Abstract

S. K. G. Magunmder1, M. P. Ali2*, T. R. Choudhury3 and S. A. Rahin2

Rice is the staple food in Bangladesh. It is attacked by many insect pests which limit its productivity. An experiment was carried out at the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Mymensingh, Bangladesh in order to investigate the effects of rice variety and planting date on the incidence of insect pests and natural enemies. Three varieties Binasail, Binadhan-4 and TN1 were transplanted on four different dates. Both rice variety and planting date had significant effects on pest incidence. Binasail and Binadhan-4 hosted lower populations of insect pests compared to the other varieties. Early planted rice had lower pests and natural enemy’s population than later-transplanted rice. There were interaction between varieties and transplanting date, while early transplanted BINA dhan4 hosted the lowest population of insect pests, but TNl variety when was cultivated at late season, showed the insect population. In case of natural enemies the highest abundance was observed in the variety of TN1 at 1st transplanting date. The study concluded that early planting resulted in lower incidence of plant and leaf sucking pests and recommended the early planting of BINA dhan4 and Binasail.