It also spread to China in 2019. However, it is unclear how the magnitude and distribution of threats vary between Chinese provinces.
“Larger agricultural producers might be more at risk and could suffer a bigger absolute loss from further fall armyworm threat,” notes a study titled “Potential economic impact of invasive fall armyworm on mainly affected crops in China”.
“Underdeveloped provinces might be more vulnerable to fall armyworm in relative terms and more likely to be a major fall armyworm source.”
The feeding caterpillars of the pest cause billions of dollars of crop damage and losses. In 2017, the annual economic fallout from fall armyworm damage in 12 African countries was estimated to be as high as $6.3 billion.
For Brazil, fall armyworm presents a particular challenge to corn producers.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimates that farmers spend $600 million annually to control the pest, yet it still causes annual losses of $400 million.
Existing solutions and the new tech
In December 2019, FAO launched the pioneering Global Action for Fall Armyworm Control as an urgent response to the rapid spread.
“The three-year global initiative will take radical, direct, and coordinated measures to strengthen prevention and sustainable pest control capacities at a global level,” notes FAO’s website.
In one meeting in April, FAO urged scaling up of successful demonstration done under Global Action effort. FAO has chosen “eight demonstrations” countries as hubs for Global Action — China, India, and the Philippines in Asia; and Egypt, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Kenya, and Malawi in Africa.
To stem the attacks from the destructive pest, farmers started investing more in environmentally harmful insecticides.
“Additional spending of farmers increased by around by INR 10,000 ($135) per hectare due to overuse of chemical pesticides,” Honnur Prakash, a farmers activist in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district, where fall armyworm was first detected, told Zenger News.
But widespread use of chemical pesticides has its limitations.
“Fall armyworm caterpillars are usually found in corn whorls. They are nocturnal as they come out in the night to devour crops. So, the efficacy of chemical insecticides largely depends on timing,” said Choudhary.
The technology works by releasing Oxitec’s Friendly
male moths, which find and mate with pest females.
“The offspring inherit a self-limiting gene that is only active in females, therefore preventing them from surviving. With regular releases of Friendly males, the number of females in the next generation is reduced, leading to a sharp decline in the pest population,” said Morrison.
Some agricultural experts believe Oxitec’s technology would complement the current crop protection practices to manage fall armyworm.
“Our technology potentially reduces the need for additional pesticides in the long term. Besides reducing populations of the pest, it also has the potential to slow the resistance development to insecticides and biotechnology enhanced crops,” Morrison said.
Environmental impact
Though the technology manufacturers claim it to be some revolution, environmental groups warn about its unintended consequences on the environment.
Oxitec had introduced genetically modified mosquitoes to control its population, but the technology came under sharp criticism from environmental experts.
An experiment has been started in Florida, U.S., this month. It will release male mosquitoes that transmit a self-limiting gene to female offspring, which will die before achieving maturity.
A.N. Shylesha, principal scientist, division of germplasm, conservation, and utilization at India’s National Bureau of Agriculture Insect Resources, has expressed his doubts about the technology’s long-term efficacy.
“Oxitec’s technology is complementary to current practices but not intended to stop the use of harmful agrochemicals,” he told Zenger News.
Shylesha detected fall armyworm in India during field research with S.K. Jalali, principal scientist and head of the division of genomic resources, in Karnataka, in 2018.
The U.S. and Brazil grow genetically modified maize crops, and this technology suitable for it for now. Even Africa and China grow genetically modified maize crops, which require specific pesticides to control fall armyworm. Oxitec has not made any specific claim about non-genetically modified maize crops that India grows.
“The Indian government would certainly give serious thought when any proposal comes to them from these companies as it is mostly meant for genetically modified crops that we do not grow. This technology may also create potential insecticide resistance in the fall armyworm,” said Shylesha.
Shylesha’s organization has instead come up with environmentally friendly techniques to manage fall armyworm.
“There is a bio-control technology that we have developed which uses pathogens, predators, parasites to control fall armyworm,” said Shylesha.
“We have developed lots of feasible and environmentally friendly options to control the pest, but the agrochemical lobby is pushing their chemicals-led solutions. We don’t have a mechanism to spread our bio-control measures to control fall armyworm among farmers.”
(Edited by Amrita Das and Gaurab Dasgupta. Map by Urvashi Makwana.)
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