Effect of abiotic factors on the population dynamics of paddy earhead bug, Leptocorisa oratorius F

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out to monitor the population dynamics and their correlation with weather parameters. The experiment result revealed that the population of bug appearance coincided with the flowering stage of the rice whereas the peak population (1.81 bugs/hill) was recorded only one week after its 1st appearance and then after the decrease in its population gradually took place which came down to zero on the last date of observation 11 November, 2020 which clearly depicted that the gundhi bug population was absent from 22 July 2020 to 23 September 2020. The correlation matrix indicated that the Relative humidity was only having positive impact on the gundhi bug population whereas the rest of the weather parameters shown negative impacts on the gundhi bug population. Warm weather with humid condition during the flowering and dough stage of rice increases the gundhi bug population. At these stages proper management strategies must be taken to reduce the yield loss.