Grain mold of sorghum
Grains turn pink, white and fluffy, or black when rain falls during flowering and grain filling, and they crumble at threshing.
Crops it strikes
What you see
When to act
In wet weather from flowering to grain fill, check 20 heads at each of five spots twice a week. A protectant spray at flowering helps only a little. When mold shows, harvest as soon as the grain is mature, marked by a black spot at the grain base, and dry it fast.
What to spray
Active ingredients only, never brands. The FRAC group tells how it works: switch to a different group next time, so the disease does not learn to survive it. Spray only when the damage is worth the cost, and only with products registered with the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority for your crop. Follow the label. The Shopee and Lazada links only show who sells something with that active ingredient, not a recommendation of any seller or product.
How to prevent it
- Time planting so the grain fills and ripens in dry weather.
- Choose varieties with hard, colored grain or loose heads, which mold less.
- Harvest at maturity without delay, and dry the grain down to 12 to 13 percent moisture.
- Control head bugs and caterpillars that break the grain open for the fungi.
- Rotate with a crop that is not a grass, and clean up crop residue.
Not sure it is this one?
Many diseases look alike. Send a photo to Anee, the smart farm technician in anee.io. She reads it with your crop, its age and the weather, and tells you what it most likely is and what to do first. In Tagalog or English.