Various biotic and abiotic stresses impair the productivity of rice in most of the rice-growing countries. Among the biotic stresses, brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), is one of the most devastating insects of rice causing loss of millions of dollars, every year (Kumar et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2015). It is a sap-sucking insect that damages the rice crop by feeding the phloem sap resulting in reduction of growth, vigor and numbers of productive tillers. Severe BPH infestation induces a complex wound response represented by gross discoloration and dehydration of the rice plant known as "hopper burn" (Backus, Serrano, & Ranger, 2005). BPH also causes indirect damage to the rice crop by transmitting rice grassy stunt virus and ragged stunt virus (Fujita, Kohli, & Horgan, 2013; Jena & Kim, 2010; Sarao et al., 2016). Chemical controls are the most common method for managing BPH infestation, but are costly and potentially harmful to the environment and human health. Therefore, utilization of natural host-plant resistance is considered as one of the most economical and effective ways to manage BPH. The BPH is believed to undergo the host shift from Leersia plants to rice about 0.25 million years ago (Jones, Gacesa, & Butlin, 1996).