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Fifty-Five Years of Research on the Sorghum Shootfly

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Abstract

The sorghum shootfly, Atherigona soccata Rondani, is the main species of Atherigona attacking cultivated and wild species of Sorghum in Africa and Asia. The past 55 years’ research on the pest has produced means for its management. The bionomics of A. soccata are well known and are being applied for its cultural control by adjusting planting dates. Natural enemies of the shootfly are few and their biology little known. The systemic insecticide carbofuran as a seed and seed furrow treatment provides effective fly control where the cost-benefit is favorable. Sources of host plant resistance to shootfly have been recognized for about 35 years. Incorporation of this resistance in high yielding varieties through plant breeding should be more rapid now that the mechanisms of resistance and their inheritance, through additive gene action, are better understood. These resistance factors include non-preference for oviposition, antibiosis and recovery through tillering.

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  1. Rockefeller Foundation, G.P.O. Box 2453, Bangkok, Thailand

    W. R. Young

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Young, W.R. Fifty-Five Years of Research on the Sorghum Shootfly. Int J Trop Insect Sci 2, 3–9 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742758400002095

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