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. 2022 Mar 8;12(1):3753.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-07760-w.

Outburst of pest populations in rice-based cropping systems under conservation agricultural practices in the middle Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia

Rakesh Kumar  1 , Jaipal Singh Choudhary  2 , Janki Sharan Mishra  3 , Surajit Mondal  4 , Shishpal Poonia  5 , Mohammad Monobrullah  4 , Hansraj Hans  4 , Mausam Verma  4 , Ujjwal Kumar  4 , Bhagwati Prasad Bhatt  6 , Ram Kanwar Malik  5 , Virender Kumar  7 , Andrew McDonald  8
Affiliations

Outburst of pest populations in rice-based cropping systems under conservation agricultural practices in the middle Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia

Rakesh Kumar et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Conservation agriculture (CA), which encompasses minimum soil disturbance, residue retention either through crop residue, or cover crops and crop diversification-based crop management practices can modify the status of pest dynamics and activities under the changing climatic scenarios. CA has been advocated extensively to optimize the use of available resources, maintain the environmental quality, enhance crop productivity, and reduce the climate change impacts. Information related to the impacts of long-term CA-production systems under rice-based cropping systems on pest status is lacking, particularly in middle Indo-Gangetic Plains (MIGP). Under CA, puddling is completely avoided, and rice is directly sown or transplanted to maintain better soil health. Different sets of experimentations including farmers practice, partial CA and full CA (CA) as treatments in rice-based cropping systems, were established from 2009, 2015 and 2016 to understand the long-term impacts of CA on pest dynamics. In this study, direct and indirect effects of tillage (zero, reduced and conventional tillage), residue retention and cropping sequences on abundance and damage by pests were investigated. After 4-5 years of experimentation, populations of oriental armyworm [Mythinma (Leucania) (Pseudaletia) separata (Wlk.)] in wheat, mealybug [Brevennia rehi (Lindinger)] and bandicoot rat [Bandicota bengalensis (Gray)] in rice were found to increase abnormally in CA-based production systems. Conventionally tilled plots had a significant negative effect while residue load in zero-tilled plots had a significant positive effect on larval population build-up of M. separata. Zero tillage had a higher infestation of mealybug (52-91% infested hills) that used grassy weeds (Echinochloa colona, Echinochloa crusgalli, Cynodon dactylon, Leptochloa chinensis and Panicum repense) as alternate hosts. Cropping sequences and no disturbance of soil and grassy weeds had higher live burrow counts (4.2 and 13.7 burrows as compared to 1.47 and 7.53 burrows per 62.5 m2 during 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, respectively) and damaged tillers (3.4%) in CA-based practices. Based on the present study, pest management strategies in CA need to be revisited with respect to tillage, residue retention on soil surface, grassy weeds in field and cropping sequences to deliver the full benefits of CA in MIGP to achieve the sustainable development goals under the climate change scenarios.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Monthly total rainfall and mean monthly maximum and minimum temperatures prevailed during the experimental period (January 2015 to July 2021).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic diagram of conservation agriculture (CA) production system with positivity and emerging issues in rice-based cropping systems of the middle Indo-Gangetic Plain.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean infestation of Mythimna separata larvae on wheat in different tillage-cum crop establishment and residue management practices at 65 DAS during recent different years. Bars with different letters indicate significant differences among agricultural production systems (LSD; P < 0.05).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mean number of pupae of Mythimna separata in the fields with different tillage-cum-crop establishment and residue management production systems after harvesting wheat in recent years. Bars with different letters indicate significant differences among production systems (LSD; P < 0.05).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effect of different tillage cum crop establishment and residue management production systems on rice mealybug, Brevennia rehi infestation on paddy tillers from 2015 to 2017. Bars with different letters indicate significant differences among production systems (LSD; P < 0.05). * CA-based production system with ZTDSR-Mustard (ZT)-spring maize (ZT) sequences.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Grassy weed population in fields of different agricultural production systems. Bars with different letters indicate significant differences among production systems (LSD; P < 0.05). * CA-based production system with ZTDSR-mustard (ZT)-spring maize (ZT) sequences.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Percent tiller damage caused by Bandicoot rats, Bandicota bengalensis under diverse tillage and production system. Arrow distance indicates significant differences among production systems (LSD; P < 0.05).
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References

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