Rain kills crop-eating armyworm larvae, brings cheer to Indian farmers

Even as hundreds of Indian farmers in the state have been left helpless in recurring fall armyworm attacks on their maize over the past two years, the recent spell of rain brought them a much-needed relief, destroying all larvae of the pests in Trichy and the neighbouring districts. Confirming the decimation, the agriculture officials said the larvae that lived in whorls were killed after rainwater seeped into them.

This would help the farmers, who grow the crop on about 3.5 lakh hectares, to have a good yield, they said. Fall armyworms have caused extensive destruction to the crop last year. The pests spread rapidly within a short period eating away the crop defying various pest control measures. Farmers in Trichy usually raise the crop on 45,000 acres of land, of which, around 35,000 acres have seen pest attack last year.

Generally, maize has been grown in Thuraiyur, Uppiliyapuram, Vaiyampatti, Pullampadi and Manachanallur. However, over the past two years, the armyworm destroyed almost the entire maize in the district, even causing huge damage to the crops in Karur, Perambalur in the last year.

Following a demand for compensation from farmers, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced Rs 186.25 crore for the farmers who raised maize but suffered loss from the worm attack. In a statement, the chief minister stated that about 62% of the maize cultivation across the state was under attack from the worm.

Later, agriculture officials spread awareness among the farmers to adopt integrated pest control mechanism consisting of a pheromone trap and bio-control methods to control the worm.