New Zealand: Industry bands together to take on fall armyworm

An integrated pest management approach is being developed by the Ministry for Primary Industries and sector groups with the aim of safeguarding New Zealand’s maize and sweetcorn industries against fall armyworm. The approach will see the MPI collaborate with the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR), Process Vegetables NZ, Vegetables NZ Inc and growers on management and mitigation strategies to help reduce production losses and enhance resilience to the invasive pest, Biosecurity New Zealand deputy director-general Stuart Anderson said. “Together we’ll develop some really good tools for growers, including establishing surveillance networks on a national scale.” Fall armyworm is believed to have blown over to New Zealand from Australia after a cyclone in early 2022. After a year of battling the pest, MPI and industry partners agreed to close the response and shift the focus to long-term management of the pest by industry. The invasive pest has the potential to impact 72,490 hectares ...