Bayer steps up fight vs fall army worm
CORN farmers in the key corn- growing provinces of Isabela and South Cotabato have successfully controlled the fall army worm (FAW) using resistant varieties, including Dekalb corn hybrids.
FAW, now a major pest in the country, is estimated to damage 60 to 80 percent of corn crops if not managed properly during infestation. In Region 2 (Cagayan Valley), up to 80 percent damage was seen in at least 3,000 hectares of corn lands in the current season. FAW also swiftly spread to Africa, Middle East and other parts of Asia.
“It’s only now that I’ve experienced growing corn where worms penetrate deeply into the plants, not just the leaves,” according to Jaime Acedo, a farmer in Aurora, Isabela.
However, farmer cooperators of Bayer Crop Science (BCS) have witnessed a clear advantage of using FAW-resistant varieties, eliminating the need for manual pest control. According to Acedo, Dekalb VT DoublePro varieties only had 2 to 3 percent damage in their field trials, owing to its built-in resistance to multiple lepidopteran insects like Asian corn borer, corn earworm, common cutworm and the notorious FAW.
Farmers continue to seek help from the government as the FAW is feared to infestother crops. “FAW is polyphagous, which means it feeds on different kinds of food,” said John Fajardo, BCS Agronomic System manager for corn in Southeast Asia and Pakistan. “It has been observed to feed on rice, sugarcane, vegetables, sorghum, and millet.”
In another trial plot in Polomolok, South Cotabato, Dekalb 8719S only had a low pest incidence of 2 percent based on field observations done 22 days after planting, which was aired over a live Facebook webinar.
“We observed that the leaves and stems of the corn plant did not have any holes,” said Jonel Caberto, BCS Market Development Manager in Mindanao. “Once the FAW seeps into the plant and tries to feed on it, it will stop and eventually perish due to the effectiveness of the VT DoublePro technology.”
FAW was first observed in March 2019 in Piat, Cagayan. It reproduces quickly with female adults laying 2,000 eggs in a single instance. Its dispersion is fast as it can fly at night over a 100-kilometer distance and up to 500 kilometers with the aid of wind. The insect pest has not spared even some varieties of Bacillus thuringiensis corn with single mode of action, which has been known to be resistant only to the Asiatic corn borer.