NATURAL RESOURCES INSTITUTE

For further information please contact: • David Grzywacz Natural Resources Institute NPV: a New Biological Natural Resources Institute University of Greenwich at Medway Central Avenue United Republic of E-mail: [email protected] Ministry of Agriculture and Chatham Maritime Control for Armyworm Food Security • Wilfred Mushobozi Kent ME4 4TB Eco AgriConsultancy Services Ltd, Tanzania in E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: 01634 880088 Telephone from outside the UK: +44 1634 880088 • Ken Wilson Fax: 01634 883386 Lancaster University Fax from outside the UK: +44 1634 883386 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.nri.org

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University of Greenwich, a charity and company limited by guarantee, registered in England (reg. no. 986729). Registered office: Old Royal Naval College, Park Row, Greenwich, London SE10 9LS. D1033-8 NPV: a New Biological Control for Armyworm

The African armyworm is the What is NPV? Is NPV safe to us? pheromone traps that attract male of the exempta and is armyworm using the artificial scent a major in Eastern Africa. Its NPV is a naturally present that Yes. NPV only infects the armyworm and of mating female armyworms. The annual outbreaks frequently escalate kills armyworm and helps control its cannot harm man, domestic , catches of armyworm in these traps are into major plagues that can spread outbreaks. The NPV disease is caused by plants or even other . An used to forecast armyworm outbreaks at across much of the region, causing an that occurs naturally in international report by the Organisation for a local level and alert farmers much faster major damage to and Africa. Each armyworm killed by NPV can Economic Co-operation and Development to the need for control. pasture. These plagues start in well- contain 2,000 million new infective concluded that NPV use is safe and does known primary outbreak areas of particles, each capable of infecting not cause any health hazard. A number of What is needed next? Tanzania and , but moths can another armyworm. Thus, each insect different NPVs have already been So far, this approach has only been travel long distances subsequently to killed by NPV can act as a new source of developed to control other pests and have developed on a pilot scale as a research start new outbreaks wherever the NPV to spread the disease. However, been adopted for wide-scale use as safe project in Tanzania. To scale it up and seasonal rains produce new growth of while NPV can destroy outbreaks once it and effective biological in evaluate it on a national scale in Tanzania, crops or pasture. has established in the armyworm Europe, North America and . population, in most years the NPV funding of £1.25 million would be needed. Adopting this control for armyworm in a Why is it a problem? appears too late in the outbreak cycle to NPV production prevent serious armyworm damage. country such as Tanzania would help In major outbreak years, hundreds of NPV can be used to create more NPV secure the food of 30 million Tanzanians. thousands of hectares of grain crops can By preventing the spread of outbreaks NPV development in simply by infecting armyworms and Armyworm killed by NPV. Dead insects can be Ground application of NPV be attacked and destroyed, which has a allowing the disease to multiply. before they can move on to neighbouring seen hanging from plants Tanzania countries, it would also free a vast swathe massive impact on the food security of Armyworm outbreaks in low-value pasture of sub-Saharan Africa from this major millions of the poorest families in Africa. are inoculated by spraying with NPV. The While NPV can kill armyworm on a large threat to its already perilous food security. Subsistence farmers, such as women disease is then allowed to develop growing on family plots, are scale, it naturally spreads too slowly to naturally and this quickly produces dense particularly vulnerable, as they do not stop outbreaks of armyworm attacking Research to validate this strategic masses of dead insects that are full of have access to the knowledge and tools and damaging crops. Work is now under approach is already under way by a new infective NPV particles. The dead to prevent losses. Armyworms can be way to evaluate spraying outbreaks of consortium involving the Natural insects can then be collected and crushed killed by chemical pesticides but most armyworm with NPV in Tanzania to see if Resources Institute, UK, Eco to release NPV, which can be used to poor farmers lack access to these and in it can be used to control armyworm Agriconsultancy Services Ltd,Tanzania, spray more outbreaks. In this way, NPV plague years local resources in a specific without the use of expensive and risky Sokoine University of Agriculture, can be produced much more cheaply than area are overwhelmed, leaving 70 per cent chemical insecticides. The trials of NPV Tanzania, Lancaster University, UK, and chemical insecticide. NPV produced in of poor farmers without access to any applied by both ground spraying and the Pest Control Services of the one year can be cheaply processed and protection. Armyworm control is a high aerial application have shown that Tanzanian Ministry of Agriculture and stored so that it is available for the next priority for countries such as Tanzania, but spraying NPV on to armyworm outbreaks Food Security. This is funded by the UK’s year. This approach can provide a new, a combination of the high cost of can kill off armyworm just as effectively as Biotechnology and Biological Sciences safe control method for armyworm that chemical pesticides and the unwillingness chemical insecticides. NPV takes longer Research Council and Department for can be produced and used in Tanzania. of donors to support the wide-scale use to kill than chemical insecticides, three to International Development (DFID). of chemicals, due to their environmental five days, but infected armyworms stop feeding before they actually die, This improved approach to armyworm impact, has resulted in increasing failure preventing serious damage. NPV can be control is closely linked to better ways of to effectively control this pest. used just like a normal insecticide and predicting when and where there will be Community pheromone trap Aerial spraying of NPV requires no special equipment. outbreaks. People in villages can now use