Field screening of wild introgressed rice lines for resistance to yellow stem borer, Scirpophaga incertulas W

Rice yellow stem borer (Scirpophaga incertulas W), a monophagous pest, is the most destructive pest causing 3 to 95% yield losses in India. Though it accounts for 50 per cent of insecticides used in rice fields, their typical internal feeding behaviour necessitates other management options. In the present study, evaluation of various wild rice lines- wild rice magic population (WRM), derivative of crosses from six species viz., Oryza rufipogon, O.nivara, O.meridionalis, O.glumaepatula, O.barthi, O.gaberrima, O.longistaminata and O.sativa has been carried out. The results of field screening carried out in 38 wild rice introgressed lines, the entries WRM 2, WRM 6, WRM 10, WRM 12, WRM 14, WRM 43, WRM 44, WRM 45 and WRM 76 were moderately resistant to yellow stem borer. The morphological characters of the entries were recorded and correlated with stem borer damage. It revealed a significant negative correlation for plant height and top internode length for their resistant to yellow stem borer.