![]() Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. (Writing by James Macharia Editing by Edmund Blair) "The best we can do is to try and control it, rather than expecting to eradicate it completely soon," said Dane Fredenburg, a project director for agriculture at the CRS. The Catholic Relief Services (CRS) charity is working with farmers on cheaper methods to tackle the worm, such as spraying pulp from the leaves of the neem tree or planting crops resistant to the worm, such as sweet potatoes. Lewis Lipenga, a crops protection officer in the Agriculture Ministry, the army worm had grown resistant to chemical pesticides since its arrival in Malawi, while high temperatures helped it multiply fast. In 2017, the pest infestation also affected Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Malawi declared the armyworms a national disaster in December after discovering the pests had spread to 22 of Malawi's 28 districts. Mapepa said his family relied on sweet potatoes to supplement its food supply. Created by USAID in 1985 to help decision-makers plan for humanitarian crises, FEWS NET provides evidence-based analysis on approximately 30 countries. "Like last year, we have to think about what to do to find food," said Barton Mapepa, 50, another farmer. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network is a leading provider of early warning and analysis on food insecurity. Malawi's maize production in the 2016/17 farming season stood at 3.2 million tonnes. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), which issues alarms about food shortages, said in its February report that drought and the pest infestation will reduce maize harvests by 10 percent in the 2017/18 (October to April) season. Last year, half of Malawi's maize was infected by armyworms. Official estimates of the damage to maize by both the drought and armyworms are underway, the government has said. "We must spray once every week until maize matures. By 1959, only twelve Jews were living in Malawi. ![]() After the war, however, most of these Polish Jews left the area. In the same field, Stoneck Njanji, 40, was worn out as he tried to kill the pest using spray. Press reports of the time state that during World War II (1939-1945), 60 Polish-Jewish families went to Nyasaland, then under British colonial rule and today known as modern day Malawi, arriving via Iran to escape the Holocaust. Last year it was the same," said 20-year-old Patricia Ntasa in Chikwawa, 77 km (48 miles) southeast of Malawi's economic hub of Blantyre. "The worm is not dying, but we have to keep spraying in the hope it may give up. Impoverished Malawi is periodically hit by food shortages as it relies heavily on rain-fed agriculture and most of its maize is grown on small plots by subsistence farmers. The outbreak of crop-munching fall armyworms, a pest from Latin America that first threatened African crops late in 2016. * Farmers turn to neem tree for cheaper pesticideĬHIKWAWA, Malawi, March 23 (Reuters) - A worsening pest infestation is threatening Malawi's staple maize crop for the second year running, leaving farmers struggling to salvage crops already faltering due to drought. * FEWS NET estimates 10 percent drop in 2017/18 crop * Dry spell exacerbating risk to crop output Malawi declared the armyworms a national disaster in December after discovering the pests had spread to 22 of Malawi's 28 districts
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