In a bid to control the spread of fall armyworm, the County executive committee member for Agriculture Samuel Yego held an emergency consultative meeting with the Acting Chief Officer in the Agriculture Department and the Agriculture sub-county heads to seek ways of ensuring the worm is arrested at an early stage to prevent loss of maize.
Following the outbreak that emerged in 2017, the county government of Uasin Gishu has ensured proper efforts are being made to contain the situation once and for all.
Speaking with the officers, Yego said Uasin Gishu County and its stakeholders are working around the clock to come up with both short and long-term interventions to put the situation under control.
He later made a visit to Turbo sub-county, where he inspected the chemicals delivered and expected to be distributed to the farmers by end of the week.
The County Executive underscored that the experiences and best practices that researchers have followed regarding Fall Armyworm management will be used by officers to demonstrate to farmers on chemical use.
"Fall Armyworm is highly destructive and invasive pest. We have to work hard and make sure that the level of damage induced by the pest should be insignificant as much as possible,” he said.
He called for concerted efforts by all officers to ensure farmers use and benefit from current available and recommended chemicals that the county has availed.
The county procured chemicals among them Duduthrin, Marshall and others to be given to farmers.
"The required time for spraying is in the evening when the worm is very active. Chemicals are to be sprayed directly to the plant funnel to ensure contact with it," said Cheboi