The sorghum midge, Contarina Sorghicola COQ, is an important pest of sorghum in the Tihama Region of Yemen. Five sorghum cultivars were selected from ICRISAT International Sorghum Midge Screening Nursery “ISMN” (1985) and tested along with three local cultivars in a randomized block design with four replicates in 3.4x4m plot size. The local cultivars (Qaera, Sepon and Zaer) were used as controls. The percentage of midge damaged grains and healthy grains were recorded from six panicles selected at random. Five lines from ICRISAT-ISMN were found more resistant than the local cultivars, and higher in yield as compared to local varieties. The cultivar IS-3461 appeared to be the most midge resistant amongst the cultivars tested. For this cultivar the maximum damage in 3 years was 2%, compared to 6% in the other ICRISAT cultivar IS-19512 and 35% in the local cultivar Zaer.
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