Abstract

The stem borer Schoenobius incerlulas Wik-is well recognised as one of the most serious insect pests of rice. In South India, the pest takes a heavy toll of the rice crop, year after year. The control of the pest is a difficult problem owing to the concealed existence of the larvae inside the stem. Various workers have attempted to evolve a suitable insecticidal way of controlling the pest in and outside India. Iyatomi (1951) conducted investigations on the control of an allied species of a stem borer on rice in Japan and found that parathion (Folidol) was superior to systox in efficacy. In India, Santhanaraman (1952) has recorded BHC and Parathion (Exatox 20) as giving encouraging indications for control. Israel and Veda- moorthy (1954) found seed-soaking followed by irrigation with Folidol spray fluid at weekly intervals to be effective against the pest. Anantanarayanan et-al (1956) recommended two to three rounds of parathion (Folidol) sprayings coinciding with mass emergence of moths. Banerjee and Basu (1957) observed Tetrax-1, a systemic chemical, to be useful against the pest, in West Bengal. Nagaraja Rao (1958) tested some systemic insecticides and found systox and Folidol as potential chemicals.

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