Molasses grass attacks crop pests

14 August 1997

Molasses grass attacks crop pests

Molasses grass has been found to prevent devastating pest damage to maize and sorghum crops, Nature magazine reports.

The plant releases chemical signals that attract predatory wasps that attack the pests.

The research was conducted at Rothamsted and the Nairobi-based International Centre of Insect Physicology and Ecology.

The plant has cut damage to crops to about 5% in trials in Kenya.