Host Plant Resistance to Rice leaf folder (RLF) for the management in rice (ICAR-IIRR_IPM/CPT/ENT /27)

Rice leaf folder (RLF), Cnaphalocrocis medinalis Guenee has become an important pest in the last decade in upland and lowland rice fields. Larvae fold the leaves and feed by scraping the chlorophyll from within the folds resulting in pale white streaks. The general vigour and photosynthetic ability of an infested rice plant become greatly reduced resulting in significant yield losses. Though host plant resistance plays a major role in Integrated Pest Management, rice cultivars resistant to leaf folder are not available. Hence, farmers mainly rely on chemical control measures leading to higher cost of cultivation and environmental pollution. Concerted efforts at ICAR-IIRR have led to the identification of resistant sources for the leaf folder in a mapping population. However, studies on genomic regions are limited. The present study has given good genomic regions, which can be deployed for breeding resistant varieties for rice leaf folder.