Kentucky Protects Corn and Wheat Against Fall Armyworms

By Blake Jackson

University of Kentucky researchers are working on a new method to control Fall armyworms, an invasive pest that damages several major crops. The four-year project received $750,000 in funding from the USDA and focuses on protecting corn, wheat, hay, and other valuable farm products.

Fall armyworms are migratory caterpillars that feed on many crops and can lower yields when populations become severe. Researchers say stronger control methods are needed because the pest can adapt quickly to many management tools already in use.

Reddy Palli leads the project and says reducing pest numbers is important for food production because the armyworms compete with us for food resources,

The research team is improving a method called RNA interference, also known as RNAi. This technology targets important genes in the caterpillar that control key survival functions. Because the method focuses on specific insects, it may offer a more precise way to manage pests.

Felipe Batista, an entomologist at the University of Kentucky research center in Princeton, studies Fall armyworm populations in western Kentucky. He said new tools are valuable because pests continue to develop resistance to existing control systems.  Batista says pests always find ways to fight against the existing control methods. Technology is helpful because in can assist in rotating the control methods to avoid problems with resistance.

Farmers currently use herbicides and genetically modified crops to reduce pest pressure. One example is Bt-corn, which helps kill Fall armyworms and other harmful larvae. However, some corn varieties used for Kentucky’s bourbon industry do not contain that technology and remain more vulnerable.

“In Kentucky, we have conventional corns that are seeds that don't have these technologies, so they are susceptible to the caterpillars,” said Batista.

Researchers report strong early progress. The current technology can kill between 60% to 70% of Fall armyworms, the University of Kentucky team is now trying to reach 100%.

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