Ecological engineering: a new approach for managing rice pests 22.03.2013

Although ‘green revolution’ technologies including modern insecticides have led to increases in average rice yields, the last decade has witnessed a fight-back by insect pests, especially planthoppers (Hemiptera: Delphacidae). It is estimated that the world’s largest rice producer, China, loses about a million tons of rice paddy from planthopper outbreaks annually. In response to this problem, the International Rice Research Institute organised an international conference in June 2008 to discuss new approaches and the ‘Ricehoppers’ project was born. A central aim of this large, collaborative project was to evaluate the potential of ecological engineering, an approach in which a farm system is manipulated to enhance biological control of pests. In rice this has involved strategies such as planting the earth banks that surround each rice field with flowers to provide nectar and shelter for beneficial insects. Asian farmers have welcomed this approach because those plants can be a supplementary crop like sesame, soy beans or vegetables. The predatory and parasitic insects that flourish in ecologically engineered rice crops have proven so effective that pest numbers have declined at the same time as insecticide sprays have been reduced. So successful has this research been that the Asian Development Bank has granted additional funding plus the governments of China, Vietnam and Thailand have committed tens of thousands of dollars to extend the work over more rice growing districts. The research team is currently integrating data from three years and multiple experimental sites in China, Thailand and Vietnam and a series of formal publications will be released over the coming 12 months. Now researchers are looking at developing ecological engineering approaches in other crop systems in developed and developing countries. See Attached files here: Article Source

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