Reducing the risk of aflatoxin with southern hybrids and Genuity™ VT Triple PRO™

While corn earworm, fall armyworm and corn rootworm are not the only factors in the development of aflatoxin, they are certainly some of the more important ones. 

Plant pathologist Dr. Gary Odvody of Texas A & M has conducted extensive research on the various factors impacting the incidence of aflatoxin. “There are so many things that interact,” Dr. Odvody explains. “Drought stress is one of the primary components.  In some years, the insect portion can be a more important contributor than in other years.  Differences in host genetics can also give you a greater vulnerability.”

Dr. Odvody has also researched the MON 89034 trait—one of the two major insect resistance traits in the technology of Genuity™ VT Triple PRO™.  “It’s a good product,” he says.  “I think it’s going to pay off in more years than not.  By controlling stalk borers, corn earworm, fall armyworm and corn rootworm, you are reducing the overall risk of aflatoxin contamination.  However, it’s not a substitute for good genetics.  It’s another component to be added to our arsenal to reduce the risk.”

In Genuity™ VT Triple PRO™ fields, the severity of aflatoxin may be lessened by controlling the ear insects and corn rootworm, something Dr. Odvody says was insufficient or lacking in the first generation B.t. hybrids.  “Now with this new product, in some years, what might have been an(aflatoxin) accumulation level of say, 100 PPB, could be reduced down to less than 20 PPB,” he says.

Dr. Odvody emphasizes that controlling corn earworm and fall armyworm alone will not eliminate the risk of aflatoxin. “But if we combine good agronomic practices with the use of these B.t. traits in the best hybrids adapted to this region,  that will go a long way to reduce the mycotoxin risk that we’re facing,” Dr. Odvody concludes.