Fall Army Worm- A Serious Pest in CORN/MAIZE -Impact and Controlling Measures
FALL ARMY WORM IN MAIZE- A SERIOUS PEST - Impact and Controlling Measures
Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) causes crop damage to larger extent in maize or corn.
Damage on Corn/Maize.
- Fall Armyworms usually feed at night and damage corn by chewing leaves. They prefer to feed on the succulent leaves in the whorl first.
- Feeding is usually confined to leaf margins, but occasionally they may strip the entire plant leaving only the midrib of the leaves.
- During the day, armyworms are found in the soil or underneath ground cover.
- Ragged leaf feeding in the spring and early summer is evidence of armyworm feeding.
Stages of Armyworm:
Egg: Eggs are small, greenish-white, globular, and laid in clusters of 25 or more on the leaves of grasses.
Larvae: The full-grown 1-1/2 inch armyworm has a greenish brown body with a thin stripe down the center and two orange stripes along each side. The head is brown with dark honeycombed markings.
Pupa : Pupal stage of armyworms is in soil.
Moths or Adults: The adult moth is tan with a tiny white spot in the center of the forewings. The moth has a wingspan of about 1-3/4 inches.
Following chemicals may be used to kill the pest. Spraying in the evening will be effective since they come out to feed in the night times.
Coragen 0.33 mL/L OR Rilon 0.5 gm/L + Neemark 1 % -1 mL/L
https://www.bighaat.com/products/coragen-dupont OR https://www.bighaat.com/products/rilon-insecticide + https://www.bighaat.com/products/neemark-neem-pesticide-10000-ppm
OR 
The army worm will be dwelling in the soil and will be coming out to feed the baiting technique may be an effective method to kill them. As the bait has attractant jaggery the larvae gets attracted to jaggery, feed on the bait mixture and will be killed avoiding them to feed on the corn. Bait mixture must be evenly broadcasted evenly all over the maize plot.
The process of baiting can be a mixture of 3 components,
- Poison (Insecticide): 2. Carrier or base (Rice bran), and Attractant (Jaggery) at ratio of 1:10:1. Mix all the items with given ratio to prepare the bait mixture.
The poison may a stomach poison insecticide can be used like Malathion or Phoskill.
https://www.bighaat.com/products/malathion-50-e-c-insecticide OR https://www.bighaat.com/products/upl-phoskill-insecticide
OR 
K SANJEEVA REDDY,
Senior Agronomist, BigHaat.
Disclaimer: The performance of the product (s) is subject to usage as per manufacturer guidelines. Read enclosed leaflet of the product(s) carefully before use. The use of this product(s)/ information is at the discretion of user.
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