The president of Apronor stressed that the measures must be applied at the regional level. He stressed the importance of carrying out a sanitary vacuum, which must include strict control of ‘guacho’ corn.
The problems that the corn leafhopper has been causing in all the cereal productive areas in the country are generating a diversity of information of all kinds. Within this, a large number of technical alternatives stand out that could help confront the disease.
Much information has been released since the moment when spiroplasma appeared with force in Argentina – especially in the northern provinces, where it caused the most damage to this crop.
Producers and other actors in the sector know that corn is a very large and very important production chain. It is involved in food and energy; it provides beef, pork, poultry, eggs, dairy products and direct feed, in addition to everything it generates in terms of logistics and services throughout the chain and, obviously, in the sustainability of the production chain.
The NOA region was affected, and the losses confirm this. As a result, many people are working on different fronts to find solutions that will reduce the effects of the disease.
“Mobilized by the serious damage we had to the corn, in Tucumán we managed to form a working group that has been meeting for some time. “We managed to put together a purely technical group to achieve a true diagnosis of what was happening with the crop in the province and, then, to design work strategies,” he said. Gonzalo Blascopresident of the Association of Agricultural and Livestock Producers of the North (Apronor). This entity is part of the committee “Let’s save corn”, which is also made up of the Rural Society of Tucumán (SRT), the College of Agricultural and Zootechnic Engineers of Tucumán (Ciazt) and the Regional Consortiums of Agricultural Experimentation (CREA) of the NOA.
There are many news items appearing about new hybrids that are more tolerant to Spiroplasma, about phytosanitary products that control the vector better, about how frost and intense cold eliminate the leafhopper, about the lowering of import tariffs for chemical products that can help control the pest, and about scientific research work that also seeks to achieve this effect.
“We, as a working group, are very clear that the final objective is to lower the population density, so that we reach the usual sowing dates for our region with the least amount of insects possible wandering the fields. To do this, we are certain that we must comply with basic recommendations that we have been proposing from the beginning,” Blasco stressed.
He said that, as a technical and productive organization, they are working on the problem. “We are looking for a way to make sure that the NOA region listens to us, since the situation is very serious and we are being hit hard by this problem,” he said.
He highlighted that the members of the “Save the Corn” committee are convinced that there is no isolated proposal that provides a solution. “Due to this, we need each of us who produce and work in this sector to be participants, to find solutions to the damage caused by the stunting of corn. It is known that there are no isolated measures. There is no individual solution,” Blasco pointed out.
He indicated that comprehensive and joint management strategies must be worked on to achieve efficient results to minimize the damage caused by the leafhopper as a vector and stunting as a disease.
“As we have been saying in each of the meetings in which we participate or organize: we must take coordinated actions to reduce the population of the vector and the disease. That is the key and the base of the pyramid. Then come other actions to take, such as genetics and chemical control of the insect,” he explained.
He insisted that the plague must be managed, and that the basis of this action is to lower its population density. And he also stressed that this must be done at the regional level or in large areas. “It is necessary to create a regional sanitary vacuum so that the leafhopper does not find green corn from August to November. Of course, it is ideal that there is no ‘guacho’ corn. Let’s be clear about this. Controlling the ‘guacho’ is part of the sanitary vacuum,” he said.
Coordination
He recalled that the planting window must be concentrated and work must be done in a coordinated manner with a communication plan in accordance with the situation. “So that the little or much that is known about this problem is accessible to all those who need good information,” he said.
He also warned that the problem is different in each province and even within the same one. “Because of this, actions must be agreed upon and communicated in the best possible way,” he stressed.
