A 22-year-old Joshua Olobo dispenses five litres of water in a clean plastic basin and adds one sachet of laundry detergent powder. He stirs the combination to form bubbles.

Mr Olobo, a resident of Omito Parish, Adyel Division in Lira Municipality, then uses the solution to spray his maize garden ravaged by Fall Armyworm.

Such detergents are used in washing clothes or dishes but Mr Olobo, like several farmers in Lira District, have resorted to using washing powder in the fight against Fall Armyworm due to frustration that pesticides in the market are ineffective.

Today, several maize gardens in Omito Parish have been ravaged by Fall Armyworm, which was first detected in Uganda in 2016.

"I mix one sachet of Ariel washing powder with five litres of water and I sprinkle it in the shoot of maize plant," he says.

He says the insect immediately falls off the plant and dies.

Mr Martin Aboo, a maize farmer in Adekokwok Sub-county, Lira District, says many farmers in the area have been using different types of washing detergents in an attempt to kill Fall Armyworm.

However, Mr James Okolla, an entomologist, warns that the use of washing detergents have adverse effects on human beings.

He further says farmers are complaining that the pesticides on the market are ineffective in the fight against Fall Armyworm because they do not know how to use them.

"Farmers do not know how to use the chemicals and the right time for applying them," he says.

"Many farmers do apply chemicals at midday when the worms are hidden in the maize shoots yet we recommend that it should be done before 10am," he adds.

Fall Armyworm

Fall Armyworm is a pest native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. Since it was first reported in 2016, it has spread across sub-Saharan Africa, causing extensive and widespread damage, particularly to maize crops.