Guidelines for IPM integrated pest management for rice

IPM on rice is a way to manage pests and diseases based on good varieties, healthy fields, natural enemies, field visits and only using drugs when absolutely necessary. Instruct biology, farming, mechanics and chemistry classes to reduce costs and reduce drug resistance.

Summary: IPM is not “drug free”. IPM is about using the right measures at the right time, in which chemical crop-protection products are the last choice when pests exceed economic thresholds. With rice, IPM helps reduce the number of spraying times, trap natural enemies, reduce leafhopper outbreaks, reduce drug resistance and keep yields more stable.

Applies to: All rice crops, especially areas with multiple crops per year and areas with pressure from brown planthoppers, rice blast, leaf rollers, and yellow apple snails.
Duration: Applicable from before sowing to after harvest.
Difficulty level: Basic to moderate. Need to visit evenly and take notes.
Estimated additional costs: Not fixed; often reduces drug costs if applied correctly.

What is IPM

IPM is integrated pest management. Instead of just asking “what to spray”, IPM asks:

Is the field really beyond the threshold that needs to be treated?
Can pests and diseases be reduced by seeds, water, fertilizer, and sowing density?
Are there any natural enemies in the field?
If you have to use treatment, choose the treatment that least disrupts the balance?

The goal is not to destroy all living things in the field. The goal is to keep pests below economically damaging levels.

Grade 1 — Biological measures

Biology in paddy fields includes available natural enemies:

Spider catching prey.
Ladybug.
Parasite wasps.
The bugs eat their prey.
Insect-parasitic fungi such as *Metarhizium*.

How to protect natural enemies:

Do not spray crop-protection products in the first 40 days if the threshold has not been exceeded.
Broad-spectrum drug restrictions.
Keep field edges with small flower trees or appropriate ecological technology.
Do not mix unnecessary drugs.

Natural enemies are "free patrols" in the fields. If you spray too early, you will abandon this team.

Class 2 — Farming methods

Cultivation methods that change the environment to prevent pests from spreading:

Choose certified varieties, resistant/tolerant varieties suitable for the season.
Sow thinly, sow rows or plant by machine.
Sow at the same time to avoid hoppers.
Fertilize with balance, avoid excess nitrogen.
Proper water management.
Rotate crops or cut crops if the area has a severe epidemic.
Clean the fields, kill rice fleas and host grasses.

Proper cultivation reduces the need for medication in the first place.

Grade 3 — Mechanical measures

Some pests are very effectively treated mechanically:

Catch golden apple snails and eggs by hand.
Use a net to block snails at the water inlet.
Place mouse traps and nylon fences around crop traps.
Culture, plow and dry to kill pests and diseases in the soil.
Pluck weeds when transplanting.
Cut the remaining grass before it drops seeds.

Mechanical methods are labor-intensive but low-risk, especially useful at the beginning of the season.

Class 4 — Trap and Track

Traps are not only for destruction but also for prediction:

Light trap to monitor leafhoppers, butterflies, stem borers, onion mosquitoes.
Yellow trap to monitor sucking insects.
Rat traps on the path and mouth of the cave.
A racket to check insects in the field.

Visit the field is still the main thing. Traps just help know when to check more closely.

Class 5 — crop-protection products

In IPM, chemical drugs are a last resort when:

Pests and diseases have exceeded the threshold.
Inadequate farming/mechanical practices.
Weather is forecast to cause the disease to flare up.
The sensitive period of rice is flowering and rice planting.

Principles of drug use:

The right treatment: choose according to the patient.
Correct dose: according to label.
Right time: right age, right stage of disease.
The right way: spray in the right location, with enough water, in the right weather.

Biological drugs are also drugs. You still have to use the right label and at the right time.

IPM according to rice stage

Sowing — 40 days after sowing

Priority is to prepare soil, water, snails, grass, and thrips.
Do not spray chemical crop-protection products unless necessary.
Monitor brown planthoppers, leaf rollers, onion mosquitoes.
Keep fields healthy, don't over-fertilize with nitrogen.

Give branching — make seedlings

Monitor brown planthoppers, leaf rollers, rice blasts, and stem borers.
Use the leaf color chart to manage nitrogen.
Spray when the threshold is exceeded, do not spray on a rigid schedule.

Bloom — ripe

Concentration of rice blast, grain smear, spider mites, stink bugs.
Pay attention to the quarantine period.
Limit complex drug mixing near harvest.

Monitor periodically

[ ] Current rice stage.
[ ] Pest/hopper density or disease rate.
[ ] Natural enemies observed.
[ ] Amount of fertilizer applied, especially nitrogen.
[ ] Field water level.
[ ] Weather for the next 3-5 days.
[ ] Drugs used in the case and active ingredient group.

IPM is only effective when field visits and notes are taken. Without data, it's easy to fall back on emotional spraying.

Common mistakes

Understanding IPM as not spraying: wrong. IPM still takes medication when needed.

Spray to prevent pests early in the first 40 days: easy to kill natural enemies and cause pest/pest outbreaks later.

Not counting passwords: don't know if the threshold has been exceeded or not.

Only use treatment, skip water and feces: pests will come back.

Using the same active ingredient multiple times: increases drug resistance.

IPM Notes

Sowing date, seed, amount of seed.
Calendar of equinoxes and water.
Pest/hopper/disease population each week.
Natural enemies observed.
Medications used: active ingredient, dose, date.
Yield and cost at the end of the season.

After several crops, records show which fields can be reduced in crop-protection products and which fields need prevention sooner.

References

*IPM Integrated Pest Management Guide* — Hainong technical document.
*Integrated pest management for rice* — Plant Protection Department.
*Rice IPM Handbook* — FAO Vietnam.