China corn crop at risk

The invasive fall armyworm has laid waste to crop plants around the world. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg/Getty)

A farmer displays the caterpillar larva of a fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) in South Africa
The invasive fall armyworm has laid waste to crop plants around the world. (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg/Getty)
China’s corn crop at risk from caterpillar
The invasive fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is gaining a foothold in China, threatening maize (corn) crops in the world’s second-largest producer. Armyworm outbreaks in Africa and southern Asia have resulted in yield losses as high as 50%. Researchers in China are studying chemicals that could be used to attract the caterpillars into traps, and native insects that could be deployed as a means of biological control. The caterpillar puts further pressure on the food system in China, where African swine fever has pushed farmers to kill more than one million pigs.

Nature | 4 min read
Reference: bioRxiv preprint