Description:

• It is primarily a dry-season pest but can be active throughout the year.
• The pest attacks sweet corn during early vegetative growth, tunnelling within the stem and stalks, potentially lowering yields by as much as 25-30%.

Damage Symptoms:

• Small holes and "window-pane" patterns are found in the leaves due to feeding by larvae.
• Tunnelling by the stalk causes deadheart symptoms, where the centre whorl of the plant wilts and dies.
• Damage to stems weakens the plant, leading to lodging and poor ear development.
• Ears are also directly damaged, reducing grain quality.

Preventive Control:

• Practice crop rotation to break the life cycle of the pest.

Control Measures:

• Mix carbofuran 3G in the soil at sowing time to reduce stem borer populations.
• Apply chlorpyrifos at 2 ml/l or bifenthrin at 0.8 ml/l as a foliar spray.