Kambrekar D.N.

Department of Agricultural Entomology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad-580 005 Karnataka, India
Author    Correspondence author
Legume Genomics and Genetics, 2016, Vol. 7, No. 5   doi: 10.5376/lgg.2016.07.0005
Received: 02 Mar., 2016    Accepted: 05 Apr., 2016    Published: 28 Jun., 2016

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Kambrekar D.N., 2016, Management of Legume Podborer, Helicoverpa armigera with Host Plant Resistance, Legume Genomics and Genetics, 7(5): 1- 19 (doi: 10.5376/lgg.2016.07.0005)

Helicoverpa armigera is the most important insect pest on wide variety of food, fibre, oilseed, fodder and horticultural crops commonly called as legume pod borer. Enormous amount of loss has been reported in deferent crops worldwide. Apart from being highly polyphagus, H. armigera is widely adapted to feeding on various plant parts. However, damage to the reproductive parts particularly to flowers and developing seeds results in direct loss. Hence, the level of Helicoverpa infestation during the flowering and fruiting phase is widely used as the basis for assessment of loss, and to quantify the genotypic resistance to this insect. Varieties of chickpea showing varying degrees of resistance to H. armigera have been developed at ICRISAT in India and some of these varieties have been used successfully by the farmers. Screening of more than 14800 germplasm accessions under natural infestations at ICRISAT has resulted in the identification of 21 donor showing antixenosis, antibiosis and tolerance mechanism of resistance, and these sources can be used in breeding programs. A high per cent of crude fibre and non reducing sugars and low per cent of starch have been found to be related with low incidence. Recent reports on significant variation in Helicoverpa gut proteinase inhibitors among chickpea genotypes escape insect attack or suffer less damage as compared to other genotypes because of phonological asynchrony. Deployment of Helicoverpa-resistant cultivars should be aimed at conservation of the natural enemies and minimizing the number of pesticide applications. Host plant resistance is compatible with other methods of insect control, exercises a constant and cumulative effect on insect populations over time and space, as no adverse effects on the environment, reduces the need to use pesticides, and involves no extra cost to the farmers.

Legume podborer; Management; Host plant resistance