SPLAT FAW: An inexpensive mating disruption solution to effectively protect row crops from damaging insecticide-resistant fall armyworms

In this Phase 2 (PhII) grant application, ISCA Technologies proposes to develop and commercialize a nontoxic, pheromone-based, long-lasting mating disruption formulation, SPLAT FAW, to control Spodoptera frugiperda, the fall armyworm (FAW), one of the world’s most damaging crop pests. This pest has evolved strong resistance to numerous insecticides [7][10][64][65][66], including those expressed by genetically modified (GM) plants [12][22][35][40][43][44][45][57][63]. Our PhII effort will build on successful Phase 1 (PhI) development of SPLAT FAW formulations that use environmentally safe FAW sex pheromones as active ingredients (AIs) and were registered for commercial use with US Environmental Protect Agency (EPA) in late 2018. ISCA also completed successful PhI trials on 60 ha of corn in Argentina, where FAW pressure is strong. Fields treated with SPLAT FAW showed substantially less leaf damage and kernel loss from FAW larvae feeding than a control field of the same size. In PhI, ISCA also formulated SPLAT FAW for aircraft and tractor applications, and we are now assessing the efficacy of such applications over 1,038 ha of corn under FAW pressure in Brazil. In PhII, we will conduct similar trials in the southeast US, where FAW has developed resistance to GM corn and cotton varieties. ISCA also will optimize formulations and develop scaled-up production methods. The need for SPLAT FAW is increasingly urgent. In 2018, the EPA released a white paper to the agency’s Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) for pesticide regulations that identified 11 on-going risk factors contributing to increasing resistance in FAW and three more moth species to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal proteins expressed in the GM corn and cotton in the US [12]. The SAP followed up in July 2018 by calling for the development of new integrated pest management (IPM) methods to combat Bt resistance now occurring by FAW and three other lepidopteran species despite current resistance manage practices [11]. The matter is pressing for US agriculture, where Bt strains now account for ~80% of the plant acreage of corn and cotton [51] and where plans to introduce Bt soybean strains have been delayed indefinitely amid Bt resistance concerns [47][52]. SPLAT FAW will help extend the viability of costly GM traits currently available, as well as of those introduced in the future, such as weed-herbicide tolerance and plant protection from other Bt-susceptible insect pests. Beyond the US, the FAW remains a problem in South America and the Caribbean and is now greatly expanding its global range. In 2016, FAW was discovered in sub-Saharan Africa, and it is now damaging crops in 30 African countries, risking food security for >300 million families and bringing estimated losses as high as $6.2 billion in just 12 of those countries [13]. In 2018, FAW appeared in India and is now appearing in several Asian nations [20]. Development of SPLAT FAW answers both national and international calls to control the FAW with IPM regimes, including calls by the EPA, Feed the Future (in partnership with the USDA to combat global hunger), and the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization. SPLAT FAW is made from safe, naturally occurring compounds and thus will qualify to serve a growing number of organic farms. Unlike the use of insecticides, SPLAT FAW controls FAW by disrupting the mating of adult moths, including Bt-resistant moths. Until recently, mating disruption to control pests on large acreage row crops (e.g., corn, cotton, and soybeans) was believed to be unfeasible because of the high cost of the synthetic pheromones ($1,000 to $3,000/kg). ISCA, however, has developed efficient ways to produce synthetic FAW sex pheromones pheromone at a cost of $200/kg. The FAW sex pheromone blend is formulated into ISCA’s proprietary Specialized Pheromone & Lure Application Technology (SPLAT), a flowable control release matrix composed of harmless vegetable oils, wax, water, and other foodgrade ingredients. Once applied to row crops by aircraft or tractor, this rainproof formulation slowly releases for a period of 4–8 weeks trails of sex pheromone that mimic the mating call of virgin female FAW moths. The overabundance of sex pheromone in the field makes it nearly impossible for male moths to locate females for mating. They instead fly from one point source of SPLAT FAW to another in a futile effort to find females, expending their limited energy reserves until they die naturally, without producing offspring. Ironically, the application of the same pheromones these moths evolved for reproductive success produces just the opposite result.