Ispahani Agro launches “Fawligen"

The National Fall Armyworm Taskforce organised a day-long workshop on "Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Control Management" on September 22 at the BARC Auditorium where the chief guest Dr Abdur Rauf, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture officially inaugurated the commercialization process of organic pesticide "Fawligen or SfNPV" in Bangladesh. 

Fall Armyworm whose scientific name is Spodoptera frugiperda, is known as a deadly harmful and destructive insect worldwide. It attacks about 60 crops, including maize, sorghum, cotton, nuts, tobacco, and a variety of vegetables. However, the attack rate in maize is the highest. Insects cause severe damage to crops by eating the leaves.

Chemical pesticides are not very much effective in controlling these insects but the insects can be effectively controlled by applying organic pesticides at the right time, in the right way. Though this insect is mainly from the Americas, in 2016, it attacked in Africa and in 2018 it attacked in different countries of South Asia including Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. 

As there is no effective organic pesticide for controlling fall armyworm insects in Bangladesh, Ispahani Agro Ltd has contacted AgBiTech, an organic pesticide manufacturer in Texas, USA, to provide effective pesticide "Fawligen" in Bangladesh. It is then approved for use in controlling fall armyworm insects based on satisfactory results from all types of lab and field tests.