TNAU Agritech Portal :: Crop Protection

Crop Protection :: Pest of Sorghum

Sorghum midge: Contarinia sorghicola

Symptom of damage:


	Stages of infection	Severely damaged earhead	*Contarinia sorghicola*

Identification of the pest:

Adult: Fly is small, fragile with a bright orange abdomen and a pair of transparent wings

Management:

Set up of light traps till mid night to monitor, attract and kill adults of stem borer, grain midge and earhead caterpillars.
Apply any one of the following on 3rd and 18th day after panicle emergence
- Carbaryl 10 D 25 kg/ha
- Malathion 5 D 25 kg/ha
- Phosalone 4 D 25 kg/ha
Neem seed kernel extract 5% (or) Spray malathion 50 EC @ 1600 ml/ha or phosalone 1150 ml/ha
The sowing of sorghum should be completed in as short a time as possible to avoid continuous flowering which favours grain midge and earhead bug multiplication in an area

Source of images:
http://www.grdc.com.au/Research-and-Development/Major-Initiatives/The-Sorghum-Midge-Tested-Scheme
http://www.mississippi-crops.com/2013/07/09/managing-insect-pest-in-mississippi-grain-sorghum/