IWGO Sub-group Fall Armyworm
At the 26th meeting of the IOBC-Global International Working Group of Ostrinia and other maize pests (IWGO) in Beijing in 2017, a sub-group on Fall Armyworm (FAW) was launched for Africa. The overall objective of the sub-group was to establish an independent, internationally recognized platform for the exchange of research results, experiences and ideas on the biological control-based management of fall armyworm.
The rapid spread of FAW meant that the sub-group rapidly became of global relevance, and at the 27th IWGO meeting in Engelberg in 2019, special sessions on FAW were attended by delegates from many countries in the Americas, Africa and Asia. It was decided that the FAW sub-group should be global, and that virtual or face-to-face meetings would be organised, as well as other scientific activities to facilitate the coordination of current international and national research efforts in the field of augmentative, conservation and classical biological control of FAW.
A survey of IWGO members indicated substantial interest in the FAW sub-group. The group will also closely collaborate with the FAO working group on biological control of FAW. A number of outputs and activities are being planned in the framework of this collaboration:
- A series of virtual or face-to-face meetings and webinars on FAW biological control;
- Review papers on prospects and constraints of biological control of FAW in its invasive range;
- Development of new, global studies and collaborative research efforts on FAW biological control;
- Establishment of a forum where researchers will be able to share methods and results on biological control of FAW, as part of the FAW Research Collaboration Portal, including a database of the natural enemies of FAW in Africa and Asia
Researchers who would like to be included in the mailing list of the sub-group should contact
or directly the IWGO Sub-group leader:
Marc Kenis, CABI, Switzerland, at
