Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service (AgriLife) warns Concho Valley grain sorghum growers to monitor crops for sugarcane aphids. The pests are on the move and have acquired a taste for grain sorghum.
“The pest left the Rio Grande Valley and moved into the Blacklands and Northern Blacklands areas of Texas earlier this summer. They were found last week in Coleman and San Saba counties,” said Rick Minzenmayer, AgriLife Extension entomologist. “Now, they’ve moved west into Runnels, Tom Green and Concho counties,” reported in AgriLife Today.
Fields in the Concho Valley haven’t been treated, but need to be monitored regularly. If and when the pest reaches infestation threshold, fields can be treated. The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) approved a Section 18 emergency use permit of Transform, the only insecticide currently effective.
The sugarcane aphids prefer more tropical conditions. The aphids are tan to cream colored and initially colonize the undersides of leaves near the bottom of the plant. They move up the plant with colony growth.
Aphid infestation results in low crop yields, reduced seed set, plant seedlings lost and harvest machinery failures from profuse honeydew, the insect’s sticky excrement.