Monthly Archives: February 2020

Ergot

(Claviceps spp.) Credits: Biovision-Infonet Cream to pink sticky “honeydew” droplets ooze out of infected florets on panicles. Within 10 to 15 days, the droplets dry and harden, and dark brown to black sclerotia (fungal fruiting bodies) develop in place of seeds on the panicle. Sclerotia are larger than seed and irregularly shaped, and generally get […]

Storage pests: The Lesser Grain Borer and the Khapra Beetle

(Rhyzopertha dominica) (Trogoderma granarium) Credits: Biovision-Infonet Grains of pearl millet are attacked by major pests such as the lesser grain borer and the khapra beetle. For this reason, the popular concept that millets are hardly susceptible to damage by storage insect pests is erroneous, except for the very small-grained millets such as tef and fonio. […]

Millet Grasshoppers

Credits: Biovision-Infonet Several species of grasshoppers attack millets. Short-horned grasshoppers include Zonocerus spp, Oedaleus senegalensis, Kraussaria angulifera, Hieroglyphus daganensis, Diabolocantatops axillaris among others. The long horned edible grasshopper (Homorocoryphus niditulus) is a pest in East Africa. Grasshoppers defoliate and eat the panicles. They are not of economic importance when present in low numbers. However, invasion […]

Shoot Fly

(Atherigona soccata) Credits: Biovision-Infonet Sorghum shoot fly, (Atherigona soccata), is a particularly nasty pest of sorghum in Asia, Africa, and the Mediterranean area. Females lay single cigar-shaped eggs on the undersides of leaves at the 1- to 7-leaf stage. The eggs hatch after only a day or two of incubation, and the larvae cut the […]

Millet Head Miner

(Heliocheilus albipunctella) Credits: Biovision-Infonet It is the most important insect pest of pearl millet in the Sahel. Moths deposit their eggs on the heads of millet, preferring half-emerged and fully-emerged flowering heads. The caterpillars mine into the seeds of the millet head, damaging the millet panicle (i.e. the flower head, where the grain is formed). […]

Millet Stemborers

Credits: Biovision-Infonet Several species of stemborers attack millet including the millet stemborer (Coniesta ignefusalis), the maize stalkborer (Busseola fusca), the spotted stalkborer (Chilo partellus), and the pink stalkborer (Sesamia calamitis). Stemborer caterpillars bore into stems of millets disrupting the flow of nutrient from the roots to the upper parts of plants. Attack on young millet […]

Millet Production

Credits: Biovision-Infonet Scientific Name: Panicum miliaceum Order / Family: Cyperales: Poaceae Local Names: Mawele (Swahili) Pests & Diseases: African armyworm, African maize stalkborer, Blast, Crazy top downy mildew, Ergot, Grasshoppers, Long smut, Mealybugs, Millet head miner, Shoot fly, Stemborers, Storage pests Other pests: Downy mildew, Fusarium wilt, Purple witchweed Geographical Distribution in Africa General Information and Agronomic Aspects Millets refers to a group of annual grasses mainly found in […]

Cassava Information Source Links

Credits: Biovision-Infonet AIC (2002). Field Crops Technical Handbook, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nairobi, Kenya. Bellotti, A., Smith, L., Lapointe S. (1999). Recent advances in cassava pest management. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 44: 343-70. Bohlen, E. (1973). Crop pests in Tanzania and their control. Federal Agency for Economic Cooperation (bfe). Verlag Paul Parey. ISBN: 3-489-64826-9 […]