Fighting the Beet Armyworm Pest: One of the negative effects of Climate Changei

-Photo courtesy of ACDI/VOCAOnion fields in St. Elizabeth destroyed by Beet Armyworm

It is without a doubt that ‘climate change’ is a serious development issue, especially for Small

Island Developing States (SIDS), such as Jamaica. The adverse impacts of climate change on

Jamaica are numerous and diverse, as it affects the economy, food security and the quality of

lives of Jamaicans, particularly farmers, who face losing their livelihoods.

For Jamaica, long-term climate

change projections are for a

reduction in mean annual

precipitation, and an increase in

annual temperature. It is

projected that changes in wind

patterns and increased storm

activity will have further

damaging effects on agriculture

as topsoil is washed away, and

farmland is degraded. An increase in the intensity of tropical cyclones will have devastating

impacts on deforested hillsides, causing erosion and depositing sediment into the country’s

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-Photo courtesy of ACDI/VOCA

Beet Armyworm infestation linked to climate change. Seen here destroying plant

watershed. Under these circumstances, there will be more frequent landslides, which have the

potential to devastate rural infrastructure, ruin farmland and threaten property and lives.

Further projections are that while rainfall will become less frequent, it will occur in more

intense downpours, resulting in a higher frequency and magnitude of droughts and floods.

There are also projections for an increase in the number of hot days and a decrease in the

number of cool nights, which will result in heat stress on crops, an increased need for irrigation,

and increased outbreaks of diseases and pests.

The reality being faced by farmers in

Jamaica, particularly onion and escallion

farmers, is that the increase in pests linked

to climate change is no longer a futuristic

projection, but a current problem. The

Beet Armyworm pest has been linked to

the impact of climate change and the

resulting higher temperatures and reduced

precipitation, which favours the pest’s life

cycle. This pest attacks vegetable crops

such as onion and escallion, and according

to Jeanette Vail, Acting Mission Director of USAID “the most recent outbreak, in May 2012,

resulted in the destruction of some 45 hectares of crops valued at approximately $31 million

Jamaican dollars”. In Southern St. Elizabeth alone, which has traditionally produced some 85

percent of local onions, there have been severe escalated outbreaks of the pest species on

escallion and onion fields over four consecutive years from 2009 to 2012.

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-Photo courtesy of Keron Morris, UNDP

Head table at graduation ceremony for farmers trained

to deal with Beet Armyworm

According to Agriculture and Fisheries

Minister, the Hon. Roger Clarke, “Given

the gravity of the situation (with the Beet

Armyworm infestation), and in an effort to

tackle the issues head-on, the Ministry

approached the FAO (Food and Agriculture

Organisation of the United Nations) and on

October 27, 2012 the Ministry of

Agriculture and Fisheries and the FAO

signed a two year project entitled

“Strengthening a National Beet Armyworm Programme” valued at US$213,000 to fight against

this devastating pest.

Minister Clarke and USAID’s Jeanette Vail were speaking at the recent graduation ceremony

held Wednesday 21 August at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for twenty-two (22) lead

farmers from St. Elizabeth and

eight (8) RADA facilitators, who

were trained and received

certification as Integrated Pest

Management (IPM) Farmer Field

School Facilitators. The training of

the farmers and RADA facilitators

arose out of a partnership

between the USAID-funded

Jamaica Rural Economy and

Ecosystem Adapting to Climate Change (Ja REEACH) project, being implemented by

ACDI/VOCA, and Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (through RADA) and the FAO.

In delivering Remarks at the graduation ceremony, Ms. Karen Pyne, Assistant FAO

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-Photo courtesy of Keron Morris, UNDP

Hon. Roger Clarke delivering the keynote address at Graduation

-Photo courtesy of Keron Morris, UNDP

Farmers and RADA Officers graduating as Farmer Field School Facilitators

Representative stated that this project, aimed at managing the Beet Armyworm in Jamaica, is

part of the FAO’s continuous work to build a solid culture of Food Security in countries across

the world, by helping various

groups of persons secure

their livelihoods in diverse

ways. According to Ms. Pyne,

“we have seen…several

pockets of expertise being

shared, all with the aim of

properly managing the Beet

Armyworm… One such

approach has been the

Farmer Field School – where extension officers (and farmers) had the opportunity to study the

pest in their natural habitat and apply realistic management approaches. This I believe is of

particular importance as it ties in to FAO’s Global goal of Sustainable Management and

Utilization of Resources.”

Speaking on behalf of USAID, Ms.

Vail stated that “ACDI/VOCA brought

the capacity for improved training

and technical assistance using the

Farmer Field School (FFS)

methodology – that has proven

successful in driving best practice

adoption and changes in the cultural

practices of farmers, using the

‘learning by doing’ approach. The FFS

is a group-based learning process where farmers carry out experiential learning activities that

help them understand the ecology of their fields. These activities involve simple experiments,

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-Photo courtesy of Keron Morris, UNDP

Karen Pyne of FAO delivering Remarks at Graduation

-Photo courtesy of Keron Morris, UNDP

Jeanette Vail of USAID delivers certificate to a graduating farmer

regular field observations and group analysis. The knowledge gained from these activities

enables participants to make their own local-specific decisions about croup management

practices.”

Through the Farmer Field School methodology, Jamaican farmers now have an opportunity to

combat climate change-related threats

to the agriculture sector by

implementing more climate smart

agriculture practices, and thereby

increase the growth in Jamaica’s

agriculture sector, which will in turn

provide more jobs, boost the economy

and reduce poverty and hunger.

According to Ms. Vail, the “newly

appointed FFS facilitators will work with

the other farmers in their communities

to implement field schools, which will teach farmers how to manage the Beet Armyworm pest.

It is expected that some additional 150 farmers are to benefit under the programme in St.

Elizabeth and I hope this will be expanded to the other parishes as well.”

The graduation ceremony for the 22

lead farmers and 8 RADA extension

officers signalled the start of the rapid

up-scaling of farmer training using the

FFS discovery learning approach,

targeting farmers in communities most

affected or at risk to the Beet

Armyworm pest. Due to the fact that

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-Photo courtesy of Keron Morris, UNDP

Hon. Roger Clarke delivering certificate to a graduating farmer

-Photo courtesy of Keron Morris, UNDP

Graduands lining up to participate in the Graduation

there is an immediate threat to crops by the Beet Armyworm in St. Elizabeth, the FFS training in

this parish was tracked.

Having been trained in the FFS methodology, the RADA officers will also provide technical

assistance in support of the Agro-Invest Corporation (AIC) in the production of some 717 acres

of onions under the Agro-Parks Programme, according to Minister Roger Clarke. He further

stated that “Jamaica consumed some 10, 298 tonnes of onions in 2012. Of that amount, we

produced 1,088 tonnes and therefore had to import 9,210 tonnes to satisfy our demand… in

spite of Beet Armyworm and in spite of all the other threats and challenges we face in

agricultural production, we can grow

far more onions in Jamaica and so

break the vicious cycle of

dependence on imported foods. And

that is why the cultivation of onions

in the agro-parks is one of our main

strategic objectives. By 2015 our

objective is to produce all the onions

we now consume.” According to the

Minister, it is expected that the agro-

parks will eventually yield some

10,605 tonnes of onions (annually).

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-Photo courtesy of ACDI/VOCA

Farmers in a St. Elizabeth onion field that is free of Beet Armyworm

i Prepared by Keron Morris on behalf of Shanoy Coombs, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.