Management of tef shoot fly, Atherigona hyalinipennis (Reg.) (Diptera: Muscidae) on tef at Ambo, West Showa of Ethiopia

Tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter: Poaceae] is one of the major cereal crop and stable food crop of Ethiopia where it originated and diversified. Tef shoot fly (Atherigona hyalinipennis) is a serious pest of tef grown on black clay soils. Therefore, the present study was taken to assess the status of tef shoot fly on both row planted and broadcasted tef at small-scale farm. The experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Kuncho (Dz-Cr-387) variety was used for the experiment. Six treatments [two botanical extracts (Nicotiana sp. and Azadirachta indica) and two entomopathogenic fungi, (Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae) were evaluated against tef shoot flies. The result shows that all the treatments were significant (P≤ 0.05) from untreated control. Nicotiana sp.  exhibited high mortality rate on both broadcast and row planted tef to a level of 80.09 and 82.59%, respectively. However, A. indica showed high mortality rate only for tef planted in rows (77.7%). Metarhizium anisopliae caused high mortality rate only in tef planted in rows. The highest yield loss (9.03%) was recorded in broadcasted on M. anisophliae followed by untreated control and in row planted B. bassiana and M. anisophliae were estimated as 8.03 and 8.23%, respectively. Hence, all treatments gave promising efficacy percent and can be used for tef shoot fly management under field conditions.   Key words: Botanicals, Metarhizium anisopliae, Beauveria bassiana, tef shoot fly, management.