LUFWANYAMA District Commissioner Alex Kalela has dismissed reports that Army worms have invaded fields in the area.

Mr Kalela said in an interview yesterday that the district has not been invaded with the Army worms and that farmers should continue with their normal farming activities.

He said last week there were strong rumours circulating that Army worms had invaded St Mary's area in Chief Shibuchinga area.

Mr Kalela said people should not fall prey to the rumours because they were false.

He said after receiving the disturbing reports, he directed the office of the District Agriculture Coordinator (DACO) to verify the reports.

He said agricultural officials reported back to him that there were no Army worms but just ordinary caterpillars that people had found in one of the fields.

"I want to take this opportunity to dispel the rumours in our district of the presence of Army worms. I can say that those were mere rumours because our technical staff from the DACO's office had gone there and they found that those were just ordinary caterpillars," he said.

Mr Kalela called on all farmers to be alert and report any suspicious-looking pests to DACO's office or to his office so that a quick assessment could be done by qualified personnel.

Meanwhile, Mr Kalela has said the district would receive 3.4 tonnes of early maturing maize seed from the Government through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) in order to assist farmers re-plant their maize should there be an outbreak of army worms.

"I have full information that the Government through DMMU will deliver 3.4 tonnes of early maturing seed to my district, thus I wish to assure the farming community that should there be any outbreak of the army worms, they would be supplied with the seed to start re-planting," Mr Kalela said.