Effect of sequential applications of foliar nutrients, biofertilizers and sowing dates on the incidence of corn stem borers in Egypt.

In this study either early sown (May 1st) or lately sown (June 2nd) corn plants were treated with Phosphorin & Rhizobactrin as biofertilizers and sprayed with six selected foliar nutrients, i.e. Polymex; Greenzit SP100, Greenzit NPK, Potasin-F, Copper sulphate and Ascorbic acid; in mono-, bi-, and/or tri-sequential applications. Such practices were conducted to show their beneficial effects compared with the chemical treatment in checking the incidence of the stem borers and hence increasing the corn yield. The obtained results could be summarized in the following chief points: (a) the lately sown biofertilized plants showed somewhat higher levels of infestation than the early planted ones., (b) in general, spraying the biofertilized corn plants in both sowing dates with the tested foliar nutrients, significantly decreased the rate of the stem borers infestation than the untreated plants of control., (c) the foliar sprays of Greenzit NPK alone, bi- or tri-sequential applications of Potasin-F, Polymex, Ascorbic acid and Copper sulphate achieved considerable success in reducing larval numbers of the borers species. For example, in case of using the bi-sequential nutrients (Polymex/Ascorbic acid) the numbers were 1.2, 1.5 and 1.2 larvae/5 plants, whereas the numbers were 1.3, 1.0 and 0.7 larvae/5 plants as a result, of the tri-sequential applications (Potasin-F/Ascorbic acid/Polymex) for the pink stem borer, Sesamia cretica, (Led.), the purple lined borer, Chilo agamemnon, (Bels.), and the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis (Hb.), in respect, vs. 4.8, 4.5 and 2.9 larvae/5 plants for the same stem borers, respectively, in case of the untreated corn plants. In addition, the other trisequential applications (Polymex/ascorbic acid/Copper sulphate), (Potasin-F/Copper sulphate/ascorbic acid) and (Potasin-F/Copper sulphate/Polymex) reduced the stem borers infestation; (d) from the view point of the interaction effects of sowing dates and the tested foliar nutrients, it was found that the tri-sequential sprayings (Potasin-F/Copper sulphate/Polymex) and/or (Potasin-F/Copper sulphate/Ascorbic acid) have lowered the rate of the stem borers infestation to 3.3 and 3.3 and 5.7 and 4.3 larvae/5 plants for the tri-applications in the 1st and 2nd sowing dates, respectively. Such reductions in the levels of infestation led to an increase in the grain yield up to 6.9 and 7.2 and 5.4 and 5.8 ton/fed, for the early and lately sown corn plants, in respect, and (e) All the foliar nutrients, with no exception, proved to be efficient in managing the stem borers infestation as compared with the insecticide treatment using Polytrin. Although the chemical application had lowered the level of infestation to 2.3 and 5.7 larvae/5 plants in the 1st and 2nd sowing dates as compared with 9.7 and 14.7 larvae/5 untreated plants for the same sowing dates, lesser grain yield of 5.6 and 4.4 ton/fed. was obtained in the first and second dates of planting, successively, in comparison to the grain yield resulted from the tri-applications of Potasin-F/Copper sulphate with either Polymex or Ascorbic acid. The abovementioned results assured the profitable effects of using foliar nutrients as well as the biofertilizers for attaining healthy corn plants, which would be capable of tolerating the injury inflicted by the studied stem borers and compensating for the harmful effects of insects infestation, so high grain yields could be obtained than those of the untreated and/or the insecticide treated plants.