Screening of selected maize varieties cultivated in the Lake Chad Province for tolerance to fall armyworm infestation.
Taambaijim’d Josué MBAIDIRO 1,2* , Adam Bakhit HAGGAR1, Arka BAHOURO1 & Alexis ONZO2
ABSTRACT
The recent invasion of the fall armyworm continues to cause substantial yield losses in maize in Chad, particularly in the Lake Province. As a result, the use of tolerant genotypes has become a key strategy in integrated pest management. The objective of this study is to conduct a field evaluation of the tolerance of five maize varieties (2009TZEEW-STR, 97TZEE-W-C2, CMS8507C1, MATAFO I, and MATAFO II) to damage caused by Spodoptera frugiperda, using analysis of variance. The experimental design is a randomized complete block with five treatments and three replications. The results indicate that the average infestation rate is significantly higher (P < 0.0001) with MATAFO II variety, whereas the varieties 2009TZEEW-STR, 97TZEE-W-C2, CMS8507C1, and MATAFO I exhibited significantly lower and statistically similar infestation rates. The variety 2009TZEEW-STR recorded the lowest leaf damage index and ear damage (P < 0.0001), followed by varieties 97TZEE-W-C2, CMS8507C1, and MATAFO I, which showed similarly high levels of both leaf and ear damage. The highest grain yield is obtained with the variety 2009TZEEW-STR, followed by MATAFO I, 97TZEE-W-C2, and CMS8507C1, all of which have similarly high average yields. The results demonstrate that, under our experimental conditions, the variety 2009TZEEW-STR is the least susceptible to pest attacks, followed by MATAFO I and 97TZEE-W-C2.
Keywords: Zea mays, Spodoptera frugiperda, Varietal tolerance, integrated pest management
Affiliations
1Institut Tchadien de Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, BP : 5400 N’Djamena, République du Tchad
2Faculté d’Agronomie. Laboratoire de Phytotechnie, d’Amélioration et de Protection des Plantes (LaPAPP) ; Université de Parakou, République du Bénin.
Infos article
African J. Trop. Entomol. Res. 4(3):116-123
© 2025, MBAIDIRO et al.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE/ OPEN ACCESS
*Corresponding author: jmbaidiro@gmail.com
Received: 23 July 2025
Accepted: 19 September 2025
Published : 18 December 2025
Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
Citation : MBAIDIRO T.J., HAGGAR A.B., BAHOURO A. & ONZO A.(2025). Screening of selected maize varieties cultivated in the Lake Chad Province for tolerance to fall armyworm infestation. African journal of tropical entomology research, 4(3), 116-123.