Symptoms of damage:

• The larva feeds on the developing seeds and bore the head
• Fungal developed and head starts rotting
• The larva consumes leaf in early stage of growth and move towards the capitulum and tunnel the head

Identification of the pest:

• Egg:  Spherical in shape and creamy white in colour, laid singly
• Larva: Shows colour variation from greenish to brown. It has dark brown grey lines on the body with lateral white lines and also has dark and pale bands
• Pupa: Brown in colour, occurs in soil, leaf, pod and crop debris
• Adult: Light pale brownish yellow stout moth. Forewings are olive green to pale brown with a dark brown circular spot in the centre. Hind wings are pale smoky white with a broad blackish outer margin

Management:

• Grow inter crops like, green gram, black gram, groundnut, soybean
• Sow 3-4 lines of maize (or) jowar around the sunflower crop to monitor the moth
• Sow trap crops like marigold at 50 plants/acre
• Use of pheromone traps (4 traps/acre) for pest intensity identification as well as to trap the male moths
• Setting of light traps (1 light trap/5 acre) to know the range of pest incidence as well as to kill moth population
• Release predators like coccinellids, Chrysoperla carnea @1larva/ head
• Release parasitoides like Trichogramma spp.@ 20,000/acre,  (Bracon spp., Campoletis spp)
• Spray HaNPV 250 LE + Bt @0.5kg/ha for effective control
• Spray HaNPV 250 LE/ha +1 kg Jaggery + 200ml Sandovit (or) Teepal; mixing and spray in the evening hours only
• Spraying of 5% Neem oil or 5% Neem Seed Kernal extract before egg laying