Overcoming insect pest challenges for sustainable rice production in the Americas

Rice production in the Americas has expanded to meet a rising demand, but insect pests continue to threaten yields, grain quality, and farmer incomes. This review synthesizes current knowledge of the major insect pests affecting rice systems across the Americas and evaluates the performance, trade-offs, and complementarities of existing and emerging controls. It describes regional pest complexes, such as rice water weevil in the United States, Hoja Blanca vectors and stem borers in tropical areas, and late-season stink bugs across the continent. It examines how climate change, land use, and trade change invasion risk and pest activity timing. The review examines integrated pest management components: surveillance that blends field/edge scouting with decision-support tools and predictive modeling; cultural and agronomic practices that reduce baseline risk; biological control via parasitoids, predators, and entomopathogens using classical, augmentative, and conservation strategies; and threshold-based chemical control emphasizing resistance management, and residue stewardship. Innovative approaches, including AI-enabled forecasting, genomics-assisted resistance, and RNA interference technologies (RNAi) are also examined, alongside socioeconomic conditions that governing their adoption. Ultimately, the review develops adaptable, research-supported strategies that protect crop yields, preserve natural predators, increase farmers’ incomes, and bolster local food security, while tackling escalating environmental and climate issues through ecological, technological, and socioeconomic dimensions.