The 17 entries in Laisha's encyclopedia that attack Maize, grouped by type. Each page covers identification, life cycle, the conditions that favour it, action thresholds and integrated management.

Growing Maize? The free Maize grow guide covers the crop from sowing to harvest.

Insect pests

• Bird cherry-oat aphidRhopalosiphum padiInsect · A dark olive-green aphid of wheat, barley, oats, maize and grasses, recognised by a rusty-red patch around…
• Cotton bollworm (Old World bollworm)Helicoverpa armigeraInsect · A moth whose caterpillars bore into the fruiting parts of cotton, chickpea, pigeon pea, tomato, maize and…
• Desert locustSchistocerca gregariaInsect · A large grasshopper that normally lives alone in the deserts between West Africa and India, but after good…
• Fall armywormSpodoptera frugiperdaInsect · Fall armyworm is a moth whose caterpillars eat into the funnel of young maize and other grasses, leaving…
• Maize weevilSitophilus zeamaisInsect · A small brown weevil with a long snout whose larvae grow hidden inside individual grains of stored maize,…
• Rice leaf folderCnaphalocrocis medinalisInsect · The rice leaf folder's caterpillar rolls a rice leaf lengthwise into a tube with silk and feeds inside,…
• Spotted stem borerChilo partellusInsect · A moth whose caterpillars feed first in the whorl of young maize and sorghum, leaving rows of small holes in…
• White grubs (root-feeding chafer larvae)Holotrichia consanguineaInsect · White grubs are the fat, C-shaped, cream-coloured larvae of chafer beetles that live in the soil and eat…
• Whitebacked planthopperSogatella furciferaInsect · A small planthopper with a white stripe down its back that sucks sap from rice plants. It migrates long…

Fungal diseases

• Fusarium head blight (head scab) of wheat and barleyFusarium graminearumFungal disease · Fusarium head blight, or scab, bleaches the ears of wheat and barley when warm, wet weather coincides with…
• Sheath blight of riceRhizoctonia solani AG1-IAFungal disease · Sheath blight is the second most important disease of rice after blast in many regions. Oval grey-green…

Oomycete diseases (water moulds)

• Downy mildews of maize and sorghumPeronosclerospora sorghiOomycete disease · Downy mildews are among the most destructive diseases of maize in tropical Asia and parts of Africa and the…

Virus diseases

• Maize lethal necrosis (MLN)Maize chlorotic mottle virus together with a potyvirusVirus disease · Maize lethal necrosis is caused when maize is infected by maize chlorotic mottle virus together with a second…

Weeds

• Barnyard grassEchinochloa crus-galliWeed · Barnyard grass is the most damaging weed of rice in the world and a serious weed of maize, soybean, cotton…
• Palmer amaranthAmaranthus palmeriWeed · Palmer amaranth is a fast-growing pigweed that has become one of the most damaging and herbicide-resistant…
• Parthenium weed (congress grass)Parthenium hysterophorusWeed · An aggressive annual weed from the Americas with finely divided carrot-like leaves and many small white…

Parasitic plants

• Striga (purple witchweed)Striga hermonthicaParasitic plant · Striga is a parasitic weed that attaches to the roots of sorghum, maize, millet and upland rice and steals…