Scientists at the Britain-based Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) released research on Monday that shows the pest which had not become established outside the Americas, is now expected to spread rapidly “to the limits of suitable African habitat” within the next few years.
Since arriving in Africa last year, probably on imported produce, the agricultural pest has already ravaged corn fields in Ghana, and then, after traveling through Zambia and Zimbabwe, marched into South Africa on February 3. The armyworm is rapidly eating its way through what was considered to be a good crop year.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the pest has also turned up in Malawi, Mozambique, and Namibia. The caterpillar destroys young corn, or maize plants by attacking their growing points and burrowing into the cobs, according to Reuters.
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