Sugarcane Ninth to tenth week practices

• Irrigation should be given in the ninth week.

Top Borer: 

Symptoms:

• Larvae are Smooth, white or cream colored with a red colored mid – dorsal line and yellow head. White colored moth (with a buff orange colored anal tuft of hairs in female).
• Parallel rows of short holes in the emerging leaves causes a white streak which later turns reddish brown. Dead hearts in grown up canes are reddish brown in color which cannot be easily pulled. In the tillering phase of the crop, the attacked shoots die, side shoots (tillers) develop producing a bunchy top appearance.

Management:

Cultural control: 

Grow resistant varieties like-CO 419, CO 745, CO 6516, CO 859, CO 1158 and CO 7224. Autumn planted crops suffer less than spring planted and ratoon crops. 

Mechanical Control: 

Collection and destruction of adult moths egg masses and dead hearts of top borer. Use of pheromone traps @ 4-5m in No/acre for monitoring coinciding with brood emergence. Installation of light trap @ 1 in (Nos.) / acre. 

Biological Control: 

Release of Trichogramma spp. @ 20,000/acre 2-3 times at 10 days interval. 

Chemical Control: 

Chlorantraniliprole 18.5% SC @150 ml dissolve in 250-300 lit. of water/acre. Carbofuran 3% CG @ 8-10 kg/acre or Chlorantraniliprole 0.4% GR @ 7.5 Kg/acre.