AUTHOR(S)
Tamanna Tabassum Tonu, Md. Mamunur Rahman, Farhana Yeasmin1 and Md Ruhul Amin*

ABSTRACT

The fallarmyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), asignificantly harmful insect pest that causes considerable damage to thefoliage and cobs of sweet corn. To identify eco-friendly management practices,this study investigated the effects of soybean intercropping and biopesticideson fall armyworm suppression and on predatory arthropods, pollinator insects,crop traits, yield performance, and economic returns in sweet corn (BU SweetCorn-1) under field conditions. The results indicated that intercropping alone significantlymitigated fall armyworm infestation across all growth stages compared withmonocropping. Notably, the intercrop + Bio-chamak treatment recorded the lowestlevels of seedling, pre-tasseling, tasseling, and cob infestation, whereasmonocropping showed the highest infestation rates. The abundance of fallarmyworm larvae was significantly lower under the Bio-chamak and Spinosadtreatments and in soybean–sweet corn intercropping compared with monocropping.Predatory arthropods and pollinator insects were significantly more abundant insoybean–sweet corn intercropping plots, including those treated withbiopesticides. Sweet corn plant traits and yield-contributing traits improvedmarkedly under soybean–sweet corn intercropping combined with biorationaltreatments compared with simple intercropping and monocropping. The enhancedsuppression of pests resulted in improved yields, with the intercrop +Bio-chamak treatment achieving the highest yield of 12.3 t ha⁻¹, followed bySpinosad at 10.7 t ha⁻¹, with marginal benefit–cost ratios (MBCR) of 14.8 and11.6, respectively.

Keywords: Bio-pesticides, Intercropping,Predator, Pollinator, Soybean, Spodoptera frugiperda, Zea mays

DOI
https://doi.org/10.57182/jbiopestic.19.1.54-63

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