Agricultural specialists have warned that there will be more damage to crops but specifically maize by the fall army-worms in the March-April season.
Uasin Gishu Agriculture County Executive Samuel Yego on Friday said this could be due to the build-up of the pests on the ground.
He also noted that they are yet to look into the efficacy of the chemicals used to control the pests like last year.
“We are yet to do a complete research on managing the pests and on the efficacy of the chemicals used to control them. If nothing is done, we expect to have serious damage in the next season,” Yego said.
On the past term, county government agricultural research officers and scientists have successfully tested genetically modified maize variety that is drought tolerant and resistant to the stem borer and results have shown some resistance to the fall of armyworms.
Last year, the Ministry of Agriculture said that more than 800,000 hectares of land in 25 counties were affected by the armyworms.
In Uasin Gishu, the County Executive said more than 30 percent of the crops were damaged by the armyworms and farmers could once again suffer from more crop damages in the coming long rain season.
“We are looking for a long-term approach which is intensive on host plant resistance,” Yego said.
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