Corn cultivation in Badulla under Fall armyworm attack

COLOMBO (News 1st): The corn cultivation in Matigahatenna, Badulla is at the brink of destruction due to the Fall armyworm (also known as, "Sena Dalambuwa") invasion. According to farmers in the area, close to 30 acres of corn cultivation in the Matigahatenna village in Passara, Badulla was destroyed by the Fall armyworm. "A huge crisis would be created if the invasion spread to the paddy cultivations," farmers in the area said. When News1st inquired with Dr. W.M.W. Weerakoon, the Director-General of Agriculture on the remedial actions, he instructed farmers to use indigenous methods and pesticides as required to eradicate Fall armyworm. The Fall armyworm menace that destroyed cultivations in the United States and Africa made its way to India in 2018; subsequently Sri Lanka also suffered as the Fall armyworm menace started spreading in the island nation last year. In 2019, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations launched a pioneering initiative named “Global Action Fall armyworm Control”, that aims to mobilize US$ 500 million from 2020 to 2022, in order to fight Fall armyworm at a global level.