Page "Rice" Paragraph 18

Rice plants produce their own chemical defenses to protect themselves from pest attacks.

Some synthetic chemicals, such as the herbicide 2, 4-D, cause the plant to increase the production of certain defensive chemicals and thereby increase the plant ’ s resistance to some types of pests.

Conversely, other chemicals, such as the insecticide imidacloprid, can induce changes in the gene expression of the rice that cause the plant to become more susceptible to attacks by certain types of pests.