Manage Invasive and Indigenous Pests

Pest problems in corn, cotton, and soybean are worse in Georgia and the Southeast than anywhere else in the U.S. New invasive insects such as the kudzu bug and soybean aphid, along with indigenous pests, find the climate in Georgia ideal. Development of high yielding insect-resistant crops would be highly profitable for farmers by reducing costs of insecticides and other pest control practices. Insecticidal transgenic cotton, corn, and soybeans all express toxins derived from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). In corn and cotton, multiple Bt transgenes are pyramided in plant cells to express different protein toxins as a means to increase crop resistance. UGA entomologists conducted research to determine if varieties resistant to indigenouse pests controlled the kudzu bug, which invaded Georgia soybeans in 2010. Cooperative research with a UGA crop breeder and seed industry scientists was conducted with pyramided cotton, corn and soybeans. They found that using resistant crops to manage invasive pests, such as the kudzu bug on soybean, as well as to control indigenous pests is a profitable and sustainable method of crop production. Pyramiding cotton, corn and soybeans with insecticidal transgenes (Bt) with native resistant genes not only provides excellent control of key pests, but also could be a critical component for preventing pests from developing resistance to Bt transgenes. All three crops provide as good or better control as insecticides of major pests in most cropping environments used by farmers in Georgia.