Fall armyworm invades crops across Asia

Pest attack: A farmer looking around his maize field destroyed by fall armyworm at Pak Chong district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand. (Inset) A farmer showing a fall armyworm. — Reuters

BAN NONG TOR (Thailand): Loo­­king out at his empty, red-earth field, Thai farmer Puang Timdon said his two-week-old maize crop didn’t stand a chance against the fall armyworm pest.

“All the eight rai (1.28ha) I planted were all heavily infested,” said the 42-year-old from his farm in Ban Nong Tor town in Pak Chong district, 180km northeast of the capital Bangkok.