China's armyworm situation set to worsen in 2020 - agriculture ministry

China's agriculture ministry said the danger from the armyworm pest is more severe this year, adding that prevention and control measures will be more aggressive. The destructive pest is expected to affect about 100 million mu (6.67 million hectares) of corn acreage this year, as well as other crops like sugar cane, sorghum, and winter wheat said the ministry in a statement on Friday.

The armyworm first arrived in China in January 2019, hitting over a million hectares of farmland in China last year, damaging mainly corn and sugarcane crops, according to a government institute report. It has already hit at least 170 hectares of wheat crops in China's southwestern Sichuan province since December last year.