Farmers’ control strategies against fall armyworm and determinants of implementation in two districts of the Upper West Region of Ghana

South Africa experienced major outbreaks of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), causing direct damage by feeding on both vegetative and reproductive parts of host plant. The study was conducted to determine the level of impact of fall armyworm on small-scale maize famers after the outbreak of fall armyworm and their control strategies at Ga-Mashashane and Mankweng villages in the Limpopo province. Semi-structured questionnaire was designed to gather information on the damage caused by fall armyworm, economic impact on the local market and control measures on fall armyworm. Using a snowball sampling procedure, 63 small-scale maize farmers from the two villages of the Limpopo province, South Africa, were randomly selected for this study. The results showed that all participants could correctly identify the fall armyworm and reported it as the most important maize pest during 2016–2017 cropping season. The maize yield loss experienced by affected farmers in the 2016–2017 cropping season was slightly lower as compared with the 2015–2016 harvest. These farmers used pesticides as a control measure for fall armyworm. Fall armyworm has become a major pest in South Africa and the tackling of fall armyworm by small-scale farmers and averting yield losses is thus critical. This study contributes to the knowledge on fall armyworm management by small-scale farmers, which is essential to enhancing food security.

Download Full-text

Grapevine defoliation by Spodoptera frugiperda Smith, 1797 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Brazil

Ciência Rural ◽

10.1590/0103-8478cr20210168 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 52 (7) ◽

Author(s):

Orcial Ceolin Bortolotto ◽

Aline Pomari-Fernandes ◽

Gilberto Rostirolla Batista de Souza

Keyword(s):

Spodoptera Frugiperda ◽

Host Plants ◽

Control Strategies ◽

Fall Armyworm ◽

First Occurrence ◽

Biological Aspects ◽

And Control ◽

Lepidoptera Noctuidae

ABSTRACT: The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda Smith, 1797 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a polyphagous pest that causes losses in several crops. The knowledge of host plants is essential for establishing management and control strategies. The present study reported the first occurrence of S. frugiperda in Brazilian grapevines. It is recommended that further studies should be carried out in the laboratory to understand the biological aspects of the damage to different structures (leaves and grapes). This information will be essential to assess the potential of S. frugiperda damage to vines.

Download Full-text

Economic impacts of fall armyworm and its management strategies: evidence from southern Ethiopia

European Review of Agricultural Economics ◽

10.1093/erae/jbz048 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 47 (4) ◽

pp. 1473-1501 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Menale Kassie ◽

Tesfamicheal Wossen ◽

Hugo De Groote ◽

Tadele Tefera ◽

Subramanian Sevgan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Control Strategies ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Fall Armyworm ◽

Maize Yield ◽

Institutional Capacity ◽

Control Measures ◽

Southern Ethiopia ◽

Economic Implications ◽

Targeted Interventions ◽

Maize Yields

Abstract This paper explores the economic implications of fall armyworm (FAW) and its management strategies by exploiting exogenous variation in FAW exposure amongst households in southern Ethiopia. We find that FAW exposure affects maize yield and sales negatively, but not consumption. Furthermore, we find evidence of crowding-in and intensification of insecticide use in response to FAW exposure. We also find suggestive evidence that existing extension service arrangements lack the capacity to deal with emerging threats such as FAW. Results imply that targeted interventions aimed at improving the effectiveness of control measures and institutional capacity would be key to reduce the adverse effects of FAW. Highlights The economic impact of fall armyworm (FAW) in southern Ethiopia assessed Fall armyworm significantly reduces maize yields and maize sales A positive correlation observed between FAW exposure and intensity of insecticide use Existing individual FAW control strategies do not significantly abate losses from FAW Improving institutional capacity is essential to control FAW

Download Full-text

Dynamics for a non-autonomous fall armyworm-maize interaction model with a saturation functional response

Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering ◽

10.3934/mbe.2022008 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 146-168

Author(s):

Salamida Daudi ◽

◽

Livingstone Luboobi ◽

Moatlhodi Kgosimore ◽

Dmitry Kuznetsov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Response ◽

Seasonal Variations ◽

Complex Dynamics ◽

Control Strategies ◽

Interaction Model ◽

Fall Armyworm ◽

Effective Control ◽

Basic Model ◽

Periodic Environment ◽

The Impact

<abstract><p>In this study, we present a non-autonomous model with a Holling type II functional response, to study the complex dynamics for fall armyworm-maize biomass interacting in a periodic environment. Understanding how seasonal variations affect fall armyworm-maize dynamics is critical since maize is one of the most important cereals globally. Firstly, we study the dynamical behaviours of the basic model; that is, we investigate positive invariance, boundedness, permanence, global stability and non-persistence. We then extended the model to incorporate time dependent controls. We investigate the impact of reducing fall armyworm egg and larvae population, at minimal cost, through traditional methods and use of chemical insecticides. We noted that seasonal variations play a significant role on the patterns for all fall armyworm populations (egg, larvae, pupae and moth). We also noted that in all scenarios, the optimal control can greatly reduce the sizes of fall armyworm populations and in some scenarios, total elimination may be attained. The modeling approach presented here provides a framework for designing effective control strategies to manage the fall armyworm during outbreaks.</p></abstract>

Download Full-text

Transcriptomics and Metagenomics of Common Cutworm (Spodoptera Litura) and Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera Frugiperda) Reveal Their Differences on Detoxification and Development

10.21203/rs.3.rs-955917/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ruixiang Tang ◽

Fangyuan Liu ◽

Yue Lan ◽

Jiao Wang ◽

Lei Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spodoptera Frugiperda ◽

Spodoptera Litura ◽

Developmental Stages ◽

Control Strategies ◽

Fall Armyworm ◽

Single Copy ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Common Cutworm ◽

Wide Adaptation ◽

Related Pathway

Abstract BackgroundSpodoptera litura is an important polyphagous pest that causes great damage to agriculture. We performed RNA-seq from 15 individuals of S. litura, including different larval (fifth and sixth instar larvae), chrysalis, and adult developmental stages. We also sequenced the Spodoptera frugiperda to compared with the S. litura. ResultsA total of 101,885 differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) were identified in the S. litura. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses indicated that the S. litura may undergo active development and basic metabolism, such as xenobiotic and detoxifying metabolism, during its larvae and adult stages, which explains the difficulty to control it. We also found that DETs of single-copy orthologous genes between S. litura and S. frugiperda were involved in basic metabolism and developmental, but S. litura were highly enriched in energy and metabolic processes, whereas S. frugiperda had stronger nervous and olfactory functions. Metagenomics analysis in larval S. litura and S. frugiperda revealed that microbiota can both participate in the detoxification and metabolism processes in them, but the relative abundance of detoxification-related microbiota was more abundant in S. frugiperda. Transcriptome results also confirmed the detoxification-related pathway of S. frugiperda was more abundant than that of S. litura. ConclusionsTherefore, we can conclude that the detoxification ability of S. frugiperda is stronger than that of in S. litura, which is related to the wide adaptation and strong resistance of S. frugiperda. Our study might provide clues to the development of novel pest control strategies.

Download Full-text