Symptoms of damage:
- Withering and drying of central shoot “dead heart”
- Red mining in the midrib, bore holes visible on the stem near the nodes
- Tender folded leaves have parallel “shot hole”
Identification of the pest:
- Egg: Scale-like flat oval eggs in batches on the under surface of leaves near the midribs
- Larva: Yellowish brown with a brown head and prothoracic shield
- Adult: Moth is medium size, straw coloured
Management:
ETL: 10% damage
- Sowing the lab lab/cowpea as an intercrop to minimise
stem borer damage (Sorghum: Lab lab /cowpea 4:1)
- Set up of light traps till mid night to monitor, attract and kill adults
of stem borer, grain midge and earhead caterpillars
- Mix any one of the following insecticides with sand to make
up a total quantity of 50 kg/ha and apply in the leaf whorls:
- Phorate 10 G 8 kg/ha
- Carbofuran 3 G 17 kg/ha
- carbaryl 50 WP 1.00 kg/ha (500 l spray fluid/ ha)
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| Red mining in the midrib |
Shot hole |
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