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Department of Entomology, S.V. Agricultural College, ANGRAU, Tirupati-517 502.
Roving surveys were conducted during kharif season of 2024 in major rice growing areas of Y.S.R. Kadapa, Nellore, and Annamayya districts to assess the incidence of major insect pests in rice. Insect pest incidence observation was taken at vegetative and reproductive stages of rice. During the present investigation, four insect pests viz., Scirpophaga incertulas (Yellow Stem Borer), Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Leaf folder), Nilaparvata lugens (Brown Planthopper), and Orseolia oryzae (Gall midge) were recorded as major pests in rice field. Among them, yellow stem borer and leaf folder were found as highly abundant insect pest of rice cultivated in the study area. Insecticide usage patterns also showed that farmers exclusively relied on chemical insecticides, with 24 insecticides belonging to six insecticide groups and six combination products being used. Novel insecticides (38%) and combination insecticides (28%) were the most widely adopted. Regarding pesticide appliances, out of 90 farmers, power sprayers were most commonly used (52.22%), followed by knapsack sprayers (28.89%) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (18.89%) in the study area.
KEYWORDS: Rice, insect pests, incidence, insecticides usage, survey.