Restoration of rice landscape biodiversity by farmers in Vietnam through education and motivation using media

A TV series using entertainment-education principles and broadcast over Vinh Long Television station in Vietnam helped changed rice farmers’ beliefs and pest management practices. The evaluation survey conducted two months after the end of the broadcast showed that farmers sprayed significantly less insecticides (19% less), used less nitrogen fertilizer (6% less), and used lower seed rates (12% less). In addition, there were significantly more farmers believing in statements that favor ecological engineering among the viewers than the non-viewers. Viewers scored higher in the belief index compared to the non-viewers by about 14%, indicating that their attitudes towards ecological engineering practices had gained positively. Although there was about a 9% increase in favor of ecological engineering adoption, there are at least two barriers that remain unchanged. The TV series had succeeded in initiating changes in farmers’ beliefs and adoption of ecological engineering practices. This might be due to entertainment-education content and the engagement of key stakeholders and partners in the project process. Decision theories and sociological tools and a six phase engagement process were used to ensure quality partnerships

Population dynamics of rice leaffolders(Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and their natural enemies in irrigated rice in the Philippines

Populations of rice leaffolders and their natural enemies were studied in eight crops of irrigated rice in Laguna Province, the Philippines. The rice leaffolder complex consisted of three species: Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenée), Marasmia patnalis Bradley and M. exigua Butler. Leaffolder population dynamics were characterized by an egg peak at maximum tillering and a broad larval peak around booting stage. Peak densities ranged from 0.2 to 2.0 larvae per hill. Most larvae originated from immigrant moths and there was no substantial second generation. The seasonal percentage egg parasitism by Trichogramma sp. ranged from 0 to 27°and percentage larval parasitism from 14 to 56ÐThe braconid Macrocentrus philippinensis Ashmead was the most commonly reared larval parasitoid. Forty natural enemy taxa that may attack rice leaffolders were identified from suction and sweepnet samples: 24 predator taxa and 16 parasitoid taxa. The estimated survival rates from leaffolder egg to larval stages and between larval stages showed large variation between rice crops, but were not clearly correlated with observed levels of parasitism, natural enemy abundance, or natural enemy to leaffolder ratios. It is suggested that the generally low densities of rice leaffolders in Philippine transplanted rice are caused by their ovipositional preference for crops at the maximum tillering stage, allowing for only one generation, and by high immature mortality caused by the abundant and diverse complex of natural enemies

Planthoppers: New Threats to the Sustainability of Intensive Rice Production Systems in Asia

Rice is the staple food for around half the world’s people and about three-quarters of a billion of the world’s poor depend on rice. Each year, an additional 50 million rice consumers are added to the world population, which means that rice production will need to increase markedly. Lowland rice provides more than 75% of the world’s annual supply. For the world rice supply, these areas are likely to intensify through new high-yielding varieties and improved cultivation practices. But they are also vulnerable to threats from pests. With increases in agricultural labor and inputs, farmers face a dilemma as their income is squeezed. Adding more burden to their livelihoods are unstable yields caused by pest outbreaks. One of the most devastating pests that threatened the Green Revolution in the 1970s and ’80s was the brown planthopper. In 1977, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) convened the first brown planthopper conference to outline management strategies that included rice varieties resistant to pests, cultural practices, and integrated pest management (IPM) measures. IRRI’s research in the 1990s clearly demonstrated that brown planthoppers were secondary pests, brought about by insecticide misuse. IRRI therefore developed IPM and communication strategies using a heuristics approach to motivate farmers to reduce their early-season spraying. This campaign reduced farmers’ insecticide use by 53% and lowered vulnerability to outbreaks on thousands of rice farms in Vietnam and Thailand. International agencies, such as FAO, the World Bank, and UNDP, provided IPM training that focused on conserving natural biological control and reducing pesticide use for thousands of farmers. These efforts seemed to keep planthopper pests below damaging levels in most countries. However, the past few years showed signs of a return of this potential threat to rice production. IRRI therefore convened a second conference on rice planthoppers in 2008 to explore new approaches to developing sustainable management strategies. Today, three major species of rice planthoppers (brown planthopper, whitebacked planthopper, and small brown planthopper) have been reported as a menace in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. They transmit five virus diseases and can cause massive damages. Researchers are working to determine why planthoppers are again threatening rice crops. Since the last planthopper conference at IRRI, many scientific articles and books on planthoppers and numerous developments in research on biology, ecology, and biotechnology have become available. This book provides summaries and analyses of the key works and issues and provides details on management approaches

Opportunities for using systems approaches in pest management.

Pest problems are complex and a systems view contributes to understanding their causes and assessing possible solutions. Systems approaches provide a framework for systematic analysis, synthesis and design of agricultural systems at different levels of aggregation. In systems research, the real world is divided into systems, the essence of which is captured in models. The choice of system boundaries is determined by the objectives of the study. Explanatory simulation models are based on the distinction between the process level, or explanatory level, and the system level, or level to be explained. In the course of systems research, three phases are distinguished, each with a different product: problem identification results in a conceptual model, increasing production ecological insight results in a comprehensive model, and systems design results in options and their relation to objectives of management. Various qualitative and quantitative tools are available in each of the phases. Opportunities and constraints for using systems approaches in all three phases are discussed, using illustrations at the crop, farm and regional levels

Research methods in toxicology and insecticide resistance monitoring of rice planthoppers

xi, 145 hlm. ; ill. ; 23 c