29/06/2025
Fall Armyworm (FAW), or Spodoptera frugiperda, is an insect that is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. In its larva stage, it can cause significant damage to crops,
if not well managed. It prefers maize, but can feed on more than 80
additional species of plants, including rice, sorghum, millet, sugarcane,
vegetable crops and cotton. (http://www.fao.org)
Fall Army Worm (FAW) Management😊
1. Integrated pest management (IPM) for fall armyworm
-IPM is the use of a combination of multiple tactics with the goal of suppressing pests below economic levels and to avoid pest outbreaks.
2. Preventative and Avoidance: Regulatory strategies
Tactics to prevent or avoid the arrival of the pest to a particular area.
3. Preventative and Avoidance: Cultural methods
-Manage to enable a healthy maize crop, minimizing plant stress and avoiding crop or field characteristics that invite fall armyworm infestations:
+Early planting to avoid heavier pest densities in late season.
+Weed management-Eliminate w**d hosts that sustain larval populations
before their migration to a new maize crop.
+Avoid adjacent sequential planting to prevent migrations of larvae from a
maturing crop to new fields.
+Avoid plant stress – Proper fertilization, irrigation, cultivation, etc. +Healthier plants tend to recover faster and recover from some yield loss.
+Crop rotation – This is limited to a farmer’s flexibility to plant a non-host
crop, if available, or a crop where fall armyworms are not important pest
problems.
4. Monitoring and Scouting: Monitor adult populations
Activities to monitor and detect an infestation for prompt action using
threshold levels.
