Maize crop is prone to many types of pest attack. According to some reports, a new insect attack is being feared this year. Which is known as fall army worm pest. In South India, an outbreak of this pest has been observed in the maize crop cultivated in the Rabi season. You can get information about fall army worm pest and ways to avoid this pest from here.

What is a Fall Army Worm Pest?

This multi-eating insect belongs to the family of tobacco caterpillars. Like locusts, it can also completely destroy the crop. The adult female moth lays up to 50 to 200 eggs at a time. A female can lay eggs up to 10 times in her lifetime. A female can lay about 1700 to 2000 eggs in her lifetime. With this you can get an idea of their growth. After 3 to 4 days the larvae hatch from the eggs. It takes 14 to 22 days for the larva to become a pupa. They become adults about 7 to 13 days after becoming a pupa. The life cycle of this insect is 30 to 60 days.

History of the Fall Army Worm Pest

In the year 2015, this insect was first found in America. By the end of the year 2017, this pest wreaked havoc on crops in about 44 African countries. It was seen in Karnataka, India in May 2018. After this this pest was also seen in Bangalore, Hassan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. This insect can travel up to 100 kilometers per day.

How do they damage crops?

• The larvae of this insect eat the leaves by scraping them. Due to which white stripes start forming on the leaves.

• As they grow up, these pests cause heavy damage to the crop by eating the upper parts of the leaves as well as the maize and the leaves covering it.

How to Avoid the Fall Army Worm Pest?

• To avoid this, destroy the group of eggs.

• Mix 100 kg of neem cake per acre of land to prevent pupa from becoming adult.

• Sowing with Chlorantraniprol 19.8 + Thiamethaxam 19.8, 4 ml per kg of seed is very effective for 2-3 weeks after seed germination.

• Spray 40 gm of Emamectin Benzoate 5 Sg per acre of land.

• Apart from this you can also take spray of 100 gm flubendamide 20 WG or 70 ml spinosad 45 EC per acre of land.

• It can also be controlled to some extent by applying 4-6 pheromone traps per acre.

• Use 200 kg neem cake at the time of field preparation.