Combating the European corn borer through sustainable plant protection and the avoidance of insecticides

New methods in mechanical stubble work for maize grain harvest to improve field hygiene and to combat insect pests

The project’s objective

In this project, a maize grain harvest procedure and the necessary machine technology in the form of a harvest header is being developed to shred the rest of the plant and to destroy the stubble during the harvesting process. Through broad field trials, the new method can be technologically and photosynthetically tested and evaluated with respect to the state-of-the-art and helps to preventively combat the European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) and Fusarum spp. in successive winter wheat crop. The results of the field trials serve as best practice to combat the above-named harmful organisms preventively and mechanically in maize, winter wheat and crop rotation. The project aims to contribute the implementation of sustainable plant protection strategies in agricultural practice.