Asia

Fall armyworm infestation in grasslands in Lesotho.
FAO/Lesotho/Lechoko Noko

Combating invasive Armyworm with education for farmers and machine learning

14 August 2018
Interviews

An invasive pest, the Fall Armyworm, risks ruining up to 40 per cent of farmers’ yields in Asia, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Tuesday.  The good news is that there are new tools that use machine learning to help farmers combat the caterpillars in a sustainable way, as FAO’s Allan Hruska told UN News’s Jens Renner.

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A maize plant attacked by the fall armyworm.
FAO/Tamiru Legesse

Fears for food security and the future of farming families, as Fall Armyworm spreads to Asia

14 August 2018
Economic Development

An “invasive pest” that devours more than 80 different plant species, including many staple crops, could threaten the food security and livelihoods of millions of small-scale farmers in Asia, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Tuesday.