Residents of Kimogoro village, Mutunda sub county in Kiryandongo district have been invaded by the African army worm which is destroying all the green vegetation in the area. The invasion was reported through the area LCI chairperson to the district production officer on Thursday March 31,2022.

The African army worm has posed a big threat to the authorities in Kiryandongo which prompted them to seek assistance from the ministry of agriculture animal industry and fisheries so as curb the spread of the pests into the neighboring villages.

Geofrey Kiviiri the chairman LCI Kimogoro village received reports of the invasion from one of the commercial farmers in the area and upon moving around the gardens, they discovered the worms which were crushing any vegetation they came across and this was a great challenge to both the crop and cattle farmers.

Kiviiri is worried of the welfare of the people in his village since the pest is likely to cause famine and adverse poverty among his people.

Edith Aliguma the LCV chairperson Kiryandongo called for a concerted effort by the people of Kimogoro village so as to use the available pesticides provided by government of Uganda and spray against the African army worm in their gardens.

Aliguma also thanked the government of Uganda through ministry of agriculture for the continuous research which help in providing timely interventions to farmers in case of a disease or pest outbreak.

According to Byenkya Issa Hassan the district production officer Kiryandongo, the African army worm had been reported in Tanzania and the ministry of agriculture had issued warning alerts to the districts in the south western and Eastern Uganda.

By the time of invasion in Kiryandongo, only Busia district in eastern Uganda had reported cases of African army worm to the ministry of agriculture.