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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 landarea,
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.