Seasonal Occurrence of Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) in Maize: The Role of Sowing Dates

Fall armyworm is a destructive insect pest in maize farming and has expanded widely throughout various agroecological zones, which threatens food security. An experiment was carried out at the Winter Nursery (ICAR-IIMR, Hyderabad) field to study the occurrence of fall armyworm on maize single cross hybrid DHM 117 across different sowing dates during kharif and rabi seasons of 2021-22. Weekly observations were made on a whole-plot basis to record the number of plants damaged, the number of larvae, and egg masses per plant. Among the six sowing dates, the crop sown on 2nd August 2021, had a relatively lower mean percent of infestation range (4.02% - 80.37%), a minimum larval count per plant range (0.01 - 0.24), and the least number of egg masses per plant range (0.00 - 0.11). The findings will be helpful in the construction of forecasting models, facilitating the formulation of eco-friendly management tactics to manage fall armyworms in maize.