Integrated Pest Management Strategies for Sustainable Control of Major Corn Pests

Abstract

The production of corn is continually threatened by various pests, including fall armyworms, aphids, grasshoppers, and beetles that affect yield and quality of the crop. The study presented here provides a total pest management plan to control these major corn pests using several avenues of pest management, including mechanical pest management, biological pest management, and botanical pest management. Fall armyworms were controlled using hand picking, applying sand in whorls, pheromone traps, and deep tillage. Biological methods considered for controlling fall armyworm included Trichogramma species parasitoids, Bacillus thuringiensis, Nomuraea rileyi. Botanical method used for control of fall armyworm included neem oil, garlic extract sprays, and intercropping with repellent crops or trap crops. Aphids were managed with hand removal, natural predators such as lady beetles and lacewing, and biopesticides including horticultural oils (mineral oil), pyrethrin (pyrethroids), and neem oil-based insecticides. Grasshoppers were managed using physical barriers (exclusion), tillage, and planting earlier in the season and biological agents (Nosema locustae) as well as predators (spiders and beetles). Less conventional botanical tactics such as repellent botanical insecticide sprays and spraying flour as a powder dust to control grasshoppers were also implemented. Beetles were managed using traps, hand picking, and natural enemies (for example parasitoids wasps), using neem and pyrethrum based insecticides. The following strategies can be incorporated into an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program to allow for sustainable and environmentally responsible corn pest control. Using the various IPM methods to lessen reliance on synthetic insecticides is in keeping with the ways of fostering long-term protection for crops. In addition, methods that do not depend on chemicals work in harmony with agricultural and ecological environments in corn production.