Identifying Solutions to Fall ArmyWorm

August 16, 2019, in Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Plant Protection Department (PPD) and Bayer Crop Science held an international workshop and field visit on Fall ArmyWorm and Strategies for Sustainable Management. The event attracted a lot of attention and participation of national and international experts from Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Fall ArmyWorm (Spodoptera Frigiperda) is a pest native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. Their favorite food are rice and corn. However, this pest feeds in large numbers on leaves and stems of more than 80 plant species, causing major damage to maize, rice, sorghum, sugarcane but also other vegetable crops and cotton. In Africa, fall armyworm has caused economic losses estimated at 1-3 billion US dollars.

Fall armyworm has been officially detected in Asia from mid-2018. Their main host is maize, an important food crop, the main source of livestock feed production. Therefore, agricultural experts from Asian countries gathered in Vietnam to exchange information and strategies to monitor and control this pest.

Fall armyworm has officially appeared in Vietnam since the beginning of 2019 and caused serious damage on corn plants. According to data from the PPD, by the beginning of August, more than 18,000 hectares of the total 530 thousand hectares of maize nationwide have been infected. Prevention is very difficult and expensive due to the rapid reproduction speed and long life cycle this pest while Vietnam’s maize production is characterized by small-scale and scattered production, various planting times and crop structure varying by areas.

Facing this dangerous pest infestation, the PPD has issued a number of documents and procedures on fall armyworm prevention and control; organized training and guiding local officials in specialized agencies, agricultural extension and farmers to detect and take measures to prevent fall armyworm; issued a protocol including active ingredients for the control of fall armyworm. The Ministry has also recommended enterprises to register products for use against the fall armyworm such as pesticides, trapping and pheromone traps ... Priority has been given to biological plant protection products.

In terms of insect-resistant crops, Bayer has collaborated with MARD to pilot planting insect-resistant (Biotech) corn hybrids DK6919S, DK9955S built-in resistance technology in the presence of two insect-resistant Bt proteins that provide control against fall armyworm as well as other corn pests such as stemborers and corn borers. At present, it is noted that in fall armyworm infected areas such as Hoa Binh, Thai Nguyen, Phu Tho, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Son La, DK 6919S and DK 9955S have proven their effective resistance against this pest from beginning to end of the season.

Regarding pesticide solutions, the PPD has announced the names of 4 active ingredients which could be temporarily used by farmers in May, and will continue to direct provinces to report and update effective pesticides for inclusion in the list of recommended pesticides.

At the workshop, international experts appreciated Vietnam's efforts in fighting against this dangerous pest and Bayer Crop Science 's integrated pest management solutions./.