SCIENTISTS in Shenzhen have completely sequenced the genome of the Fall Armyworm, a kind of rapidly reproducing invasive pest, and recently published the research results in Plant Protection, an influential academic journal, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

The work was led by the Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The institute completed the genome sequencing in collaboration with the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the National Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Center, Lancaster University, and the Future Group Biotechnology Co.

The results are significant to the agricultural community because they will help create effective strategies to monitor and manage the destructive pest. With the help of genome technology, scientists at the institute can understand and monitor the migration pattern of the Fall Armyworm. Based on the findings, they will strategize and formulate genome-editing technology to further protect against the pest.

Fall Armyworm is an invasive crop-eating pest native to the Americas. It was included on a list of the top 10 crop pests in the world in 2017. Traditional pesticides can hardly kill Fall Armyworms. Even with the use of high levels of pesticides, the mortality rate is not as expected.

Though the pests consume corn most of the time, they also devour many other kinds of crops, which is destructive for agriculture. The pest has caused losses of 30 to 70 percent of the production of corn in Africa since its arrival to the continent in 2016.

With their strong reproductive capacity, each female moth can lay 1,000 to 2,000 eggs. Their generative power is two to five times stronger than other kinds of pests.

Also, according to the research, the pest can fly over thousands of kilometers a day in the appropriate temperature and wind direction. Its ability to travel long distances explains how the pest has exploded in China.

First detected in China in January 2019, within five months the pest, which originates in Florida of the United States, spread along China’s southern border and into the country enough to currently impact grain production in 18 provinces. (Jiang Wenyi)