"An attack can start at any time," Qoboshiyane said.
The worms do not merely eat the leaves, like the African worm outbreak in 2013, they kill plants, he said.
Last month, the worms swept down from Zambia and Zimbabwe across North West and Limpopo and two days ago entered the Free State.
An effective pesticide was being identified, agriculture deputy director- general Leon Coetzee said.
There are 42,500 hectares of government-supported maize and small garden crops at risk, Qoboshiyane said.
In its moth stage, the insect can fly hundreds of kilometres.
Qoboshiyane was interviewed after a meeting of crop scientists and entomologists at Dohne Agricultural Development Institute near Stutterheim yesterday.
Source: Herald
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