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Could fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) invasion in Africa contribute to the displacement of cereal stemborers in maize and sorghum cropping systems

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Abstract

The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), which has recently invaded the African continent, has become a new threat to cereal production. Being an invasive pest with certain competitive advantages, the impact of FAW on other lepidopteran pests is unclear. This study assessed the infestation of FAW and cereal stemborers on maize and sorghum under mono-cropped systems that are adjacently placed in five districts in Uganda. Data on maize and sorghum infestation cereal stemborers and FAW was collected at 6, 9 and 16 weeks after planting (WAP), to determine intensity and severity. Cereal stemborer infestations on maize at 6, 9 and 16 WAP were only 36.7%, 48.2% and 24.0%, respectively, which was significantly lower than the infestations on sorghum, at 55.5%, 53.2%, 64.0%, respectively. On the contrary, the infestations of FAW on maize at 6, 9 and 16 WAP were 89.5%, 84.7% and 86.0%, respectively, while on sorghum they were 51.0%, 56.5% and 47.0, respectively. The severity of stemborers on sorghum was statistically higher than on maize, whereas the damage severity of FAW was generally higher on maize than on sorghum. Intensity of damage and cavity length due to stemborer on sorghum was higher than on maize. Historical records showed that in maize stemborer infestation could reach 60%. This infestation started significantly declining in 2016, suggesting an early arrival of FAW in Uganda. The present study indicates a possible displacement of stemborer from maize onto sorghum. Any Integrated Pest Management (IPM) package should consider managing FAW and stemborer together in both maize and other cereal hosts.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the farmers who gave us the permission to collect data from their farm. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this research by the following organizations and agencies: European Union (EU) funded project Integrated pest management strategy to counter the thereat of invasive fall armyworm to food security and Eastern Africa (FAW-IPM)(FOOD/2018402-634) and Biovision for Push-pull technology dissemination; UKs Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO); the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; and Government of the Republic of Kenya. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the donors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Health theme, International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology, P. O. Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya

    Girma Hailu, Saliou Niassy, Nathan Ochatum, Daisy Salifu, Mawufe K. Agbodzavu, Zeyaur R. Khan, Charles Midega & Sevgan Subramanian

  2. School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL, Bern University of Applied Sciences – BFH, Bern, Switzerland

    Timon Bässler & Christoph Studer

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  1. Girma Hailu
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Contributions

Conceptualization: G.H., S.N., T.B. and S.C.; Experimentation and data collection: G.H and N.O.; Data curation: N.O. and M.K.A.; Formal analysis: D.S. and M.K.A.; Writing—original draft preparation: G.H. and N.O.; Writing: M.K.A., G.H. and S.N.; Review and editing: K.R.Z., M.C. and S.S.; Supervision: S.N.; Funding acquisition: S.S., K.R.Z, S.N. and G.H.; Project administration: S.S., K.R.Z, S.N.; All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Girma Hailu.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

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Hailu, G., Niassy, S., Bässler, T. et al. Could fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) invasion in Africa contribute to the displacement of cereal stemborers in maize and sorghum cropping systems. Int J Trop Insect Sci 41, 1753–1762 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-020-00381-8

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