Evaluation of Sustainable Management Options for the Fall Armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Maize Production in Burkina Faso

Abstract

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, attacks important cereals, such as corn, millet and sorghum, causing economic damage. It is has been a new biotic constraint to African agriculture since it invaded the African continent in 2016. Reported in Burkina Faso in 2017, it is present in all regions of the country, causing significant damage to cereal crops. Faced with this threat, farmers have opposed several control methods, including mainly synthetic chemical pesticides with all the consequences that this entails. With this in mind, an evaluation of several sustainable management options for this insect pest was initiated in Bama in western Burkina Faso during the consecutive dry and wet seasons of 2023. For this purpose, a completely randomized block design was set up. It consisted of four treatments, T0 = absolute control; T1=combination Push-pull technology-Jatropha curcas oil; T2 = combination Push-pull technology-Azadirachta indica oil; T3=combination Push-pull technology-Emamectin benzoate. Four replicates were used. Data were collected by random sampling on twenty maize plants in each elementary plot. Results showed that the different S. frugiperda management options reduced significantly pest damage rates: T3 (28% dry season, 34.50% wet season), T1 (41.88% dry season, 47.64% wet season) and T2 (37.88% dry season, 45.38% wet season) compared with the control (66.38% dry season, 59.75% wet season). The best yields were also recorded with management options T1 (3.52t/ha), T2 (3.73t/ha), and T3 (3.57t/ha) for the dry season and T1 (2.91t/ha), T2 (3.26t/ha) and T3 (3.34t/ha) for the wet season and were not significantly different. The Push-Pull-Emamectin option is recommended to Burkina Faso farmers for the control of the Fall Armyworm.