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6 years ago
   1
Not Just Maize: Africa’s Fall Armyworm Crisis Threatens Sorghum, Other Crops, Too
CABI The Invasives Blog
https://blog.invasive-species.org/2018/11/22/not-just-maize-africas-fall-armyworm-crisis-threatens-sorghum-other-crops-too/


By Sara Hendery. From Entomology Today.

Scientists from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Niger say that 99 percent of the media and research coverage on the fall armyworm focuses on the invasive pest’s deadly threat to maize.

And deservedly so: The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is indeed a major problem for maize—more than 40 nations in Africa, where hundreds of millions of people depend on maize, are rushing to find a solution to the pest that can travel long distances and reproduce in large numbers.

However, management methods solely addressing the fall armyworm’s damage on one crop could leave communities that rely on additional drought-resistant crops, like sorghum, at a disadvantage.

“The fall armyworm is polyphagous, which means it feeds on various foods,” says Muni Muniappan, Ph.D., director of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Integrated Pest Management. “We saw serious damage on the sorghum fields we visited during our last trip to Niger and damage on millet, as well, the nation’s staple crop. Not only is a diversified diet important for food-insecure nations, but it’s very common for a community of people not to eat a certain food simply because it doesn’t look or taste like their preference, which means we can’t just look to save one crop in this crisis. A one-track, one-crop solution for a multi-track pest could be very dangerous.”

Sorghum ranks as the fifth most important cereal crop in the world, but it is the second most important cereal in Africa. Its value is insurmountable to Sahelian countries that have a dry, hot climate. In Niger, maize can typically only be grown during the short and singular rainy season, or under irrigation, on which Sahelian countries cannot consistently depend. Protein- and fiber-rich, sorghum is a nutritious food and is also a vital source of income given its many uses as fodder, for fermentation, industrial purposes, syrups, biofuel, and more.

Continue to the full article on Entomology Today →



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Responses

   0
6 years ago
From ianhgibbs <ianhgibbs@yahoo.com>
Duuuuh! Anyone who has dealt with this pest knows that. It has a wide host plant range!

IG
Barbados
West Indies

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   0
6 years ago
Yes, dead right, the CABI documentation makes this very clear in the case of the recent invasion of Africa, as does the copious documentation from the Americas. But our friends in India need to keep their heads up when the 2019 rainy season starts because of the importance of sorghum (and millets) in rainfed farming systems. Whilst maize production has increased in recent years to about 25 million MT pa and sorghum production has fallen to 5 million MT, this crop remains a staple in southern and central India. It must also be remembered that Spodoptera spp also colonize plants that are not crops, aka weeds. This means that they have a means of surviving the dry season in semi-arid zones where surface water sustains plant growth (river banks, drains for instance). These 'oases' harbour the pest but they also sustain populations of its predators and parasites.

John Wightman
International Pest Management Hemp Farming Systems
hempfarmingsystems.com

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