China: Update: Fall Armyworm Now in 15 of China’s Provinces

The Fall Armyworm (FAW; Spodoptera frugiperda) – a crop-eating pest – first detected in China in January 2019 has now spread across 15 Chinese provinces and currently impacts about 90,000 hectares (1.35 million mu) of grain production. Officially, Chinese authorities have employed an emergency action plan to monitor and respond to the pest. FAW has no natural predators in China and its presence may result in lower production and crop quality of corn, rice, wheat, sorghum, sugarcane, cotton, soybean and peanuts among other cash crops. Experts report that there is a high probability that the pest will continue to spread across China, reaching the Northeast China corn belt by June 2019. China is the world’s second largest producer of corn. 

China: Update: Fall Armyworm Now in 15 of China’s Provinces