Fall armyworm’s relentless march across the globe has threatened the food security of 600 million people in more than 80 countries, but it may have finally met its match in native Australian flora and fauna.
Feeding mainly on corn but also devastating wheat, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, and vegetable and cotton crops, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) estimates the flying insect can reduce yields by up to 73 per cent.
Originating in the Americas it was first detected in Africa in 2016, and has also been found in the Middle East, Asia, the Pacific, and Europe. It arrived here in 2020.
But breakthroughs by two separate Australian research projects may have finally found a way to halt the destruction of the “impossible to eradicate or control” pest.
And it is all thanks to native fungi and bacteria.Using chemicals like insecticide sprays to control fall armyworm has proven difficult due to a number of natural advantages the insect possesses.
It spreads far and fast — managing to move from the Torres Strait to Tasmania in a little over a year, is difficult to detect, and develops resistance to most chemical products on the market quickly.
But a new biological defence against the destructive pest labelled by some farmers as the “coronavirus of agriculture” could soon be commercially available.As many as five strands of fungi have already been identified to be able to kill the pest within 24 hours and without it developing resistance.
Among them is a pathogenic fungus Nomuraea rileyi which Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries (DPI) has been researching since 2021.
DPI principal entomologist Dr Ian Newton said the naturally-occurring biocontrol acts similarly to insecticides, essentially coating the worm and eating it from the inside out over a number of days.
