Threat of fall armyworm in India and it’s management- A Review

Abstract

The Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is crop pest specie commonly known as FAW. It is an insect which is native to America. Firstly it was migrated to Africa in January 2016 and later it spread to several Asian countries. In India, it was first reported in Karnataka in July, 2018 and subsequently found in other states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Odisha. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) - National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (NBAIR) issued an alert on 30th July, 2019 as based upon the prevalence of FAW in the maize fields in Chikkaballapur (Karnataka). Later on, it spread to 8-10 districts of Karnataka. The pest mainly attacks on maize, sugarcane crop. It has caused significant damage on maize and sugarcane crop in various states of India in 2019.