British Firm Develops ‘Friendly’ Fall Armyworm To Save Crops
British Firm Develops ‘Friendly’ Fall Armyworm To Save Crops
Tags: Moths, Oxitec, Sterile insect technique (SIT)J. Choubey, Zenger, 2021.
The genetically modified fall armyworm, a pest that has invaded farms across Asia, Africa, and the Americas, has been developed by U.K-based biotechnology firm Oxitec to reduce the species’ population. The fall armyworm, or Spodoptera frugiperda, is a lepidopteran pest belonging to the family of butterflies and moths. It feeds on leaves, stems, and the reproductive parts of plants. The pest is causing significant damage to economically important cultivated grasses like maize, rice, sorghum, sugarcane, and wheat, along with 75 other crop species. Oxitec is collaborating with Bayer, a German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company, for the technology.
The genetically modified fall armyworm, a pest that has invaded farms across Asia, Africa, and the Americas, has been developed by U.K-based biotechnology firm Oxitec to reduce the species’ population. The fall armyworm, or Spodoptera frugiperda, is a lepidopteran pest belonging to the family of butterflies and moths. It feeds on leaves, stems, and the reproductive parts of plants. The pest is causing significant damage to economically important cultivated grasses like maize, rice, sorghum, sugarcane, and wheat, along with 75 other crop species. Oxitec is collaborating with Bayer, a German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company, for the technology.