Kathmandu, June 21
The Plant Quarantine and Pesticide Management Centre under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development says 64 of 77 districts across the country have reported the presence of fall armyworms.
The armyworms that were first found in America are notorious for destroying maize plants.
The centre, however, says it does not have specific and sufficient data on its impact and this is barring efforts to launch a programme to control it. The ministry, on the other, hand claims the worms’ impact has decreased from last year.
Last year, the armyworms were reported from 58 districts only. The armyworms had been detected in Nepal for the first time in 2019.
“We have noticed the worms have spread across the districts. But, no one has sent us the details,” the centre’s spokesperson Ram Krishna Subedi says. He complains agricultural units under provincial and local governments did not send sufficient information despite repeated follow-ups.
Most of the agricultural affairs are governed by provincial and local governments after the country’s transition to federalism.
