Landscape Level Contributions of Corn, Cotton, and Soybeans in Mixed Production Systems for Helicoverpa Zea Populations

Tyler B. Towles

TITLE: Landscape-Level Contributions of Corn, Cotton, and Soybean in Mixed Production Systems for Helicoverpa zea Populations

 

Helicoverpa zea is a major pest of corn, cotton, and soybean and is commonly controlled through the use of foliar applied insecticides or transgenic crops expressing the Bt gene. To prevent the selection of resistant populations, refuge systems have been implemented into the agroecosystem. To test the efficacy of these traits and efficiency of various refuge systems on Helicoverpa zea, an experiment was conducted at the Monsanto Learning Center in Scott, Mississippi. A field trial containing five refuge scenarios in field corn was established, each with different trait combinations, in the 2016 growing season.