RICE BROWN PLANTHOPPER, NILAPARVATA LUGENS (STAL.) OUTBREAK IN RELATION TO WEATHER FACTORS

摘要

Among planthopper species found in India, the brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stal.) and the white-backed planthopper (WBPH), Sogatella furcifera (Horvath) are the most devastating ones infesting rice (Krishnaiah et al., 2008). At high population density hopper burn is observed, which may cause up to 60% yield loss (Panda and Khush, 1995). Their ability to migrate over long distances makes them more obnoxious. An unprecedented outbreak of the BPH on rice was witnessed in Delhi, Haryana and West Uttar Pradesh during September-October 2008. A survey of rice fields around Delhi revealed about 40-70% hopper burn damage resulting in heavy production losses. Microclimate plays an important role in its population build up which is affected bymainly weather conditions. In present study, we analyzed weather of Delhi during 2008 in relation to that of previous 10 years from 1998 to 2007in order to detect any peculiarity that could be of some predictive value.