(1st Place) Enhancing the sustainability of insect pest management in furrow-irrigated rice, Oryza sativa L.

Furrow-irrigated rice, ‘row rice’, is a novel rice production system gaining increased attention across the midsouth. Integrated pest management in row rice is underdeveloped due its recent adoption, and research is needed to advance sustainable management practices in this system. Diamide and neonicotinoid seed treatments are used extensively to control rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzaphilus (Kuschel), and lepidopteran stem borers (Family: Crambidae) in traditional flooded rice. However, these products have limited effectiveness in row rice against rice billbug (an emergent pest of row rice) and recently, stem borers. Incorporating plant resistance into an integrated management plan may improve pest management in row rice by limiting plant susceptibility to herbivores. Preliminary research has identified potentially resistant rice cultivars against rice billbug and stem borers. One of these cultivars, AddiJo (LSU AgCenter) was compared to CLL17 (susceptible) and RT7521FP (industry standard) under field and greenhouse conditions for its performance against rice billbug and the stem borer species Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius) (sugarcane borer) in our study. For the greenhouse test, H₀ = rice cultivar will not influence number of eggs laid, feeding injury, or total development time of either species. For the field test, H₀ = rice cultivar will not influence number of planked panicles (‘whiteheads’) per m² as a result of feeding by either species.