Efficacy of Food Bait Attractants in Reducing Sitophilus oryzae Populations in Stored Paddy

The rice weevil ( L.), a major pest of stored grains, relies heavily on olfactory cues for host selection and Sitophilus oryzae localization.This study evaluated the behavioral responses and attraction efficiency of to various food-based baits under laboratory S. oryzae conditions using olfactometer bioassays, trap-based assessments and bait ratio trials.Bait traps filled with different food attractants wheat flour, sorghum flour, pearl millet flour and combinations thereof were deployed in a simulated storage environment.Observations over 25 days revealed that wheat flour was the most attractive bait, achieving a total attraction rate of 64.70%, followed by sorghum flour (58.71%).Combination bait trials demonstrated that a 2:1:1 ratio (wheat flour: sorghum flour: pearl millet flour) yielded the highest insect recapture (181 out of 700 released), indicating optimal arresting efficacy.Four-arm olfactometer assays further confirmed the strong olfactory-driven orientation of towards wheat and sorghum volatiles.Behavioral observations showed a peak in insect settling at 25 minutes after S. oryzae release (MAR) and highest retention on wheat-based substrates.The results suggest that wheat and sorghum flours can serve as highly effective attractants for the monitoring and management of in stored grain systems.This study provides a foundation for the S. oryzae development of sustainable, bait-based pest control strategies in post-harvest storage environments.