It has been two years when the fall Armyworm ravaged hectares of farmlands in the country.

Scientists are warning of the invasion of another pest known as tomato leaf miner which is destroying several tomato farms in the country.

Assistant Ashanti Regional Agric Officer in charge of Plant Protection, Michael Kumah says the pest has been identified in the Eastern, Western, Brong Ahafo and Ashanti Regions.

Mr. Kumah is worried that since 2015, farmers have been using insecticides to control the pest which he says it is not sustainable.

He was speaking at the Korea-Africa Pesticide Young Scientists Pilot Research in Kumasi.

According the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Tomato Leafminer also known as 'Tuta absoluta', is native to South America.

The pest has established in parts of Southern Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranean countries. It is devastating pest on tomato with the caterpillar being the damaging stage of the pest.

The pest feeds mainly on tomato plant but is reported to feed on 22 other crops belonging to the tomato family.

Life cycle from egg to adult range from 46-61 days and can undergo up to 10-12 generations in a year with overlapping generations.

The adult female can lay 250 to 300 eggs in life time. The larvae feed on leaves producing large irregular mines on leaf surface.

They also burrow into the fruits and their feeding activities both in the leaves and fruits cause significant damage tomato production.

Losses can be up to 100 per cent in green houses and open fields. Every stage of the plant is prone to the pest's attack and parts affected are the buds, leaves, stem, flowers and fruits.

Michael Kumah

Though, Mr Kumah says his outfit is working to curb the situation, he is advocating the use of integrated pest management which involves use of all available technologies in pest control, to salvage the situation.

Deputy Director and head of Pesticide Environmental Protection Agency, Joseph Edmund warned farmers to desist from buying chemicals from broken containers.

“If the packaging is broken it means you don’t know what is contained in it,” he pointed out.

He said it is an illegality to mix chemicals not indicated as such, a practice which amounts to adulteration.

For this reason, he says the EPA is coming out with a minimum literacy requirement for chemical retailers.

Mr Edmund hinted the Agency will halt the importation of certain chemicals banned in Europe which he suspects are likely to become problematic.

The Korea-Africa Food and Agriculture Cooperation initiative (KAFACI) Pesticide Young Scientists Pilot Research Project, seeks to educate farmers on the prudent use of pesticides.

According to one of the Coordinators, Stephen Arthur of the Crops Research Institute, the project will bring together stakeholders in the pesticide-use value chain to address pertinent issues in pesticide handling.