Dead heart and white head damage to rice is caused by

Stem borer is one of the most common pests of rice. It can cause severe destruction to the field as it infects the central tiller of the plant leading to drying during the vegetative stage. In grown-up plants, whole ear heads become dried and yield chaffy grains which are also called "White Ear". While in the vegetative stage larva enters the stem and feeds on the growing shoot and causes drying of the central shoot known as "dead heart”.