A SCRAWNY strain of wild maize from Argentina could help farmers do battle
with the European corn borer, an insect pest which does about $350
million of damage to the US maize crop every year. Unlike commercial maize, the
wild strain makes chemicals in its leaves which discourage female corn borer
moths from laying eggs.
It’s the larvae that do all the damage. They start on the leaves, and then
nibble their way through the stalk, which they hollow out completely. Nutrients
can no longer reach the parts of the plant above ground, and often the stalk is
so weakened…
