The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, a devastating insect-pest, has been identified for the first time on the Indian subcontinent. Native to the Americas, the pest is known to eat over 80 plant species, with a particular preference for maize, a main staple crop around the world. The fall armyworm was first officially reported in Nigeria in West Africa in 2016, and rapidly spread across 44 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Sightings of damage to maize crops in India due to fall armyworm mark the first report of the pest in Asia.
Scientists from the College of Agriculture at the University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences (UAHS) confirmed the arrival of the pest in maize fields within campus grounds in Shivamogga, in the state of Karnataka, southern India. Both morphological and molecular techniques confirmed the identity as FAW.
A pest alert published on July 30 by the National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (NBAIR), part of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), further confirmed a greater than 70% prevalence of fall armyworm in a maize field in the district of Chikkaballapur, in the state of Karnataka. Unofficial reports of incidence of FAW are rapidly emerging from several states in India, including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana.
The pest has the potential to spread quickly not only within India, but also to other neighboring countries in Asia, owing to suitable climatic conditions.
Since the arrival of FAW in Africa in 2016, the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) has intensively worked with partners on a variety of fronts to tackle the challenge. At a Stakeholders Consultation Meeting held in Nairobi in April 2017, 160 experts from 29 countries worked together and developed an Action Plan to fight fall armyworm. The meeting was co-organized by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the government of Kenya.
In early 2018 MAIZE, in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other collaborators, released a comprehensive manual on effective management of this pest in Africa. The manual, “Fall Armyworm in Africa: A Guide for Integrated Pest Management,” provides tips on FAW identification as well as technologies and practices for effective and sustainable management.
“The strategies outlined in this manual can be of great importance to farmers in India when dealing with this insect pest. FAW is indeed one of the most destructive crop pests, and there is no option than to adopt an integrated pest management strategy to effectively tackle this complex challenge,” said B.M. Prasanna, director of MAIZE and the Global Maize Program at CIMMYT. “MAIZE and partners are dedicated to finding solutions to this problem that will protect the food security and incomes of smallholder farmers across Asia and Africa.”
Other regions are at risk as well. Researchers have warned of the potential impacts if FAW spreads to Europe, where customs inspectors have already reported having discovered and destroyed the pest on quarantined crops imported from Africa on several occasions.
Global experts on maize and key stakeholders in Asia will gather together in Ludhiana, India, on October 8-10, 2018, for the 13th Asian Maize Conference to discuss pressing issues to the crop across the continent, including the spread of fall armyworm. The conference, organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Indian Institute of Maize Research (IIMR), CIMMYT, MAIZE, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), is expected to attract more than 250 participants from almost all the major maize-growing countries in Asia.
Nutrition, health and food security 
