Date of transplanting influence the percentage of infested hills by rice sheath mite, Steneotarsonemus spinki Smiley (Acari: Tarsonemidae) in the rice cultivation of Chhattisgarh plain, India

Abstract

The present studied was carried out as observational trial in different ongoing research programmes during kharif 2021 and 2022 at Research cum Instructional Farm of Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The rice mite, Steneotarsonemus spinki Smiley (Acari: Tarsonemidae), was observed as a serious pest of rice crops. To record the relative abundance of sheath mite, Steneotarsonemus spinki Smiley, in different rice planting dates, the mean percentage of infested hills was concurrently with the increasing in the proportion of affected hills with time was observed. From all the three date of transplanting, mite infestation was relatively low in D1 transplanting (1st July) which were older than others. However, a pronounced increase in infested hills was observed on D3 (30th July) transplanting dates. The maximum grain yields was recorded in first transplanting dates (D1), followed by second transplanting dates(D2) and significantly minimum grain yields was recorded in last transplanting dates (D3).