Agrilife24.com:The scientists of the Entomology Division of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) recently noticed occurrence of devastating insect ‘Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda)’ in sugarcane crop for the first time in Bangladesh in sugarcane fields of Raghobpur, Joypurhat. ‘The insect pest was found damaging the leaves and whorls of sugarcane plant’ said Dr. Zulfikar Haider Prodhan- an Entomologist and Chief Scientific Officer (PRL) of Spices Research Centre, BARI, Bogura. Dr. Prodhan observed that, the pest infestation was under control. However, farmers should not be panicked due to infestation of this pest, because BARI has already formulated effective management strategy against this pest.
To manage this pest attack, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of the Entomology Division of BARI, Dr. Nirmal Kumar Dutta advised the farmers not to spray toxic chemical insecticides indiscriminately as this practice would kill the beneficial insects which naturally control this pest. Regular monitoring of the crop for pest incidence, collecting and destroying egg mass and larvae, and need based spraying of microbial biopesticide ‘SfNPV’ can be good options to resist the pest attack. However, in case of severe infestation, less toxic new generation chemical insecticides can be sprayed as last resort with the consultation of extension personnel.
It is to be noted here that the Fall armyworm- a devastating insect pest of maize crop worldwide, was first recorded in Bangladesh by BARI Entomologists during 2018. Subsequently, the pest was reported to attack ginger and groundnut crops in our country during 2023 and 2025, respectively. However, the infestation of this pest in all of these crops is at present under control and the crop loss by this pest is also minimum due to timely and coordinated interventions from our Ministry of Agriculture.
