The Fall Armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith, 1797), is an invasive pest species native to the Americas that has been spreading rapidly through Africa since 2016 and in Asia since 2018 (Rwomushana, I., 2019; Goergen et al., 2016; Sharanabasappa et al., 2018). FAW feeds on more than 300 species including grains (rice, maize, sorghum), other grasses, many non-grain crops (e.g., soybean, peanut, potato, sweet potato, spinach, tomato, etc.) and can cause devastating losses (Day et al., 2017; Montezano et al., 2018). Fall Armyworm has been spreading rapidly, it was first spotted in Asia from India in May 2018 (Sharanabasappa et al., 2018). As of 2020, the Fall armyworm has spread to South Asia, Southeast Asia, China and recently in Australia (Lamsal et al., 2020). Once established in a country, FAW is not possible to eradicate or control to stop it from spreading – an adult can fly up to a hundred kilometers in a single night. Based on 2018 estimates from 12 African countries, up to 17.7 million tons of maize could be lost annually due to FAW on that continent – enough to feed tensof millions of people (FAO, 2018). South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries are responsible for 3.2% of global maize production (Pandey, P. R., & Koirala, K. B., 2017). FAW can drastically reduce the production, thus adversely affecting the food security in the region.

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