The invasive fall armyworms have invaded farms in Nyeri county, threatening food security in the county.
Chinga MCA Kiruga Thuku said the worm has attacked maize crop in his area and farmers fear they might not harvest anything.
"Fall armyworms have invaded some parts of Chinga and Othaya and especially in Karuthi sublocation in Chinga and they are spreading," Thuku said.
He called on Nyeri Agriculture executive James Muturi and Agriculture CS Peter Munya to move with speed and help contain the worms.
The fall armyworm is a pest that invades farms in large numbers feeding on leaves and stems causing major damage to maize crop.
Farmers have confirmed seeing the destructive pest on their farms.
Kahira Mureithi, a farmer from Mugunda ward in Kieni, said the worms have been a nuisance in the area.
Executive Muturi said the fall armyworm has been in Nyeri for the last two years but residents might not have been aware about it since many farmers in the county grow maize for subsistence purposes.
He said it has been there in some parts of Mukurwe-ini and Othaya subcounties where people grow maize.
Sometime last year, the county government supplied some pesticides to help farmers to fight pests and diseases in farms.
“Some of them were going towards fall armyworm control but this financial year, we do not have the budgetary allocation. Our farmers continue to be sensitised on what products they can use to prevent the worm,” he said.
The county government, he said, has partnered with One Acre Fund which focuses on maize value chain and avail input to Mukurwe-ini farmers on credit.
“Some of the inputs are availed through collaboration with the organisation meant to deal with the worms,” he said.
The worms cause massive damage to maize by eating the leaves, destroying the crop.
Muturi said the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Oraganisation has come up with a variety of maize tolerant to leaf miners (Tuta absoluta) and fall armyworms. He expressed hope that the availability of such improved varieties in the market will be a game changer to maize farming.
