Rice is a staple food relied upon by
half the global population, but the
brown planthopper (BPH) is one
of rice’s most destructive pests,
causing damage by wounding the
stem of the plants to lay the eggs for the next
attack and by transmitting viruses that attack
the plant. Researchers at Universitas Negeri
Malang and the Indonesian Sweetener and
Fibre Crops Research Institute wanted to see
if they could target the brown planthopper
without using pesticides known to harm the
environment. They extracted samples from rice
infected by the brown planthopper and analysed
26 OCTOBER 2018
their chemical makeup, then compared this to
what they found in samples taken from healthy
rice, identifying the chemical differences
between healthy and infested rice. Researchers
then created a porous material from rice husk
and soaked different pieces in chemicals
extracted from either healthy or infected
rice. In laboratory tests, the parasites were
more attracted to the material infused with
the infested sample. The study also attached
infused materials to posts and placed them
outside in a rice field. Again, researchers found
more parasitoids on the infected sample, but
the researchers observed that the effect wore
off over five days, so the samples effectively
had an expiration date. The results, published
in the Pertanika Journal of Science and
Technology, could guide further trials to see if
applying the chemical cue could actually reduce
the pest’s destruction of rice paddies; and if so,
to what degree. The use of analytical chemistry
offers insights into the mechanisms underlying
these interactions and detects small changes
taking place in great detail.
THE SOURCE FOR FOODTECHNOLOGY INFORMATION
RICE RESCUE
Researchers in Indonesia have deciphered the chemical cues used by
rice to attract a parasitoid that helps fight off the plant’s predator, creating
a system to imitate these cues which could help investigate similar
interactions in other crops and possible sources of non-toxic pest control.
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