North Central Region Sweet Corn PMSP

Priorities

Category Rank Pest Type Pest Crop Stage Priority
Extension/Outreach 1 All 6- to 12-Inch Shoot GMO enhanced crops provide growers and consumers with a number of benefits. The reluctance of consumers to accept GMO sweet corn is a barrier to their adoption. Consumers need to be educated on the advantages of GMO crops. These advantages might include for example; more biodiversity, less pesticide use, and human and environmental safety.
Extension/Outreach 2 All 6- to 12-Inch Shoot Corn earworm is one of the most serious insect pests of sweet corn and requires regular insecticide sprays when populations are high. Growers, especially fresh market sweet corn growers, need to be educated regarding corn earworm monitoring procedures so that pesticide applications can be reduced. The trapping networks and information delivery mechanisms regarding this insect should be better coordinated.
Extension/Outreach 3 All 6- to 12-Inch Shoot Sweet corn diseases can seriously reduce crop yield and quality. Since the number of fungicide products is limited to a couple of modes of action, it is imperative that disease resistance management schemes be implemented now to retain the usefulness of these products. Growers need more information on how to implement pesticide resistance management for sweet corn diseases.
Regulatory 1 All 6- to 12-Inch Shoot A number of pesticides are labeled for field corn that may have acceptable uses for sweet corn. The possibility of expanding the label to include sweet corn should be investigated for the following products; Callisto, Camix, Lumax, Option, Liberty, Poast, acetachlor. Regulatory agencies, the sweet corn industry, land grant partners, and manufacturers should seek to support these labels.
Regulatory 2 All 6- to 12-Inch Shoot For some sweet corn insects, control is achieved almost exclusively through the use of pyrethroid insecticides. Corn earworm, European corn borer, and the fall armyworm would become serious problems if these insecticides were lost. There is a critical need to maintain registration of these insecticides.
Regulatory 3 All 6- to 12-Inch Shoot Registrants and regulatory agencies should update rotational restrictions regarding atrazine use on sweet corn. The current label is based on older, higher use rates, usage patterns. Sweet corn growers, who often grow other vegetable crops in their rotations, are now unnecessarily restricted on rotations.
Research 1 All 6- to 12-Inch Shoot The widespread adoption of Roundup Ready and Bt hybrids has become a disincentive for the development of new products. The sweet corn industry needs new pesticide products, especially herbicides, to combat newly invasive weeds, and weeds which are becoming resistant to current herbicides. Research needs to continue into new synthetic compounds so that pests can be controlled as necessary.
Research 2 All 6- to 12-Inch Shoot Common smut is one of the more devastating sweet corn diseases. Research is needed to screen hybrids for reaction to common smut, and investigate mechanisms of resistance. Hopefully this will lead to the development of hybrids with greater resistance to this disease.
Research 3 All 6- to 12-Inch Shoot Leaf rust; timing of initial applications of strobilurins needs to be examined. Because these compounds are more efficacious than other fungicides, they may be applied later in the disease cycle, thus allowing for a better assessment of whether chemical control is actually needed. Strobilurin-resistant fungi are likely to occur- so resistance management strategies should be developed. Hybrid screening and resistance breeding need to be continued.