Insect-pests complex affecting basmati rice in Western U.P.

Abstract

A study on the diverse insect pest complex of Basmati rice was conducted during both years of experimentation, i.e., Kharif 2022 and 2023 at Crop Research Centre, College of Agriculture, SVPUA&T, Meerut. A total of 11 insect species were recorded during the study period belonging to different orders, including Orthoptera (one species), Hemiptera (four species), Lepidoptera (four species), Blattodidea (one species) and Coleoptera (one species). The major parts of the rice plant, such as the panicle, leaf, root and stem were found to be infested by these insect pests. Sucking insect-pests were observed during the early vegetative stages of the crop from the 4th week of July to the 3rd week of August. The rice stem borer, Scirpophaga incertulas and rice leaf folder Cnaphalocrocis medinalis were part of the insect-pest complex that appeared during the reproductive and grain-filling stages from the 2nd week of August to the 4th week of September. Among all the insect-pests, the rice stem borer and leaf folder were found to be the most damaging pest with severe economic consequences for Basmati rice during the successive Kharif seasons.