The green-belly stink bug is an early pest in the second crop of corn, following soybean. The dynamics of infestations by this pest in systems where corn is defoliated in the early stages is still unknown. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the feeding of the stink bug on corn subjected to early defoliation. In a greenhouse, used a 2 x 4 factorial design, with two cultivars: BRS3042 VTPRO2 and 1F640PRO2, and four treatments: Without stink bug and with plant cutting (WSB-C); With stink bug before cutting (SB-BC); With stink bug after cutting (SB-AC); With stink bug and without cutting (SB-WC), with ten repetitions. Cutting of the plants was performed at the V3 stage, at a height of five centimeters above the soil. Infestation with stink bugs was carried out five days after emergence and/or after cutting, with two stink bugs per pot. The following were evaluated: injury score, height, stem diameter, fresh and dry plant weight. The plants that were not cut (SB-WC) presented the highest values in height and diameter, resulting in injury scores around 1 compared to those that were infested after the cut (SB-AC), which had scores varying between 3 and 4 and had smaller height and diameter. It was concluded that removing the leaf surface impairs the establishment of the corn plant, and with the infestation of the green-belly stink bug, the severity of the damage increases.

Research conducted at the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute-NIR in Poland in 2020-2022 assessed the commercial quality of potato tubers depending on the production system (organic, conventional), variety, and weather conditions prevailing in the years of research. The tuber size distribution and the share of tuber defects was assessed. It was found that all tested factors influenced the commercial quality of the yield but to different extents. The production system had the greatest influence on most of the examined features, followed by weather conditions and the least influential factor being the variety. The production system had the greatest impact on such features as: tuber size distribution (all fractions), pest damage, scab infection, tuber deformations, and share of green tubers. Weather conditions had the greatest impact on scab infection, pest damage, deformation, cracks and share of large tubers. The variety factor had the greatest influence on such features as: deformations, cracks, green tubers, black scarf, and share of the smallest (non-commercial) tubers. In the conventional system, a significantly better tuber yield distribution was found. The share of tuber defects varied depending on the production system. In the organic system, a greater share of defects such as scab (68.3 and 41.3) and pest damage was found (6.8 and 0.2), while in the conventional system, a greater share of deformations (9.2 and 4.9), cracks (5.4 and 2.4), and rust spots (0.61 and 0.06) occurred.