• Wilting of plants in patches
• The grub burrows into the stem close to the soil surface and kills the plant
• Infested fields show dead and dying plants, which when pulled up and examined grub/pupa can be seen in hollowed stem

Identification of pest:

• Larvae: Slow movers having globular head and elongated, dorso-ventrally flattened body
• Adult:  Shiny beetle, 10 mm long and 3 mm wide

Management:

• Deep ploughing in the summer
• Use well decomposed organic manure
• Manual destruction of infested plant stems may help in reducing its population
• Conserve braconids, dragon flies, trichogrammatids, NPV, green muscardine fungus
• Applying carbofuran granules@ 2.25 kg a.i /ha in the planting row can be effective prophylactic  measure