RA 00110.pdf - OAR@ICRISAT

Table 1. Rankings of research priorities for pearl millet
diseases.
Pathogen
Downy milew
Smut
Ergot
Striga
Rust
Location
Indian
subcontinent
1
3
2
5
4
West
Africa
1
3
4
2
5
artificial rearing of stem borers and head caterpillars
should receive top priority. Mechanisms and
inheritance of resistance should be an essential
component of crop improvement programs.
• Biological control research to determine the most
efficient natural enemies should be started. Efforts
should be made to develop simple techniques for
encouraging indigenous natural enemies, along
with efforts to introduce and evaluate exotic natural
enemies.
• An insect-resistance nursery should be assembled
and made available to entomologists and breeders.
Genetic Stocks
• Biotechniques to select and preserve diseaseresistant
materials should be developed and
documented.
Insects
Data Collection
• Knowledge of pearl millet insect pests is incomplete.
Pest surveys to determine the major insect
pests and associated crop losses need to be conducted
in the pearl millet growing areas of Asia
and Africa. Economic thresholds for the major
pests such as stem borers, head caterpillars,
shootflies, and other locally or regionally important
insect pests should be determined.
• Appropriate techniques to assess the extent of
losses from major insect pests need to be developed.
• Population fluctuations of important insect pests
should be studied in relation to environmental
conditions, using appropriate population monitoring
techniques (e.g., fishmeal-baited traps for
shootfly, and light traps for stem borers, army
worms, and head caterpillars.
• Other control methods (e.g., cultural and chemical)
may be studied and recommended locally
and regionally.
Birds
• Efforts should be made to develop simple techniques
to avoid crop losses caused by birds.
Support for Researchers
• A map showing the distribution of pearl millet
pests (diseases, insects, and Striga) should be
prepared.
• There is a need for an illustrated booklet detailing
pearl millet pests.
• An international working group meeting on pearl
millet pest problems should be held in 1989 to
design an effective strategy for integrated pest
management.
• Special training courses on pearl millet pest management
should be available.
Control
• Because chemical and other insect pest control
methods are limited, major emphasis should be
placed on host-plant resistance. Techniques to
screen for host-plant resistance to insect pests
should be developed. To accomplish this task,
Pearl Millet Breeding Research in Africa
This group first prioritized all production constraints
by region and rainfall zone, and then divided
them into two groups:
• those which could be alleviated by breeding, and
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