Online FAW Training Resources: General, ToT, FFS
Explore all the online resources from around the world on fall armyworm at international and regional levels. If you have a resource you would like to share on this page please contact us.
International and other regions
General resources, manuals, and handbooks
IPPC Secretariat. 2021. Prevention, preparedness, and response guidelines for Spodoptera frugiperda. Rome. FAO on behalf of the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention. At https://doi.org/10.4060/cb5880en
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These guidelines aim to help national plant protection organisations (NPPOs) take suitable actions at the proper time against FAW through timely detection to prevent or slow the spread of the pest and reduce its negative impact. The guidelines are directed at NPPOs of countries where FAW fulfils the requirements to be regulated as a quarantine pest for applying internal quarantine and biosecurity measures.
FAO. 2021. General Guidelines for Developing and Implementing Regional IPM Strategy for Fall Armyworm Control in Demonstration Countries. At https://www.fao.org/3/cb7549en/cb7549en.pdf
These guidelines provide a framework for the development of regional strategies aimed at managing fall armyworms (FAW) by developing evidence-based integrated pest management (IPM) packages.
FAO. 2021. FAW Guidance Note 5: Fall armyworm Early Action Policy Guide. 4 pp. At https://www.fao.org/3/ca3800en/CA3800EN.pdf
This policy guide reviews the experiences and lessons learned from over 40 countries that have had to make quick policy and technical decisions that have set the groundwork for the sustainable management of FAW.
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FAO. 2020. Technical guidelines for sustainable management of fall armyworm in its year-round breeding areas. Guidance Note 9 [online]. Rome. 8 pp. At https://www.fao.org/3/ca8967en/CA8967EN.pdf
This guidance note aims to provide recommendations on sustainable FAW control for national task forces in Africa and Asia. It provides a brief background on the need to develop two complementary strategies for fall armyworm management: 1) one for the pest’s year-round breeding areas, and 2) another one along the pest’s
FAO. 2020. Technical guidelines for sustainable management of fall armyworm along its seasonal migration pathways. Guidance Note 11 [online]. Rome. 7 pp. At https://www.fao.org/3/ca9486en/CA9486EN.pdf
These technical guidelines focus on delineating management strategies for regions in Africa, the Near East and Asia along FAW seasonal migration pathways.
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CABI. 2019. Framework for Strategic Communication during Pest Outbreaks: Learning from fall armyworm. First Edition. CABI. 45 pp. At https://www.plantwise.org/FullTextPDF/2020/20207800001.pdf
A communications framework aimed at government policy and decision makers responsible for designing and implementing response mechanisms to pest outbreaks, as well as other key users, who can support its adoption and implementation.
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FAO & CABI. 2019. Fall armyworm photo guide: Identification [online]. Rome & Wallingford, UK, FAO & CABI. 2 pp. At
https://www.fao.org/3/ca4856en/ca4856en.pdf
A useful photo identification guide to FAW
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FAO & CABI. 2019. Fall armyworm: life cycle and damage to maize [online]. Rome & Wallingford, UK, FAO & CABI. 1 pp. At https://www.cabi.org/isc/FullTextPDF/2019/20197800314.pdf
Fall armyworm: life cycle and damage to maize communications resource
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CABI. 2019. Fall armyworm: life cycle and damage to maize [video]. At https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZxVouWMt4&feature=youtu.be
Fall armyworm: life cycle and damage to maize [video].
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FAO. 2018. FAO guidance note 3: Fall armyworm trapping. Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO, Rome, Italy. At https://www.fao.org/3/I8322EN/i8322en.pdf
This guidance note provides information on the sustainable management of Fall Armyworm through trapping. The presence and build-up of FAW in a particular area can be detected by using pheromone traps.
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FAO Guidance Note 2. 2018. Fall armyworm Scouting. FAO. At https://www.fao.org/3/I8321EN/i8321en.pdf
This guidance note provides information on the sustainable management of Fall Armyworm through scouting.
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FAO. 2018. FAO guidance note 1: Reduction of human health and environmental risks of pesticides used for control of fall armyworm. Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO, Rome, Italy. At https://www.fao.org/3/I8320EN/i8320en.pdf
This guidance note provides information on the sustainable management of Fall Armyworm through the reduction of the human health risks of pesticides.
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Prasanna BM, Huesing JE, Eddy R and Peschke VM (eds) (2018) Fall Armyworm in Africa: A Guide for Integrated Pest Management, First Edition. Mexico, CDMX: CIMMYT. At https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1867/Fall-Armyworm-IPM-Guide-for-Africa-Jan_30-2018.pdf
A comprehensive manual for a broad range of public and private stakeholders – including national plant protection, research, and extension professionals – to access evidence-based approaches to sustainably manage FAW in Africa.
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Training of trainers
IPPC-FAO Webinar series for training on the IPPC-FAO Prevention, preparedness, and response guidelines for Spodoptera frugiperda. At https://www.fao.org/fall-armyworm/education/webinars/en/
Webinar series based on the IPPC-FAO Prevention, preparedness and response guidelines for Spodoptera frugiperda.
AgriTraining. 2020. Online Course on Fall Armyworm Mitigation: Learning Modules for Trainers of Smallholder Farmers in Africa.
At https://agritraining.co.za/fall-armyworm-faw-free-learning-modules/
7 Learning Modules designed to assist Trainers/Teachers of smallholder farmers in the training and advising of smallholder farmers on the management of the Fall Armyworm (FAW) pest. These Modules are based on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles, with a focus on Fall Armyworm (FAW) mitigation.
FAO and CABI. 2019. Community-Based Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) Monitoring, Early warning and Management, Training of Trainers Manual. First Edition. 112 pp. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. At https://www.cabi.org/wp-content/uploads/ToT-manual.pdf
A practical training course for training trainers and training of community facilitators
FAO Global Action webinars. At https://www.fao.org/fall-armyworm/education/webinars/en/
A variety of webinars on the work of the Global Action, particularly on early warning and monitoring management.
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Farmer training
FAO (2018a) Integrated management of the Fall Armyworm on maize: A guide for Farmer Field Schools in Africa. Rome, 119pp. At https://www.fao.org/3/I8665EN/i8665en.pdf
The first part of the guide summarizes basic technical information on FAW; the second part describes in more detail how to integrate FAW management in an FFS, reflecting FFS experiences from West, Central, Southern and Eastern subregions of Africa and the recommendations of technical resource persons from the Americas and elsewhere.
FAO & CABI. 2019. Fall armyworm field handbook: Identification and management, 1st edn [online]. Rome & Wallingford, UK, FAO & CABI. 38 pp. At https://www.cabi.org/wp-content/uploads/FAW-pocket-guide.pdf
This field handbook is an adapted version of FAO and CABI (2019) Community-Based Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) Monitoring, Early warning and Management, Training of Trainers Manual, First Edition. It is intended to help extension workers and farmers in the field identify fall armyworms and know how to manage them.
FAO. 2019. Introduction to Farmer Field Schools. A Reader for Institutions of Higher Learning. Nairobi. 44 pp. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. At https://www.fao.org/3/ca3605en/ca3605en.pdf
The document introduces the fundamentals of FFS methodology and provides specific references for further reading.
FAO (2017) Discovery-based learning on land and water management: A practical guide for farmer field schools. Rome. 348 pp. Covers Africa, Asia and the Pacific. At http://www.fao.org/3/a-i6897e.pdf
The guide presents a collection of easily readable, illustrated modules for introducing and promoting improved soil and water management and wider catchment/landscape management using the FFS community-based education approach.
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FAO (2016) Farmer Field School guidance document – planning for quality programmes. Rome. 112 pp. At https://www.fao.org/3/i5296e/i5296e.pdf
This FFS Guidance Document is an evolving tool for developing high-quality programmes that are relevant to the specific needs of countries and are flexible and adapted to local conditions. The document provides essential elements for setting up programmes of field-based and season-long training of national trainers, from Master Trainers to local Facilitators.
Digital
FAO Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS). At https://www.fao.org/fall-armyworm/monitoring-tools/en/
The FAW Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS) provides a mobile app – available free of charge from the Google Play store – for data collection and to serve as a global platform for mapping the FAW.
Asia-Pacific Region
General resources, manuals, and handbooks
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FAO. 2022. Technical guidance on fall armyworm – Coordinated surveillance and an early warning system for the sustainable management of transboundary pests, with special reference to fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda [J.E. Smith]) in South and Southeast Asia. Bangkok. At https://doi.org/10.4060/cc0227en
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Provides technical guidance on early warning systems (EWS) and sustainable management of the fall armyworm from 2022–2026 in South and Southeast Asia.
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B.M. Prasanna, Joseph E. Huesing, Virginia M. Peschke, Regina Eddy (eds). 2021. Fall Armyworm in Asia: A Guide for Integrated Pest Management. Mexico, CDMX: CIMMYT. At https://repository.cimmyt.org/handle/10883/21658
A comprehensive manual for a broad range of public and private stakeholders – including national plant protection, research, and extension professionals – to access evidence-based approaches to sustainably manage FAW in Asia.
Attaluri, S., Gyeltshen, K., Sultana, N. and Hossain, B. Md. eds. 2022. Fall Armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) - the status, challenges and experiences among the SAARC Member States. SAARC Agriculture Centre, SAARC, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 130p. At https://www.sac.org.bd/archives/publications/Fall%20Armyworm.pdf
This book ‘Fall Armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) - the status, challenges and experiences among the SAARC Member States’ contains the papers and proceedings of the virtual regional expert consultation meeting focusing on Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), its impact on crop production, updated status and strategies for FAW management in SAARC countries organized by the SAARC Agriculture Centre (SAC), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Training of trainers
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FAO-RAP Regional Training Workshop for Farmer Field School facilitators. At https://www.thaied.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/FAO-FAW-Webinar-Report-12.8.20.pdf
In 2020, the Thai Education Foundation, with support from the FAO-RAP, organized an online Regional Training Workshop for FFS facilitators on sustainable management of FAW to develop the capacity focused on IPM and biological control for the implementation of farmer training in the country. It identified specific needs for sharing training curricula and resource materials and supporting the development of biological control methods. In addition, several suggestions were made for the sustainable management of FAW. These include 1) providing, sharing, and exchanging information on FAW, including pesticide resistance management and biology and ecology, especially in countries that have little experience with the pest; 2) promoting agro-ecosystem-based approaches, preventative measures, and biological control to keep in consideration the IPM pyramid; 3) including agro-ecological preventative measures, community action, and farmer-to-farmer learning in training; 4) using FFS to introduce and familiarize farmers with biological control, and 5) institutionalizing IPM training programs to continue promoting the training.
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Project SAFFAL under the South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC) Fall Armyworm Portal. At www.fallarmyworm.org.in
Project SAFFAL - "Safeguarding Agriculture & Farmers against Fall Armyworm", focuses on addressing knowledge gaps, enhancing farmers’ awareness, organizing educational campaigns, laying out farm demonstrations and training retailers and extensions. A comprehensive range of online resources can be found on its online portal.
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ICAR. 2019. Fall Armyworm: Diagnosis and Management (An Extension Pocket Book). At http://www.kiran.nic.in/pdf/publications/2019/ICAR%20Pocket%20Book%20on%20FAW%20updated%20372019.pdf
A comprehensive and easy-to-use diagnosis and management handbook for FAW.
Farmer training
FARM Programme 1998. Farmer Field School on Integrated Soil Management, Facilitator’s Manual. At www.fao.org/3/bl056e/bl056e.pdf
The modality of the Farmer Field School (FFS) is used as a learning tool for training farmers concerning soil management, improving the efficiency of fertiliser use, increasing output and controlling costs.
Webinars/Digital Learning
ASEAN Action Plan on Fall Armyworm. At www.aseanfawaction.org/videos
A comprehensive range of webinars and resources covering aspects of fall armyworm control with an emphasis on using biocontrol.
SAWBO. At https://sawbo-animations.org/video.php?video=//www.youtube.com/embed/5rxlpXEK5g8
Animated videos: How to identify and scout for Fall Armyworm (Bangla (Bangladesh), Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Mizo, Nagamese, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu (India), Burmese (Myanmar), Chinese (China), English, Nepali (Nepal), Thai (Thailand), Urdu (Pakistan).
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Comprehensive Guide on FAW management using an IPM approach by USAID & CIMMYT, CGIAR MAIZE Program
FAO and CABI Fall Armyworm Field Handbook: Identification and Management. It is aims to help extension workers and farmers in the field to identify FAW and know how to manage it.
The Fall Armyworm Continuity Plan is an Australian Grains Research Development Corporation investment and provides extensive information on FAW identification and management for the
grain industry.
The CABI-FAO Community-Based Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) Monitoring, Early Warning and Management Training of Trainers Manual
FAW – life cycle and damage to maize leaflet
Comprehensive guide on FAW management using an IPM approach by USAID & CIMMYT, CGIAR MAIZE Program
FAO Global Action for FAW Control
Resources, guidance notes and videos on the FAO Global Action Website
Resistance Management Guidelines
IRAC Poster on FAW damage symptoms and strategies for sustainable control, with resistance management guidance.
IRAC Guidance on IPM: 3 Steps handout with clear information on how to delay resistance by applying different MoAs against sequential pest generations
Videos from CropLife International and the Insecticide Resistance Action Committee (IRAC) that explain IRM and MoA in languages: English, Bahasa (Indonesian), Khmer, Mandarin, Tagalog (Philippines), Thai, Vietnamese
Other
CABI Poster on how to manage FAW