“Today, six months later, the infestation has spread across Maharashtra in Vidarbha, Marathwada and specially in western Maharashtra,” says 6th Grain Corporation’s Agronomist and Entomologist Ankush Chormule. “In close to 15 districts of Maharashtra surveyed by 6th Grain Corporation, the presence of FAW has been confirmed,” he adds.
Incidentally, the most-preferred host for FAW is sweetcorn followed by maize, jowar (sorghum) where heavy infestation has been observed and in the absence of these, sugarcane, otherwise not a desirable host for FAW.
In the next few weeks, on September 22, 2018, FAW was detected and reported, for the first time, on Sugarcane in Ghogaon village, Palus tehsil, Sangli, according to a report published in the Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies in 2019 by Ankush Chormule, Naresh Shejawal, Sharanabasappa, CM Kalleshwaraswamy, R Asokan and HM Mahadeva Swamy.
“In India, the FAW has already damaged crops in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. The damage caused by FAW is colossal as it has a 30 days to 40 day life cycle and one moth can lay upto 1,000 eggs at one time. The FAW larva scrapes out leaves causing a lot of damage to the crop,” says Chormule.
“I could identify the Fall Army Worm infestation because just a day prior, on August 28, I had read an article in AgroWon newspaper written by Ankush Chormule on how to identify FAW that risked spreading from Karnataka to Maharashtra,” recalls farmer Ganesh Babar.
Chormule, who has been active in this area, had even detailed tips, across news portals and social media through interactive groups, to help farmers detect FAW in their crops.
Thirty-year-old B.Sc graduate and farmer Babar immediately contacted Ankush who went to the spot to collect samples and sent them to National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources (NBAIR) Bangalore for identification.
NBAIR is the nodal agency for collection, characterisation, documentation, conservation, exchange, research and utilisation of agriculturally important insect resources for sustainable agriculture in India.
The identification is done through DNA sequencing and after matching the model DNA sequences of worms from all over the world available online. Within a week, by the first week of September, NBAIR confirmed the samples were of FAW.
“I could identify the FAW because of the detailed identification tips provided in the article I had read,” recalls Babar, currently undertaking farming on 15 acres of his 25-acre land growing maize, sorghum (jowar) and sugarcane. FAW can be easily identified with an unique inverted ‘Y’ shaped mark on its head. The 8th abdominal segment shows 4 dots in perfect square shape while elevated spots occur dorsally on the body. The FAW are usually dark and bear spines.
So, when Babar first identified FAW, he took images of the worm and uploaded them on the farmers’ social media group created to assist farmers, identify scourges and find solutions. “FAW’s growth is very swift as compared to other pests, till date,” says Babar. “When I first saw FAW, six months back, there were barely one to two worms on a leaf but now, there are four to five worms on a leaf. Their rate of growth is scary,” he adds.
“An immediate solution for farmers, we realised, is to spray pesticides. However, the pesticides fail to restrain their growth for long and lose their efficacy within days leaving us with no option but to repeat the use every ten to twelve days to keep FAW at bay,” maintains Babar.
This, for obvious reasons, translates into a higher cost of maintenance for the farmers proving to be a double whammy. For one, there is a surge in expenditure and concurrently, there is a distinct fall in the crop yield too. Babar, for instance, has suffered a ten per cent loss in profit in the last year - translating into a production loss of two-three quintals per acre.
In December 2018, Agriculture Minister for State Parshottam Rupala told the Parliament that FAW had affected maize crop in approximately 81,000 hectares in Karnataka, 1,740 hectares in Telangana, 1,341 hectares in Andhra Pradesh and 315 hectares in Tamil Nadu.
In the first week of February 2019, a Maharashtra government report put out the estimated losses caused by the FAW. The report maintained, in Beed and Satara districts of Maharashtra, 386 hectares of maize plantation and 958 hectares of jowar has been infested.
Owing to this colossal damage caused by FAW and the concurrent dearth, Maize earlier sold at Rs 1,200 per quintal is now being sold almost at Rs 1,900 per quintal. The yield has dipped drastically owing to drought and FAW infestation. This is expected to continue, even get worse, in 2019.
India will have to increase the import of Maize owing to the decrease in production and yield triggered by the recent FAW infestation. Also, in Maharashtra, the widespread poultry industry that depends directly on maize for feed will be hit adversely. This way, prices of poultry products too will rise adversely to match the surge in expenses for the feed.
Additionally, Maize is used as cattle fodder. With the dip in crop yield caused by the FAW damage, there is even lesser fodder for the cattle. So, there arises the need to buy more ‘clean’ fodder for cattle, thereby escalating costs. Consecutively, the costs for individual farmers rearing cattle and those involved in the dairy trade are likely to soar. Food Security concurrently risks getting compromised due to the increasing FAW infestation.
Most Maharashtra farmers buckling under the burden of bank loans procured for farming have been finding it difficult to repay the loans, in the face of losses triggered by FAW.
Babar, for instance, has to pay off a loan of Rs four lakhs in the next two years irrespective of the losses he incurs due to drought conditions and FAW. While Babar is educated and can avail the latest information on FAW online and through social media groups, his lesser-informed counterpart has little option but to approach a nearby Krishi Kendra for advice and waste money on generic pesticides that may not serve the purpose.
“In order to prevent this from happening, there is the need to use pesticides through Integrated Pest Management and not in isolation as is the case due to lack of awareness among farmers,” says Chormule.
So, the need for research to identify natural enemies of FAW to combat the spread is felt now more than ever. Another way to stop the spread of FAW in its track is to use pheromone traps that catch the moths.
“The prices of maize are expected to increase in sync with the speedy FAW infestation. In time, FAW will affect sugarcane too as in Maharashtra it is grown all over and may spread to cotton and rice also,” says Chormule.
The issues are aplenty. Apart from the real threat of FAW, are myths on the issue, stark ignorance about the pest itself and half-baked views, like say awaiting for the monsoons to wash away the onslaught, modelled on the traditional practice of never having to use a pesticide for Maize.
Maharashtra’s educated farmers are unanimous in their view that the State government must spread awareness on FAW among masses of uneducated farmers and apprise them about how invasive it is and brief them about the ways to tackle it. The government, they feel, should assist in the installation of traps and treatment processes. “With most of Maharashtra’s agricultural officers completely oblivious of FAW and its threat, Maharashtra looks like a sitting duck,” says Chormule.