Yellow stem borer (rice)
The main rice borer — "dead heart" in the vegetative stage and empty, chaffy "white ears" at panicle stage.
- Pest type
- Stem-boring caterpillar
- Attacks
- Tillers & panicle base
- Worst in
- Tillering & heading stages
- Main risk
- Dead heart & white ear
Overview
The yellow stem borer is the most important stem borer of rice across India. The pale moth lays egg masses covered in buff hairs on the leaf tips; the caterpillars bore into the tillers and feed inside, cutting off the shoot above.
In the vegetative stage this shows as "dead heart" — the central shoot dries and pulls out easily while the plant stays green. If the borer strikes at the panicle (booting/heading) stage, it produces "white ear": the whole earhead emerges upright, white and empty, pulling out cleanly because the borer has severed it from below. White ear at heading is the more damaging of the two because it destroys the grain directly.
How to identify it
- Dead heart in the vegetative stage — a dry central shoot that pulls out easily while the tiller stays green.
- White ear at heading — upright, whitish, empty panicles that pull out cleanly, cut off from below by the borer.
- Buff-coloured egg masses (covered in silky hairs) on the tips of rice leaves, and pale yellow moths at dusk.
- Bore holes and a tunnel with a caterpillar inside when a damaged tiller is split open.
The damage it does
- Dead heart that kills tillers in the vegetative stage, reducing the number of productive tillers.
- White ear at heading — empty, chaffy panicles that directly destroy the grain of an affected tiller.
- Compensating tillers that mature late, giving uneven ripening.
- A heading-stage attack is especially costly because the yield is lost outright as white ears.
When to act
- Watch egg masses and dead hearts from the tillering stage, and monitor moths with light or pheromone traps.
- Protect the crop especially around the booting–heading window, when a borer attack causes white ear.
- Act at the young-larva/egg stage; once inside the tiller the borer is protected from sprays.
Organic & cultural control
- Grow resistant/tolerant rice varieties and avoid excess nitrogen, which makes the crop more attractive and susceptible.
- Clip and destroy leaf tips carrying egg masses at transplanting, and release Trichogramma japonicum egg parasitoids at the recommended schedule.
- Use light traps / pheromone traps to monitor and mass-trap moths, and destroy stubble after harvest to kill carry-over larvae.
- Conserve natural enemies (spiders, egg parasitoids) by avoiding unnecessary early insecticide sprays.
Chemical control
- Time any spray/granule to egg-hatch or first dead hearts, before larvae are deep in the tillers — CIB&RC-registered options include cartap hydrochloride, chlorantraniliprole and registered granular insecticides for rice.
- Granular insecticides applied to the standing water are a common delivery method in transplanted rice; follow the label.
- Rotate insecticide groups, protect the heading stage, and observe the pre-harvest interval.
- Confirm the current recommendation and dose for your area with your local KVK.
Crops most at risk
Where this problem is called out in our crop guides — open a crop for the full package of practices.
Frequently asked questions
Some of my rice earheads are white, upright and empty. What causes it?
That is "white ear", caused by the yellow stem borer. The caterpillar tunnels the tiller and severs it below the panicle, so the earhead emerges white and empty and pulls out cleanly. It is the most damaging phase of this borer because it destroys the grain directly. Protecting the crop around the booting–heading stage is the key.
What is the difference between dead heart and white ear?
They are the same pest at two stages. Dead heart is when the borer kills the central shoot of a tiller in the vegetative stage (dry shoot, pulls out easily). White ear is when it attacks at the panicle stage, so the earhead emerges empty and white. White ear is costlier because it directly destroys grain, while dead heart mainly reduces tiller number.
How can I reduce stem borer in rice without over-spraying?
Use resistant varieties, avoid excess nitrogen, clip egg-mass-bearing leaf tips at transplanting, release Trichogramma, run light/pheromone traps, and destroy stubble after harvest. Reserve a registered insecticide (timed to egg-hatch, protecting the heading stage) for when monitoring shows it is needed — check the current recommendation with your KVK.
Symptoms and control measures follow ICAR, KVK and state agricultural-university package-of-practices; any named chemical is a registered use. Always read the product label and confirm the dose for your crop and zone. editorial policy.