Influence of Climatic Factors on the Incidence of Stem Borer Infesting Sorghum
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48165/aabr.2026.3.02.09Keywords:
Correlation, dead heart incidence, population dynamics, regression analysis, stem borer, weather parametersAbstract
The study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of abiotic factors on the incidence of Chilo partellus during summer, kharif and rabi seasons of 2024-25 in the hot semi-arid zone of Banaskantha district, Gujarat. The highest mean stem borer infestation was recorded in summer season (11.80% dead hearts), followed by kharif (9.48% dead hearts) and rabi (7.95% dead hearts). Peak dead heart incidence was observed during 19th SMW i.e., second week of May (36.67%) in summer, 34th SMW i.e., 4th week of August (30.00%) in kharif and 1st SMW i.e., 1st week of January (26.67%) in rabi, with a single population peak recorded in each season. Correlation analysis indicated that bright sunshine hours exhibited a significant positive association with stem borer incidence during summer, whereas maximum temperature showed a significant negative association during both kharif and rabi. In kharif season, higher maximum relative humidity was associated with increased stem borer incidence. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the selected weather parameters accounted for 36.00%, 78.00% and 59.00% of the variation in stem borer incidence during all seasons, respectively. Overall, the study emphasizes the crucial contribution of abiotic factors to the seasonal dynamics of C. partellus populations in sorghum.
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