Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 16 February 2017

Armyworm invasion threatening

southern Africa’s crops

Colorado has 834

million dead trees;

fires could get worse

In this June 24, 2013 file photo, fire-promoting beetle-killed trees
mix with live trees as a wildfire burns west of Creede, Colo.
Associated Press
DENVER (AP) — Officials say tain pine beetle and the
Colorado has about 834 spruce beetle, which have A woman holds an army worm she found feeding on her maize crop at a Farm on the outskirts of
million standing dead trees, together attacked more Harare, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017.
threatening to worsen wild- than 7,900 square miles in Associated Press
fires and degrade vital wa- Colorado. FARAI MUTSAKA vid Phiri, the U.N. Food and rived or what their long-
ter supplies that flow from Dead trees can burn more Associated Press Agriculture Organization term effects will be. “It may
forested mountains. intensely than living ones. HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — coordinator for the region. become a migratory pest
The Colorado State Forest They can also worsen ero- An invasion of armyworms is The pest is devastating to similarly to the African ar-
Service said Wednesday sion, contaminating runoff stripping southern Africa of crops and so far impossible myworm and may migrate
that the number of dead from rain and melting snow. key food crops and could to eradicate. in large numbers from one
trees has risen nearly 30 Officials say 80 percent of spread to other parts of the “They have not managed area to another, causing
percent in seven years. the state’s population relies continent, experts warned to control it because it great damage.”
They are most visible in for- on runoff from forested wa- Tuesday at an emergency keeps evolving,” Phiri said. Affected crops also in-
ests infested by the moun- tersheds. q meeting of 16 African na- “But we have to find a plan clude sorghum, soybeans,
tions. South Africa, Zimba- for managing it.” groundnuts and potatoes,
bwe, Malawi and Zambia Food insecurity will worsen the ministry said.
are among the countries without a solution, he said. The region already has
where the fall armyworm “What is of particular con- been struggling with what
has invaded fields of maize, cern is that the pest has the United Nations has
a staple crop throughout affected countries that called its worst drought in
the region. are the main producers of more than three decades.
The fall armyworm is a new maize.” Zimbabwe, once prosper-
threat in southern Africa. South Africa’s agriculture ous and an exporter of
It is mostly associated with ministry early this month maize, already has been
the Americas, where it has said little was known about battling food shortages for
been since 1957, said Da- how the armyworms ar- years. q