Rice insect pests and control factors: Proposing economic and environmentally sustainable solutions to the Mercosur rice fields.

FRANCESCHINI M. CELESTE; CHERMAN, MARIANA; FORASTIER, MARINA; SABATER, LARA M.; HERBER, LUCIANA; GUEDES, JERSON

Buenos Aires

Simposio; Symposium 3: Insect-plant interactions in agroecosystems. VII congress of Latin American Association of Chemical Ecology (ALAEQ); 2023

Latin American Association of Chemical Ecology

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the basic food for 3 billion people and by 2050, the demand for this cereal will grow to serve twice this population. After Asia, more than half of the production in America is contributed by Mercosur, with Rio Grande do Sul state (Brazil) and the northeast of Argentina region being one of the largest producers. Rice paddies are particularly vulnerable to the attack of insect pests, which negatively impact 10 to 35% of rice productivity in Mercosur. However, studies about insect pests and control factors are scarce compared to other crops such as soybeans, making the available options for integrated management difficult. This is important to address due to the intensive use of pesticides and chemical nutrition in rice paddies generates problems for human health and the environment. Among them, the eutrophication of water is a recurrent problem due to riverine wetlands are used for the irrigation system of the crop. In this symposium presentation we assess first, the most relevant results published up the moment of rice pest insect and their control factors in rice paddies of Argentina and Brazil; and secondly, a research collaboration project evaluating the abundance and damage of pest insects and their relationship with the microbiota and the chemical and biological nutrition of the soil will be presented and discussed in order togenerate applicable and sustainable management for rice fields of Mercosur. This project would allow the generation of tools with solid bases for an integrated pest management system for rice farmers of Brazil and Argentina, which have similar problems.