Fall armyworm can cause damage to host plant species such as Sorghum halepense, bentgrass, crabgrass, johnsongrass, nutsedge, pigweed, sandspur and Cenchrus tribuloides (Barlow 2009). The insect pest also prefers grasses, in which the field crops that are often damaged include barley, bermudagrass, buckwheat, clover, oats, peanuts, ryegrass, sugarbeets, sudangrass, soybeans, sugarcane, timothy, tobacco and wheat. In Uganda, this pest attacked crops such as cotton, sugar cane, banana and vegetables (Tajuba 2017). Sweet corn is the vegetable crop that is most vulnerable amongst others. Spodoptera frugiperda is widely distributed in America, causing the most serious damage to about 80 different commercial crops, including maize, rice, sorghum, sugarcane, cabbage, beet, groundnut, soybean, alfalfa, onion, pasture grasses, millet, tomato, potato and cotton (Day et al. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) attacking maize crop, which is difficult to control. The African continent experienced major outbreaks of fall armyworm ( Spodoptera frugiperda) (J.E. A study of this nature would be futile without a proper review of understanding of the global impact caused by fall armyworm on host plants. Over 200 million people in Africa are dependent on maize for food security (Abrahams et al. Maize ( Zea mays L.) is one of the most significant staple foods to many African communities, including South Africa. This study contributes to the knowledge on fall armyworm management by small-scale farmers, which is essential to enhancing food security.
Fall armyworm has become a major pest in South Africa and the tackling of fall armyworm by small-scale farmers and averting yield losses is thus critical. These farmers used pesticides as a control measure for fall armyworm. The maize yield loss experienced by affected farmers in the 2016–2017 cropping season was slightly lower as compared with the 2015–2016 harvest. The results showed that all participants could correctly identify the fall armyworm and reported it as the most important maize pest during 2016–2017 cropping season. Using a snowball sampling procedure, 63 small-scale maize farmers from the two villages of the Limpopo province, South Africa, were randomly selected for this study. Semi-structured questionnaire was designed to gather information on the damage caused by fall armyworm, economic impact on the local market and control measures on fall armyworm.
The study was conducted to determine the level of impact of fall armyworm on small-scale maize famers after the outbreak of fall armyworm and their control strategies at Ga-Mashashane and Mankweng villages in the Limpopo province. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), causing direct damage by feeding on both vegetative and reproductive parts of host plant. South Africa experienced major outbreaks of fall armyworm ( Spodoptera frugiperda) (J.E.
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