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A28 SCIENCE
Wednesday 20 March 2019

Asia bracing for destruction by alien pest: fall armyworms

By ELAINE KURTENBACH gies being considered.
AP Business Writer “Putting into place ade-
THA MUANG, Thailand quate management mea-
(AP) — Fall armyworms, a sures once a country gets
longtime American pest, invaded by FAW is impor-
are munching their way tant,” said Marjon Fredrix,
around the globe, raising an expert with the U.N.’s
alarm now in Asia after en- FAO based in Bangkok.
trenching themselves in Af- “However, the likelihood of
rica. further spread is real.”
Experts say the insect was She notes that the worm’s
first found outside the adult moths can fly more
Americas in 2016, in Af- than 100 kilometers (60
rica, where it has infested miles) a night, even farther
up to half of some crops if they’re carried by the
of maize, sorghum and mil- wind.
let. It’s now spread through The best case scenario,
Yemen and South Asia to In this March 13, 2019, photo, says Fredrix, would be farm-
Thailand and China. above, a field expert at ers successfully scouting
This new arrival to her terri- Thailand’s agriculture ministry, for and finding the worms
tory worries Uraporn Noun- shows the fall armyworm early on, so they can keep
art, a specialist on farm in Tha Muang, Thailand. In them under control. The
pests at Thailand’s Agricul- this March 13, 2019, photo, FAO has developed an
Uraporn Nournart, right, a
ture Department. field expert at Thailand’s app that teaches the ba-
“We never had this one be- agriculture ministry, points sics of how to find and deal
fore. They just were found to plants affected by the fall with fall armyworms.
late last year and in Janu- armyworm in Tha Muang, “This new pest needs to
ary in this area. It’s a big Thailand. be managed in years to
problem,” she said while Associated Press come, and farmers will
visiting farms recently in need to develop skills to
Kanchanaburi province, do so in a sustainable man-
northwest of Bangkok. ner,” Fredrix said.
The worms can cause dam- The help came a bit too
age at all stages of a corn late for Yodsapon, a farm-
crop, but the worst may In this March 13, 2019, er in Tha Muang. He follows
be when the larvae, pinky- photo, Uraporn Nournart, Uraporn’s team stoically
sized caterpillars turn sweet a field expert at Thailand’s as it winds its way through
corn cobs to mush. The in- agriculture ministry, points his wrecked field of sweet
cursions of the alien spe- to plants affected by the fall corn.
cies threaten to upend the armyworm in Tha Muang, At first glance, the 2-meter-
Thailand.
balance between costs Associated Press high (6.5-foot-high) stalks
and returns for farmers in working hard to limit their cides up onto the affected look vigorous, with good-
Thailand and elsewhere. week to help share infor- losses by pulling the tops parts of the plant once the sized ears that are nearly
Pesticides are costly, toxic mation and strategies on off stalks grown for baby worms are established. picking size. But a closer
and don’t always work. battling the pest. corn and discarding them Swaddled against the look shows holes in the
In its native regions, from Keeping it in check is an ur- to limit how much damage burning sun, Uraporn stalks where the worms
Argentina to northern Can- gent priority: Even though the worms could do. That Nournart and her team of have worked their way in-
ada depending on the Asia is mostly known for tactic causes the plant to young scientists scrambled side, munching ear after
season, the bug’s natural rice growing, maize is an sprout new ears that can through the fields, peek- ear into yellowish brown
enemies — predators, par- important staple crop and be harvested later. ing into corn husks and mush.
asites and pathogens such crucial source of feed for Organic farmers don’t use pulling apart damaged The family has other sourc-
as bacteria or viruses — poultry and livestock. the usual farm chemicals stalks to collect worms es of income, a small eco-
help keep it in check. But In the cornfields in Kan- so they can sell the waste and eggs for monitoring. hostel set in their tropical
the new habitats may lack chanaburi, there were ar- corn stalks as cattle fod- They’re conducting trials garden. But income from
some of those defenses, myworms in all stages of der. Spraying with bio- in fields like the one Sa- that is unstable, and the
the United Nations’ Food the crop, from seedlings to materials like fungi and nae was working her way corn crop will be missed,
and Agricultural Organiza- knee-high to “elephant’s thread worms that may be through, a tranquil plot of Yodsapon says.q
tion says. It’s convening a eye” high. parasites of the worms can waist-high corn ringed by He’s thinking hard about
conference in Bangkok this Some local farmers were
help, but some fields still banana trees. Charuwat what to do next: switch to
lost about a third of the first Taekul, an entomologist at another crop? Cassava?
baby corn harvest. the Department of Agricul- Potato?
“We’ve never seen any- ture who specializes in mi- A good harvest from the
thing like this,” said one croscopic parasitic wasps, field would have netted
farmer, Sanae. was collecting egg clus- 2,000-3,000 baht ($65-
In another field, Thanwa, ters to use in his research $100), he says. He expects
a younger farmer, sought into natural enemies of the no income from this one,
help and had his fields worms. It’s unclear if such and spraying repeatedly
sprayed using drones. For wasps would be effective to try to vanquish the worm
taller plants, that’s about in keeping the fall army- could triple his costs.
the only way for the small- worms under control, but “In that case, I can’t afford
scale farmers to get pesti- it’s one of various strate- it,” he says.q