Species Composition and Status of Stored Sorghum Pests in Traditional Farmer’s Storages of Kena District of Koso Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Aim: To determine the species composition and status pests of stored sorghum under traditional storages of farmers in Kenna district of Konso Zone of Southern Ethiopia.
 Study Design: From peasant association, about three sub-localities were randomly selected and from each sub-locality, three villages were selected at random with using a nested design.
 Place and Duration of Study: Survey was conducted between 1, August to 27, December 2019 in four major sorghum growing peasant association of Kenna district of Southern Ethiopia.
 Methodology: The study on determination of the species composition and status pests of stored sorghum was made from of half kilogram of wheat grain sample taken from 720 stores of randomly selected representative farmer’s storages of four peasant associations using key of books related to stored product insects.
 Results: Fifteen arthropods species consisting of twelve primary and secondary pests and three natural enemies belonging to four insect orders with in nine families were recorded. Of which, nine species such as S. zeamais, S. oryzae, S. cerealella, T. castaneum, T. confusum, C. ferrugineus, C. pusillus, R. dominica and P. interpunctella, respectively were found to be the most abundant as they appeared between 3.47 and 19.44 individuals per 100 g of sampled grains. They were also found to be the most frequently occurring as they occurred in the range between 63.89 and 94.44% per 100 g of sample grain collected from survey site and had major pest status.
 Conclusion: The traditional methods and practices used by farmers were inefficient for providing adequate protection of their stored sorghum grain pests. Therefore, there is urgent need for designing effective management strategies against insect pest’s sorghum as well as improving the existing farmer’s traditional storage strictures in the survey site in order to reduce the loss of stored sorghum by insect pests and the associated food insecurity.

The distribution of insect pests and the associated loss of stored sorghum in the Kena district of Konso Zone, South-Western Ethiopia

“…For assessing pests' infestations, the main variables have been abundance (distribution), relative abundance, and Constance (frequency of occurrence) of species found in samples [11,15,[25][26][27]. Accordingly, the prevalence (distribution) of pests in the study sites was calculated by dividing the total number of individuals of a species by the total number of samples (in this case, the total kilograms of the grain samples collected).…”

“…Ethiopia is the second-largest producer of sorghum in Africa, following Sudan. Sorghum is one of the major staple crops grown in the poorest and most food-insecure regions nationally [8][9][10][11]. It is grown at a wide range of elevations, from lowlands to highlands, i.e., in nearly all parts of the country.…”

“…Furthermore, Ethiopia is frequently considered the center of domestication due to her possession of the greatest genetic diversity for both cultivated and wild forms [8,13]. Hence, it is serving to sustain food and nutritional security [8,11,12]. Nevertheless, in spite of the aforementioned numerous benefits, the production and storage of sorghum are affected by an array of abiotic and biotic constraints.…”

“…Besides, in-depth research to increase the capacity and effectiveness of the commonly used traditional storage structures and management practices could improve the post-harvest management strategy for a given crop under specific storage conditions. This could also aid in the development of new and improved technologies that the community could adopt [11,15].…”

First record of the invasive alien species Cynaeus angustus (LeConte, 1851) (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) in Bulgaria

“…The affinity of this pest to stored corn is well-defined, but it has been regularly found in a wide variety of stored products (Krall & Decker, 1946;Dunkel et al,1982) and some man-made habitats, for instance: wheat, barley, oats, sorghum, rice, soybeans, different types of flour, dried fruits, nuts, tobacco, crops in field, crop residues (e. g. cotton gin trash piles, waste grain, mill waste, cutted grass), potatoes (rotten), pulpwood, animal feed, poultry houses and other domestic animal areas, dead animals, animal manure, compost, worm beds, farm grain bins, grain elevators, flour mills, greenhouses, peanut warehouses, railroad cars, bakeries, retail stores, mausoleums, human residences, etc. (Hatch, 1940;Krall & Decker, 1946;Barak et al, 1981;Dunkel et al, 1982;Semple, 1986;Dunford & Young, 2004;Reibnitz & Schawaller, 2006;Nansen et al, 2008;Hagstrum et al, 2013;Hong & Yun, 2017;Kadej et al, 2019;Pütz, 2020;GBIF, 2022). Furthermore, larvae are also able to digest a very wide range of foods supported by proteinases from serine, cysteine and aspartic classes (Oppert et al, 2006).…”