Author: Kandan Aravindaram, Swathi H. Dibbad, Swapnapriya Yadav, Rangeshwaran Rajagopal, Shylesha Arakalagud Nanjundaiah, Sivakumar Gopalsamy, Amala Udayakumar, Manjunatha Channappa, Harish Mukanara Nagarajappa, Visalakshi Mahanthi & Sushil Satya Nand
Citation: Aravindaram, Kandan, et al. "Biocontrol potential of microbial biopesticides for management of invasive pest fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda in maize." Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection 133.1 (2026): 6.
Abstract:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41348-025-01202-1
The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), is native to North and South America, and it was first detected in India in 2018, causing severe damage to maize. Farmers resorted to the indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides. However, as maize is a food crop, the use of these chemicals is unsafe for human and animal health purposes. Therefore, considering the urgent need for alternative measures in the management of fall armyworm, ICAR-NBAIR, Bengaluru, India, evaluated a single application of fungal, bacterial, and viral-based microbial biopesticides at 10 days interval against the serious pest S. frugiperda in two agro-climatic locations. The findings from the two trials indicated that the application of microbial biopesticides, specifically Metarhizium anisopliae (ICAR-NBAIR-Ma35), Bacillus thuringiensis (NBAIR-BT25), and nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NBAIR-SfNPV), effectively reduced the larval population of S. frugiperda (15.83 to 3.33 Nos.), minimized plant damage (from 77.33 to 18.33 per cent), and enhanced plant height (135 cm) and leaf length (9.00 cm). These biopesticide treatments demonstrated comparable efficacy to emamectin benzoate in terms of biomass, yield (2672.77 kg in the insecticide plot and 2631.82 kg in the biopesticide plot), and cost-benefit ratio (1:2.04 for the biopesticide plot and 1:2.02 for the insecticide plot). Furthermore, a substantial presence of beneficial arthropods, such as spiders, was noted in both the untreated control (6.83 Nos.) and biopesticide-treated plots (4.75 Nos.), whereas fields treated with chemical pesticides exhibited a markedly lower presence (1-1.58 Nos.) of beneficial insects. Two-way clustering and multivariate analyses of field data revealed significant differences among the untreated control, biopesticide, and emamectin benzoate treatments. The research findings showed that the use of various biological control agents reduced the costs incurred in crop protection and simultaneously provided effective, eco-friendly approaches for the management of fall armyworms in maize.
Author: Kandan Aravindaram, Swathi H. Dibbad, Swapnapriya Yadav, Rangeshwaran Rajagopal, Shylesha Arakalagud Nanjundaiah, Sivakumar Gopalsamy, Amala Udayakumar, Manjunatha Channappa, Harish Mukanara Nagarajappa, Visalakshi Mahanthi & Sushil Satya Nand
Citation: Aravindaram, Kandan, et al. "Biocontrol potential of microbial biopesticides for management of invasive pest fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda in maize." Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection 133.1 (2026): 6.
Abstract:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41348-025-01202-1
The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), is native to North and South America, and it was first detected in India in 2018, causing severe damage to maize. Farmers resorted to the indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides. However, as maize is a food crop, the use of these chemicals is unsafe for human and animal health purposes. Therefore, considering the urgent need for alternative measures in the management of fall armyworm, ICAR-NBAIR, Bengaluru, India, evaluated a single application of fungal, bacterial, and viral-based microbial biopesticides at 10 days interval against the serious pest S. frugiperda in two agro-climatic locations. The findings from the two trials indicated that the application of microbial biopesticides, specifically Metarhizium anisopliae (ICAR-NBAIR-Ma35), Bacillus thuringiensis (NBAIR-BT25), and nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NBAIR-SfNPV), effectively reduced the larval population of S. frugiperda (15.83 to 3.33 Nos.), minimized plant damage (from 77.33 to 18.33 per cent), and enhanced plant height (135 cm) and leaf length (9.00 cm). These biopesticide treatments demonstrated comparable efficacy to emamectin benzoate in terms of biomass, yield (2672.77 kg in the insecticide plot and 2631.82 kg in the biopesticide plot), and cost-benefit ratio (1:2.04 for the biopesticide plot and 1:2.02 for the insecticide plot). Furthermore, a substantial presence of beneficial arthropods, such as spiders, was noted in both the untreated control (6.83 Nos.) and biopesticide-treated plots (4.75 Nos.), whereas fields treated with chemical pesticides exhibited a markedly lower presence (1-1.58 Nos.) of beneficial insects. Two-way clustering and multivariate analyses of field data revealed significant differences among the untreated control, biopesticide, and emamectin benzoate treatments. The research findings showed that the use of various biological control agents reduced the costs incurred in crop protection and simultaneously provided effective, eco-friendly approaches for the management of fall armyworms in maize.