Effects of low levels of nitrogen or phosphorus provided in hydroponic culture on brown planthopper feeding and survival

Little research on the effect of low nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) treatments, especially low P, on the resistance to brown planthopper (BPH, Nilaparvata lugens Stål) in Oryza sativa. Here, significantly fewer BPHs hatched on plants treated with low N or P. Furthermore, the treatments reduced BPH weight gain, survival rate, and honeydew excretion as well as the number of BPHs that settled on the plants. Similar to the observations in the control group, the average yield per plant under low N or P treatment decreased after infestation with BPH. Nevertheless, rice plants treated with low N or P showed obvious antibiotic and antixenotic effects on BPHs. Thus, these low-nutrient treatments could mitigate the reductions in rice yield after BPH infestation. This study clearly demonstrated that low N or P negatively affected BPH performance, indicating the potential application of these treatments as an alternative pest management strategy for BPHs.