Relative susceptibility of pearl millet varieties and hybrids to Tribolium castaneum Herbst, Sitophilus oryzae Linn. and Rhizopertha dominica Fab. in storage

Varietal differences in pearl millet to three major stored pests, viz., Tribolium castaneum Herbst, Sitophilus oryzae Linn. and Rhizopertha dominica Fab., were significant. The average number of adult emergence in different varieties ranged from 3.7 (ICTP 8203) to 16.3 (HHB 67), 2.0 (ICTP 8203) to 21.7 (HHB 67), and 2.7 (ICTP 8203) to 25.7 (HHR 67) in the case of T. castaneum, S. oryzae and R. dominica, respectively. The corresponding percentage of grain damage by three pests varied from 0.9 to 5.5; 1.1 to 3.0 and 1.6 to 3.4, respectively and WCC 75 was the least susceptible to all the three pests. However, it was not significantly different from ICTP 8203. Hybrid HHB 67 was most susceptible, recording maximum damage due to all the three pests and was significantly inferior to ITCP 8203 and WCC 75. Maximum damage was caused by S. oryzae, followed by R. dominica and T. castaneum.