Effect of Crop Growth Stages on the Field Population of Rice Hoppers

The rice hoppers viz., brown plant hopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens (Stal), white-backed planthopper (WBPH) Sogatella furcifera (Horvath) and green leafhopper (GLH) Nephotettix virescens Distant cause loss in rice and the damage is influenced by plant growth stages. Field experiment has been conducted in this study to evaluate the effect of the growing stages on the incidence of these hoppers at the Agricultural Research Farm, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India during kharif 2018 and 2019. The results revealed that the incidence is significantly varying among the growth stages, and positively correlated (p < 0.05). Nilaparvata lugens and S. furcifera are the most abundant during the maximum tillering to booting stage. In contrast that of N. virescens peaked during the booting to flowering stage.