Interventi pere contrastare la diffusone e i danni da diabrotica nella maiscolatura italiana - IDIAM
Project Italy is the third largest European producer of corn. The production of Piedmont, Lombardy , Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Emilia Romagna totals 90% of Italian corn production. Its contribution to the value of national agricultural production is approximately 2.3 billion euro. If we consider the value of the livestock productions, that are the major users of corn in Italy, its contribution arise to nearly 10 billion euro.
Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte is a beetle native to North America, which has colonized almost all of the Po-Venetian plain. It causes heavy damages, mainly the destruction of the root system, but also the consumption of the flower's silks, with reduced or no fertilization. In the worst cases the production losses may nearly reach 100% .
If the crop rotation is not possible, a variable acreage every year will be at risk of being severely damaged, depending on meteorological and cultural conditions. In these areas will be necessary to resort to pest management practices, mainly insecticide sprayings. To minimize the need to resort to chemical control, an improved knowledge on the genesis of the damage and on techniques for reducing the effects of rootworm infestations, including the optimization of chemical control, is required .
For this purpose four lines of research have been identified:
Cultivation strategies
To determine the importance of various cultural practices in regulating the attack intensity and the plant’s recovery ability.
Larvicidal sprayings
To test the effectiveness of the available pest management options (type of insecticide distribution, active ingredient, sowing time, treatment timing).
Forecasting the level of risk
To define the contribution of biotic, abiotic and cultural parameters in the creation of the damage by the pest, in order to define areas for uniform level of risk.
Alternate hosts
To ascertain the importance of alternative host plants on maintaining pest's populations.