Fall Armyworm attack: The damage is done

By the time the infestation was detected, it had already become malignant. Khemo Baghel, a farmer of Bade Chakwa village in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district, took up maize cultivation for the first time early this year. He dug a borewell and was convinced that the return from maize would be better than any other crop. 

But hardly had the seeds sprouted, he saw some keedas (worms) slowly colonising his farm. “I detected them one morning. There was no trace of them the previous day. I think they landed at night,” he narrates. Within two months, the keedas had a firm grip on his farm, taking away 30 per cent of his maize crop. Uncertainty hovers over the village as other maize farmers report the presence of this hitherto-unseen insect. 

Now agriculture scientists and extension officers frequent Bade Chakwa and neighbouring villages and they too are puzzled. But by now, the outlier has a local name: “American keeda”.In January 2019, Chhattisgarh became the latest state to report the infestation of Fall Armyworm (FAW). As Down To Earth (DTE) reporter travelled across Bastar, a district ravaged by the decades’ old bloodbath between the Maoists and the security forces, the insect emerged as the focal point of most conversations. 

In Palari village, the American keeda has damaged the entire maize crop. “I have been farming for four to five years, but have never noticed this insect. Pesticides are not effective on them,” says Parmeshwar Pandey.In just nine months since FAW was spotted in India in Karnataka last June, it has invaded crops in over 10 states. As if taking a pre-scripted route, FAW infestation has spread from Karnataka to all southern states; then to western Maharashtra and Gujarat; and now to eastern states. 

A sojourn out of its native

In Andhra Pradesh’s Institute of Frontier Technology — an affiliate of the Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) in Tirupati — crop researchers are a worried lot as the news of infestation has turned from a trickle to a deluge. It was first identified in Andhra Pradesh in August 2018 when it affected maize growing areas of East and West Godavari districts, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram. 

“With maize seed production being a major crop in Godavari district, it can have serious economic consequences. Being a major ingredient for the poultry and cattle feed, production losses in maize could cripple meat and milk production,” says M John Sudheer, principal scientist at ANGRAU.Their immediate concern is whether the pest would start attacking millets and cereals like bajra, jowar, ragi and others. 

“The lifecycle of the worm can range from 30 to 45 days. In winter, the cycle can extend up to even 90 days. With continuous overlapping generations the worm can be seen in all stages at the same time. This makes it difficult to manage the pest,” says Sudheer.K Bhupathi Reddy, a maize farmer in Mallayapalli near Tirupati in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, always treated maize as a farmer-friendly crop. The investment is low and there is a ready market for the crop. 

After selling the maize, the fodder (45-50 tonnes per ha) can fetch Rs 2,000 per tonne from nearby cow shelters. “I have already spent Rs 20,000 for controlling these pests this season,” he says, adding that it is still not sufficient. Agriculture officials suggested crop rotation. But the infestation has jumped to other crops as well.

Branching out
 “In India, FAW has already damaged crops in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. The damage caused by FAW is colossal as it has 30 to 40 days life cycle and one moth can lay up to 1,000 eggs at one time. The FAW larva scrapes out leaves causing a lot of damage to the crop,” says Chormule.

In Telangana, it is an unheard of situation. Though it is one of India’s traditionally non-maize areas, to earn more in face of drought farmers switched to maize in a big way: 0.5 million ha are under this crop. It is also covered under the government’s minimum support price (MSP) regime. FAW has infested maize crops in all the districts. 

Mora Sudarshan Patel of Kuntala village in Nirmal district has destroyed 0.8 ha of his maize crops while Kadam Avadhuta Rao of Penchikalapadu village destroyed crop in 1.2 ha to arrest FAW infestation. “Once we reaped good harvest of chili. Vagaries of market played havoc with us. We adopted maize which looked promising. FAW has upset the precarious economy of small and marginal farmers,” says Patel.

The situation in Nizambad district is worse. The farmers here have been on warpath demanding MSP for red jowar and turmeric—a replacement crop for maize lost to FAW. At the time of writing of this article on February 16, thousands of farmers from Armoor and Nizambad division laid siege to National Highway 44 demanding procurement of red jowar and turmeric by the government. 

Aleti Naveen Reddy of Mantena village, who also took part in the agitation, is planning a fast unto death to put pressure on the state government to deliver the promise it made at the time of the Assembly elections.What is alarming is that FAW has started hopping to other crops as well. The DNA bar-coding test of 44 samples collected from as many as eight districts has conf irmed that paddy (Karimnagar), chickpea (Adilabad), jowar (Vikarabad) and groundnut (Nagarkurnool) are under attack.

C Parthasarathi, principal secretary, agriculture says that the maize crop damage was observed in about 15 districts. During rabi season 2018-19, the incidence of pest ranged from 5 per cent to 45 per cent. “FAW was noticed in maize in extent of 17,394 ha out of 462,322 ha actual sown area in kharif 2018. During rabi 2018-19 the pest was noticed in 22,072 ha out of 78,982 ha of actual sown area,” Parthasarathi informs. 

Though the extent of crop loss is not available officially, Ramanjaneyulu, scientist and director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, who studied the pest extensively, from the economic perspective, puts the loss at 30 per cent in kharif. “Prolonged monoculture, supported by powerful pesticides have destroyed the natural enemies of the pest. Long dry spells coupled with too many bouts of overcast sky have made maize susceptible to pest attack. 

Enough is enough, the government should encourage farmers to migrate to pulses and oil seeds before it is too late,” Ramanjaneyulu says.Parthasarathi says the foreign pest has thrown up a challenge before the scientific community. “The pest behaviour varies from region to region and season to season. 

The scientists should study the behaviour of the pest in different environments and come up with a forecast for every season,” he says, forewarning that the outbreak of FAW might not confine to maize alone and it could invade other crops as well once the maize harvest is completed. “The ball now is in the court of agricultural scientists,” he says.

 - Akshit Sangomla, Ishan Kukreti
(Courtesy: Down to Earth)