Sorghum Crop Cultivation: Sorghum Borers, Preventive Measures!: Winged insects are small like flies, and have long legs. The wings are shiny and transparent. The belly and abdomen are shiny blacks. The larvae are milky white in color.
Sorghum Crop Cultivation: Sorghum is being cultivated in large areas as an alternative to commercial crops like cotton and chili. However, pod borer mainly infects Kandi crop at the coating and fruiting stage and causes tremendous damage. By recognizing their existence in time and taking comprehensive plant protection measures, it is possible to get higher yields. There are three main types of pod borers that infect the rind. Groundnut bug, Maruca spotted a bug, fruit borer.
Groundnut worm; The forewings of these insects are dark brown and the pupae are pale green in color. Well-grown worms are dark green in color. Well-grown worms are dark greenish brown, purple, and black in color. The lateral part of this insect has dark-colored stripes in the form of waves. There are two hairs on the upper surface of each body segment.
In the bud, flower, and pod stages, the larvae feed on the leaves and cause extensive damage. During the fruiting phase, these insects burrow into the fruit and nest inside the half, and eat the coated fruit. So the nuts fall off.
Maruca spotted worm; The winged insect is medium in size and the front pair of wings are brown. There are white spots on the front pair of wings. The hind pair of wings are white and edged with black. These caterpillars are pale green in color and have a pair of black spots on each body segment. Each scar is covered with thin hair.
This caterpillar nests in the buds and eats the insides. It then enters the pod and feeds on the growing seeds. The bite hole is small and covered with excrement.
The fruit fly; Winged insects are small like flies and have long legs. The wings are shiny and transparent. The abdomen is shiny black. The larvae are milky white in color.
After hatching, mealybugs feed on some of the pod’s skin and then enter the seed. Only part of the seed is eaten. These harvested seeds turn black and cannot be eaten. Because they grow in seeds, it is difficult to detect early signs of injury.
Plant protection measures; Deep digging should be done in summer. Thus different stages of worms hidden in the soil can be avoided. Crop rotation should be adopted. Crops like sorghum, soya bean, sesame, lava, etc. should be replaced with crops that are less prone to pests. Intercrops should be cultivated.
Pesa or minimum should be applied 7 times in Sarva and 3 times in Rabi. So that the organisms can grow. Weeds can be reduced. Sorghum should be sown four times around the field as a protective crop. Bird nests should be established at the rate of 20 per acre to reduce pest infestation.
At 100 days after sowing, the gum should be cut to one foot. Neem seed decoction should be sprayed if the pod borers and eggs are in the early stage. Overgrown worms should be picked by hand. Chemical insecticides should be used as per the recommended dose depending on the pest infestation.
