RAJSHAHI, Dec 12, 2019 (BSS)- Agricultural scientists and researchers at a training workshop here mentioned that collective efforts of all the district, upazila and agricultural officials and others concerned has become an urgent need to protect the maize farming from the fall armyworm attack.
Expressing their grave concern over the issue they also observed that the fall armyworm cannot be killed with chemical pesticides. They can only be controlled by applying bio-pesticides, but cannot be eradicated fully.
Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) organized the workshop titled “Armyworm Monitoring and Pheromone Trap to Control it” held on Wednesday at the DAE’s regional office conference hall in association with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Prof. Khandaker Shariful Islam from the Department of Entomology in Bangladesh Agricultural University addressed the training workshop as resource person detailing the infection, extent of its damage and possible controlling measures of the pest.
DAE Additional Director Deb Dulal Dhali, Deputy Directors Monzurul Huda, Shamsul Haque, Subrata Kumar, Sirajul Islam and Khayer Uddin Mollah also spoke on the occasion.
Prof. Shariful Islam said the fall armyworm has been identified as devastating and badly damaging to the maize crop. Not only maize, it attacks more than 80 crops.
In the current year, it has been detected along with identifying its extent of damage in 36 upazilas of 16 districts in the country.
The districts are Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Naogaon, Pabna, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Bogura, Sirajganj, Manikganj, Chuadanga, Jessore, Jhinedah and Moulvibazar.
He also said effective steps should be taken to control the worm after spotting its existence through pheromone trap supplied by FAO.
Priority should be given on control it in early stage of its attack and wide-ranging awareness among the farmers in general can be a vital means of attaining success in this regard.
The fall armyworm, the scientific name of which is Spodoptera frugiperda, is widely spread in many Asian countries like India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand and Myanmar.
Bangladesh will face an epidemic if the spread of this pest is not controlled at an early stage. The scientist said that the damage caused by the fall armyworm was very high. They can destroy crops overnight. If not well controlled, the fall armyworm can cause significant damage to crops in its larvae stage.
It prefers maize, but can feed on more than 80 additional species of plants including rice, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, vegetables, and cotton.
Within five months of the detection of a plant-eating pest in Bangladesh, the FAO has come up with an emergency project to contain possible spread of the armyworm, Prof Islam told the training session.