author(s)
Seema Tripathy and Ladu Kishore Rath

abstract
The field experiment conducted during kharif 2014 on the influence of silicon application in rice for induction of resistance against yellow stem borer revealed that application of orthosilicic acid @ 4ml/l as foliar spray four times starting from 15 days after transplanting (DAT) at weekly intervals reduced the yellow stem borer infestation significantly (1.51% dead heart and 3.33% white ear head) as compared to control treatment (5.0% dead heart and 11.44% white ear head). Other silicon based treatments were observed to be less efficacious than orthosilicic acid. Orthosilicic acid treatment improved the yield attributing characters of rice plant and increased the grain yield substantially as compared to other treatments including control treatment. Reduced incidence of stem borer due to application of orthosilicic acid was attributable to reduced stem diameter, reduced feeding and impediment in larval penetration due to higher silica uptake by the rice plants.