FALL armyworm was first recognized as a serious economic pest more than 230 years ago. Fall armyworm as an insect belongs to the order Lepidoptera in the family Noctuidae. The fall armyworm is called “armyworm” because in its larval stage, individuals gather in huge masses (army), which can destroy large tracks of crops. It is native to South and North America, but it is an invasive alien in Africa. It is one of only a few insects that periodically disperse and breed throughout the United States of America. The fall armyworm (FAW) attacks many food crops in various areas of the Southeastern U.S, Mexico, and Central and South America.
The Americans and entomologists cannot but remember 1975,1976 and 1977 as years of heavy FAW infestations throughout the Southeastern U.S. United States of America (Southeastern part) was said to have lost on all crops $61.2 million in 1975 and $31.9 million in 1976. But Georgia alone was said to have lost $137.5 million in 1977.
Fall armyworm was first discovered in Africa in Nigeria in 2016, since then fall armyworm has spread to over 40 countries in Africa. While fall armyworm has been reported on over 300 crops around the world, the main target crops are cereals especially maize, sorghum, and rice.
FAW lifecycle is complete metamorphosis. The adult FAW is a nocturnal insect pest. At dawn (in the evening or morning), FAW adults initiate movement towards host plants that are suitable for feeding and oviposition. Eggs are laid in clusters and protected by a dense covering of scales. Egg masses contain a few to hundreds of eggs which hatch in 2-4 days if mean temperatures are 21.1oc to 26.7oc. As the eggs hatch, the larvae consume the shells and then initiate feeding on the plants until they have completed six instars. The sixth instar drops to the ground and pupates in the soil at a depth of about 2.54-7.62cm depending on soil texture, moisture, and temperature; the life cycle requires about 30 days. Female moth can lay up to 1000 eggs in her lifetime.
For national management of FAW or regional management of FAW as a continent of Africa or sub-regions such as West Africa, East Africa, North Africa, or Southern Africa, this will require sophisticated method using biotechnology. Using biotechnology will require a well-equipped national or regional laboratory with team of agricultural experts – Entomologists, Plant pathologists, Agronomists, Geneticists and Plant breeders and Ecologists and Molecular biologists and Biotechnology experts and Bio-informatician. There will be need to build the capacity of these experts. First, there will be a need to molecularly characterize the FAW samples. Of course, this has been done in Nigeria (Thanks to Korea- Africa Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (KAFACI) project). But more than molecular characterization, there will be need to carry out Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) of FAW in Nigeria. This will help to know which gene control different parts of FAW. Using the knowledge of central dogma of molecular biology, one can easily use genome editing tools such as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR- cas 9). Just as it is possible in the developed countries where the Medical Genetic experts and Doctors can use gene therapies for treatment of genetic diseases such as Sickle cell anaemia in humans. Using the knowledge of central dogma of molecular biology, we know that alteration of a genetic code (codon) in the sequence of nucleotides of human genome causes the difference in the red blood cells of humans. In sickle cell victims, a codon in their DNA nucleotide sequence is “CAG” instead of “CTC”. When transcribed on mRNA, it becomes “GUC” instead of “GAG”. When translated, “GUC” will translate to valine while “GAG” will translate to glutamic acid. It has been shown that haemoglobin S (of sickle cell victims) differs from normal haemglobin only in that each of its two β polypeptide chains contains the amino acids valine instead of glutamic acid at one position along the length of the chain. This difference is caused by a change in a few as two nucleotides in the DNA responsible, that is, that code for heamoglobin formation. That is why; it is possible to use gene therapies to treat sickle cell disease in advanced countries with well-equipped hospital and adequate personnel with adequate knowledge. This is done with genome editing technique. The same method can be used to switch on lethal genes in fall armyworm which when released into farms can mate with fall armyworm in the wild. This will result in offspring that will die. This will bring fall armyworm population to extinction or reduce its population. This is, however, a theoretical approach. Africa is yet to reach this point.
However, for resource constraints African farmers, whose farms are usually less than 2 hectares, the best method of control of fall armyworm include the use of inter-cropping. The maize farm can be intercropped with cassava or other crops such as sweet potato, Jute mallow (ewedu) and other crops which serve as trap crop that can attract fall armyworm from the main crop which are maize, sorghum or rice. Intercrop and trap crops are used as push-pull mechanism.
Other methods of control or management of fall army worm which is economic smart and environmentally friendly include the use of botanicals. Farmers can collect 4 or 5 fruits of Adenopus breviflorus (Christmas melon) called tagiri. The four or five fruits are cut in pieces which are later soaked in 50-100 litres of water. The fruits are then allowed to ferment in water for 72 to 96 hours. The fermented water is then used in spraying maize or cereals infested with fall armyworm. Also, about 50g of Momordica charantia (Ejirin) can be added to 5kg of Tithonia diversifolia (Mexican sunflower) which Yoruba called sepeleba and 5kg of Chromolaena odorata (siam weed) which Yoruba calls Akintola and 5kg of Azadirachta indica (neem tree) (dogo yaro). The mixture is fermented in 200 litres of water for 72 to 96 hours.
The fermented water is used in spraying maize or sorghum infested with fall armyworm. These materials are available and are within the reach of resource constrained African farmers and are also environmentally friendly. It is also an economical and smart method.
- Dr. Timothy Oluwafemi Ajiboye, genetic resources conservation expert, an entomologist and Assistant Director with National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) is the Principal Investigator (PI) for Korean-Africa Food and Agriculture Cooperation Iniative (KAFACI) Fall armyworm project in Nigeria.
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