Maize production represents one of the most important segments for agriculture in Serbia. The Western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera sp. virgifera (Col., Chrysomelidae), is the most dangerous maize pest, causing severe losses worldwide. Field experiment was carried out in Bečej (Vojvodina province, Serbia). In field, 96 plants were selected, and arranged in 48 pairs. In each pairs one plant represented artificially infested plant (D plant), and the second plant was the control plant (C plant). Damages and mass of the roots were measured and evaluated in September 2016 and August 2017. Root damages were ranked from 1 to 6, according to Ostlie and Notzel (1987) scale. The root mass was measured on a technical balance. According the mentioned scale, 93.75% of D and C plants in 2016 and 95.83% of D and C plants in 2017 was with different level of root injuries. The number of D plants with rate 6 in 2017 was higher for 27.09% then in 2016, while the number of C plants with rate 6 in 2017 was higher only for 2.08% compared to 2016. The number of both, D and C plants with rate 1 in 2016 and 2017 was 3 and 2, respectively. The differences between damages on D and C plants, based on the root damage and root mass were analyzed using non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test (One-way ANOVA). Statistical analysis of damages and root mass in 2016 shows that there are no significant differences between D and C plants, while in 2017 differences between D and C plants was statistically very significant, with more damages on D plants. The differences in damages and root mass between D plants in 2016 and 2017 were statistically very significant. Statistical analysis shows that there are no significant differences between C plants in 2016 and 2017 based on root damages while differences on root mass were statistically very significant.

Maize, WCR, level of damages, root mass

biology

Presentation: oral