FAO and Saudi Arabia intensify efforts to prevent fall armyworm infestation

Ta'if, Saudi Arabia, 9 September 2019 - In cooperation with the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture (MEWA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) held a training program on Fall Armyworm (FAW) surveillance, monitoring and management.

The program targeted FAW control specialists from the kingdom's various provinces, as well as participants from MEWA headquarters in Riyadh.

The program focused on providing information on FAW damages, biology and management, and formulating a vision on how to prevent the pest from entering and spreading in Saudi Arabia. It also focused on FAO's efforts to address the FAW problem through the organization's approved program for FAW monitoring and management, as well as MEWA’s relevant efforts, which included the holding of many training courses on how to combat this dangerous pest. The program also included field training on the identification of FAW, the damage it causes to host plants, and pheromone traps management. 

Multi-sided cooperation to control the pest

In his opening remarks to the participants, Hani al Qadi, MEWA deputy office director in Ta'if said: "The aim of the training program is to prepare trainees to train others in agricultural administrations and educate farmers to confront FAW with precautionary measures to prevent the pest from entering the country, and to take the necessary measures if the pest is detected in the kingdom's farms."

He urged the trainees to make every possible effort after their training to enlighten farmers, agricultural engineers, and all stakeholders about this transboundary pest.

Threat to food security and farmers' income

FAW primarily feeds on maize, rice, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, vegetable crops and cotton. The pest originated in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. In 2016, it reached Africa, causing huge losses in maize production in many countries with limited production and food insecurity. Since then, FAW has spread into more than 54 countries within three years because of its high capacity of breeding and flight.

FAW infestation of maize crops caused losses in Africa estimated at $5 billion, threatening the food security and income for more than 300 million African farmers, whose life depend on maize production. 

"The Fall Armyworm can infect more than 100 plant species and cause serious damage to economically important crops," said Ibrahim Al Jboory, President of the Arab Society for Plant Protection. "This is a real threat, and we as international organization sound the alarm and call for action to prevent the entry and spread of this pest in Saudi Arabia, especially since FAW was reported in Yemen last year."

Comprehensive strategy to curb the threat of FAW

During the training program, Dr. Thaer Yassin, Regional Plant Protection Officer at the FAO Regional Office for Near East and North Africa, explained FAO's efforts to fight FAW.

He said FAO is cooperating with MEWA to work out a strategy to monitor and manage the dangerous pest and prepare workshops and programs to train specialists on ways to fight the pest and implement surveillance and intervention programs in the best way without harming the environment.

One very important measure farmers can take to manage FAW is to inspect their fields and examine the crops systematically. They should also inform the responsible authorities in case they suspect FAW infestation, while following the recommendations of local authorities in managing the pest.

This methodology will help small-scale farmers to understand the role of many biological and natural factors in increasing or minimizing the negative impact of FAW and developing innovative and effective ways to manage the pest. 

Dr. Yassin noted that FAO provided technical and financial help to infested African countries and brought in experts from South American countries to transfer their expertise on FAW management.  FAO also provided technical and scientific information to local governments to help them take the necessary measures to minimize loss and prevent infestation. Through Farmer Field School programs, FAO is currently aiming to train 10 million African farmers to address FAW risks in the upcoming 5 years. FAO has created a global platform to provide necessary data to deal with the pest. The platform is connected to an application that can be downloaded on smart mobile devices to help farmers and agricultural specialists to record and monitor data, and share them with other farmers around the world.