This archive report was first published on 16 July 2020.
Published on July 16, 2020, a study by researchers from the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe) and its partners has made a groundbreaking discovery in the fight against stem borers.
Stem borers are notorious pests that cause yield losses of between 10 and 100 per cent in cereal crops such as maize, rice, sorghum, sugarcane, and pearl millet.
The researchers, who analyzed the genetic makeup of 146 different types of maize plants, found that certain varieties can trigger a defense reaction when stem borers lay eggs on them.
According to Dr. Amanuel Tamiru, a scientist at Icipe, the plants recruit both egg and larval parasitic wasps, which kill the stemborer eggs before they hatch into larvae, thus preventing damage on the crop.
This discovery offers possibilities for developing maize varieties that are resistant to stem-borers, providing a much-needed solution to the devastating effects of these pests.
