Rice

Abstract

The rice mealybug is a pest of regional significance in India being mainly confined to upland and rainfed environments. Because of its restricted distribution and sporadic occurrence, it has not been considered as a major pest so far.

However, its worldwide distribution coupled with changing global climatic scenario poses the challenge of implicating it as a potential threat to rice in future. The present chapter summarises its pest status and provides scope for understanding its bioecology for effective management in future.

Mealybugs are injurious to rice in several countries. Among the species, Brevennia rehi (Lindinger) is widely distributed across the world in South and South East Asia, North America and Australasia (Table 19.1). In a recent report also, the rice mealybug has been listed as one of the important pests of rice in Bangladesh (Ahmad et al. 2011). It is found to cause heavy loss to the growers in India and Pakistan. Identification of rice mealybug species Brevennia rehi has undergone several modifications across space and time (CABI 2003). At first, the rice mealybug Brevennia rehi was recorded as Ripersia sacchari Green by Lefroy (1908), attacking rice in India, and later, Brevennia rehi was confirmed as the valid name for the rice mealybug by Miller (1975). It has become a primary pest in Bihar, and also in other rice-growing states such as West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra (CIE 1979).