Menochilus sexmaculatus(Fabricius) predates on soft bodied, plants sap feeding insect pests. This species is a potential biocontrol agent to use in augmentative release programmes and requires more biological and ecological data. The objective of this study was to examine the development biology of M. sexmaculatus and to assess its suitability as a biocontrol agent. The study was conducted in the Entomology Research

In this study, a field experiment was conducted to evaluate the growth and yield responses of Sri Lankan lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.) with the application of beneficial Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculum and intercropping with highly mycorrhizal-dependent vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides L.) under two different soil nutrient management systems (NMSs): conventional/chemical (CNMS) and organic (ONMS). The experiment was designed as a split plot with three blocks. Each CNMS and ONMS experiment included an untreated control (T0) and three treatments—AMF inoculation (T1), vetiver intercropping (T2), and the combination of AMF and vetiver (T3). According to the results, the colonization of rice roots with AMF was not affected significantly by the treatments and ranged from 0–15.8%. The effect was very low or absent in the early stage and then higher in the later stages of the rice plant. Furthermore, plant growth was not significantly different between the two NMSs, although grain yield was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in ONMS than for the respective controls (T0), with the order T1 (0.45 kg/m²) > T2 (0.42 kg/m²) > T3 (0.41 kg/m²) in CNMS and T2 (0.44 kg/m²) > T1 (0.41 kg/m²) > T3 (0.40 kg/m²), thus suggesting the utilization of AMF and vetiver in a lowland rice farming system is beneficial.

Weather factors are key determinants in ecological disease management in sustainable agriculture, while judicious crop management systems deliver better control over rice diseases in tropical conditions. This study was designed to explore the effect of weather factors under different crop management systems and seasons on Rice Brown Leaf Spot (RBLS) disease incidences caused by Bipolaris oryzae in the tropical dry zone of Sri Lanka. The incidence of RBLS was measured under Conventional, Reduced, and Organic crop management systems commencing from the first occurrence of disease symptoms, at three-day sampling intervals in the tropical dry zone during wet (Maha) 2018/19 and 2019/20, and dry (Yala) 2019 and 2020 seasons. Secondary data on weather parameters were collected from the regional weather station. The RBLS incidences were highest in the wet season and were most abundant at the reproductive stage. The disease incidence dynamics over time were found to be similar among all the crop management systems in three seasons. The cumulative amount of rainfall seven days before the disease observation (RF7), the day-RH (DRH), and the maximum (TMAX48) and average temperature (TAVG48) that were recorded 48 h before the disease observations were found to be significantly correlated with the disease incidence of crop management systems in the wet season. DRH and minimum temperature (TMIN72) of 72 h before the disease observed in the wet season resulted in higher disease incidences. The RBLS disease can be managed concerning the crop management systems under high DRH and TMIN (20-25 ℃) in the wet season.

In this study, a field experiment was conducted to evaluate the growth and yield responses of Sri Lankan lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.) with the application of beneficial Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculum, and inter-cropping with highly mycorrhizal dependent vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides L.) under two different soil nutrient management systems (NMSs): conventional/chemical (CNMS) and organic (ONMS). The experiment was designed as a split plot with three blocks. Each CNMS and ONMS experiment included untreated control (T0), and three treatments—AMF inoculation (T1), vetiver intercropping (T2), and the combination of AMF and vetiver (T3). According to the results, colonization of rice roots with AMF was not affected significantly by the treatments and ranged from 0‒15.8%. The effect was very low or absent in the early stage and then higher in the later stages of the rice plant. Furthermore, plant growth was not significantly different between the two NMSs, although grain yield was significantly higher (P < 0.05), with the order T1 (0.45 kg/m2) >T2 (0.42 kg/m2) >T3 (0.41 kg/m2) in CNMS and T2 (0.44 kg/m2) >T1 (0.41 kg/m2) >T3 (0.40 kg/m2), in ONMS than for the respective controls (T0), thus suggesting beneficial utilization of AMF and vetiver in the lowland rice farming system.