Introduction: Rice is a major cereal crop grown in India. Pest free rice nursery is necessary for good yield. Pests occurring at nursery level must be managed at minimum level or controlled on incidence. Greater incidence of pests lead to more chemical application resulting in higher input cost and agro-ecological imbalance. Indiscriminate pesticide applications develops resistance in pests. Major pests on rice nursery includes stem borer, plant hoppers, army worms and Case worms.

Male and Female Adult Moths along with the Caterpillar of Stem Borer Yellow Stem Borer (Scirpophaga incertulas) : Male and Female Adult Moths along with the Caterpillar of Stem Borer Nature of Damage: Stem borer caterpillar feeds on inside the rice seedling stem causing dead hearts and wilting of apical portion of seedling. Lower leaves remain green while central leaf whirls die. The losses varies from 3 per cent to 96 per cent.

Yellow Stem Borer (Scirpophaga incertulas) : Cultural Methods of Management: Summer ploughing, early planting, balanced fertilizer application and avoiding monoculture. Field sanitation to control carry over of pests. Use of trap cropping with Basmati rice in transplanted rice with one line of basmati in 9 lines of rice. Biological Methods of Management: Capture and kill insects by setting up light traps. Setting of bird perches and pheromone traps in nursery plot. Releasing Trichogramma japonicum parasites @ 1 lakh eggs/ha Spraying Beauveria bassiana (Boverin) fungus @ 1kg/ha. Spraying Bacillus thuringiensis (Biodart) bio-pesticide @1kg/ha.

Yellow Stem Borer (Scirpophaga incertulas) : Stem Borer Resistant Varieties: Khandagiri, Ghanteswari, Udayagiri, Lalitagiri, Sidhant, Konark, Kharvela, Gajapati, Surendra, Pratikshya, Manika. Chemical Methods of Mangement: Seed treatment with Fipronil (Regent) @ 25g / kg seed. Apply Phorate 10G @ 10kg / ha or Carbofuran @ 33 kg/ha or Carbosulfan 6G @ 16Kg / ha in the main field. Alternately spray with Quinalphos/ Chlorpyriphos / Phosphomidon / Triazophos / Profenophos @ 1 lit/ha. Heavy use of chemical insecticides can lead to microbial degradation of soil and intermittent outbreaks of the pest.

Male and Female Adult Hoppers Leaf Hoppers: Various types of leaf hoppers attack rice seedlings.Two of them are found to be important causing more damage in Rice Nursery. A. White Backed Plant Hopper (Sogatella frucifera) Nature of Damage: Causes serious losses in vegetative stage. Adults and nymphs suck sap from basal part of the plants. The leaves turn yellow and rust red. Plants later dry up and turn brown. Male and Female Adult Hoppers

Male, Female Adult Hoppers B. Brown Plant Hopper (Nilaparvata lugens) : Brown plant hoppers are found in clusters at the base of the plant. Nature of Damage: Brown plant hoppers suck the cell sap and plug vessels during their feeding. Excess draining of plant sap results in wilting and drying of plants known as hopper burn,observed in circular patches. Infestation during early stages reduces tillering, plant height, and general plant vigor. Male, Female Adult Hoppers

Leaf Hoppers: Cultural Methods of Management: Avoiding application of excessive Nitrogenous fertilizer. Alternate wetting and drying of rice field during irrigation. Surveillance and use of predators of pests like mirid bugs, spiders. Biological Methods of Management: Setting up yellow sticky traps to attract leaf hoppers. Foliar spray of Neem Seed Kernel Extract @ 5% or Neem oil 0.5% or Neem based pesticides 300 ppm. Beauveria bassiana, a white fungus controls the leaf hoppers. Use of leaf hopper Resistant Varieties: A. White Backed leaf Hopper: Mahanadi, Prachi or Indravati. B. Brown leaf Hopper: Lalat, Konark, Vijeta, Durga, Kanchan.

Leaf Hoppers: Chemical Method of Management: Do not apply resurgence causing insecticides like Quinalphos, Chlorpyriphos, Methyl Parathion, Deltamethrin and Cypermethrin. Apply foliar spray Thiamethoxam @100g/ha, Imidacloprid @125ml/ha, Ethiprole 10EC 500ml/ha, Buprofezin 25%WP (Applaud, Buprolord) @300 to 500ml/ha) or Imidacloprid 0.2G @ 25kg/ha.

Case Worm Larva in Cases Case Worm floating in Water Case Worm(Nymphula depunctalis): Case Worm Larva in Cases Case Worm floating in Water Case Worm Moth

Case Worm (Nymphula depunctalis): Nature of Damage: Case worm Larvae lives in cases of paddy leaves and feed on leaf tissue leaving behind papery epidermis. The leaf cases float in water to spread the attack. Cultural Method of Management: Draining out standing water from field and Mechanically killing of larvae from the field. Dragging a rope across the field to dislodge larvae of case worm in water. Chemical Control: Foliar spray of Chlorpyriphos 50% + Cypermethrin 5% @1liter /ha.

Army Worm (Spodoptera mauritia): Nature of Damage: Army worm occur in wetland areas and attack in large numbers, defoliate plants and cause immense losses. Biological Method of Management: Set light traps in the nursery and field to attract and kill adults. Spray Beauveria bassiana or Bt based biopesticides @1kg or 1lit/ha. Foliar spray of Neem based biopesticides @ 300ppm. Chemical Method of Management: Spraying of Chlorpyriphos @1 liter/ha. Field bunds are dusted with Methyl Parathion 2 %, Chlorpyriphos 1%, Quinalphos 1.5% @ 25 to 30 kg/ ha.