AGRICULTURAL NEWS - An advisory about the possible detection of fall armyworm (FAW) on sunflowers in Mpumalanga was a precautionary measure and should not be a cause for panic, according to Grain SA.
Dr Marinda Visser, manager of Grain SA’s Research and Policy Centre, said reports had been received of the pest on sunflower but these had not yet been confirmed in a laboratory.
She said that Grain SA had appointed the company Crop Watch to conduct detection and surveillance of FAW.
“It’s better to receive the information earlier rather than later,” she said, adding that the pest was under control in South Africa and the country was “not in crisis mode”.
