/ 8 July 1999

WORMS DESTROYING CROPS

“ARMY worms” moving in swarms across northeastern Ghana are destroying cereal crops at an alarming rate, a source at the ministry of agriculture said on Monday. In the Mamprusi district, the moth larvae are moving in armies of up to six hundred per square metre and have already infested an area as large as 150km in diametre. The worms are devouring leaves of agricultural produce such as maize, millet, rice and sorghum, the official said. The official said some 150000 hectares of cereals are under serious threat, and that many residents dependent on millet, which serves as a “hunger break,” may be without essential food. Agricultural officials have sent in truckloads of agro-chemicals to fight the worms, which have now spread to 13 of 15 districts of the northern region.