Small leaf folder caterpillars rolling my rice leaves into tubes

Leaves folded and rolled into tubes with white scraped patches inside and small green caterpillars hidden within are caused by the rice leaf folder, which folds the leaf and feeds on the green tissue from inside. Light to moderate folding, especially on lower leaves, usually does not need spraying because the crop compensates, so first count how many of the top leaves are affected and watch the trend before acting. Send a photo to your KVK or agri officer if you are unsure. Useful cultural steps are avoiding excess nitrogen which encourages the pest, keeping bunds clean, and conserving natural enemies by not spraying broad spectrum chemicals unnecessarily, since spiders and parasitic wasps control a lot of leaf folder for free. If the flag and top leaves are heavily folded near panicle stage and control is justified, recommended actives include chlorantraniliprole or flubendiamide, but follow the label dose, the pre-harvest interval and the local KVK recommendation and rotate the mode of action.