VIEW ARTICLE

Effect of Carbofuran Treatment on Corn Yield, Maize Chlorotic Dwarf and Maize Dwarf Mosaic Virus Diseases, and Leafhopper Populations. C. W. Kuhn, Department of Plant Pathology and Plant Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens 30602; M. D. Jellum(2), and J. N. All(3). (2)Department of Agronomy, Georgia Experiment Station, Experiment 30212; (3)Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens 30602. Phytopathology 65:1017-1020. Accepted for publication 18 April 1975. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-65-1017.

Corn treated at planting time with a systemic insecticide (carbofuran) was evaluated for the incidence of maize chlorotic dwarf (MCD) and maize dwarf mosaic (MDM) diseases, leafhopper populations, and yield under field conditions in Georgia in 1974. Two corn hybrids were used in the experiment; one was susceptible and the other was intermediate in its reaction to both diseases. For the susceptible hybrid in nontreated plots, 73% of the plants were diseased with MCD and 9% with MDM. In carbofuran-treated plots, MCD was reduced approximately two and four times for the susceptible and intermediate hybrids, respectively. The two most abundant leafhoppers in the test field were Graminella nigrifrons and Agallia constricta. Their population was reduced 65-74% in the carbofuran plots, and there were twice as many leafhoppers associated with the susceptible hybrid as with the intermediate one. Carbofuran did not affect the incidence of MDM in either hybrid, but MDMV infection was significantly greater in the susceptible hybrid than in the intermediate one. In the nontreated plots, the yield of the intermediate hybrid was approximately three times more than the susceptible one. In carbofuran-treated plots; the yield was increased 37% and 125% for the intermediate and susceptible hybrids, respectively.