Number 1256 January 25, 2011 CORN -Fungicide Resistance: Will It Happen in Corn Diseases? -Corn Earworm Management in Field Corn
strobilurin fungicides in Cercospora
CORN sojina, the cause of frogeye leaf spot in soybean. He found resistant isolates in Fungicide Resistance: Will It Happen in Corn several states, including Kentucky. The Diseases? other family of fungicides used By Paul Vincelli and Don Hershman commonly on corn is the DMI fungicides (also called “triazoles”). For The simple answer: Almost certainly, it will decades, scientists have watched as happen. No one knows where or when it will fungi all over the world become happen, or how damaging it will be. However, incrementally more and more resistant the elements are in place for it to happen sooner to these fungicides. We’ve seen cases or later. Some relevant facts: of DMI resistance in Kentucky, also. 2. Fungicide use on the farm selects for 1. The best fungicides are also prone to resistance. Every time a producer resistance. The best fungicides against sprays a strobilurin fungicide or a DMI gray leaf spot and northern leaf blight fungicide, this puts selection pressure are the strobilurin fungicides (also towards resistance. Every time. I’m not called “QoI fungicides”). This family of saying a catastrophe is looming. What I fungicides includes Headline®, am saying is that every application of a Quadris®, and Evito®, as well as strobilurin or a DMI moves the producer premixes that contain a strobilurin, such closer to the day when the resistant as Quilt®, Stratego®, Avaris®, and fungus is widespread and damaging in Headline® AMP. Unfortunately, that field. It may happen this season; it strobilurin fungicides are known may happen in 20 years. But every throughout the world as being prone to application moves that day closer and resistance development, and year after closer. In the opinion of most university year, we see new cases of strobilurin pathologists, this is true even for the resistance in the U.S. and around the “plant health” applications. Even if world. The first case of resistance to disease levels are below threshold, some strobilurin fungicides in Kentucky disease activity is usually present in a occurred eleven years ago, when a very field, so a fungicide application imposes destructive outbreak of a turfgrass selection pressure towards resistance disease caused severe damage to a even though the disease is present at “high-end” golf course in Lexington. levels too low to cause yield loss. Last year, Dr. Carl Bradley (University 3. The gray leaf spot fungus is closely of Illinois) documented resistance to related to other fungicide-resistant fungi. Gray leaf spot is caused by Corn Earworm Management in Field Corn Cercospora zeae-maydis. Cercospora By Ric Bessin fungi have a well-known history of developing resistance (sometimes very Corn earworm is a pest of many agronomic and quickly) to a variety of fungicides on horticultural crops and because of this is has numerous crops. The latest Kentucky many common names soybean podworm, example was mentioned above: tomato fruitworm, and cotton bollworm. Many resistance to strobilurin fungicides in growers and consumers are familiar with this Cercospora sojina, the cause of frogeye insect in sweet corn as it attacks the kernels at leaf spot in soybean. Not only do the tip of the ear. It does the same damage in Cercospora fungi seem to adapt to field corn, with damage restricted to kernels at fungicides, but they are also wind- the ear tip. Damage by this insect has been dispersed. So if your neighbor’s field sporadic with early and mid season corn develops resistance, those spores will escaping some or all of the damage and late easily make it to your field and beyond. planted field corn sustaining substantial damage. 4. Southern corn rust is a Traditionally, corn growers have not had “promiscuous” disease. Because of the practical and cost effective tools to manage this destructive nature of this disease, insect and have accepted their losses in the past, producers deep in the South both in terms of yield and reductions in quality. understandably often use strobilurin and/or DMI fungicides. But that fungus doesn’t stay there: it blows northward on weather systems, so our inoculum in Kentucky has its origin in farms deep in the South, where it overwinters. So any fungicide resistance that develops in regions with heavy fungicide use may spread quickly to our part of the country.
So the risk for fungicide resistance in important
corn diseases is quite real. Figure 1. Corn earworm damaging kernels in ear tip. What can producers do about this? Some may Corn earworm can negatively impact field corn not like this answer, but it is pretty simple: Use in several ways. By feeding on kernels at the tip fungicides sparingly. Use them when they are of the ear, it directly can reduce grain yields. likely to improve yield, stalk quality, and bottom Early –planted corn escapes this damage, but line. Particularly important is to make ears of late-planted corn can have 20 or more applications based on disease risk, not on the damaged kernels. While kernels at the tip of the vague possibility of “plant health” benefits. ear are generally less valuable, this feeding may Also, use hybrid selection and rotation to reduce reduce harvested grain by 2 to 8 bushels. In disease pressure. addition to reducing yield, earworm can also affect grain quality. Heavily damaged kernels There is no way to prevent resistance to are lost during harvest, but partially eaten strobilurins and DMIs, short of never using these kernels may end up in the grain. Damage to the fungicides. One can only hope to slow down the ear and grain itself provides entry points for development of resistance. And the best way to fungi and may increase rots. In fact, corn do that is to minimize the use of the at-risk earworm damage is one of several factors that fungicides. There really is no other option. can contribute to aflotoxin contamination in corn. Corn earworm is attracted to corn while the corn Some of the newer Bt technologies on the is silking. Fresh ear silks produce volatile market can provide higher levels of corn chemicals that attack egg-laying female moths. earworm control than earlier Bt technologies. So while the silks are fresh, egg laying can occur SmartStax, Optimum Intrasect, YieldGard Vt2 if moths are active. To control for earworm with Pro, and Agrisure Viptera hybrids have insecticides, sprays need to be applied during the improved control of secondary insect pests of silking period and coverage needed in the center corn, including corn earworm. This can be a third of the plant. As silks continue to emerge valuable tool for Kentucky corn growers from the ear, insecticides may need to be particularly when they find themselves in late- reapplied to ensure protection. For corn growers planting or replanting situations. this has been both impractical and rarely economical to treat field corn for earworms. While sweetcorn producers can get ground equipment over the shorter sweet corn that is planted on smaller acreages, field corn usually requires aerial application during silking.
While corn earworm can overwinter in
Kentucky soils, colder winters reduce winter survival. Early in the spring, moth activity is usually the result of earworm moths emerging locally. These local moth flights often occur during silk emergence with corn planted prior to mid May but pose little economic threat in most years. However as the year progresses, much larger corn earworm moth flights arriving from the south are more likely. Wind currents generated in advance of low-pressure systems moving across the plains and Midwest can move large populations of earworm and other pests northward. Late planted corn, read that as planted in mid May or later in Kentucky, silks later in the summer and is more likely to be attacked by these large moth populations. It is not uncommon to see the tip of each ear with 20 or more earworm-damaged kernels with late- planted corn.
Note: Trade names are used to simplify the
information presented in this newsletter. No endorsement by the Cooperative Extension Service is intended, nor is criticism implied of similar products Figure 2. Adult corn earworm moth. that are not named.