By Joseph Opoku Gakpo
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The locusts are currently causing vast devastation of crop fields in Ethiopia, Kenya and other East African countries.
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Ebenezer Aboagye, Head of the Pests, Crop and Disease Division of the Agric Ministry, said they will rely on pesticides for fighting the destructive Fall Armyworm pests to deal with the desert locusts if an invasion happens.
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But Dr Michael Osae, President of the Entomological Society of Ghana says the approach is wrong because chemicals for fighting Fall Armyworm pests cannot deal with desert locusts.
“That is not the right strategy. I know the Fall Armyworm pesticides. They cannot certainly deal with the Fall Armyworm pests” he told Joy News.
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The dessert locusts feed on all crops including vegetables and cereals. The last time there was a major outbreak of the Dessert Locusts in Africa was between 2003 and 2005.
Spreading from East Africa, it got as far as Burkina Faso but Ghana did not record an invasion. Dr Osae says there is no guarantee Ghana will be lucky this time around.
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A letter from the Director of the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture Dr. Felicia Ansah Amprofi to sector officers urged “all directors to strengthen detection surveillance by monitoring the borders and cropping fields to ensure early detection of the new pest in your district to prevent this plant pest from invading the nation.”