Corn earworm is detected in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil‏

Helicoverpa armigera (known as corn earworm), which caused billions of dollars in losses in Brazil, was found in the state of Rio Grande do Sul - the third largest producer of soybeans in Brazil. The Laboratory of Pest Management of the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) confirmed the "positive" results from the first samples, collected by the Nova Palma Agricultural Cooperative with the use of pheromone traps in oats and ryegrass fields collected in the 2014/15 crop season. 

 

"This indicates a greater risk of corn earworm on spring plants or right after an emergence on soybean crops," said Professor Jerson Carús Guedes from the Department of Crop Protection at UFSM.

 

Unlike last year, when the focus was on identification and no phytosanitary emergency was declared, now the main job will be to monitor damage, noted by Vinicius Grasselli, Chief of the Plant Protection Department of Agriculture.