Infestation symptoms and hopper-burn identification
- Base congregating: Hoppers shelter and feed on stem tillers just above the standing water line, hidden beneath the dense rice canopy.
- Hopper-burn: Heavy sap removal causes leaves to turn yellow, dry out, and take on a characteristic circular scorched-brown appearance.
- Circular lodging: Patches of severely damaged rice tillers collapse and lodge in circular patches that expand rapidly across the paddy field.
- Honeydew and sooty mold: Excreted sticky honeydew fosters dark sooty mold on stem bases, attracting secondary fungal infections.
Cultural practices and biological suppression
Avoid excessive or late-season application of nitrogenous fertilizers, which fosters succulent vegetative growth and triggers explosive hopper surges. Practice Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) irrigation; draining standing water for 3 to 4 days exposes hoppers and breaks their breeding cycle. Leave 30 cm alleyways ('skip rows') every 2 to 3 meters to allow sunlight and predator aeration.
Targeted chemical control and spray technique
- Monitor economic threshold levels (ETL): 5 to 10 hoppers per hill before flowering, or 15 to 20 hoppers per hill during grain development.
- CIBRC approved selective chemistries: Triflumezopyrim 10% SC (Pexalon), Dinotefuran 20% SG, Pymetrozine 50% WDG, or Flonicamid 50% WG.
- Direct the spray wand downward toward the base of the tillers where hoppers feed, rather than spraying solely over the top canopy.
- Avoid spraying synthetic pyrethroids, which kill natural spider predators and cause massive BPH pest resurgence.
Official source
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National Rice Research Institute (ICAR-NRRI) ↗Related on KisanPe
Common questions
What is 'hopper-burn' in paddy fields?
Hopper-burn is the severe drying and scorched-brown circular collapse of rice plants caused by dense populations of brown plant hoppers sucking plant sap.
Why is the spray wand directed at the bottom of rice plants for BPH?
BPH nymphs and adults live and feed at the base of the stems near the water line, so top foliar sprays fail to contact them.
How does Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) help manage BPH?
Draining field water for 3 to 4 days lowers canopy humidity and disrupts the breeding habitat of plant hoppers, suppressing population build-up.
General guidance, not personal advice. For your farm, ask your local Krishi Vigyan Kendra or agriculture officer.
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