Nagaland takes measures to save maize crop from pest attack

KOHIMA: With the Fall Armyworm (FAW) affecting maize cultivation in Nagaland, the horticulture department has started taking measures to mitigate the problem, officials said.
The department has also decided to carry out a survey to estimate the quantum of damage caused by the pest attack, they said.
Out of the 11 districts in the state, the crop has been affected in Kohima, Dimapur and Phek, the deputy director of department of horticulture, Dr Moa Walling, said here on Saturday, on the sidelines of an awareness campaign and training for mitigation of FAW.
As an allied agriculture department, the horticulture department is concerned about the effects of FAW on maize cultivation throughout the state, he said. The district horticulture officers, field staff and farmers are being trained to control the menace by using Nimbecidine EC, an insecticide, he said.
They are also being trained to use pheromone traps to fight the pest, he added. He said preventive measures have to be taken after dark since the pest can travel a distance of 100 km in a single night.
"This pest infestation has devastated the maize fields in the neighbouring states and Nagaland is also not far from suffering the same fate, if we do not take immediate action against it," the Deputy Director of the horticulture department, S Senka Jamir, said.
The advisor for the horticulture department, MLA Mhathung Yanthan, while addressing the trainees asked the respective district officials not to remain insensitive to the menace as the pest is affecting not only maize but other plants, including the cash crops.
Maintaining that FAW has the potential of causing widespread damage, Yanthan asked all to take the responsibility to curb the spread of the pest for the general welfare of the maize farmers in the state.
Farmers, facing problems due to the pest attack, can contact the district horticulture offices for support, the Principal Secretary to the Government of Nagaland, M K Mero, said.