Fall armyworm: Menace to Nepalese farming and the integrated management approaches

Abstract

 Having worldwide spread from its native American distribution to Africa and Asia since 2016, the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is a crop pest species that has entered Nepal in May 2019 and distributed all over in a rapid way. Nepal is an agrarian nation and the majority of the farmers grow maize on a large scale. This pest has found to affect the maize substantially and damages all the crops entirely declining the yield heavily. This is a menace to maize farmers and poses a major threat to food security and agricultural trade. Thus this review focuses on the assessment of biology of the pest and the possible management approaches which the smallholder maize farmers could afford. Integrated pest management approaches, the integration of physical, chemical, and biological method, is adopted by the majority of the corn producers to reduce the impact of the pest on the crops. Different national and international organizations and institutions have been working to develop the strategies for effective control of such a harmful insect in Nepal.