By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
Damaging corn rootworms are an issue in many parts of Texas, causing thousands of dollars of loss each year.
But a new product developed by Bayer, SmartStax® PRO, will soon be available to help corn growers stamp out the persistent pests.
Corn rootworms are one of the most common soil insects attacking corn in the Lone Star State, according to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Three species—the Mexican corn rootworm, Southern corn rootworm, and Western corn rootworm—can be found across the state, especially in areas where corn is not rotated with another crop.
As the name implies, the larval stage of the insects feed on corn roots, making it difficult for the corn plant to take in water and nutrients. Severe root pruning by the pests may also cause the plant to blow over in wet or windy conditions, because the root system has been damaged and can no longer effectively anchor the plant in the soil.
Unfortunately, corn rootworms have demonstrated resistance to available Bt toxins in as little as four years of continuous use, AgriLife research shows.
But SmartStax® PRO’s next-generation control works better than previous Bt corn technology through the addition of RNAi, according to Scott Stanislov, Bayer’s technical agronomist for South Texas.
“The SmartStax® technology that we currently sell has two below-ground Bt traits for the corn rootworm species that we may see here in Texas,” he said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “Now, the SmartStax® PRO is taking that original SmartStax®, those two traits, and stacking it with a new RNAi technology trait to add another mode of action against the corn rootworm species.”
That third mode of action, which Bayer said is the first RNAi technology in the industry, will help increase farmers’ ability to control corn rootworm while also helping to increase the durability of the SmartStax® PRO trait.
And the technology should be available in Texas within the next few years.
“We have received the export approvals and everything to get that ball rolling. The main focus, at least here in the near term, is going to most likely be highly focused on the Midwest and those maturities that they plant up in that area,” Stanislov said. “But in another year or so, I suspect we will start seeing some of that trait in some of these later maturities that we would plant here in Texas.”
In addition to corn rootworm, SmartStax® PRO offers protection against some above-ground pests including the European corn borer, Southwestern corn borer, fall armyworms and some types of cutworms.
For more information on corn trait technologies, visit Bayer’s corn traits website. To sign up for more information about the upcoming release of SmartStax® PRO, click here.