Effect of cultivars and insecticidal treatments on fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. smith), infestation and da
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Effect of cultivars and insecticidal treatments on fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. smith), infestation and damage on maize Jerry A. Nboyine 1
&
Francis Kusi 1 & Iddrisu Yahaya 1 & Ahmed Seidu 1 & Asieku Yahaya 1
Received: 29 May 2020 / Accepted: 6 October 2020 # African Association of Insect Scientists 2020
Abstract Fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), is an economically important insect pest of maize in most African countries, including Ghana. Hence, this study tested the efficacy of selected biorational and synthetic insecticides for the control of FAW in two maize cultivars in Ghana. The cultivars, Ewul-boyu and Wang-dataa, and the insecticides, neem seed oil (NSO) (azadirachtin), Agoo (Bacillus thuringiensis, Bt + Monosultap), KD 215 EC (Chlorpyrifos + Lambda-cyhalothrin) and KOptimal (Lambda-cyhalothrin + Acetamiprid), were arranged in split-plots design. Data were collected on FAW larval infestations, damage and yield. Cultivars had no significant effect on the variables measured. Mean larval infestation before treatments application were not significantly different (P > 0.05) among the insecticides tested. After treatments application, infestation was highest in the untreated control and lowest in maize treated with K-Optimal. Damage levels (following Davis scale) in the untreated control (5.3) was significantly higher than in the insecticide treatments (3.0–3.6). Yields were at least 1.7-fold higher in all insecticide treatments than in the untreated control in both years. The benefit-cost (BC) ratios showed that farmers who do not protect their maize (untreated control) can break even. However, using either biorational or synthetic insecticides resulted in between 1.5 and 2.0-fold returns on investment with Agoo having the highest. In conclusion, the maize cultivars tested are not resistant to FAW. Therefore, farmers should use environmentally safe insecticides (e.g., NSO or Bt) to mitigate FAW damage since their efficacy and economic returns are not different from those of synthetic origins. Keywords Economic returns . Environmentally friendly . Exotic pests . Ghana . Management . Biorational products
Introduction Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important cereal crop cultivated in a large range of environments (Bosque-Perez 1995). The United States, China and Brazil are the top three maize-producing countries in the world; together they produce over 560 million metric tons annually (Ranum et al. 2014). Among the geographical regions of developing countries, Africa produces about one-third of global white maize crop. The main producers include Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In Ghana, average maize production in 2019 was 2.7 million tonnes (International Food Policy Research
* Jerry A. Nboyine [email protected] 1
CSIR – Savanna Agricultural Research Institute, P. O. Box, 52 Tamale, Ghana
Institute (IFPRI) 2020; Santpoort 2020). This crop is a key staple across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and has the potential to mitigate food ins
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