Explore key principles of maize plant protection, including pest management, disease control, and cultural practices that support healthy crop production. Sharpen your understanding of agricultural strategies to safeguard maize yields.
Which pest is most frequently associated with damage to maize crops, particularly through boring into stems and ears?
Explanation: Fall armyworm is a major pest of maize that causes significant damage by boring into stems and ears, leading to yield loss. Rice leaf folder primarily affects rice and not maize, silkworms are reared for silk production and do not attack maize, and cotton bollworm mainly targets cotton plants rather than maize.
In maize fields, what symptom is typically associated with the fungal disease known as northern corn leaf blight?
Explanation: Northern corn leaf blight produces long, elliptical, gray-green lesions on maize leaves, which can merge and reduce photosynthesis. Reddish root spots are not characteristic of this disease, yellowing tassels indicate other issues, and water-soaked fruit lesions are not typical in maize.
Which agricultural practice can help suppress the buildup of maize pests and diseases in the soil?
Explanation: Crop rotation disrupts pest and disease cycles by alternating host and non-host crops, thus reducing their buildup. Mono-cropping increases risk by continuously providing hosts, early harvesting may avoid some pests but is not a soil management strategy, and extra nitrogen does not target pest or disease populations.
When applying pesticides to maize, what is a key practice to prevent environmental contamination?
Explanation: Strict adherence to label instructions ensures safe and effective pesticide use, reducing risks to the environment. Over-application can cause contamination, mixing pesticides randomly may create hazards, and spraying in wind increases drift to non-target areas.
Which biological control agent can be released to manage maize stem borer populations?
Explanation: Trichogramma wasps parasitize stem borer eggs, reducing their populations biologically. Earthworms improve soil structure but do not attack pests, ladybird beetles target primarily aphids, and honeybees are pollinators, not pest controllers.