Grower-based selection of varieties and systems for wheat stem sawfly control

View the project final report

• 2008 annual report

Commodities

• Agronomic: wheat

Practices

• Crop Production: double cropping
• Education and Training: demonstration, display
• Pest Management: biological control, field monitoring/scouting, trap crops

The wheat stem sawfly is the major insect pest for wheat in Montana. We developed a trap crop system using two different mechanisms of resistance. The first is solid-stems, which kills sawfly larvae in the stem. The second is a trait whereby females avoid laying eggs in certain varieties. A solid-stemmed variety is paired with a high-yielding unattractive variety. The sawflies lay their eggs in the solid-stem trap. This allows growers to choose higher yielding varieties for most of their acreage, providing both sawfly control and increased production.

1) Assess the potential of solid-stemmed Choteau spring wheat as a trap crop for control of wheat stem sawfly.

2) Select solid-stem lines from a Reeder/Choteau cross that have high end-use quality and vary in volatile production and stem solidness.

3) Determine the relative ability of the solid-stemmed Choteau/Reeder lines to trap wheat stem sawfly.

4) Provide meaningful outreach to growers regarding sawfly control in general and use of trap varieties specifically.