Crop-ravaging Fall Army Worms(f.a.w) have been positively identified in the Limpopo province as well as the North West, both major maize-producing regions. They have also damaged South African cornfields just north of Brits, a town 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Pretoria, the capital, according to a Zoology professor who is studying the outbreak.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries noted that tests on samples from damaged crops have shown the presence of the destructive pest. The Department warns that fall army worms can affect a range of crops, including maize, sorghum, soybeans, groundnuts and potatoes.
Damage reported in South Africa so far is mainly on yellow maize varieties and especially on sweet-corn, as well as maize planted for seed production. However, the department says the South African Emergency Plant Pest Response Plan has already been activated to deal with the pest.
White corn for delivery in March, the most active contract, fell for the first day in three on the South African Futures Exchange. It was down 2.2 percent to 2,905 rand a metric ton ($216) by 11:59 a.m. in Johannesburg.
(Courtesy Reuters/Bloomberg)
