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It was interesting to read of the outbreak, now in South Africa as well, of a worm that is threatening our maize crops. The worm is called the armyworm and is doing tremendous damage to our maize. South Africa is the largest maize producer in Southern Africa and many countries rely on us for food and we are starting to look at a situation where there may be a tremendous maize shortage later this year and that prices will go up. South Africa may well be forced to import maize from elsewhere. It is just a reminder how dependent we are on nature and just a few small things can really devastate an industry – in particular in this case farming which is already fraught with drought, storms, hail and all sorts of other natural issues.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Friday 17-Mar-17
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Comments
tersia said:
on Monday 03-Apr-17 04:14 PM
This is quite a scary issue to face. If we need to import it's really going to cost us a lot of money. I am glad I am not a farmer, I would not be able to deal with all that stress that comes with it, I would properly be a little stress ball just thinking of all that could go wrong. I take my hat off to all the farmers, the issues they have to face and deal with on a basic day, it cant be easy. That is actually why our farmers are so valuable, but unfortunately some people think anyone can farm and do what they do - soon they will learn an expensive lesson!
Lucretia said:
on Monday 03-Apr-17 02:54 PM
It just gets worse and worse. Nature at its worse for now. However, if memory serves me correctly, it came from the States. Be that as it may, the sad thing is, if the worm cannot find the corn to eat, and is "starving" it will eat other plants etc. Where will it end.....
Lourien said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 04:09 PM
Farmers are always facing the force of nature, I think one of the most important parts of a countries economy is farming, without food all the prices will ski-rocket and it will be hard to make a living. The armyworm will cause a huge loss in crops if not destroy all of it in a very short time. We can only hope that our farmers will get rid of this worm as soon as possible.
Helen said:
on Friday 31-Mar-17 09:27 AM
This is so true, that it is impossible to run away fro the nature, but smart human can manage it in the right way. I would say educated and hard working human, who knows his farming and was taught from small age.
Cornelie said:
on Wednesday 29-Mar-17 05:52 PM
Not really something South- Africa needs at this point in time. Hope they have mannaged to get rid of the armyworm.
Brenda van den Bergh said:
on Wednesday 29-Mar-17 05:23 PM
This is not something that anyone wants to read about. Maize in South Africa is like a gold mine as it is one of the few things that nourish the poor. If this is the case and the problem becomes huge, we are looking at quite a crisis.
Nicolle said:
on Monday 27-Mar-17 09:45 AM
Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. This concept placed into a commercial field is far more difficult to manage however. Bountiful crops could also mean bountiful destruction and loss of produce. Hopefully there is some form of intervention before this staple product's price sky rockets.
Mathilda said:
on Friday 24-Mar-17 11:34 AM
Hopefully they can get something to stop this before it becomes a major problem
Zanell said:
on Thursday 23-Mar-17 05:19 PM
This is going to cause major issues for farmers, hopefully they can come up with something to stop this.
Prishani said:
on Thursday 23-Mar-17 05:16 PM
I am sure that researchers and scientists are trying to figure out how this can be stopped. I hope that this is something that our Government is looking into before it becomes a crisis situation.
Alexis said:
on Thursday 23-Mar-17 08:35 AM
Saw this on the news the other day. Quite a problem that will be faced and it comes from such a small little thing. Mother Nature is something
Jolene said:
on Wednesday 22-Mar-17 02:56 PM
I have never heard of the armyworm, but just the name already says a lot about it. It is amazing how such a little worm can cause so much damage. It is terrible.
brumilde said:
on Wednesday 22-Mar-17 01:55 PM
Shows you that SA should keep investing in our farming economy, stop giving farms away. stop handing it to people who dont know who to properly work it. i do hope for all our sake that we get this sorted
Liesl said:
on Wednesday 22-Mar-17 11:18 AM
This is a very real problem for our farmers. I must say that our farmers have been subjected to quite a lot, first the terrible draught and now this. Someone told me about a board at the end of a farm that read if I remember correctly "did you eat today, thank your farmer"
Joyce said:
on Monday 20-Mar-17 05:40 PM
armyworm sounds very destroying. I think government needs to help farmers to save South Africa from importing maize from other countries
Nikita said:
on Monday 20-Mar-17 09:18 AM
I don't think many people are actually aware of how difficult it is to be a farmer in this day and age. Never mind the danger of being brutally murdered, you are so dependent on nature that anything can happen at any time to take away your livelihood. We cannot forget the theft that also affects the farmers. The country needs to appreciate the farmers more because they are the reason for the vast majority of people having food on their plates. This worm is just another challenge which the farmers will have to figure out - hopefully not alone.
Melissa van Tellingen said:
on Monday 20-Mar-17 09:15 AM
It's so scary to think that such a small animal can make such a big difference. South African households live on maize and this could mean a potential disaster to our economy. Farmers can never catch a break. This will have a massive effect on South Africa's financials.
Liz said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 05:51 PM
This could have disastrous social-economic consequences, as most South African households are reliant on maize. It would be good if the government chose to allocate funds in order to assist farmers in rectifying this issue.
Jessica M said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 05:41 PM
I wonder if our poor farmers will ever catch a break? from the farm murders, drought's and now this worm. All I can say is that I am glad I am not a farmer.
Daniella said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 05:36 PM
It is quite strange how one little worm can have a huge ripple effect on everything! The Army worm is a very deleterious pest,as it is capable of destroying entire crops in a matter of weeks, which is terrifying.
Sinead said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 05:26 PM
Wow!!! One little worm can cause all these problems? This will be a huge problem if they can't fix it... Maize is one of our main sources of food! It really can't increase at this stage :( How will we ever survive? I hope there is a solution or at least a plan for this issue...
Michelle said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 03:48 PM
The way a small creature can create such a big disaster is incredible. Not just a problem for now but also for the future. Its actually sad because just as we need food these insects also need to survive.
Sarah said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 03:05 PM
This is a very serious problem if 70% of crops are all affected by the worm, a lot of people rely on maize for their food source.
Tamaryn said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 01:45 PM
Maize is a staple food source in South Africa and more particularly so for the poor. If the price of maize were to increase, those living below the breadline would be hit the hardest. Not to mention the negative effect it will have on the economy if we are no longer able to export maize. Perhaps the introduction of a natural predator of the armyworm may help, but then are we just creating another problem?
Jadine said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 01:05 PM
Thank goodness that nature has ways of fixing itself up with lots of help from us as humans. However, it is still a sad situation as our Politicians do not realise what our farmers really go through and I believe that the farmers are the citizens that require more economic assistance from Government so that they can be better equipped to deal with these natural disasters.
Jessica Apfel said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 12:32 PM
It is astounding to see how such a small creature can do so much damage to the economy! Importing maize would be crippling. There has been little in the news of late as to whether it has actually become an epidemic. As far as I am aware he have implemented measures to control / eradicate the problem
Henrietta said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 11:55 AM
This is bad news. I really do take my hat of for farmers, just like any other job you really have to know what you doing, but in farming you have natural disasters/mother nature that is against you, not to mention the way their lives are being threatened. In farming you definitely have your up and downs and this armyworm is a low down, not just for farmers but for us as well.
Bianca said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 10:44 AM
Another blow that our country cannot afford financially, we will ultimately lose income from exporting maize and have to actually spend money to import maize when we are the largest producer of same - the irony. Very rare that there is no one to blame in this situation which is a nice change for us, normally it is bad running of the country that costs us money/export income. I am however sure that some preventive measures could have been implemented to avoid the major outbreak and ruining of that quantity of maize.
Juliet said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 10:34 AM
Nature is completely ignored in this day of cell phones, technology and the human misconception that human beings are self-reliant and don't need anything or anyone...the terrible God complex that ultimately leads to one's complete destruction.
To add to the annihilation of our farming sector we also have barbaric farm attacks where our farmers are left maimed and their daughters and wives are raped and mutilated forcing many of our farmers to either stop farming or to emigrate. So farming has a very bleak future which means the average person will eventually not even be able to afford to live a basic to sub-standard life in South Africa.
Angelique P said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 10:25 AM
This is really bad. I know a farmer that has crops in the Kongo. Their crops are destroyed by this worm. I hope there will be a solution to kill this worm. This can become a huge problem. We all use maize in most of our meals. Once again we will not be able to live without a FARMER.
Dune said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 10:22 AM
It is amazing to see that such a little thing can lead to massive disasters at a later stage. This is just another hurdle that our farmers has to deal with over and above all the other issues they face on a daily basis.
Suzanne said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 09:54 AM
This is a major issue and poses a great threat to the economy. I think a lot of people don't realize what a massive role our farming industry plays in this country, especially when looking at maize - this is a staple food for many.
Nina said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 09:52 AM
This will definitely be a serious problem, but with today's technology i'm sure we will work something out. We have overcome so many problems in this country, i'm sure we will be able to work it out. With all these other issues like farmers leaving the country because of the increase in farm murders, we can't really afford any other natural issues on top of that.
Ashleigh said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 09:48 AM
Omw, this is seriously the last thing our farmers need on their plates. Its enough that the farmers lives are being threatened, now a worm threatening their crop. I have to take my hat off to farmers who still have the initiative to still carry on farming under all their circumstances.
Brenda Du Toit said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 09:43 AM
This is a serious problem .We need our Maize .We have to sort this problem out we have to try and control this situation.
Thabitha said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 09:42 AM
Not after we were affected by drought and hail we really don't need this, prices will be going up and SA can not produce less maize.
Melissa said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 09:35 AM
This is a very serious problem, hope we can do something to control this situation.
Clare said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 09:31 AM
This is so bad, I hope that we can use our Brains an sort this stuff out, Please need there Maize. We take natural for granted people should really appreciate what they have.
Zindy said:
on Friday 17-Mar-17 09:26 AM
The reports state armyworms are present in seven of the country's eight provinces, with estimates of 70% crop destruction in some areas. Its actually very serious especially in the countries that are recovering from drought.
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
