The picture is not so good as it is out of focus and not close up, but this looks like the stem borer Scirpophaga incertulas. This is a lepidopteran that eats the rice and causes significant damage to the plant. Whether it is this exact species or not it is quite likely a stem borer and there are around 50 species.
"The initial boring and feeding by larvae in the leaf sheath cause broad, longitudinal, whitish, discolored areas at feeding sites, but only rarely do they result in wilting and drying
of the leaf blades. About a week after hatching, the larvae from the leaf
sheaths bore into the stem and, staying in the pith, feed on the inner surface of the walls. Such feeding frequently severs the apical parts of the plant from the base. When this
occurs during the vegetative phase of the plant, the central leaf whorl does not unfold, but turns brownish and dries off, although the lower leaves remain green and healthy."
http://books.irri.org/9712200280_cont...
How long ago did you sow? Is the pannicle formed?
Is the problem widespread?
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