Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Oct 27;13(1):1016.
doi: 10.4102/jamba.v13i1.1016. eCollection 2021.

Impact of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) (J.E. Smith) on small-scale maize farmers and its control strategies in the Limpopo province, South Africa

Mankwana C Makgoba  1 , Phumudzo P Tshikhudo  2 , Livhuwani R Nnzeru  3 , Rudzani A Makhado  4
Affiliations
Review

Impact of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) (J.E. Smith) on small-scale maize farmers and its control strategies in the Limpopo province, South Africa

Mankwana C Makgoba et al. Jamba. .

Abstract

South Africa experienced major outbreaks of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), causing direct damage by feeding on both vegetative and reproductive parts of host plant. The study was conducted to determine the level of impact of fall armyworm on small-scale maize famers after the outbreak of fall armyworm and their control strategies at Ga-Mashashane and Mankweng villages in the Limpopo province. Semi-structured questionnaire was designed to gather information on the damage caused by fall armyworm, economic impact on the local market and control measures on fall armyworm. Using a snowball sampling procedure, 63 small-scale maize farmers from the two villages of the Limpopo province, South Africa, were randomly selected for this study. The results showed that all participants could correctly identify the fall armyworm and reported it as the most important maize pest during 2016-2017 cropping season. The maize yield loss experienced by affected farmers in the 2016-2017 cropping season was slightly lower as compared with the 2015-2016 harvest. These farmers used pesticides as a control measure for fall armyworm. Fall armyworm has become a major pest in South Africa and the tackling of fall armyworm by small-scale farmers and averting yield losses is thus critical. This study contributes to the knowledge on fall armyworm management by small-scale farmers, which is essential to enhancing food security.

Keywords: Quarantine pest; Spodoptera frugiperda; fall armyworm; maize; small-scale farmers.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Geographical locations of Ga-Mashashane and Mankweng at Capricorn District, Limpopo province, South Africa.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Farmers response on the years for first fall armyworm observation.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Fall armyworm causing damage on maize plant at Maltapa Dryland Farm.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Farmers’ perception (%) on the impact of fall armyworm on maize varieties planted.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Farmers perception (%) on the amount of maize (ton/ha) produced before and after fall armyworm infestation.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
(a) Methomex 900 SP chemical used to control fall armyworm (2 X 500 g); (b) Fall armyworm trap at Matlapa Dryland maize field farmers.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Abrahams, P., Bateman, M., Beale, T., Clottey, V., Cock, M., Colmenarez, Y. et al. ., 2017, Fall armyworm: Impacts and implications for Africa, Evidence Note 2, Report to DFID, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International, Wallingford.
    1. Abrahams, P., Beale, T., Cock, M., Corniani, N., Day R., Godwin, J. et al. ., 2017, Fall armyworm status. Impacts and control options in Africa: Preliminary evidence note, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International, Wallingford.
    1. Balezentis, T., Ribasauskiene, E., Morkunas, M., Volkov, A., Streimikiene, D. & Toma, P., 2020, ‘Young farmers’ support under the common agricultural policy and sustainability of rural regions: Evidence from Lithuania’, Land Use Policy 94, 104542. 10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104542 - DOI
    1. Baloyi, R.T., 2011, ‘Technical efficiency in maize production by small-scale farmers in Ga-Mothiba, Limpopo Province, South Africa’, Doctoral dissertation, University of Limpopo.
    1. Barlow, V.M., 2009, Fall armyworm in vegetable crops. Publication 444–015, Communications and Marketing, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia State, Petersburg.

LinkOut - more resources