Relative Resistance of Maize Genotypes to Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Fall armyworm resistance into maize breeding programs is a vital approach to combatting the widespread and destructive impact of this pest. Nine maize genotypes i.e. FH-1046, YH-201, FH-1036, YH-1898, FH-949, YH-202, Sahiwal-2002, Golden and Neelam were assessed for relative resistance to fall armyworm ( Spodoptera frugiperda) on leaf and kernel damage basis at 14, 21, 28 and 42 days after infestation (DAI). Leaf and kernel damage ratios were correlated with morphological plant characters i.e. leaf area (cm(2)), leaf trichome (cm(2)), cob length (cm) and cob height (cm). Results revealed that FH-1046, YH201 and Neelam were relatively more resistant with leaf damage of 3.41, 3.81 and 3.89, respectively. FH-1046 and Golden showed more resistance with least kernel damage of 3.27 and 3.80, respectively while FH-949 and YH-202 were highly susceptible. Leaf damage had a strong and positive correlation with leaf area (r=0.920) and was negatively correlated with leaf trichome density (r=-0.842) with 84.64 and 0.95 % impact, respectively. Kernel damage had a significant and positive correlation with cob length (r=0.969), whereas cob height had a minimal effect (r=-0.896) with 93.88 and 0.95 % impact, respectively. Overall, leaf area and cob length are stronger predictors of damage than trichome density and cob height from soil level. Larval attraction time (min), duration (day) and growth rates were ranged from 0.5-1.7, 11.5-14.6 and 0.16-0.21, respectively. Genotypes FH-1046, YH-201 and Neelam with shorter larval attraction times tended to have shorter larval durations and lower growth rates, indicating that longer larval attraction times are associated with longer larval development and higher growth rates.