New Insecticides for Management of Rice Green Leafhopper, Nephotettix virescens Dist.

Four insecticides including the new molecule UPI-206 @ 50, 75 and 150g a.i./ha, imidacloprid 17.8% SL, thiamethoxam 25% WG both @ 25g a.i./ha and clothianidin 50% WDG @ 12.5g a.i./ha were field evaluated against rice green leafhopper (GLH), Nephotettix virescens. The results revealed that during both the seasons of trial, the population of GLH remained significantly low in all the insecticide treatments compared to control at 5, 10, and 15^th day after spraying (DAS). Significantly lowest GLH population (0.67 & 0.30/hill) was recorded with the new molecule UPI-206 @ 150 g a.i./ha with a reduction of 94.5 and 94.2% over control at 15 DAS in 2007 and summer, 2008, respectively followed by UPI-206 @ 75g a.i./ha with 92.8% reduction in kharif, 2007 and 90.3% reduction in summer, 2008 over control. Clothianidin and UPI 206 @ 50g a.i./ha were the next best treatments followed by imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. The population of natural enemies’ revealed no significant difference among insecticide treatments and control at 1 day before spraying and at 0, 7, and 10 DAS during both the seasons indicating safety of the tested products against them.