How to Control Fall Armyworm

There are many insects that can infest and damage your crops. Since these pests have a negative effect on your yields, you should quickly recognize and fight against them. Unfortunately, controlling insect infestation using conventional methods is usually not enough, especially on fall armyworm, because some species have already developed resistance to a large number of insecticides. Furthermore, broad-spectrum pesticides deprive the environmental ecosystem of the opportunity to intervene naturally.

For this reason, smart farmers should consider including beneficial insects, in addition to other controlling measures like cultural practices and conventional insecticides in their IPM (integrated pest management) strategy. Depending on the stage of infestation, two types of beneficial insects may be considered: parasitoids or predators. Parasitoids lay their eggs inside, or on the eggs or larvae during infestation. Predators are natural enemies of the unwanted species, and feed on the insects, eggs or larvae.

Fall Armyworm

Especially in soy plants, fall armyworms harm the plant by feeding on both leaves and pods. Whether seedlings or adult plants, armyworms infest soybeans in all growth phases. They reduce stand size by cutting off the stems in earlier growth stages and cause leaf skeletonization by eating the leaf tissue of the crop, leaving only the leaf veins. Fortunately, if this happens before flowering, soy crops are generally capable of compensating for foliage lost due to the fall armyworm pest. If, however, the infestation is already widespread across your crops, immediate action will need to be taken, because:

• Fall armyworm is highly invasive
• The moth can travel up to 60 miles per night
• It lays up to 1500 eggs within 2 weeks
• Infestation can affect more than 80 plant species
• Originally native to America
• Conquered Africa in 2016
• Has caused billions of dollars in crop losses

Besides cultural practices like inter and border cropping and conventional insecticides or organic applications like spinosad, there are also further measures needed to reduce armyworm incidence and damage. A number of parasitic enemies and natural predators, like Archytas Marmoratus or Trichogramma wasps can help to keep the number of armyworms down to a moderate level. Furthermore, ground beetles, spined soldier bugs as well as birds and rodents are also very beneficial in combating against the fall armyworm pest.

In order to have enough room for maneuver, we recommend having a look at our new FAW live tracking instrument. We have updated our Disease Library with the latest treatment options, including effective low-cost measures. If you need further information on beneficial organisms, their applications and quantitative information on the correct treatment, become part of the Plantix Community.