How can sorghum stem borers be controlled effectively?
How can sorghum stem borers be controlled well? Please provide guidance on methods to control sorghum stem borers. They are the main pests damaging sorghum and corn. Sorghum stem borers overwinter as mature larvae inside sorghum and corn stalks, and a few also overwinter in corn cobs. Adults are phototactic; in spring they mostly lay eggs during the whorl stage, while in summer they lay eggs during the corn tasseling...
How can sorghum stem borers be controlled well? Please provide guidance on control methods.Sorghum stem borers are the main pests damaging sorghum and corn. Sorghum stem borers overwinter as mature larvae inside sorghum and corn stalks, and a few also overwinter in corn cobs. Adults are phototactic; in spring they mostly lay eggs during the whorl stage, while in summer they lay eggs during the corn tasseling stage. Newly hatched larvae crawl quickly; when sorghum and corn seedlings are small, damaged plants show dead hearts. Inside damaged stalks there are often several to more than ten larvae tunneling into the stalk tissue, mostly feeding in a ring pattern, making plants prone to wind breakage. You can refer to the following methods for control:
I. Handle overwintering hosts to reduce the pest source base. Before pupation, compost corn and sorghum straw at high temperature or use it as biogas material to eliminate overwintering pest sources.
II. Chemical control. 1. Apply 25% Guangzhi emulsifiable concentrate per mu mixed with 50 kg of water and spray during the whorl stage. 2. Use phoxim poisoned soil with 0.2% active ingredient, applied into the whorl of sorghum during the whorl stage, which has a very good control effect. 3. Pay attention to safety when using chemicals on sorghum; dichlorvos and trichlorfon are sensitive to sorghum and prone to causing phytotoxicity, so they must not be used.
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