Louisiana State University (LSU) researchers explore various strategies for curtailing the sugarcane aphids’ destruction of grain sorghum crops through a delicate balancing act between many variables, including attempts to preserve beneficial insects that attack aphids. However, development of resistant hybrids and use of effective insecticides are the most important tools in the arsenal.
LSU AgCenter researchers have been testing seed treatments and analyzing post-emergence insecticides for combating sugarcane aphids. But LSU AgCenter researchers say effective hybrid varieties are the ultimate defense against an onslaught of sugarcane aphids.
Gerald Myers, an LSU AgCenter plant breeder and genetics professor, had to transition from his normal crop, cotton, and begin efforts to develop good-yielding sorghum hybrids suitable to Louisiana’s climate with resistance to the aphids.
More information is available here: http://www.lsuagcenter.com/news_archive/2015/August/headline_news/Researchers-combat-sugarcane-aphids-in-grain-sorghum-.htm
