Abstract

The experiment was done for two years on tef shoot fly (Atherigona spp.) hot spot areas of Sekota, Ethiopia, with the objective of selecting effective and economically feasible insecticides. Five insecticides were evaluated on DZ-01-99 variety of Eragrostis tef in randomized complete block design with three replications. Insecticides were applied twice; seven days after emergence of E. tef and 10 days after first application. The result revealed that applications of insecticides were found biologically effective and economically feasible over the unsprayed control. The lowest number of dead heart of 2.82 and 3.09 were recorded on those plots treated with Lambda cyhalothrin and chlorpyrifos-ethyl which gave the highest yield 1267.59 and 1225.77 kg ha-1, respectively. Therefore, we recommended judicious use of chlorpyrifos-ethyl and Lambda cyhalothrin 5% EC at a rate of 1.5 L and 0.4 L ha-1, respectively, for the management of tef shoot fly.

Keywords: Atherigona spp; Eragrostis tef; Tef; Ethiopia