BY EDMOND ODOK – The Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS) of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has flagged off an aggressive enlightenment campaign on pest control aimed at boosting food security in the nation’s capital.
Accordingly, as part of forward-looking measures to address the menace of Fall Army Worm (FAW), the ARDS has engaged over 250 farmers across the six area councils of the territory on practical identification, management, and control of the pest in FCT.
The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is a lepidopteran pest that feeds in large numbers on leaves and stems of more than 80 plant species, causing major damage to maize, rice, sorghum, sugarcane but also other vegetable crops and cotton. However, it is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas.
Declaring open the sensitisation programme in Kwali Area Council, the ARDS’ Mandate Secretary, Malam Abubakar Ibrahim, said the engagement is meant to increase awareness and assist the farmers to undertake measures required to improve their productivity in the agricultural sector.
He said the Secretariat was focused on delivering services that would support the farmers to improve their annual yields and harvest, noting that the FAW menace has remained a serious challenge to the farmers.
Ibrahim, represented by the ARDS’ Director of Administration and Finance (DAF), Ishaq Sadeeq, expressed concern that given the percentage ratio of the problem, more than 30 per cent would be addressed if tackled effectively.
He pledged the FCT Administration’s commitment, through the ARDS, to fully back the farmers by ensuring they are adequately sensitised with unhindered access to all the needed inputs to tackle the menace.
Warning that lack of proactive measures could be quite risky for the farmers, the Mandate Scribe said; “So, if nothing is done, 10 per cent of farmlands or whatever they produce, will go completely off, that’s why we are really giving them all the support and sensitisation needed.
“And what we are doing is engaging representatives of farmers across the six area councils. It is a continuous sensitisation campaign because the representatives of the six area councils will go back to their domains and do the step-down.”
Also in her intervention, the Coordinator, Ad-hoc Committee on Fall Army Worm (FAW) and Director, Agric Services, Mrs Francisca Ihekadu, stated that the pest has brought tension and crisis to farmers in the FCT since the year 2016.
According to her, FAW, which thrives well when there is a dry spell during the rainy season, portends great danger to food security, and this has necessitated a global action for its effective management and control.
She said the FCTA, through its Ad-hoc Steering Committee on FAW, would not relent in its efforts to ensure the FCT enjoyed food security by adequately preparing farmers to control and manage FAW in this 2022 farming season.
Noting that “NIMET has predicted 15 days dry spell over FCT between the month of May and June, which is not good for maize production in the territory due to FAW infestation”, Mrs Francisca Ihekadu urged farmers to have a fair knowledge about the planting season, especially the rains would be established in the month of July.
She said it was important for the farmers to put into practice the knowledge that would be gained from carefully selected resource persons, adding that this would make them an active part and stakeholders in the FCT’s success story in the food security programme.
On his part, the National Coordinator Project for FAW, Dr Adeleke Adetunji described the workshop as part of continuous advocacy for the sensitisation of farmers, noting that the programme is timely and apt in the government’s bold moves to effectively manage and control the prevalence of FAW in the capital territory.
Applauding the sensitisation programme as the right step in the right direction, Dr Adetunji said it is kudos to the FCTA for reawakening the campaign given its capacity to assist in moderating the adverse impact of the pest on farmers and their activities in the FCT.
