Control of Rice Water Weevil with Fipronil in a Water-Seeded, Continuous Flood Culture, 1996

The experiment was conducted at the TAMU Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Beaumont and was designed as a RCB with 10 treatments and 4 replications. Each plot was 15 ft X 8 ft and surrounded by a metal barrier to prevent movement of insecticide. On 4 Apr, plots were fertilized with urea at 113 lb nitrogen/acre and treated with Odram 15G at 27 lb product/acre. Fertilizer and herbicide were incorporated into dry soil (League clay) with a rake. Pre-plant incorporated (ppi) treatments were applied to dry soil of designated plots with a 4 nozzle (tip size 800067, 50 mesh screens), hand-held, spray boom pressurized with CO2. Final spray volume was 29.7 gpa. These treatments were also incorporated into dry soil with a rake. Plots were permanently flooded (flood depth about 4 inches) on 5 Apr and hand-planted with sprouted seed at 130 lb dry seed/acre. To prepare sprouted seed, untreated seed (with no fungicides, insecticides, etc.) was soaked in water for 24 h, drained, and air-dried for another 24 h. Seed treatments were applied to sprouted seed according to the attached protocol provided by Rhone-Poulenc Ag Company. On 17 Apr, rice emerged through the water (12 d after planting). On 25 Apr (8 d after rice emergence through water), Furadan 3G was applied to designated plots with a hand-held shaker jar. On each of 16 May and 11 Jun (19 and 45 d after rice emergence through water), five 4 inch diam X 4 inch deep soil cores (each core containing at least 1 rice plant) were removed from each plot, washed, and inspected for immature RWW. On 6 Jun (at panicle differentiation), rice was fertilized with urea at 57 lb nitrogen/acre; thus, total nitrogen applied for the growing season was 170 lb/acre. At maturity (29 Jul), plots were harvested with a small plot combine and yields adjusted to 12% moisture. Insect counts were transformed using x + 0.5 and all data analyzed by 2-way ANOVA and DMRT.