November 13, 2007

US researcher uses organic means to ward off corn borer
 

Organic corn producers may receive a boost from ongoing research at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, US, which uses bacteria and even a predator wasp on the dreaded European corn borer.

Rostern Tembo, working on his doctorate in entomology at the university, said he encouraged by the results he got over the past three years from spinosad, a purified bacteria sprayed on corn stalks before the borer's larvae infiltrates them.

His research would be presented at a national entomology conference in San Diego and an international entomology conference in South Africa next July. 

The European corn borer is an exotic, burrowing pest hailing from Hungary and Italy. Although modern technology has come up with ways to control it, the pest has yet to be eradicated from North America and causes millions in crop losses each year.

The problem, although contained through the use of GM crops in North America, is a threat to less developed parts of the world such as Africa.

Tembo hopes his research will fill some gaps by giving organic farmers more options and encouraging conventional farmers to reconsider the amount and cost of pesticides they use.