Monitoring of Virulence of Gall Midge (Orseolia oryzae Wood-mason) Population on Rice

A study was conducted for two years during 2022 and 2023 at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Warangal, Telangana, India to know the virulence of gall midge on rice varieties with known gall midge resistant genes at Warangal. During both the years i.e., 2022 and 2023, the virulence of gall midge was low in Aganni followed by Akshayadhan, W1263 and Purple. The gall midge virulence was very low and similar in Aganni and Akshayadhan which reveals the efficacy of gall midge resistance genes i.e., Gm4 and Gm8 against gall midge biotype 4M at Warangal. Since Purple variety does not have any gall midge resistant genes, gall midge virulence was highest on Purple variety. The study revealed that, gall midge genes viz., Gm4 and Gm8 are holding good for resistance against gall midge biotype 4M in both the years of study. However, a close monitoring of the virulence pattern in endemic areas is important for deployment of effective genes in developing resistant varieties.