for all of the citizens to join hands with local authorities and seek the government’s immediate response.
Mary Kollie, a mother of four children told Journalist that if the situation continues she will be left with nothing to sell and buy food for her children; adding that the strange worms started eating her crops before spreading to other parts of the area.
“So the only thing I want is for the government to help us fight these worms because if it continues we will be left with nothing at the end of the farming season,” she said.
So far, there has not been any comment from authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture concerning the situation.
But an insider has told Journalists that the Ministry will shortly send some Researchers from the Central Agricultural Research to find out the cause of the outbreak.