Using gyroplane for application of Trichogramma spp. against the European corn borer in maize.

BACKGROUND: Achieving sustainability of agricultural production is one of the key challenges for humanity. Minimizing the use of chemicals and replacing them with biological plant protection is, firstly, fully in line with the agriculture's development strategy and, secondly, confirmed to be achievable in practice. For instance, many researchers point to the potential of using Trichogramma spp. to control Ostrinia nubilalis in maize. However, the application methods for preparations containing Trichogramma spp. are still at the stage of development. So far, ground application proved time and energy consuming. Aerial application using ultralight aircraft is a new option. RESULTS: The present study presents the results of tests on the effectiveness of applying Trichogramma spp. from the board of an ultralight gyroplane. A 6-year experiment was conducted on a maize monoculture located in south-western Poland. The results indicate that the low-height aerial application allows precise dosing and satisfactory distribution of the biopesticide. The efficacy of 60-85% (depending on the year) of the gyroplane-based spraying operations was comparable with that observed for ground application. CONCLUSION: Considering the speed and high efficiency of the treatment, using a gyroplane as a carrier of the biopesticide application system is a good alternative to the other methods. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Semiautomated Identification of European Corn Borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae).

The European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner, 1796) is a serious and widely studied pest of corn. The most common method of its control is by means of insecticides. However, biological control is becoming more and more popular. The hymenopteran parasitoid Trichogramma sp. is the most promising and effective one among the biological agents and is now widely used in North America and Europe. Its application should occur at the time when the European corn borer is at the beginning of the eggs laying period. However, the discrimination between the European corn borer and some other species occurring in agricultural landscapes at the same time can be difficult, especially for farmers which are neither familiar with the morphological nor molecular methods of identification. The scope of this study is to test the ability of the automatic computer equipment to determine the European corn borer and to separate it from the most common Lepidoptera pests found in corn plantations. The experiment showed that the 97.0% of the 247 specimens belonging to four common pestlepidopterans were correctly classified by the use of a personal computer, desktop scanner, and the special software. The obtained results showed that this technique based on wing measurements can be an effective tool for monitoring of the European corn borer. In the future, this method can be used by farmers to identify this pest and apply control measures at optimal time.