Bt Maize Trials Perform Positively in Egypt

Egyptian agriculture can benefit from the use of Bt maize. "In the absence of a clear planting date strategy, the relative poor performance of conventional chemical control, and the high and uniform efficacy of Bt maize on all three Egypt’s maize stalk borers, Egyptian maize production would likely benefit greatly from the adoption of Bt maize, and deserves close consideration, " concludes Dr. Magdy Massoud, from the Faculty of Agriculture at Saba Basha, University of Alexandria, Egypt.

Massoud conducted a field trial to study the effect of conventional pesticides and Bt maize hybrids on the maize borers in Egypt. He found that pesticide treatment had a modest influence, at best, in controlling damage by the three stalk-boring species only at the seedling and flowering stages. "In sharp contrast to pesticide treatment, the Bt maize hybrids exhibited nearly complete protection from damage by the borer species. The infestations of these borers were negligible or completely prevented in Bt plants throughout the whole season for all sowing dates".

The study concluded that the range of infestation reduction was 90-100% for Bt hybrids. In damaged Bt maize plants, the lesion consisted of evidence of failed attempts of larvae to bore inside the plant. In these instances however, no larvae, alive or dead, were found within stalks. 

For more information please contact Dr. Magdy Massoud at magdymassoud@yahoo.com or Dr. Ismail AbdelHamid, Egypt Biotechnology Center director at ismail@egypt-bic.com.