University of Kentucky researchers are working on a new way of eliminating an invasive insect species that’s been a blight to some of the commonwealth’s biggest crops.
The four year, $750,000 project funded by the USDA targets a migratory caterpillar known as the Fall armyworm, which feeds on many different crops such as corn, wheat and hay.
Reddy Palli is the project’s lead researcher. He said the effort is necessary because of how destructive the pests can be to crop yields.
“They compete with us for food resources, so… we're trying to eliminate and reduce their numbers so we can have more for ourselves,” Palli said.
To eliminate the species, Palli and his team of researchers are expanding on an already existing method known as RNA interference – or RNAi – to target specific genes in the caterpillar that are critical to its key survival functions. According to a UK release, the method was chosen for its precision when targeting specific insects.
Felipe Batista is an entomologist at UK’s research center located in Princeton who tracks the population of Fall armyworms in far western Kentucky. He said new prevention methods against the invasive caterpillars are consistently needed because of how quickly the species can adapt to current deterrent tactics.
“Pests are always fighting against the control methods that we have for them, [so] any new technology is helpful… because we can rotate the control methods to avoid problems with resistance,” Batista said.
Currently, Batista said farmers are using herbicides to deter the pests. Some have also planted crops that have been genetically modified to prevent the invasive caterpillars from eating them. For example, a commonly grown GMO crop known as “Bt-corn” is effective at killing Fall armyworms and other harmful larvae that try to feed on the plant.
Batista said RNAi would be a useful addition for some crops that are unable to be genetically modified – such as corn strands vital to Kentucky’s bourbon industry – and are therefore at greater risk of harm by the caterpillars.
“[Bt-corn] is a technology that causes mortality of caterpillars in the crops… but in Kentucky, we have conventional corns that are seeds that don't have these technologies, so they are susceptible to the caterpillars,” said Batista.
Although RNAi technology has been successful against some species, Palli said it had previously been considered ineffective against major agricultural pests like the Fall armyworm.
Despite this, he said his team has seen successful results from improving the method within just the first year of the project being active.
“The current technology we have, we can kill up to 60 to 70% [of Fall armyworms]... we are now trying to reach 100% using some modifications to this technology,” Palli said.
