Author(s):

K Chandrasekar, N Muthukrishnan and RP Soundararajan

Abstract: Three aroma and non aroma crops were raised separately as inter crops in and around rice field (var. CO 51) to enhance the activity of predatory mirid bugs Cyrtorhinus lividipennis (Reuter) and to mitigate brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens (Stal). Aroma varieties viz., Pusa Basmati-1, Pusa Suganth and Jeeraga Samba non-aroma varieties viz., BPT 5204, ADT 36 and ADT 43 were used as border crops. The attraction of C. lividipennis towards different leaf and flower sample of inter crops were studied through eight- armed olfactometer under laboratory assays. The mean population of mirid bugs and BPH on rice crop varied from 1.94 to 5.04 and 1.43 to 2.57 nymphs and adults per hill due to inter crops. Rice + Pusa Basmati 1inter cropping system significantly influenced for the maximum population of C. lividipennis on rice main crop (4.20/hill) and intercrop (5.04/hill) along with highest occurrence ratio (1.2), the BPH population of main crop(1.43/tiller) and inter crop (2.57/tiller) and more CB ratio (1:1.53). This was followed by Rice+ Jeeraga Samba, Rice + Pusa Suganth and Rice + BPT 5204 inter cropping systems that effected for the mean population of main crop (4.32, 3.82 and 3.18) and inter crop (4.65, 4.68 and 3.22) mirid bugs per hill on rice respectively. Rice + ADT 43 inter cropping system however caused for the population of 2.37 mirid bugs per hill on rice when compared to the mirid population of 1.51 per hill on rice alone. Similarly, populations of mirid bugs on inter crops ranged from 1.94 to 5.04 per hill. Maximum mirid bug population (5.04/plant) was observed on Rice + Pusa Basmati 1inter crop. This study concluded that Rice + Pusa Basmati-1 and Rice + Pusa Suganth can be used as inter crops in rice ecosystem to enhance the availability of mirid bugs. In olfactometer studies, mirid bug attraction was higher towards sunflower leaf (3.00) and flower (4.06).

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