Current Science

S. B. Suby ¹, P. Lakshmi Soujanya ¹, Pranjal Yadava ¹, Jagadeesh Patil ², K. Subaharan ², G. Shyam Prasad ³, K. Srinivasa Babu ³, S. L. Jat ¹, K. R. Yathish ¹, Jyothilakshmi Vadassery ⁴, Vinay K. Kalia ⁵, N. Bakthavatsalam , J. C. Shekhar ¹, Sujay Rakshit ¹

Affiliations
1 ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research, Punjab Agricultural University Campus, Ludhiana 141 004, IN
2 ICAR-National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources, Bengaluru 560 024, IN
3 ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad 500 030, IN
4 DBT-National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi 110 067, IN
5 ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, IN

Abstract

Fall armyworm (FAW; Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith)) is emerging as the most destructive pest of maize in India since its report in May 2018. Its rapid spread to more than 90% of maize-growing areas of diverse agro-ecologies of India within a span of 16 months presents a major challenge to smallholder maize farmers, maize-based industry, as well as food and nutritional security. FAW has been reported from other crops as well like sorghum and millets with varied proportion of economic damage. In this review, the transboundary movement of FAW, role of ecology, its spread and damage are discussed. Management of FAW by developing and deploying various pest management tools is elaborated. The role of agro-ecological measures for reducing FAW damage with African experiences has also been highlighted.

Keywords

Agro-Ecology, Fall Armyworm, Host Plant Resistance, Integrated Pest Management, Transgenics.

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