The effect of planting date on the African rice gall midge Orseolia oryzivora (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) damage under irrigated conditions in Boulbi, central Burkina Faso

Abstract

Experiments were conducted during the rainy seasons in 2003 and 2004 in central Burkina Faso to assess the importance of the African rice gall midge Orseolia oryzivora Harris & Gagne in relation to the planting date under irrigated conditions. The young midge larva feeds at the growing point of the rice tiller, which stimulates the plant to produce an oval hollow gall that prevents the plant from heading. Experiments consisted of three treatments arranged randomly within each of the four replications. Treatments were planting dates separated by 7 days. The rice cultivar planted in the experiment was FKR 14, which matures in 120 days. Nine entomological evaluations (assessment of the number of galls per hill) were performed for each planting date, starting at 25 days after transplanting (DAT) and ending at 81 DAT. Evaluations were conducted on 20 randomly selected hills and consisted of counting the total number of tillers and galls per hill. These hills were identified on one of the two diagonals of each treatment. At the rice maturation stage, 20 randomly selected hills were harvested and the grains from each hill were weighed and recorded. Yield loss was estimated for each treatment from these data. Results showed that the later the planting date, the higher the damage caused by O. oryzivora. The damage was low (>10%) during the vegetative phase but increased dramatically (<20%) during the reproductive phase of the rice plant, regardless of the planting date. Yield losses were correlated to the observed damage: In 2003, for the first planting date, 1% of galling was associated with 1% yield loss, while the same level of damage was associated with 1.3% yield loss for the second planting date.