Monsanto's Genuity® launches new app technology for corn rootworm risk assessment

Throughout the corn-growing season, farmers across the Midwest, US will battle corn rootworms. Now there is a new tool to help them combat this yield-robbing pest. Genuity® has launched a free application (app) available for iPad® device users that helps farmers assess their risk for corn rootworm pressure and provides field-specific recommendations for the farmer.

This app was designed by Monsanto insect management technical development representatives, product managers and technical agronomists and is the first app to provide users with valuable information related to rootworm risk and active pest management for the current season.

“After watching corn growers battle this damaging pest season after season, we saw a real need for this kind of app to assist farmers in making management decisions in real time,” said Tom Eickhoff, agronomic systems lead for Monsanto. “In addition to proven Genuity trait performance and in-field experts, this free app is another great resource for our farmers.”

The Genuity Rootworm Manager app allows farmers to do a field-by-field assessment that considers several important factors to determine the threat from corn rootworm to the crop. The Genuity Rootworm Manager app uses several crop and corn rootworm metrics to evaluate risk of plant injury from corn rootworm, including field location, pest population and previous crop and pest management history.

“This tool follows proven pest management recommendations for scouting, practicing crop rotation, utilizing dual modes of action when planting and suggesting specific insecticides based on crop type,” says Eickhoff. “Plus this app allows the user to set alerts, take custom notes, access scouting reports and share results via email.”