FAO rings alarm about rising Crop-damaging armyworms in Asia

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has expressed concerns over the increasing menace of Crop-damaging armyworms in Asia.

Concerns Expressed by FAO

• Farming in several Asian countries is under threat from a type of crop-damaging insects that have munched their way from the Americas and across Africa.
• These flying insects arrived in India in July and have since spread to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and China’s Yunnan province.
• These insects feed mostly on maize and can feed on several species of crops, including rice and sugarcane.
• Armyworms which are native to the Americas have been moving eastwards since 2016 sweeping across Africa where they caused $1-3 billion in damage, before arriving in Asia.

The FAO had convened a meeting of officials from affected countries and experts for discussing ways to limit armyworm infestations amid a “growing sense of alarm”. FAO called on the nations to work together since pest has no respect for international boundaries and it threatens food security, economy, domestic and international trade.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2019