OCCURRENCE OF FALL ARMY WORM SPODOPTERA FRUGIPERDA (J E SMITH) IN ASSAM

OCCURRENCE OF FALL ARMY WORM SPODOPTERA FRUGIPERDA (J E SMITH) IN ASSAM

The fall army worm (FAW) has spread to locations at 1222 msl in the northeast region of India. In Assam, its incidence was first noticed on the two banks of the Brahmaputra. In Biswanath district, infestation on maize was observed to be of 15.2-64.3% at farmers’ field and 2.15% in Biswanath College of Agriculture campus of the Assam Agricultural University. This variation might be attributed to the rich avian diversity in the college campus. No larval parasite was observed in the field collected larvae. A large section of farmers observed high pest incidence in maize as compared to previous years.