Shootfly in sorghum

The adult of shoot fly is a small, gray colored fly and looks like a house fly

Shoot fly deposits small (2 mm) white, cigar-shaped eggs, singly on the undersurface of the leaf.

After hatching in 2-3 days, the maggot (Fig.) enters the plant through the whorl and destroy the growing point.

 

The larval period lasts for 8-10 days.

Crop damage

As a result of larval feeding, the central leaf wilts and later dries up, giving the typical deadheart symptom

 

The deadheart can be easily pulled out and, at the base, emits a bad smell.

The young whitish yellow maggot feeds only on the decaying tissue. Normally the damage occurs from 1 week to about 1 month after crop emergence. If the attack occurs a little later, plants may produce side tillers that may also be attacked

Late sowing during the rainy season increases the likelihood of attack.

  Management

Shoot fly infestation can be avoided by early sowing to avoid the active period of shoot fly population. If the sowings are completed within 7-10 days of the onset of the monsoon rains, the crop can escape from shoot fly infestation. In the rabi season, sowing between September end to October first week relatively reduces the shoot fly infestation. If early sowing could not be carried out, then use high seed rate. While thinning the crop, remove the seedlings with deadhearts and keep the optimum plant stand in the field.

Select and grow resistant varieties if delayed sowing is unavoidable. During the off-season, the shoot fly survives on volunteer or fodder sorghums, and also on weeds like barnyard grass.

 

So, pulling out such plants can avoid later problem from shoot fly. Under late plantings, control the shoot fly by the application of either Carbofuran 3 g or Phorate 10G at 20 kg/ha at the time of planting in the seed furrows. Alternatively, shoot fly damage can be minimized by spraying with Endosulfan 35 EC using 2mL in 1L water/ha at 7 and 14 day after the emergence of seedlings.