Farmers of Krispy Pam, Tingbi Pam, and Dhangkhar under Trong Gewog in Zhemgang yet again lost their maize to armyworm infestation. They say losing their crop to the armyworm every year is taking a toll on their interest in farming. This year, they lost almost 80 per cent of the crop.
Farmers say battling the armyworm infestation in the field is more challenging than human-wildlife conflict.
Agriculture officials in Zhemgang said organic pesticide has been issued to those affected households. Officials said that there are many measures against armyworm infestation and farmers need to remove weeds from adjacent fields and do weedings regularly to reduce the breeding sites and harborages for the worm.
Pema Samdrup, Zhemgang
Edited by Sonam
