Influence of environmental factors on seasonal incidence of sucking pests of rice

Rice is one of the most important cereal crops grown throughout the world. Sometimes we do not get optimum production and productivity despite of using improved agronomic practices for rice cultivation. A great range of insect pests cause damage to rice plants at different stages of life cycle starting from seedling stage upto maturity. Among several insect pests, sucking pests such as brown plant hopper, green leaf hopper, gundhi bug are considered as most destructive and responsible for severe yield losses as both nymphs and adults suck plant sap, thereby devitalizing plants. These also act as vectors of several plant diseases. The incidence pattern of sucking pests at different standard weeks was studied. Then effect of various environmental factors like rainfall, morning RH, evening RH, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, average temperature on pest incidence was established by calculating correlation coefficients. It provides as a reference for selecting suitable management practices for reducing pest population.