Crop-destroying pest found

A PEST which destroys mostly maize (corn), rice and sugarcane has been detected in several parts of the country, according to the National Agriculture Quarantine Inspection Authority (Naqia).
The fall armyworm is a moth detected earlier in Australia on an island called Saibai Island just over 50km from the South Fly of Western.
Naqia chief plant protection officer Peter Kokoa said the pest arrived on Papua New Guinea’s shores earlier this year and awareness would be carried out to those affected provinces.
“The plant health staff have been carrying out awareness since 2017 before the pests arrived on our shores, so far the pests have been confirmed in Western and Central province” he said.
Naqia acting managing director Joel Alu said when they were notified by their Australian quarantine counterparts earlier this year, they sent detection teams to the border provinces of West Sepik and Western.
Alu said the National Agriculture Quarantine Inspection Authority was handling biosecurity issues in the country but also needed support from agencies responsible for different commodities.
Kokoa said from the findings, the pest was detected in Western from corn gardens and the samples were sent to Australia.
“From the results, we have genetically identified the pest to its species level and we found that it is basically same as the species that has been travelling from Africa to Asia and into Australia,” Kokoa said.
He believed that the fall armyworm would not be destroyed completely as it occurred in other countries.
Kokoa said: “The fall armyworm is here to stay and it will not be completely destroyed.
“But we will resort to long-term options which is pest management that will depend entirely on research by Nari (the National Agriculture Research Institute) and other agricultural organisations to develop and adopt integrated pests management.”