Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2020) 9(8): 1261-1267 1261 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.908.142 Demonstration of Ecological Engineering and Eco-friendly Pest and Disease Management Strategies in Paddy M. Alagar 1* , M. Tamil Selvan 2 , R. Ravi 3 and V. Sivakumar 4 1 Agricultural Entomology, 4 Horticulture, Coconut Research Station, TNAU, Aliyarnagar, India 2 Horticulture, Agricultural Research Station, TNAU, Pattukottai, India 3 Forestry, Forest College and Research Institute, TNAU, Mettupalayam, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Paddy (Oryza sativa L.) is the stable food crop for 50 per cent of world population. About 90 per cent of paddy area is in Asia. Around 1373 insect pests are known to attack paddy crop. Among these, 20 to 30 insect pests are causing economic damage and causes reduction in yield up to 25 to 30%. Pest problems have increased tremendously due to monoculture, overlapping of crops, dense cropping and availability of preferred host. Intensive rice production with the primary goal of achieving high yield is often characterized by the excessive application of fertilizers and pesticides. It has led to many negative environmental effects, such as the reduction of biodiversity and natural International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 8 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Ecological Engineering and ecofriendly pest and disease management strategies in paddy is the need of the hour because of reduction in natural enemies population in rice ecosystem due to indiscriminate use of pesticides. Ecological Engineering and ecofriendly pest and disease management strategies in paddy was demonstrated in the farmers’ field as Front Line Demonstration in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu. In the demonstration plot the dead heart symptoms was 3.63% and white ear was 0.86% compared to 13.29% and 2.90% dead heart and white ears respectively in the farmers practices adopted plot. In the same manner the leaf folder damage was also low in the demonstration plots. The pest defender ratio was 0.75:8 in the demonstration plot and it was 4:1in the farmers practices adopted field. The per cent Disease Index (PDI) for blast was 0.73%, PDI for Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB) was 2.47% compared to 5.12% and 9.51% respectively in farmers practices adopted field. The PDI of false smut was 0.33% in the demo plot and it was 3.33% in the farmers practices adopted plot. In the demonstration plot the highest yield of 56.57 Q/Ha was recorded when compared to only 34.73 Q/Ha in the farmers practices adopted plot. The net return was Rs. 35,540/Ha whereas, in the farmers practices adopted plot the net return was only Rs.9,458/Ha. The benefit cost ratio was 1:1.82 in the demonstration plot and it was 1:1.24 in the non-demo plot. Keywords Ecofriendly, ecological engineering, paddy, pest and disease management Accepted: 15 July 2020 Available Online: 10 August 2020 Article Info