Abstract:
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) is very important crop in Ethiopia especially in lowland areas and storage pests are the main cause of post-harvest quality and quantity losses of the sorghum crop. The objective of this study was to assess the status of storage insect pest infestation, damage and evaluate the efficacy of the locally available botanicals for the management of Stophilus oryzae at Jawi district, North West, Ethiopia. A Cross-sectional study design was conducted to assess storage insect pest infestation status on Sorghum. The treatments were arranged using completely Randomized Design (CRD) and replicated three times. The data was collected through interview questionnaire survey; farmer sorghum storage visit and experiment using botanicals for the management of Rice Weevil Stophilus oryzae. The result of the respondents showed that most important insect pests of stored sorghum were Rice Weevil S. oryzae (57%), maize weevil 17% and other pests 26%. During storage assessment 100% store infestation was observed. The species of storage insect pests identified during farmers storage visit were Rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae), Maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais), Angoumois grain moth (Sitotroga cerealella), and flour beetle (Tribolium castenum), Flat grain beetles (Cryptolestes ferugineus) and Saw-toothed grain beetle (Oryzaephilus surinamensis). The average grain weight loss (3.63%), physical grain damage (7.22%), germination speed index (46.36%) and germination percentage of 68.75% were recorded. In experimental obtained results revealed that all tested materials were exhibited significant (p<0.05) superior in mortality rate against S.oryzae. Efficacy percentage of botanical reveals that Neem seed powder