This investment is providing vegetable growers with reliable crop monitoring methods and a broad suite of tactics to reduce frequency of insecticide applications and ensure ongoing viability sweet corn and capsicum production in high-risk fall armyworm regions.

This project will deliver the following outputs:

• Evaluation of the potential to adapt the maize/sorghum thresholds to provide sweet corn growers with economic thresholds for fall armyworm in vegetative sweet corn.
• Demonstration of a suite of non-chemical management tactics that could reduce their reliance on conventional insecticides.
• Characterisation of fall armyworm oviposition and larval establishment in flowering and fruiting capsicum as a basis for crop scouting recommendations.
• Grower and advisor engagement and discussion of concepts and trial outcomes through collaboration with the National fall armyworm innovation system for the Australian vegetable industry (VG22006) project team. The team will participate in field walks at VG23006 trials to provide growers and advisors access to trial sites at Gatton and Bowen and communicate project outcomes to the industry via the Fall Armyworm e-hub and newsletter.

Key outcomes from the project will be:

• A recommendation around the potential for vegetative-stage economic thresholds to guide decisions on fall armyworm control in sweet corn, including grower perception of the value of thresholds.
• Recommendations for capsicum growers on effectively monitoring fall armyworm during flowering and fruiting stages
• Improved understanding of growers and advisors around non-chemical management options for fall armyworm and their practical implementation.

This project has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the research and development levies listed below and contributions from the Australian Government. Hort Innovation is the grower-owned, not-for-profit research and development corporation for Australian horticulture.

• Vegetable Fund