(N/A) Insect and pest infestation is a major cause for the large-scale destruction of crop plants and produce.
Plant breeding for insect resistance is useful because it reduces the reliance on chemical insecticides,thereby minimizing environmental pollution and health hazards.
Resistance in host crop plants can be achieved through morphological,biochemical,or physiological characteristics:
$1$. Morphological: Hairy leaves in plants like cotton provide resistance to jassids,and in wheat,they provide resistance to cereal leaf beetles. Solid stems in wheat prevent infestation by the stem sawfly,while smooth-leaved and nectar-less cotton varieties do not attract bollworms.
$2$. Biochemical: High aspartic acid,low nitrogen,and low sugar content in maize lead to resistance against maize stem borers.
Breeding methods for insect resistance follow the same steps as those for other agronomic traits,utilizing germplasm collections or wild relatives as sources of resistance genes.
| Crop | Variety | Insect Pests |
| Brassica (rapeseed mustard) | Pusa Gaurav | Aphids |
| Flat bean | Pusa Sem $2$,Pusa Sem $3$ | Jassids,aphids and fruit borer |
| Okra (Bhindi) | Pusa Sawani,Pusa $A-4$ | Shoot and Fruit borer |