Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Effectiveness of Biorational and Synthetic Insecticides in Controlling Fall Armyworm and Their Effects on the Abundance and Diversity of Associated Natural Enemies

Michael Hilary Otim
* ,
Angella Lowra Ajam
,
Geofrey Ogwal
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Stella Aropet Adumo
,
Dalton Kanyesigye
ORCID logo ,
Saliou Niassy
ORCID logo ,
Girma Hailu
,
Komivi Senyo Akutse
ORCID logo ,
Sevgan Subramanian
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Version 1 : Received: 17 December 2023 / Approved: 18 December 2023 / Online: 18 December 2023 (12:23:33 CET)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Otim, M.H.; Ajam, A.L.; Ogwal, G.; Adumo, S.A.; Kanyesigye, D.; Niassy, S.; Hailu, G.; Akutse, K.S.; Subramanian, S. Biorationals and Synthetic Insecticides for Controlling Fall Armyworm and Their Influence on the Abundance and Diversity of Parasitoids. Sustainability 2024, 16, 3118. Otim, M.H.; Ajam, A.L.; Ogwal, G.; Adumo, S.A.; Kanyesigye, D.; Niassy, S.; Hailu, G.; Akutse, K.S.; Subramanian, S. Biorationals and Synthetic Insecticides for Controlling Fall Armyworm and Their Influence on the Abundance and Diversity of Parasitoids. Sustainability 2024, 16, 3118.

Abstract

Spodoptera frugiperda is a significant economic pest of maize in Uganda. Many Ugandan maize farmers employ synthetic insecticides as their main form of control despite the negative impacts of these chemicals. The study aimed to determine the effect of synthetic, semi-synthetic and bio-pesticides on maize leaf damage, and abundance of S, frugiperda and its parasitoids in Wakiso and Lira districts. The experiments were laid out in an RCBD with six treatments in 2020 and nine treatments in 2021, replicated four times. The treatments with the biggest decrease in leaf damage and infestation were Amdocs and Roket®, followed by Nimbecidine. The biopesticides were not always more effective than the untreated control, though; their efficacy was often lower than that of synthetics, semi-synthetics, and botanical. We recovered one egg parasitoid, Telenomus remus, and seven egg and egg-larval parasitoids (Coccygidium luteum, Coccygidium sp., Cotesia icipe, Chelonus sp., Micranisa sp., Charops cf. diversipes, and Tachinidae sp. Among these, C. cf diversipes, Chelonus sp., C. luteum, C. icipe and Tachinidae were the most abundant. Parasitism was low, averaging 10% for eggs and 5.3% for larvae. Synthetic, the semi-synthetic and Nimbecidine often increased higher yield when compared with the untreated control. There were genrally low population of parasitoids, althoguh there were some indications of reduced population of parasitoids in plots treated with Amdocs and Roket®, while percent parasitism was not affected. In some instances, higher yields were even realized in untreated control. While considering the tactics to integrate, assessing the practices more compatible with biological practices will be necessary.

Keywords

Cypermethrin; Emamectin Benzoate; botanical; Metarhizium anisopliae; Beauveria bassiana; Nimbecidine; profenofos; yield

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Insect Science

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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