Management of the main Lepidopteran pests in Argentina with Dow AgroSciences' dual Bt technology in soybeans (ConkestaTM)

Conkesta^TM is Dow AgroSciences’ dual Bt technology for soybeans. It is being developed to provide agricultural producers in South America a wide-spectrum control of lepidopteran pests. Conkesta^TM contains two Bt proteins (Cry1F and Cry1Ac) which contributes to the efficiency and sustainability of the technology compared to technologies with only one protein. The objective of our studies was to evaluate the efficacy of Conkesta^TM to manage infestations of Rachiplusia nu, Anticarsia gemmatalis and Helicoverpa gelotopoeon at  important soybean producing areas of Argentina. Field experiments were conducted in the provinces of Buenos Aires and Tucuman from 2011 to 2014 with focus on these pests. All field trials consisted of complete randomized block designs with four treatments in four repetitions. Trials were conducted under natural infestation whenever possible. Artificial infestations where used when the pests were not present or the infestation was too low. Our results demonstrate that Conkesta^TM soybeans are highly effective to manage the injuries caused by the main soybean pests in Argentina.