Abstract:
A random sample survey on insect pests and diseases infesting rice during, flowering stage was conducted to collect information on the occurence of pests and diseases on rice earhead of different localities in Trivandrum district. Itcould be observed that L.acuta was the most important pest occurring throughout the area surveyed . The importance of rice bug was further proved by the mean number of insect present in different localities. The mean number of rice bug varied from 0.25 to 2.45 which showed the existence of considerable variation according to localities and varieties. The high yielding varieties invariably were seen more susceptible to the pest infestation than the local cultivars.