Resistance to Nephotettix impicticeps and Nilaparvata lugens in Varieties of Rice

Abstract

Of the many insect pests of rice, the rice green leafhopper, Nephotettix impicticeps (Motschulsky), and the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), are particularly damaging¹. Light infestations reduce plant tillering, plant height, the number of productive tillers per plant and general crop vigour, and induce the production of unfilled grains. Heavy infestations cause complete drying of the crop—a condition commonly known as “hopper burn”. The economic importance of these insects has been increased by the recent discovery that they are vectors of the common Asian rice viruses. N. impicticeps carries the tungro, Penyakit merah, yellow-orange leaf and leaf yellowing viruses while N. lugens transmits grassy stunt virus².