Abstract
Faced with onslaught of an invasive pest, the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, detected first on maize crop in the Indian state of Karnataka in May 2018 threatened the major rainy season maize crop in the following months, and managing it required more of policy perspective. An outreach programme called SAFFAL (Safeguarding Agriculture and Farmers against Fall Armyworm) helped to disseminate knowledge on pest diagnostics, biology and management tactics through information and communication technology to the farmers, agri-extension system and with pest management policy support from the Government. This describes a perspective approach that paid off in meeting the farmer’s informational needs and impacting positively limiting pest damage and sustaining productivity over the next two years.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
APSA (2020) Beware of the fall armyworm ...before it is too late, (https://apsaseed.org. Accessed 1 September 2020)
Biovoice (2020) This is how India successfully protected its agriculture and farmers from fall armyworm, Biovoice New Desk, 6 June 2020
CABI (2020) Spodoptera frugiperda (fall armyworm), Invasive Species Compendium, CABI, 2020 (https://www.cabi.org/isc/fallarmyworm. Accessed on 1 September 2020)
DPPQS (2019) Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine & Storage. 2019. Advisory on exotic pest fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda on maize in Karnataka State, India. http://ppqs.gov.in/advisories-section
FAO (2018) Briefing note on FAO actions on fall armyworm in Africa 31 January 2018, FAO, Rome, Italy, p 6
Firake DM, Behere GT (2020) Bioecological attributes and physiological indices of invasive fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) infesting ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) plants in India. Crop Protection. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2020.105233
Firake DM, Behere GT, Babu S, Prakash N (2019) Fall armyworm: Diagnosis and Management (An extension pocket book), ICAR Research Complex for NEH region, Umiam 793 103, Meghalaya, p 48
Goergen G, Kumar PL, Sankung SB, Togola A, Tamo M (2016) First report of outbreaks of the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), a new alien invasive pest in West and Central Africa. PLoS ONE 11:e0165632. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0165632
PPQS (2019) Package of Practices (POPs) for the management of Fall Army Worm (FAW) in grain corn, sweet corn, baby corn and fodder maize (including silage), office memorandum No. 42/2019, Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India
Rural Marketing (2020) Project SAFFAL: Safeguarding maize crops against Fall Armyworm, Rural Marketing, 8 June 2020
Sharanabasappa, Kalleshwaraswamy CM, Asokan R, MaheshwaraSwamy HM, Maruthi MS, Pavithra HB, Hegde K, Navi S, Prabhu ST, Goergen G (2018) First report of the Fall armyworm, Spodoptera perda (Smith JE) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), an alien invasive pest on maize in India. Pest Manage in Hort Ecosyst 24:23–29
Tambo JA, Aliamo C, Davis T, Mugambi I, Romney D, Onyango DO, Kansiime M, Alokit C, Byantwale ST (2019) The impact of ICT-enabled extension campaign on farmers’ knowledge and management of fall armyworm in Uganda. PLoS ONE 14(8):e0220844. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220844
Toepfer S, Kuhlmann U, Kansiime M, Onyango DO, Davis T, Cameron K, Day R (2019) Communication, information sharing, and advisory services to raise awareness for fall armyworm detection and area-wide management by farmers. J Plant Dis Prot 126:103–106
Varshney R, Poornesha B, Raghavendra A, Lalitha Y, Apoorva V, Ramanujam B, Rangeshwaran R, Subaharan K, Shylesha AN, Bakthavatsalam N, Chaudhary M, Pandit V (2020) Biocontrol-based management of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Indian maize. J Plant Dis Prot. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41348-020-00357-3
Acknowledgements
Authors are grateful to FMC Corporation, Mumbai, for generous funding for this project. Project SAFFAL, although financially supported by FMC Corporation, Mumbai, does not endorse their products overtly or covertly.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
CDM conceptualized project and provided leadership. CDM and BC worked on implementation and wrote draft. YK, SD and PB provided their inputs. CDM, GTG and BC finalized MS.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they do not have conflict of interest related to this study.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mayee, C.D., Gujar, G.T., Dass, S. et al. In retrospect: managing an invasive pest, fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, in maize in India through digital and conventional networking pays off rich dividends towards crop sustainability. J Plant Dis Prot 128, 67–71 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41348-020-00411-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41348-020-00411-0