Gross margin as an indicator of the significance of farmer education on the WCR risk assessment in repeated sowing

Abstract

Western corn rootworm (WCR) appeared in Serbia in the late 80's and quickly spread, causing increasing losses. Monitoring showed that crop rotation gives good results. On the other hand, domestic animals require a lot of corn and considering the limited land-area, that often demands repeated sowing of corn (continuous cropping), consequently leading to higher pest damages. Through Farmer Field Schools, farmers were educated on WCR risk assessment of repeated corn sowing. The goal was to prolong corn production over years, presuming its higher profitability of production (gross margin). Calculations of production of wheat, corn and soybean on farms involved in education program in 2012, have shown that corn has the highest gross margin (92,047.50 RSD/ha), followed by soybean (72,410.00 RSD/ha) and wheat (59,510.00 RSD/ha). It could be concluded that farmer's best interest is to grow corn, when possible, in continuous cropping, with obligatory risk assessment.

Keywords

• corn
• western corn rootworm
• production
• gross margin
• investment
• cost
• education