Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the best Bengali nation for thousands of years, has taken agriculture very seriously in his efforts to transform the then newly independent Bangladesh into a golden Bengal free from hunger and poverty. Bangabandhu's contribution to agriculture is immense. He gave first class status to agriculturists for the improvement of agriculture and inclusion of meritorious people in agriculture. Later, his worthy daughter, the present Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, is determined to build Bangabandhu's dream "Golden Bengal". Leader of the people Sheikh Hasina has taken various initiatives to ensure food and nutrition security of about 160 million people of Bangladesh. In addition to rice and wheat, the use of corn in the food list such as sweet corn, khai corn, baby corn, etc. are new additions.
The government is keeping a close eye on the current Corona virus situation to prevent a food crisis. But there is a new barrier to corn production, the destructive insect fruit Armivarm. Invasion of which can destroy the whole crop of maize. In addition to maize, the pest attacks more than 60 crops, including rice, sorghum, sugarcane, cotton and vegetables. Therefore, in the current Covid-19 situation, the management of fruit armyworm is very important in tackling the food crisis.
Fruit Armivarm is an insect of the genus Khambarfaradhvaddha. Although it is mainly found in North and South America, its spread is now being noticed worldwide. It spread to Africa in 2016, the Indian subcontinent including Bangladesh in 2016 and various countries in Southeast Asia, including China.
Ways to recognize fruit armworm
The fruit armworm larvae have four distinct black spots on the upper part of the eighth part of the body, which are arranged in a square shape. The larvae have a white inverted ‘o’ mark on the front. There are obvious differences in the appearance of male and female moths of the fruit armyworm. Both male and female moths have a silvery white back fan. However, the male moth has white spots on the front wing but the female moth has no white spots on the wing.
The nature of the damage
The full-grown moths of the fruit armyworm can fly long distances, so their prevalence spreads rapidly from one region to another. Even, in one night they are 100 km. Able to fly up to 480 km before laying eggs after becoming a full-fledged moth from the puppet. Is moved up.
They usually attack from one crop to another in groups. This insect eats young leaves of maize plants and maize grains inside young shoots. As soon as the worms hatch from the eggs, they gnaw on the green part of the young leaves in groups and make holes in small round lattice, which is called darhafaradhidaha.
Later, as the worm grows, the corn enters the apex of the plant and eats the young leaves inside the apex, disrupting the growth of the plant.
When attacked at the stage of mocha capture, the young mocha of maize penetrates through the holes and eats the grains of maize, resulting in reduced yield.
Wet reddish-brown insect feces can be seen on the infected tree. During the 4th to 6th stage of the pest, the demand for food increases drastically and can destroy the entire crop in one night.
Integrated pest management
Integrated pest management is an effective method for controlling fruit armyworms. For this, specific management has to be taken.
Maize seeds should be treated with pesticides and sown in the field. Shake well with 2.5 ml Fortenza and 4 ml water in a polybag for about 1 minute per kg of maize seeds so that the coating falls on the seeds. After that dry in a shady place for half an hour and sow the seeds in the same day.
As intercrop with maize, bean (khabamansab) national crop should be cultivated as much as possible. Repeated maize cultivation on the same land should be avoided. Insect infestation should be identified by looking at the signs or feces of corn seedlings as soon as they grow and the level of infestation should be determined.
It is also possible to observe the presence of fruit arborium insects using pheromone traps (3-4 per acre). If possible, eggs or newly budding group of insects from the infected tree should be identified and killed or buried one foot deep in the soil. Infected crops should be sprayed with organic pesticides such as SFNPV (Spodoptera frujiparda nuclear polyhedrosis virus) or SNPV (Spodoptera nucleus polyhydrosis virus) mixed at the rate of 0.2 g per liter of water. Thus, after 7 days, the tree should be soaked and sprayed 2-3 times.
Beneficial insects called Trichogramma and Bracon can be released in corn crop. When irrigating the affected crop, flood irrigation should be given as much as possible. Chemical pesticides such as Spinosad (Tracer 45 SC per liter of water at 0.4 ml or Success 2.5% SC at 1.3 ml per liter of water) or Emamectin benzoate (Proclame 5 SG per liter of water) if the attack rate is 20% or more. At the rate of 1 gm) or chlorantraniliprole (Corazen 16.5% SC per 0.5 ml per liter of water) or flubendamide (belt 24 dB ø 1 per liter of water per 1 liter) of infected maize crop should be sprayed while wearing protective equipment.
Through integrated management we suppress the corn fruit armyworm and ensure food security in Bangabandhu's golden Bengal.