Foliar application of biosilica fertilizer reduces fall armywarm damage and increased maize production North Sumatra Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology, IAARD, Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia Abstract The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith, is a new main pest in Indonesian corn plantation. The considerable economic losses caused by this pest, farmers always using chemical insecticides to control them. Since chemical pesticide have several side effects, it is necessary to develop another alternative to FAW management. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of biosilica fertilizer against FAW incidence, damage in corn plants, and its effect on maize production. A factorial experiment was arranged in two factors, first factor was biosilica doses with varied doses of 1, 2, and 3 l/ha- second factor was number of application at 1, 2, and 3 times. The results demonstrated that application of biosilica fertilizer 2 - 3 l/ha as foliar spray three times starting from 10 days after growing reduced the fall armyworm infestation significantly as compared to control treatment. No significant differences were observed in the vegetative characteristics of corn plants, i.e height and number of leaves, in response to doses and application number of biosilica. Applicatio of biosilica 2 - 3 l/ha improved the yield attributing characters of corn plant and increased the production as compared to other treatments including control treatment. We conclude that biosilica fertilizer can used as an alternative for FAW management. Keywords: Spodoptera frugiperda, Zea mays, silicon Topic: Integrated Pest and Disease Management |
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