Corn crops earworms

The development of natural resistance in corn (Zea mays) to the corn earworm (CEW) Helicoverpa zea) received many contributions. The CEW is a major insect pest of maize and other crops (cotton, soybeans, etc.) the eggs are laid on the silks, and the larvae access the ear by feeding through the silk channel. 

The rice leaf binding component, prodnced in aerobic cnltures of the strain Claviceps purpurea ATCC 9605 or of a number of other microorganisms (Oishi et al., 1984), can be used to increase the rice crop. The active component increases the yield and shortens the production period. Also other metabolites of Claviceps can find application in agriculture practice. Patent of Dowd et al. (1988) describes the use of tremorgenic mycotoxins as insecticides against corn earworm and fall armyworm. Gubanski and Lowkis (1964) have demonstrated the inhibition of the tobacco mosaic virus by a substance isolated from C. purpurea. 

With the exception of the corn earworm, fall armyworm, pink bollworm, and Egyptian cotton leafworm programs, these disruption tests were preliminary studies carried out on small plots without optimization of disruptant formulations and with little assessment of crop damage. 

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