AGRIBIZ:-

✨️✨️DEALING WITH MAIZE 🌾STEM BORERS IN THE MAIZE FIELD 🌽 💚💚

✅️Maize stem borers are a group of insect pests🐛🪱 that damage maize plants by feeding inside the stems, leading to weakened plants, reduced yield, and sometimes plant death.

✅️These pests lay eggs🥚 on maize leaves, and the larvae bore into the stem, disrupting water and nutrient flow.

HOW TO DEAL WITH A MAIZE STEM BORERS INFESTATION

1.🌽 CULTURAL CONTROL

✅️CROP ROTATION: Plant non-host crops (e.g., legumes🌱) to break the pest's life cycle.

✅️INTERCROPPING: Growing maize with Desmodium or Napier grass (push-pull method) repels borers and attracts natural predators.

✅️EARLY PLANTING: Sowing maize early in the season reduces infestation risk.

✅️Proper Field Sanitation: Remove and destroy maize stalks after harvest to prevent pests from overwintering.

2.🌽 BIOLOGICAL CONTROL

✅️NATURAL ENEMIES: Introduce parasitoids like Cotesia flavipes (wasp) to attack larvae.

✅️BT MAIZE: Planting maize genetically modified with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxin helps control borers.

3.🌽 MECHANICAL CONTROL

✅️Handpicking: Remove and destroy affected plant parts if infestation is low.

✅️TRAPS AND LIGHT TRAPS: Use pheromone traps to monitor and reduce moth populations.

4.🌽 CHEMICAL CONTROL

✅️INSECTICIDES: If infestation is severe, apply appropriate insecticides such as Lambda-cyhalothrin or Chlorantraniliprole. Always follow recommended application rates to avoid resistance.

✅️NEEM-BASED PESTICIDES: Spraying neem extract can reduce egg-laying and feeding.