Biosilica Fertilizer Reduces Fall Armyworm Damage

Abstract

The presence of fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith, in Indonesian corn plantations caused the farmers' dependence on chemical insecticides increased. Since chemical pesticides have several side effects, it is necessary to develop another alternative to FAW management. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of biosilica fertilizer against FAW incidence and its effect on maize production. A factorial experiment was arranged in two factors, the first factor was biosilica doses with varied doses of 1, 2, and 3 l/ha; the second factor was the number of applications at 1, 2, and 3 times. The results demonstrated that the application of biosilica fertilizer 2 - 3 l/ha as foliar spray three times starting from 10 days after growing reduced the fall armyworm infestation significantly as compared to control treatment. No significant differences were observed in the vegetative characteristics of corn plants, i.e height and the number of leaves, in response to doses and application number of biosilica. Application of biosilica 2 - 3 l/ha improved the yield attributing characters of the corn plant and increased the production as compared to other treatments including control treatment. We conclude that biosilica fertilizer can be used as an alternative for FAW management.