Prof. Art Schaafsma, Department of Plant Agriculture, spoke to CBC News about the European corn borer, a plant pest that is showing resistance in Nova Scotia to a specially created corn hybrid.

Bt corn was developed to emit a toxic protein that kills European corn borers. But corn growers in the province have recently reported unexpected crop damage from the insect. University of Guelph researchers collected borer larvae from five fields and found evidence the insect is no longer affected by the corn strain.

Schaafsma, a field crop pest management professor at the University’s Ridgetown Campus, told CBC it was “inevitable” resistance would eventually develop.

He studies integrated pest management, fungicide and insecticide application technology, and development of crops to resist toxins such as fusarium and mycotoxin.