By NOMSA NKANA
GOVERNMENT has managed to contain the caterpillars which invaded Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.
Deputy Director of the National Agriculture Information Services (NAIS) Mutakelwa Mukelabai said the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock identified the caterpillars as lawn caterpillars and not army worms as earlier reported.
Mr Mukelabai said although the caterpillars resemble army worms, they are not army worms.
He said experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and International Red Locust Control Organisation for Central and Southern Africa (IRLCO-CSA) identified the caterpillar known by its scientific name as Spodoptera Cilium.
“We wish to confirm that officers from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock controlled the lawn caterpillars by chemical spraying using cypermethrine, which has a residual effect of 21 days within which the chemical remains active,” he said.
Mr Mukelabai advised the general public that the lawn at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium will be safe after 21 days from the date of spraying.
Levy Mwanawasa Stadium is home to the Chipolopolo boys and will host the COSAFA Senior Challenge Cup which Zambia will host this year.
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