Early Shoot Borers (Chilo Infescatellus)
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Symptoms
- Larvae enter through one or more holes on the stalk and bore down wards as well as upwards killing the growing point.
- Excessive tunnelling my result into death of terminal growing point( Dead heart)
- Weakened cane stalks lodge
- Dead hearts are easily pulled out and emits a foul smell
Management
- Early planting to avoid hot months when infestation is high
- Earthing up during early stages of crop growth
- Trash mulching
- Pulling out dead hearts and killing the larvae with a spoke
- Intercropping sugarcane with legumes like cowpea or repellent plant such as silver leaf desmodium (Desmodium uncinatum) and a trap plant, such as Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum), as a border crop around this intercrop to protect maize from stemborers. The trap plant draws the adult female away from the crop. More eggs are laid on the trap plant than on the crop but the larvae develop poorly or not at all on the trap plant. This practice is known as "push-pull"