Kathmand May 30:

Farmers in Bhojpur are worried after their maize crop has been damaged by an outbreak of fall armyworm, a kind of agricultural pest. The outbreak of the pest has been seen in Temkemaiyung, Pauwadung and Arun rural municipalities of the district. The maize corn plants that had just started to take shape have been completely damaged by the pests, said Bijaya Kumar Rai, a farmer of Temkemaiyung rural municipality-7. “If the same level of destruction continues then we will not have even seeds left for next season,” he said. More than 100 corn farmers in ward no. 7 of the rural municipality have been affected, said ward chair Surya Nepal. And the scale of damage is increasing by the day. The rural municipality chair has been informed and requested for support to address this menace. Meanwhile, the ward no. 1 of Arun rural municipality has started distributing pesticides to ward off the fauji kira, local name for the fall armyworm. Altogether 610 households have been provided with the pesticide, ward chair Nagendra Khatri said.