Integrated approaches to maximizing maize resistance to fall armyworm

Abstract Fall armyworm (FAW) is a serious pest of maize causing major yield loss throughout the world. FAW management is not easy primarily due to its ability to migrate into areas lacking resistant cultivars, lack of diapause, and evolving resistance to control measures. Here, we discuss genetics of both maize and FAW and deployment of genetic control including historical resistance breeding efforts, transgenic Bt traits, gene identification studies to promote marker-assisted selection, and various recent advancements to accelerate maize improvement such as genome editing, genomic selection, high throughput phenotyping, and RNAi. FAW management can also be achieved using an integrated pest management approach. Challenges to IPM control include climate change, complex cropping systems and the wide range of hosts for FAW. We suggest that multinational cooperative public and private research will be needed to create an integrated insect resistance management (IIRM) approach for FAW control tying together genetics of the crop, the pest, and insect predators; genetic and agronomic monitoring and control methods; and a changing environment. This will give breeders the time to use advanced plant breeding techniques to create and deploy maize cultivars with stress resilience, yield stability and grain quality.