Annals of Plant Protection Sciences

Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda is a dreaded pest considered a threat to global food security and has been found infesting maize crops in Maharashtra. A field experiment was designed by incorporating biopesticides, bioagents as well and insecticides and conducted in Kharif-2020-21 and rabi-2021-22 for the management of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda infesting maize. Two foliar spray applications were applied at fortnight intervals. In kharif-2020, chlorantaniliprole 18.5 SC @ 0.4 ml/l was found most effective for suppressing pest infestation (1.67-43.33%) followed by emamectin benzoate 5% SG @ 0.4 g/l (5.00-38.33%) during the period of two foliar spray applications as against in untreated control (91.67-100%). At 10 and 14 DAS, Beauveria bassiana NBAIR -Bb 45, 0.5% (1.67-38.33%), SpfrNPV (NBAIR1) (3.33-33.33%), Pseudomonas fluorescens (PfDWD 2%) (3.33-36.67%), Metarhizium anisopliae NBAIR -Ma 35, 0.5% (48.33%), NBAIR Bt 25 2% (48.33%) were the next best treatment. In rabi-2021, chlorantaniliprole 18.5 SC @ 0.4 ml/l was also found most effective for suppressing pest infestation (0.00-10.00%) followed by emamectin benzoate 5% SG @ 0.4 g/l (3.33-13.33%) as against untreated control (91.67-100%) during the period of two foliar spray applications. At 14 DAS (2^nd spray), B. bassiana NBAIR-Bb 45, 0.5% (1.67%), SpfrNPV (NBAIR1) (3.33%), P. fluorescens (PfDWD 2%) (3.33%) were the next best treatments. The pooled mean revealed the superiority of chlorantaniliprole 18.5 SC @ 0.4 ml/l (1.67-23.33%) for suppressing fall armyworm infestation followed by emamectin benzoate 5% SG @ 0.4 g/l (4.17-22.50%) over untreated control (66.67-87.50%). However, at 14 DAS, B. bassiana NBAIR -Bb 45, 0.5% (1.67-31.67%), SpfrNPV (NBAIR1) (3.33-26.67%), P. fluorescens (PfDWD 2%) (3.33-29.17%) were found effective. In kharif-2020, chlorantaniliprole 18.5 SC @ 0.4 ml/l recorded 80.36 q/ha grain yield as against 59.45 q/ha in an untreated control followed by emamectin benzoate 5% SG @ 0.4 g/l (79.21 q/ha), B. bassiana NBAIR -Bb 45, 0.5% @ 5 g/l (77.12 q/ha), SpfrNPV (NBAIR1) @ 2 ml/l (75.29 q/ha) and P. fluorescens (PfDWD 2%) @ 20 g/l (74.73 q/ha) and were at par. In Rabi-2021, chlorantaniliprole 18.5 SC @ 0.4 ml/l, emamectin benzoate 5% SG @ 0.4 g/ l, B. bassiana NBAIR -Bb 45, 0.5% @ 5 g/l, SpfrNPV (NBAIR1) @ 2 ml/l and P. fluorescens (Pf DWD 2%) @ 20 g/l found Comparative efficacy of biopesticides, bioagents and insecticides for management of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda infesting maize significant in respect of grain yield and recorded 79.29, 77.67, 76.06, 75.23 and 74.55 q/ha, respectively as against 58.25 q/ha in untreated control. Pooled data also revealed a similar trend and recorded 79.83, 78.44, 76.60, 75.26, and 74.64 q/ ha grain yield, respectively by these treatments as against 58.58 q/ha in an untreated control.