Maize production may rise by 14 per cent over last year, to a total of 40 lakh tonnes. The figure appears in the "World Agricultural Production" report published this month by the USDA, the US agriculture agency.

By the agency's count, Bangladesh is among the countries with the highest maize production in the world. But alongside the good news it gave some bad news: the "armyworm", identified as the most harmful pest for crops worldwide at the moment, has attacked maize in Bangladesh.

It is not only the USDA. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also issued a special notice on the pest's attack last Thursday. It said that unless effective control and pest management are carried out, several lakh small and poor farmers will be in danger, and the food and nutrition security and livelihoods of these families could be threatened. The organisation has so far found evidence of the pest in 37 districts. The agencies said the pest does not attack in the winter of December and January; its main season of attack is from February to March.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has already developed a special management system to control the pest. It has set up a digital system to monitor where and in what quantity the pest is being seen in Bangladesh. Together with the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), it has also built an app. Information collected from 505 farmers in the field is updated every week through the app.

The government has formed a special task force to control and suppress the armyworm. The 19-member committee will meet on 27 February on the state of the attack and its control. Pheromone traps are already being given to farmers across the country, and the DAE has started training farmers.

The armyworm can eat an entire crop in a single night. It can be controlled with pheromone traps and water traps. In 12 African countries, the armyworm causes the loss of about 1 crore 80 lakh tonnes of maize a year.

Md Abdur Rouf, additional secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and head of the armyworm control task force, told Prothom Alo: "Attacks are low now because temperatures are low. But we are worried about February and March. Temperatures may rise then and the attacks may increase. That is why, alongside making farmers aware and training them, we have started giving out pheromone traps." Abdur Rouf noted that the pest has seriously damaged crops in the countries where it has struck.

The DAE has sent a special alert to the administration and DAE officials in every district. It says the pest can eat up the entire crop of a field in one night, so as soon as it is seen, steps must be taken to control it with pheromone traps and water traps, with the help of the local DAE office.

By the FAO's count, the armyworm, the most harmful pest for 80 crops worldwide, was first seen in Bangladesh in 2018. It can do serious damage to food production. In 12 African countries it causes the loss of about 1 crore 80 lakh tonnes of maize a year, and in 2017 famine broke out in several affected countries. In the poor African countries of Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya, its attacks caused extensive damage to maize and other cereal crops, leading to food crises.

Robert D Simpson, the FAO representative in Bangladesh, said: "The armyworm has put the livelihoods of many marginal farmers across Bangladesh under threat. Urgent action is needed to stop its dangerous growth. Our entire development community must work together with the government to stop the spread of the outbreak. We have to tackle it with whatever we have at this moment."

Source: Prothom Alo. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.