Impact of crop establishment methods on rice insect pests incidence in Indo Gangetic Plain (IGP)

Abstract

Rice (Oryza sativa L.), is the staple food for more than half of the world population and an important target to secure food security and livelihoods for millions. The production of rice to mitigate the consumption requirement needs huge amount of water. Direct seeded rice (DSR) technique is becoming popular nowadays because of its low-input demands and potential to maximize the water productivity under deficit soil moisture. Rice variety, Pusa 1121 is important variety in major rice growing areas of Indo Gangetic Plain that occupies more than 70% area. The population of planthoppers and stem borers were significantly higher and appeared early in direct seeding crop as compared with transplanted rice (TPR). The mean seasonal incidence of stem borers in 2014 were 9.58 and 5.29% in direct seeding whereas in 2015 it was 9.36 and 4.97%. The damage (white ears) was observed maximum on 42nd week in October. The result revealed that incidence of leaffolder was significantly higher in direct seeding than transplanting. The population/ incidence of pests showed positively significant correlation with biotic factors during the study. The grain yield in transplanting crop was also significantly higher than direct seeding. So, management practices in direct seeding should be practiced earlier as compared to transplanted rice to maximize yield by reducing pest population pressure for sustainable agriculture and to conserve natural resources.