Alika Insecticide, Virtako and Chess: Which Rice Pest Each One Is For

A rice insecticide only works if it matches the pest. So before any product talk, look closely at your field. Deadhearts and whiteheads point to stem borer. Folded, scraped leaves point to leaffolder. Yellowing at the base of the hills, with insects that drop onto the water when you tap the stems, points to planthoppers. Empty, spotted grains at the milk stage point to rice bug.

If you are not sure, start with our guide to rice insects. Then come back here and pick the product whose label names your pest.

The three products side by side

The last column is the pre harvest interval, the days you must wait between the last spray and harvest. The gap between them is wide. Chess needs more than a month, so it belongs early in the season, while Alika insecticide has the shortest wait of the three on rice.

Alika insecticide: two actions in one bottle

Alika 247 ZC mixes lambda cyhalothrin, a pyrethroid in IRAC group 3A, with thiamethoxam, a neonicotinoid in group 4A. The pyrethroid knocks insects down on contact. Thiamethoxam moves inside the plant, so insects that suck sap take it in as they feed. The ZC formulation holds both, one in tiny capsules and one as a suspension.

Syngenta Philippines lists rice among the crops for Alika insecticide, with stem borer, leafhoppers and rice bug as the rice targets. The company says it protects for up to 14 days. The FPA label also gives the safety and reentry instructions, so read those before anyone walks back into a sprayed field.

For rice bug, timing is everything. Scout from just before flowering until the hard dough stage, counting the bugs at dawn or toward evening. Direct control may be needed if you find more than 10 rice bugs in 20 hills. Below that, natural enemies such as wasps and spiders often keep the bugs in check.

Virtako insecticide for stem borer and leaffolder

Virtako 40 WG pairs chlorantraniliprole, a diamide in IRAC group 28, with the same thiamethoxam found in Alika. The diamide stops caterpillars from feeding, which is why Virtako insecticide is a common pick for stem borer and rice leaffolder. Its FPA rice listing is the widest of the three, from green leafhopper to rice black bug.

The Philippine product is a wettable granule packed in small sachets that you mix in the knapsack. Do not confuse it with the Virtako granules sold in India, a different formulation broadcast by hand. The label on a Philippine pack is the one that counts here.

Rice at the vegetative stage can usually recover from leaffolder damage. Early season sprays often give little return and can wipe out the natural enemies that keep planthoppers down. So save the diamide for damage that threatens the flag leaf or the panicle.

Chess insecticide for the brown planthopper

Chess 50 WG contains only pymetrozine, IRAC group 9B. It acts on the sense organs that insects use for balance and movement. Hoppers that pick it up stop feeding and slowly starve. Syngenta says Chess insecticide protects for up to 21 days and is highly selective for beneficial insects.

The FPA rice listing names the brown planthopper, the green leafhopper and the rice black bug. Many farmers and store receipts spell it plant hopper, two words, but it is the same insect. Because its pre harvest interval on rice is 36 days, Chess is a tool for the tillering and booting stages, not for the last weeks before harvest.

Before you spray, read our brown planthopper guide. Planthopper outbreaks often follow insecticides that kill spiders, mirid bugs and water striders. If natural enemies outnumber the hoppers, the risk of hopperburn is low.

What about Telluride insecticide?

Telluride insecticide is not a Syngenta product. Telluride 1.8 EC comes from Aldiz Incorporated and contains abamectin, which sits in IRAC group 6. On the FPA list it covers thrips, mites, leafminers and a few borers on crops such as onion, tomato, eggplant, watermelon, papaya, banana and pineapple. We found no rice listing for it. So if a seller offers it for your palay, ask to see the label first.

Rotate by IRAC group, not by brand

Here is the trap. Alika and Virtako both contain thiamethoxam. If you spray Alika insecticide, then switch to Virtako against the same hoppers, you have changed the brand but kept group 4A. The same goes for Karate and Cymbush, which share group 3A with the lambda cyhalothrin in Alika. Our page on Karate, Cymbush and Selecron covers those older products.

Buy only what the FPA has registered

Under the law that created the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, no pesticide may be sold or used in the country unless the FPA has registered it. The agency posts its list of registered products online, and anyone can check a brand there, including the expiry date of its registration. A product whose registration has lapsed may still sit on a shelf, so ask the dealer before you buy. Buy from a store with an FPA license and keep your receipt. Our guide to the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority shows how to check a product and where to report fakes.

In anee.io, you can send a clear photo of the insect and the damage to Anee, the smart farm technician, and ask in Tagalog or English what it is before you buy anything. Then put the spray on the cropping calendar with a reminder for the day the pre harvest interval ends. Finally, log each bottle in the farm inventory, so its cost lands on the right lot.

Questions farmers ask