Conserving Floral and Faunal Diversity of Rice Paddies

Abstract

Rice paddies have complex trophic food webs of flora and fauna. Integrated biodiversity management of flowering forbs can help conserve the beneficial insects of rice ecosystem, in turn enhancing natural biological control of pests. A concept of habitat management through ecological engineering has been developed at the ICAR - Indian Institute of Rice Research, tested, and validated in farmers’ fields over several seasons of crop. The strategies are low cost, easy to adopt, ecological sound and environmentally friendly, while providing farmers with monetary returns and nutritional benefits. One of the techniques advocated, is increasing floral diversity. Floral diversity can be maintained by conserving commonly occurring flowering forbs in rice fields or by growing a crop plant that provides monetary and nutritional benefits. Flowering plants on rice bunds had significant impact on biodiversity of parasitoids such as Anagrus, Oligosita and others. Field studies through baiting and laboratory studies for longevity indicated enhanced parasitization rates and six to ten times increase in longevity of parasitoids. Significant differences were observed in parasitism of hopper eggs in plots with different crop borders in comparison to plots without flower borders (F= 4.91; df 7; p <0.01).