AMMAN: Almost 5 per cent of the land planted with wheat and barley in the country has been infected with the cereal leaf miner, a worm that infests grains, a government official said on Saturday.
Wheat and barley were cultivated on 872,499 dunums of land for the 2014/2015 agricultural season, Agriculture Ministry Spokesperson Nimer Haddadin told The Jordan Times. Some 39,310 dunums, or 4.5 per cent, of land planted with wheat and barley have been infected by the cereal leaf miner this year. The infected land is in the Karak, Mafraq, Madaba, Ajloun and Irbid governorates,” Haddadin said.
Combating the pest, which starts infecting wheat and other cereals in February and feeds on crops until April, is very difficult, according to the ministry, which said farmers stand to incur heavy losses if they do not follow instructions to curb cereal leaf miner infestation. “The wheat and barley crops are safe as 90-95 per cent of the pest was terminated. Wheat and barley production will not be affected,” Haddadin underscored.
