Sweet Corn, Beans and Pea Edition
by Elaine Roddy, Vegetable Crop Specialist, OMAFRA, Ridgetown

Emergency Use Registration for Corn Earworm Control

Coragen insecticide (chlorantraniliprole) has been granted an emergency use registration for corn earworm control in sweet corn.  Corn earworm has become an increasingly difficult pest to control.  Corn earworm is also know as the cotton boll worm, an important pest of cotton.  In the past pyrethroid sprays were used extensively in both the cotton and sweet corn crops to control this pest.  As a result, researchers have documented wide-spread pyrethroid resistance across North America.

The emergency use registration of Coragen insecticide provides growers with an effective alternative to pyrethroid insecticides.

Sweet corn is most susceptible to corn earworm damage when it reaches the green silk stage.  Apply the first insecticide application at 50-60% green silk.  Use Coragen at a rate of 250 to 375 mL/ha (103-155 mL/ac) in 10 gal. of water per acre.  A second application may be required if local trap counts indicate that earworm moths are present in the area.  A maximum of two (2) applications per year can be made.   Coragen has a 1 day pre-harvest interval.

Coragen insecticide should be used in an IPM program and in rotation with other management strategies to adequately manage resistance.  Always rotate between different chemical families.

This emergency use registration expires on October 31^st 2009. For a copy of the Coragen label; contact Elaine Roddy, 519 674 1616 or elaine.roddy@ontario.ca