Fall Armyworm reported in Egypt

CAIRO – 31 May 2019: First case of destructive Fall Armyworm (FAW) was reported in Egypt, putting country’s agricultural corps, particularly maize, at risk.

The Agricultural Pesticide Committee (APC) of the Ministry of Agriculture reported on Thursday the first case of FAW presence in a maize field in a village in Kom Ombo city of Aswan governorate, Upper Egypt, the ministry announced in a statement on Thursday.

“This insect destroys more than 80 different agricultural crops, most notably maize and Broom-corn, sugarcane, rice, cotton, vegetables and fruits. Due to its short life cycle, which does not exceed a month and a half, this larval insect is difficulty to be killed with pesticide,” said head of Farmers’ Syndicate Hassan Abdel Rahman in a statement on Friday.

He called on the ministry and the farmers to take all necessary procedures to curb the armyworm infestation. Abdel Raham expected that the worm infestation would push some countries to impose more restricted measures on Egypt’s vegetable exportations.

The APC asked the farmers to follow certain measures and to use certain types of insecticides.

According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) facts, the fall armyworm landed in African via a ship or a plane in 2016, invading more than 40 African countries since then. Its large destructive impact could push 300 million people into hunger in Africa.

In April 2019, FAO and the Egyptian government held a workshop to train framers how to monitor and deal with the FAW. The workshop covered farmers from Upper Egypt governorates, namely Aswan, Luxor, Qena, Assiut, Sohag, Menia, Beni Suef and Fayoum.