Influence of Diatraea saccharalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) infestation on sweet sorghum productivity and juice quality

Abstract

Ethanol production from sweet sorghum depends on the quality of the biomass and sugars in the juice extracted from the plant. However, quality may be compromised by Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) or sugarcane borer infestation. This study evaluated the effects of infestation by the pest on sweet sorghum juice productivity and quality. Sorghum variety BRS506 was planted in an experimental area with 4,800 m 2 . Samples were harvested at 115 days after planting and the following variables were evaluated: physical injury caused by the pest in the stalk, juice yield, total soluble solids in the juice and chemical composition. Additionally, the presence of Fusarium sp. in the stalks was checked. A significant difference was detected for juice yield, with lower values found in bored stalks resulting in a 2.62% decrease in juice yield at an infestation intensity of 4.16%. Infestation of D. saccharalis also caused a reduction of 34% in the plant sucrose content and significantly decreased fiber, lignin and ash rates. Infestation by D. saccharalis in sweet sorghum caused a significant reduction of plant height, juice productivity, and was associated with the presence of Fusarium sp., and sugar and fiber reduction.

What is the potential of sugarcane borer in reducing sorghum fitness and grain production?

“…The soil in the region is of the red yellow latosol type, with medium texture and silty (Embrapa, 2013). As the region has historical records of high natural infestations of SCB (Vilela et al., 2017), it was not necessary to carry out artificial infestation in sorghum plants.…”

“…The soil in the region is of the red yellow latosol type, with medium texture and silty (Embrapa, 2013). As the region has historical records of high natural infestations of SCB (Vilela et al, 2017), it was not necessary to carry out artificial infestation in sorghum plants. The grain sorghum hybrids used in the experiments were AG1090, BRS373, and DKB590; these hybrids were chosen because they belong to the main seed-producing companies in the country and were the most planted in recent crop seasons (Menezes et al, 2018).…”

“…Within the integrated pest management (IPM) approach, it is important to use different and complementary tactics for the control of sorghum key pests such as SCB in order to reduce the damage caused to grain production (Mendes et al., 2014; Vilela et al., 2017). Plants naturally possess differences in terms of defence to insect pests, that is, plant genotypes can present higher or lower levels of resistance and tolerance to pest attack, which can be expressed in a constitutive or induced manner (Armstrong et al., 2016; Baldin & Bentivenha, 2019; Bastos et al., 2015; Gatehouse, 2002).…”

“…Within the integrated pest management (IPM) approach, it is important to use different and complementary tactics for the control of sorghum key pests such as SCB in order to reduce the damage caused to grain production (Mendes et al, 2014;Vilela et al, 2017).…”