Disease

• Larva congregates inside the leaf whorls and feed on the central leaves causing typical ‘pin hole’ symptom
• The central shoot turns brownish and dries out, although the lower leaves remain green and healthy, called as ‘dead heart’
• Bored holes are plugged with excreta.
• White ear symptom appears during panicle initiation stage, the empty panicles become very conspicuous in a field because they remain straight and whitish

Egg: Creamy white spherical shape eggs laid in clusters in the leaves and stem of the plant. Incubation period is 8 days

Larva: Pinkish brown, smooth and cylindrical with reddish brown head. Laval period is 22 days

Pupa: Dark brown with purple tinge in head. Pupate inside the stem. Pupation period is 8 days

Adult:  medium sized, pale yellow brown moths. Fore wings are light brown with two black spots. Hind wings are white with light yellow scales along the major veins

Cultural:

• In the initial stage, pull out and destroy dead-hearts
• Crop rotation with short duration non-graminaceous crop

Biological:

Apply bio control agents- Telenomus sp., Trichogramma minutum (egg parasites) and Apanteles flavipes, Bracon drinensis (larval parasites) and Tetrastichus ayyari (pupal parasites)

• Application of optimal rate of nitrogeneous fertilizer in split doses
• Spray Methyl Parathion 50EC 1ml/lit or Phosphomidan 85WSC 0.5ml/lit or Dimethoate 30EC 1.7ml/lit
• Spray Carbaryl 50WP @ 1Kg/ha

• Set up light trap

• The damage is similar to other stem borer, but caterpillar attacks the plant at root region.
• If the damage is severe, central shoot may die causing "Dead Heart'. If it is partial, the plants may turn yellow.
• Larva found at the base of tillers close to soil level and attacks the basal part of the plants.

Egg: The eggs are laid in batches of about 100 and are covered with silky greyish hairs; they resemble the eggs of the yellow stem borer. The incubation period is about 8 days. The female white stem borer lays the eggs near the tip of the leaf blade.

Larva: Creamy white with yellow head

Pupa: Brown, obtect type, pupates inside the stem

• Spray carbaryl 50 WP 1 kg per ha
• Spray Methyl parathion 50 EC 1 ml/litre or Phosphamidon 85 WSC 0.5 ml/litre or Dimethoate 30 EC 1.7ml/litre.

• Larva removes the leaf tissues
• Folds a leaf blade together and glues it with silk strands
• Feeds inside the folded leaf creating longitudinal white (White patches) and transparent streaks on the blade
• Shaded conditions and application of excess nitrogen are conducive for leaf folder attack

Egg: Each female lay 300 eggs on both sides of leaves. It is oblong and whitish yellow in colour. Egg period is 4 to 6 days
Larva: Yellowish green larvae with brown or black head. One or two pair of sub dorsal spots on mesanotum. Larval period is 15 to 20 days
Pupa: Pupa is brown colour later turns to reddish brown colour. Pupation takes place inside the leaf folder.  Pupal period is 6 to 10 days
Adult: Whitish yellow or golden yellow with three dark black oblique lines on the fore wings and broad anal area on hind wings. Adult period is one week

Cultural:

• Crop rotation with non cereal crops
• Use of balanced  fertilizer dose and avoid using excessive nitrogen fertilizer
• Surrounding grass habitats should be maintained
• Avoid close planting
• Collect and destroy the affected leaves

Biological:

• Release of egg parasitoid Trichogramma chilonis @ 1 lakh / ha starting from 15 Days after planting(DAP) for 5-6 times at 7-10 days intervals
• Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) based commercial bio-pesticides may be sprayed @1kg or 1lit/ha (Dipel, Delfin, Biodart, Thuricide, Bioasp, Biolep, HIL Btk) at 7-10 days intervals in the evening hours

Chemical:

• Apply any  one of the insecticides- monocrotophos 1.6 ml, Chlorpyriphos 2.5 ml or Quinalphos 2.5 ml or Acephate 1 gm or Carbaryl 3 gm or Cartap hydrochloride2 gm/lit to be sprayed  two times at 10 days interval or apply cartap hydrochloride 4G 10Kg/acre
• Foliar spraying of NSKE @5% or neem oil 0.5% or neem based commercial bio-pesticides 300ppm @ 2.5lit/ha or 1500 ppm @ 1.5lit./ha

Mechanical:

• Set up light trap
• Dragging a rope across the field to dislodge larvae of leaf-folder

• The larvae feed on the leaves especially in the nursery.
• It scraps the green matter of the leaf tissue and the leaves shows as skeletonized appearance
• The young cutworm feeds on plant without cutting off the stems or leaves. Later it begins to cut off foliage.
• They emerge at night to feed on the roots and shoots of ragi plants and hide in the soil during day time.

Eggs: Lays clusters of pearly white and round eggs on the lower portion of young plants

Larva: Stout, soft bodied, brownish green larvae with wavy lines on dorsal surface and yellow stripe laterally. Larva period is 10-16 days

Pupa: pupate in the soil in earthern cocoons. Pupal period is 7-11 days

Adult: brownish moth with white hind wings

• Remove weeds and plant residues
• Avoid using green manure as this may encourage egg laying, instead use compost.
• Encourage hungry birds to visit your garden by placing birdbaths and feeders near the planting beds.

• Apply beneficial nematodes, Steinerema carpocapsae or insect-infecting fungi like Beauveria bassiana when the cutworms first appear in the spring. Nematodes attack the cutworms by laying eggs inside the caterpillar.
• Place bran mixed with Bacillus thuringiensis, an organic control for caterpillars, over the surface of new planting beds one week prior to planting.
• Release trichogramma wasps weekly  for three consecutive weeks to parasitize cutworm eggs

• Spray Carbaryl50WP @ 2.5Kg/ha, Chlorpyriphos 20EC@2lit/ha,Phasolone35 EC@1.25 lit/ha

Mechanical:

Place aluminum foil or cardboard collars around transplant stem at planting time.  This creates a barrier that physically prevents cutworm larvae from feeding on plants.

• Adult bites and makes holes in the leaves of young plants and affects their vigour both in the nursery and in the young transplanted crop.

• Adult: Dark blue beetle with enlarged hid femur.

• Weed control in and around planting sites to deprive larvae of food sources needed for successful development
• Removal of old crop debris and other surface trash to deprive over wintering beetles protective cover.
• Efficacy of seed dressing insecticides against flea beetle: Damage was less in carbosulfan @ 6.25 g a.i. /kg of seed (3.88%) and was on par with imidacloprid @ 6 g and 3 g a.i. / kg of seed (4.66 and 5.9%, respectively) and thiamethoxam @ 3.5 g a.i / kg (6.13%).

• Larvae feeds on the young leaves causes defoliation
• They feed by scrapping the green matter of the leaf
• Such leaves gives the appearance of skeleton
• Finally devour the entire plant leaving the veins.

Egg: Eggs are laid on the plants

Larva: Thick with black head and hairs all over the body

Pupa: Pupates in soil

Adult: Large white moth with crimson markings on head, body and wings

• Remove weeds and plant residues
• Avoid using green manure as this may encourage egg laying, instead use compost.
• Spray Carbaryl50 WP@4g/lit, Methomyl 40WP@1.6g/lit,
• Dust the crop with malathion 5% @ 25 Kg/ha or Methyl parathion 2% or Fenvalerate 0.4%

• The nymphs and adults feed on the leaf by consuming large amounts of leaves.
• They make marginal notchings or holes on the leaves.
• In case of severe infestation, they defoliate entire leaves and the field looks like grazed appearance. 

Egg: Grasshopper lays cluster of eggs in soil. Eggs laid in oval, elongate or curved pods made out of soil particles. Eggs may be white, yellow green, tan, or various shades of brown.

Nymph: Newly hatched nymphs are white. After several hours of exposure to sunlight, they assume the distinctive colors and markings of adults. Nymphal period is 35 to 50 days

Adult: stout, greenish brown colour with yellow stripe on the sides

• Clean tillage after harvest  will destroy the grasshopper’s eggs or expose them so that they dry out or are eaten by birds and other insects
• Trap cropping
• Early seeding and early harvest
• Summer fallowing
• Crop rotation

• Spidersfeed on grasshoppers and consume large numbers of nymphs and adults
• Blister beetles, ground beetles and crickets eat the eggs of grasshoppers
• The fungus, Entomophthora grylli, can effectively control grasshoppers under warm, humid conditions
• The microsporidian parasite, Nosema locustae, reduces the number of eggs laid and restricts the movement of individuals and thus affects grasshopper populations.

• Spray Carbaryl50 WP 400g

• The bugs feed by piercing plant tissue with needle-like stylets.
• The actual feeding puncture is not immediately visible.
• Adults and nearly all nymphal stages (2nd to 5th nymphal stages) feed on a variety of plant tissue.
• Succulent parts of the plant and the developing flowers are preferred.
•  Feeding injury becomes visible sometime after actual feeding.
• Feeding on flower buds results in premature abscission

Eggs

• Eggs are deposited on the undersides of leaves in clusters of 40 to 130 (average 70 - 75 eggs). The eggs are yellow-white when laid. In 4 - 5 days the eggs turn pink and become red orange a day later. Eggs hatch in 5 - 8 days.

Nymphs

• All nymphs are about as broad as long, dark in color, with red and white or yellow markings on their bodies. The nymphs do not have wings, and they also have glands that emit the strong, characteristic odor.

Adults

• The adult stink bug is shield-shaped, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, and approximately 5/16 inch wide. They are usually apple or jade green color, but may occasionally be a reddish brown. Adults can live for several months.

• Monitor weed hosts surrounding the crop field. 
• Grow trap crop around the field, can help to intercept migrating stink bugs

• Telenomus podisi and T. utahensis, two scelionid wasp egg parasitoids, will help suppress stink bug populations.
• Spiders, ants prey upon eggs and young nymphs

• It affects mostly at panicle formation stage.
• The caterpillars feed on developing grains and destroy the grains inside the panicles.
• They produce webs of silken threads in the panicle
• Compact panicles are prone to heavy damage. Affected panicles will be filled with frass.

Egg: Spherical transparent white eggs are laid in masses (6 to 24 eggs in each) and covered by orange-yellow hairs

Larva: The hairy caterpillar is smaller, dark brown with a wide yellow band and less hairy. An orange-red line runs along the yellow band. Larval period is 15 to 40 days

Pupa: It pupates in the soil. Pupal period is one month.

Cultural method

• Cultural practices, including intercropping, time of sowing, spacing, water/nutrition management, and crop rotation may be effective in certain locations.

Chemical method

• Spray Malathion 0.1% and Carbaryl 0.1%

Mechanical method

• Setup light trap till midnight to monitor, attract and kill the adult moths.
• Setup sex pheromone traps @ 12 /ha to attract male moths of E. subnotata from flowering to grain hardening.

• This insect appears before flowering stage and continuing up to milky stage
• Nymphs and adult suck the juice from within the grains when they are in the milky stage. 
•  Presence of large number of nymphs and adults  are seen on the ear head
• The infestation results in loss of grain quality and damaged grains become unfit for human consumption.
• Under severe infestation panicle becomes chaffy.
• Damage also reduces the germination and predisposes the grains to mold attack.

Egg - Blue cigar shaped, laid under the glumes or into the middle of the florets

Nymphs - Slender, green in colour

Adults - Male is green in colour. Female is green with a brown margin

Cultural method:

1. Early planting reduces the infestation of the pest
2. Crop rotation 

Chemical method:

• Aphid remains at the base of the plant and suck the sap.
• The infested plants turn pale yellow and become stunted.
• Wilting and drying of plants in patches is the typical symptom.
• Presence of honey dew and ants on plants are the indication of aphids. It occurs on many grasses too.
• Nymph and adult attack underground parts of the plants, they suck sap from roots. Plants become weak and may wilt.

• The adult is small and oval. Its color ranges from greenish, to brownish white, to yellow, and to dark orange.
• There are two adult forms: the winged and nonwinged forms. The winged adults are 1.5-2.3 mm long. The nonwinged forms are 1.5-2.5 mm long. All adults are females.
• The nymph is globular and tan or brown.

• Mixing crude oil in irrigation water is a common method for its control.
• Mix Dimethoate 30EC 3 ml in one litre of water and drench the rhizosphere of the infested and surrounding plant with solution to check the root aphid 
• Spray the crop with Dimecron 100EC (250 ml/ha in 1000 litres of water).
• Spray carbaryl 50 WP @ 1 kg/ha (500 l spray fluid/ha).

• Nymphs and adults suck the sap from underside of the leaves and stems
• It causes yellowing of leaves and stunted growth
• It is an important vector of ragi mosaic virus

Nymph:Pale greenish almost tranuslucent and walk diagonally. Nymphal period is 7 to 9 days

• Spray Dimethoate 30 EC @ 1.7 ml/lit or Phosphomidan 100 EC 0.5 ml/lit or Monocrotophos 36 EC 2ml/lit.

• Death of grown up plants. Leaves and tender shoots nibbled.
• Grub feed on the root and rootlets, results in the death of the plants.
• Adults nibble on the leaves and tender shoots. They can move under soil, thus can migrate from one plant to another.

• Grub is fleshy, ‘C’ shaped, whitish yellow in colour found close to the base of the dump.
• Adult is dark brown.

Cultural control:

• Deep ploughing in summer
• Always use well decomposed organic manure as it attacts the adult beetles
• Crop rotation with pulses, cotton etc
• Early sowing to avoid damage due to insect pest

Mechanical Control:

• Collection and destruction of white grub adults

Biological Control:

Conserve braconids,dragon flies, trichogrammatids, NPV, green muscardine fungus

• Nymphs and adults suck the sap of the plant
•  They causes yellowing of leaves and stunted growth of plant
• Wilting and drying of plants in patches
• Presence of honey dew and ants on plants

Adult: greenish yellow aphids

• Spray methyl demeton 25 EC@  20 ml/ha or dimethoate 30 EC@ 20 ml/ha (mixed 10lit of water using high volume sprayer)

• Adults and nymphs  appear on the tender shoots, leaves and on the lower surface of the leaves
• Suck the sap and reduce the vigour of the plant
• Feeding causes  yellowing of the leaves
• Secrete sweet substances which attract ants and develops sooty mould
• Presence of honey dew and ant movement on plants
• In severe infestation causes stunted growth

Adult: Brown coloured aphids

• Summer ploughing
• Use resistant varieties
• Timely planting
• Intercropping with pulses, sorghum, maize etc.,
• Use of healthy seeds for sowing

• Spray methyl demeton 25 EC@  20 ml/ha or dimethoate 30 EC@ 20 ml/ha (mixed 10lit of water using high volume sprayer)

• The  young grub  feeds on roots of ragi plant
• Ladder shaped cutting of leaves, Leaf margins are notched resulting in wilting of plants in patches.
• Plants come off easily when pulled. Roots are eaten away by grubs.
• Adult feeds on leaves.

Eggs: Small, ovid and cream colored

Grub: C shaped, creamy white with brown heads and legeless

Pupa: Creamy white and resemble adults, and are found in earthern cells in the soil

Adult: Whitish grey with an irregular pattern of dark spots dorsally. The snout is short and quadrate and slightly expanded towards the apex. The antennae are clubbed and elbowed

• Frequent hoeing and interculture  disturb and kill the grubs of the grey weevil

• Infects at any stage of the growth from the seedling to the grain formation stage
• The infection appears in the nursery from second week of after germination and spread quickly to entire nursery as well as to main field.
• Small brown circular to elongated spots appear on leaves which eventually develop into large elongated spindle shaped areas in the seedling stage. Young leaves dry completely in the nursery itself
• The spindle shaped spots appear on leaves in the main field. Several spots coalesce and cause drying of foliage

• Maximum damage is caused by the neck infection. The neck region turns black and shrinks.
• Infection occurs at the basal portions of the panicle branches including the fingers and the ear head breaks away from the stalk. The affected portions turn brown and ears become chaffy and only few shriveled grains are formed

• Mycelium is intra and inter-cellular
• Numerous conidiophores and conidia are produced in the central portion of the spindle shaped spots under humid conditions. As a result, the spot assumes a smoky appearance
• Condiophores emerge through the stomata or through the epidermal cells are simple septate and dark coloured
• Conidia are borne at the tip of the conidiaphores
• Conidia are pyriform, 3 celled, hyaline, 2 septate
• Conidia germinate with germ tubes which infect the leaf wither through epidermal cells or stomata

• Use disease free seeds
• Grow resistant varieties like CO RA (14), Paiyur (RA)-2, GPU-28,GPU-45,GPU-48, L-5
• Proper plant spacing and transplanting is advisable
• Early sowing reduces the blast severity
• Spray Pseudomonas sp. at 2 g/lit of water. First spray immediately after noticing the symptom. Second and Third sprays at flowering stage at 15 days interval
• Treat the seed with Pseudomonas fluorescens @ 6g/Kg seed and spray the extracts of Prosopis juliflora leaf extract (10%), Ipomoea carnea leaf extract (10%)

• Foliar spray with Aureofungin sol (100ppm) at 50% earhead emergence followed by a second spray of Pseudomonas sp. at 2g/lit of water 10 days later
• Seed treatment with carbendazim @ 1 gm/Kg of seed
• Treat the seeds with local materials like salt water and cown unrine
• Spray Carbendazim 0.1% in nursery 10-12 days after sowing. Repeat the spray 20-25 days after transplanting and 40 to 45 days after transplanting
• Treat the seeds with Agrosan G.N. or Ceresan @2.5g/Kg seed or Tricyclozole @ 1g/kgof seeds
• Spray SAAF @ 0.2% at 50% flowering and one more need based spray after 10 days was effective in controlling neck and finger blast

• It causes severe damage during years with high continuous rainfall. This disease occurs throughout the life cycle of finger millet plant and may infect all parts of the plant. 
• The pathogen affects both seedling and the adult plants

• minute, oval, light brown lesions on the young leaves and become dark brown
• Several such lesions coalesce to form large patches of infection on the leaf blade. The affected blades wither prematurely and the seedlings may be killed.
• Linear oblong and dark brown spots appear on the leaves of grown up plants
• Prominent brown to dark brown discoloration in the neck region  and followed by weakening of neck tissue that causes it to break and the ears hanging down from the plant
• While nursery infection causes heavy damage due to the seedling rot, neck infection causes heavy chaffiness and severe loss in grain yield.

• It is  seed-borne and primary infection is through seed
• Secondary infection through air borne conidia, stubbles and plant debris

• The mycelium is intra and inter-cellualr septate and light brown in colour
• Conidia are erect or curved septate and dark brown. They are borne at the tip of  conidiophores
• Condiaphores are thick walled cylindrical or obcavate straight or curved and light green in color and 3-10 septate
• The spores germinate either through the stomata or epidermal cells.
• 11 spores may be formed in one conidiophore

Cultural:

• Uproot and destroy the diseased plant soon after detecting in the field

Chemical:

• Treat the seeds with Captan or Thiram @4g/Kg
• Spray Mancozeb @ 1.25Kg/ha
• Spray 1% Bordeaux mixture or Copper oxy chloride or DithaneZ-78 (2g/lit. water)

• The infected plants remain green and stunted.
• The fungus attacks the basal stem portion and later the leaf sheath and culm.
• The infected portion becomes soft and dark brown in colour.
• The fungus is seen to grow in between the sheath and stem on the lesions.
• The plant ultimately dies.
• On the surface of lesions, small, spherical, dark coloured sclerotia are formed.

• The pathogen forms a submerged vegetative mycelium  consisting of single hyphae  and an  aerial  mycelium  composed  of  both  single hyphae and hyphal  strands.
• Sclerotial initials are formed on these hyphal strands
• Sclerotia (0.5-2.0mm diameter) begin to develop after 4-7 days of mycelial growth (2,10). Initially a felty white appearance, sclerotia quickly melanize to a dark brown coloration
• Sclerotia contain viable hyphae and serve as primary inoculum for disease development.

• Keeping the plants healthy and robust, and providing good drainage and other optimum soil conditions, help to avoid the disease.
• Deep ploughing before sowing and proper crop sequences involving non-poaceous crops reduces disease intensity.
• Spot drench with Copper oxychloride at 0.25 per cent for prevent spread of disease.

• The disease appears only at the time of grain setting

• The smutted grains scattered randomly in the ear head
• The affected grains gets converted into gall like bodies which are bigger than normal grains
• Greenish swollen grains appear in the initial stages 
• The greenish sorus turns to pinkish green and finally turn to dirty black colour

• Spores are globose in shape and 7 to 11 microns in diameter
• The epispore is densely pitted and has a rough surface
• The spores germinate readily in water, producing septate promycelia
• Sporidia are formed on these both terminally and laterally

• Use resistant varieties

• The infected plants are dwarf in appearance with shortened internodes.
• The leaves are formed closely and thus give a bushy and bunchy appearance.The leaves become pale green.
• The symptom is well expressed on the earhead which bears abnormal spikelets exhibiting various degrees of proliferation instead of normal spikelet.
• The whole earhead gives a brush like appearance.

• Infected plant reveals the systemic mycelium of the fungus Sclerophthora macrospora within the crowns, stems, and leaves.
• A few axillary buds may escape the colonizing hyphae emanating from the crown tissue and may produce an occasional healthy tiller free of mycelium. Mycelium has not been observed to progress far in roots.

• Mycelium is coenocytic, multinucleate, intercellular. Narrow "extension" hyphae, closely associated with vascular bundles, carry the fungus up the leaf sheaths.
•  Localized branching and proliferation of these hyphae into tissue between the bundles occurs, increasingly so in the upper sheath.
• Massive development of multidiameter mycelium occurs in the lamina, again associated initially with the bundles.
• sporangiophores which protrude through the stomata and produce six or more lemon-shaped, apically poroid sporangia.
• Sporangia mature rapidly, each releasing 50 or more motile zoospores.
• Zoospores are ovoid to pyriform in shape.

• Affected plants should be destroyed by burning.
• Keep the field clean.
• In case of severe attack spray Dithane M-45 on the standing crop at the rate of 2 g/litre of water.

• Infection may occur at all stages of plant growth but the symptoms become most prominent from 4 to 6 weeks after planting.
• The first symptom is Chlorosis, followed by mosaic mottling and severe stunting of the plant.
• The entire plant becomes pale, dwarfed and sterile.
• Rarely the affected plants come to ear and if formed the panicle is mostly chaffy.
•  Closer examination of the plant may reveal such symptoms as characteristic dark brown lesions on the basal stem as found in Helminthosporium rots, secondary root formation from the nodes much above ground level, and fungal masses in the split open culm.
• As the disease advances, the plants wither prematurely and the diseased crop is easily identified from a distance.
• The loss in grain yield may be as high as 100 per cent, depending upon the age of the plant at the time of infection.
•  A dry summer and bad drought conditions preceding the irrigated crop are believed to favor the disease.

• Some strains of the sugarcane mosaic virus and maize dwarf mosaic virus cause the ragi mosaic disease.
• Virions consist of a capsid. Virus capsid is not enveloped. Capsid/nucleocapsid is elongated with helical symmetry. The capsid is filamentous, flexuous with a clear modal length with a length of 730-755 nm and a width of 13 nm. Axial canal is indistinct. Basic helix is obscure.

• Rogue out the affected plants
• Crop Rotation
• The disease intensity can be reduced with heavy doses of phosphatic fertilizers combined with fortnightly sprays with a combination of fungicide and insecticide

• Initial symptoms of mottle streak disease appear around 45 days after sowing in funnel leaves as small sparse chlorotic specks.
• The virus affected plants are stunted and pale green in colour.
• Later the specks coalesce leading to short streaks.
• Yellowing of plants in severe infection.
• Infected plants produce more of nodal branches and unproductive tillers.
• Failure of earhead emergence with sparse grains is noticed during initial and late infection.
• Vector for this disease is leaf hopper, Cicadulina bipunctella,  C.chinai

Nucleorhabdovirus or Potato Yellow Dwarf Virus is bacilliform, with one type of particle of about 380 x 75 nm. It is enveloped with a clear modal length of 178-224nm, 59-76 nm wide. Axial canal obvious; 8 nm in diameter

• Rogue out the affected plants
• Spray systemic insecticides Methyl dematon or Monocrotophos 500ml/ha. When noticing symptom and repeat twice if necessary at 20 days interval to control the vector

• The typical symptom appears on both the surfaces of leaf as light yellowish to brown spots. They are linear, spreading along the veins.
• Later on the colour changes to dark brown and as the disease advances the leaf blade gets shredded by splitting along the streaks.
• Sometimes, the streak also appears on the peduncle of the ear head.

The bacterium is a rod with a single polar flagellum.

• Use healthy seeds for sowing.