SEASONAL INCIDENCE AND MANAGEMENT OF SORGHUM SHOOT FLY, ATHERIGONA SOCCATA RONDANI – A REVIEW
BHUPENDER SINGH*, NARENDER KUMAR AND HARISH KUMAR
SNIATTE, CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : bhupi_hau@yahoo.com)
Received : 20 January 2017; Accepted; 25 March 2017
SUMMARY
Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (Linn.) Moench] is an important cereal crop of the world. This crop is
vulnerable to over 150 insect species from sowing to final harvest. Among the insect pests, the shoot fly (Atherigona soccata Rondani) is one of the most important and destructive pest which causes considerable losses in fodder as well as grain yield. Due to introduction of improved sorghum varieties and hybrids susceptible to this insect and continuous cropping, it has become a principal pest of the sorghum. This pest attacks on the sorghum crop at seedling stage causing maximum damage during the rainy season. The larva of this pest attacks on central whorl of the plant and causes ‘dead heart’ formation. Various methods have been suggested to control this pest. Use of resistant genotypes is the simplest method to control any pest without polluting the environment. A number of genotypes have been screened by various workers depicting resistance against the shoot fly. The sorghum crop grown early or timely can easily escape the incidence of this pest. So, the modification of date of sowing can also prove to be an effective method for management of this pest. The sorghum shoot fly can also be managed by using various types of traps. The fish meal and hanging type traps can be used for catching the adults of this pest. For each insect pest, there is also available parasitoid or predator in the crop ecosystem. Natural enemies also play an important role in reducing the shoot fly population, considerably. Intercropping of sorghum with other crops attractive to this pest can also be used as trap crop to reduce the shoot fly incidence on main crop. The intercropping also enhances the degree of parasitism. The seed treatment and foliar spray of recommended insecticides can also be used for effective management of sorghum shoot fly. Botanicals like neem oil, NSKE, karanj oil, Azadirachtin
etc are also used widely against sorghum shoot fly which can reduce the pest population to a considerable level without causing any harm to non target organisms. The combination of two or more control practices may be used to suppress the sorghum shoot fly population below economic threshold level.
Key words: DSorghum, Atherigona soccata, seasonal incidence, management