Technical guidance on fall armyworm

Since 2018, Asian maize production has been crippled by a highly mobile, voracious insect pest, the fall armyworm (FAW). Since it arrived in Asia, FAW has lowered maize yields, diminished farmer profits and triggered an increase in pesticide use. As such, FAW is having serious negative socio-environmental impacts and is compromising food and nutrition security at the regional level. The current over-reliance on chemical crop protection equally affects biodiversity and ecosystem services, undermines the resilience of agrifood production, aggravates water pollution, and threatens human, animal and environmental health.

In response to this situation, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the united Nations (FAO) has prepared this technical guidance on early warning systems (EWS) and sustainable management of the fall armyworm for 2022–2026.

The guidance aim to attain a regionally coordinated management of FAW and to promote crop protection practices that protect human and environmental health. By doing so, FAO intends to support the restoration of maize yields, lift farmer incomes, safeguard food and nutrition security while alleviating the “One Health” burden of agrochemical use. This work emphasizes how an Asia-regional approach is highly appropriate to resolve FAW issues and is crucial to advance the uptake of good agricultural practices and IPM.