Relationship of sowing dates with the seasonal incidence of fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) in maize

Abstract

Fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) is an economically important insect pest of maize and spreads very widely in different agroecological zones. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the fall armyworm incidence on maize hybrid DHM 121 under different dates of sowing during kharif 2021 and rabi 2021-22. The results revealed that the peak per cent plant infestation by fall armyworm was observed in 42, 63 and 91 days old maize crop at 49th, 52nd, and 4th SMW (100.0%) in crop sown during 23rd October, 2021. Similarly, the peak larval incidence was observed in 84 day old crop at 5th SMW (0.65) in crop sown on 10th November, 2021 whereas the maximum oviposition was observed in 77 day old crop at 44th SMW (0.18) in crop sown on 17th August, 2021.The information obtained from the present study would help formulate fall armyworm forecasting models and potential management strategies in maize.