During monsoon season, paddy is grown almost in all the cultivated lands of  Dhaloguri and Uttar Chakoakheti, two selected villages under  ACIAR-LWR project operates in West Bengal. In this year the  crop stand is excellent due to continuous receipt of  rainfall over last couple of months. In most of the fields  the paddy is in heading to harvest stage. In village  Dhaloguri (site l), we found the attack of Brown Plant  Hopper in some scattered patches which is very serious at  this stage of the crop.

Sap is sucked in the grain filling stage so husks are hollow

 Symptoms and nature of damage:

 Affected plants dries up and gives a scorched appearance of the plant called Hopper  Burn.At early infestation, circular yellow patches appear  which soon turn brownish due to rapid drying. The patches of  infestation then spread out and cover the entire field very  fast. The grain setting is affected to a huge extent and it  resulted in a significant yield loss.Both the nymphs and  adults remain at ground level and suck the SAP from the  plant.

 Management strategy:

 The problem has to be addressed very quickly.  In the village Dhaloguri it is being addressed by the  scientists of UBKV to prevent its spread in neighbouring  fields.It is now advocated to drain out excess water from  the field, if any. Any one of the following systemic insecticides should be applied on urgent basis:

 Imidachloprid 17.8%(1ml in 5 litres of water)  Thiomethoxam 25%(1 g in 3 litres of water) Acephate  50%+Imidachloprid 1.8%(2 g per litre of water) Cartap  hydrochloride 50%(1 g per litre of water) It is being  advised from the project to monitor the fields on regular  basis so that chemical measures can be taken immediately if  symptoms appear in the field.