Sorghum shoot fly and its management

Do you cultivate Sorghum and your field has been attacked by Sorghum shoot flies? And if you want to get rid of this, then today we will talk about  Shoot Fly in which we will tell you about the nature of the damage, life cycle, and its management.

 shoot fly is an insect of the order Diptera, whose scientific name is Atherigona soccata, its larvae attack the growing shoot of the sorghum crop.

Sorghum shoot fly

Shoot Fly Nature of damage 

 The maggots of shoot fly to attack the seedling stage of the sorghum crop. And maggots eat seedling leaves to the growing stage, which destroys the growing point. Due to this, the central shoot dies and this type of symptom is called dead heart.

Atherigona soccata damage

• The maggots cause damage to seedlings as well as the early stage of the crop. when it is in the sin leaf stage.
• After sin weeks of sowing the crop is rarely attacked. the maggots feed on the main shoot with the resulting growing point being destroyed.
• The death of the Central shoot caused a typical system called dead hurt. The damaged seedling may be killed or it may produce a few non-productive tillers.
• When the plants are attacked at a somewhat older age, the tillers are produced which mature later than the main crop; it may cause loss to the crop as high as 60%.
• Extremes of temperature and heavy continuous rain adversely affect the population of shoot fly; its ETL is 10% dead heart or 1 egg per plant.

The life cycle of shoot fly

Sorghum suit fly has four developmental stages which are Egg, Larva, Pupa, and Adult.

Egg stage of Shoot Fly

This is the first development stage of shoot fly. In this, the adult female lays eggs on sorghum leaves.

• The adult female of the shoot flies lays whitish cigar-shaped eggs, which are 1.2 mm in length. The shoot fly lays its eggs in the leaves of the seedling.
• Generally, sorghum gamut suet flies lay their eggs mostly in the central leaves. It lays only one or two eggs on each seedling.
• The Eggs are provided with two wings – like lateral projection. The incubation of eggs varies from one to two days.

Larva stage of Shoot Fly

This is the second developmental stage of  Shoot Fly in which eggs are hatched, and tiny maggots are released which destroy the central suit.

• The newly hatched maggots emerge between the Sheath and the Axis and damage the suit.
• The maggots of the shoot fly are dirty whitish, which develop inside the suit after eating decaying tissue. Its larval period ends in 6 to 10 days.
• The developed larva is yellow which is 5.5 to 5.6 in length.

Pupa stage of  Shoot Fly

  p+is the third developmental stage of Sorghum Shoot Fly in which the full-grown maggots remain inside the pupal stem or go into the soil.

• The full-grown maggots pupae either inside the stamp or come out and people in the soil.
• The pupal period of shoot fly-ends in 6 to 9 days. The colour of its pupa is light brown in the beginning and later it looks deep brown.
• The pupa is of obtect type and its interior end is around and is fitted with a circular disc bearing with the two spiracles.

The adult stage of Shoot Fly

This sorghum suit is the last development stage of Fly.

• The adult shoot fly is 5 mm long. Identified by the presence of 3 pairs of black spots on the pale grey abdomen.
• The adult sorghum shoot fly is more active in the early morning and evening. The adults usually survive 3 to 4 days.
• The sorghum shoot fly completes its life cycle in 14-23 days. And it has many generations in 1 year. In Northern India, the pest overwinters in the pupal stage.

Management of Shoot Fly

Sorghum causes great damage to the crop by shoot fly, so to avoid it, we should use the following methods.

chemical control of sorghum shoot fly

• A high seed rate (12.5kg/ha) may be used.
• Roughing of attack plants on the appearance of a dead heart.
• Resistant varieties viz; CSH-7,CSH-8,CSH-15,and CO1 may be grown to reduce the damage.
• Ploughing should be done immediately after harvest to destroy and remove the stable.
• After the crop is 30 days old, use TNAU Low-Cost Fish Meal Trap @12/ha. and also use sorghum insecticides.
• seed treatment with imidacloprid 70WS@10g/kg of seed.
• If you liked this information about shoot fly, then you must share it with your friend, if you have any doubt about it, then definitely tell in the comment below.

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