Michael Hilary Otim

Spodoptera frugiperda is a significant economic pest of maize in Uganda. Many Ugandan maize farmers employ synthetic insecticides as their main form of control despite the negative impacts of these chemicals. The study aimed to determine the effect of synthetic, semi-synthetic and bio-pesticides on maize leaf damage, and abundance of S, frugiperda and its parasitoids in Wakiso and Lira districts. The experiments were laid out in an RCBD with six treatments in 2020 and nine treatments in 2021, replicated four times. The treatments with the biggest decrease in leaf damage and infestation were Amdocs and Roket®, followed by Nimbecidine. The biopesticides were not always more effective than the untreated control, though; their efficacy was often lower than that of synthetics, semi-synthetics, and botanical. We recovered one egg parasitoid, Telenomus remus, and seven egg and egg-larval parasitoids (Coccygidium luteum, Coccygidium sp., Cotesia icipe, Chelonus sp., Micranisa sp., Charops cf. diversipes, and Tachinidae sp. Among these, C. cf diversipes, Chelonus sp., C. luteum, C. icipe and Tachinidae were the most abundant. Parasitism was low, averaging 10% for eggs and 5.3% for larvae. Synthetic, the semi-synthetic and Nimbecidine often increased higher yield when compared with the untreated control. There were genrally low population of parasitoids, althoguh there were some indications of reduced population of parasitoids in plots treated with Amdocs and Roket®, while percent parasitism was not affected. In some instances, higher yields were even realized in untreated control. While considering the tactics to integrate, assessing the practices more compatible with biological practices will be necessary.