Pest and disease control for sugarcane
Case 1 A stormy week after the cut - 1
Pick the plot first Open a new chat and tap Plots (All) under the question box. Choose the plot you want advice for. ORTH then works from that plot’s crop, variety, soil and documents, and from the farm weather. For sugarcane Pick one plot of one variety and one cut. We picked Talhão 1: RB867515 on 12.64 ha of clay soil near Sertãozinho, planted in March 2023 as 18-month cane and harvested for the third time on 18 August 2026, green, with the straw left on the field. Every number below is for that plot. - 2
Start from the Crop Protection button Pick the plot, then tap Crop Protection. ORTH offers questions such as a disease prevention plan from this week’s weather, a check before harvest and export, or the next spray rotation from your last 60 days. Tap one to ask it. For sugarcane After a green harvest the straw stays on the field. It keeps the soil moist, which helps the ratoon, and it also shelters pests and keeps wet patches wet for longer. - 3
Ask for a plan from this week’s weather We tapped Build a disease prevention plan using this week’s weather. ORTH planned 7 actions from 5 to 10 November. The critical days are 7 to 9 November: 55.1 mm of rain, then another 9.3 mm, with humidity up to 82.9%, which means long leaf wetness and waterlogging on clay. It scheduled a symptom baseline with photos on 5 November, drains cleared before the rain, no machinery, cutting or foliar sprays during the storm, and a full scout once the soil is firm enough to walk on. There was no disease on record, so it scheduled no fungicide. - 4
Save the proposal as actions When ORTH proposes a plan, tap Review to see every action with its date, category and instructions. Change or add actions if you need to, then tap Create. The actions land in the plot’s plans, ready to assign to someone on your team. For sugarcane On Talhão 1 this saved 7 actions, from the baseline walk on 5 November to a containment step on 10 November: flag any suspect zone, keep stalks and straw from leaving it, clean tools and footwear, and treat only after a diagnosis and with a product registered in Brazil for sugarcane and that use. Case 2 Root spittlebug under the straw - 5
Count live nymphs per metre of row We asked how to monitor root spittlebug now that the rains start on a field with straw. Walk fixed zigzag routes, with extra points in low areas, compacted headlands, thick straw and old hotspots. At each point, part the straw and check the stool base and surface roots. Count the live nymphs inside the foam, since foam alone does not tell you how many there are. Measure the row length you check and write the result as live nymphs per metre of row. Note the share of points infested, adults on the lower stalks and leaves, and yellowing or dry leaf tips, and go back to the same points. - 6
Decide from the trend ORTH found no locally validated threshold in the documents, so it gave three cases. Isolated colonies that stay the same: map them and count again, without treating the whole field for one hotspot. Counts rising across several routes, mostly young nymphs: prepare an early biological control. Colonies everywhere, more adults or visible crop decline: get the threshold your mill or regional adviser uses and weigh a faster insecticide registered in Brazil for this use. The heavy rain of 7 November can set off egg hatch under the straw, so scout once the soil is firm enough to walk on. - 7
Check the biological product first Metarhizium anisopliae may replace the insecticide if you catch the infestation early, when there are mostly nymphs under moist straw. Once adults or crop damage are widespread, ORTH would not count on it as a rescue. It named isolate IBCB 425 from a Brazilian bioinputs review, and could not confirm a registered product. Check the formulation in MAPA AGROFIT for sugarcane and this pest, with its strain, viable spore concentration, dose and expiry. Follow the label for wind limits and protective equipment. Aim it at the stool base under moist straw, without flooding or wash-off, keep it away from fungicides unless the label allows it, and count the same points again afterwards.
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