Abstract:
Fall Army Worm (FAW) as known as Spodoptera Frugiperda is a destructive pest,
reported in the field of agriculture in the world who is a nearly reported foreign pest
in Sri Lanka. The Department of Agriculture in Sri Lanka introduced this worm as
“Sena caterpillar.” Dewahuwa Agrarian area is one of the areas situated in the
Mathale District. Agriculture is the main economic way of livelihood for the
Dewahuwa community. They cultivate Paddy, Maize, Chili, etc. In the present, they
have to face an egregious problem, the comeback of FAW. The vast number of
cultivations have destructed, and it leads to economic collapse. Accordingly, the main
target of this study is to identify the impacts of FAW on crop production and identify
the socio-economic impacts of the pest in the Dewahuwa Agrarian Area. Both
primary data and the secondary data were used for this study. Primary data consisted
of a questionnaire and field observations. Hence to achieve the target of the research,
50 farmers were selected in the Dewahuwa area. Secondary data were collected from
Dewahuwa Agrarian Service Center. Across the surveyed regions, Maize, Cabbage,
Knokol, paddy is the most affected cultivations of this area. Maize cultivated farmers
are highly affected by the hazard. A large number of crop affected farmers have
reported in the Bulanawewa region. They have received low revenue in this season
than previous seasons. They have to use more expensive insecticides and of the
degree of pesticides much more for their cultivations. When supplying crops to the
market, they have to get low income from their harvest. Therefore, the findings of the
study suggest that, conduct an awareness program on the identification of pest and
introduce control measures especially biological and cultural control options as well
as compensation for affected farmers and provide alternative seeds can be the best
solution to minimize the impact of Fall Army Worm.
