Breeding Varieties for Insect Resistance and IPM Strategies

for Vegetable Crops

KC Sharma
Department of Entomology
Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni-Solan (HP)

Pesticides have of course played a commendable role in increasing our

food production and protecting us against disease vectors. However, sole
reliance on pesticides has created several problems in the environment.
Adverse effects of pesticides prompted scientists to look for environment
friendly methods of pest control and consequently IPM was conceptualized.

A pest management philosophy that utilizes all suitable pest management

techniques and methods to keep pest populations below economic injury
levels. Each pest management technique must be environmentally sound and
compatible with producer objectives.

The term Integrated Pest Management means:

• Integrated: a focus on interactions of pests, crops, control methods,
and the environment rather than on individual weeds, insects, or
diseases.
This approach considers all available tactics and how they fit in with
other agricultural practices.
• Pest: a species that conflicts with our profit, health, or convenience. If
a species does not exist in numbers that seriously affect these factors,
it is not considered a pest.
• Management: a way to keep pests below the levels where they can
cause economic damage. Management does not mean eradicating

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 pests. It means finding tactics that are both effective and economical
and that keep environmental damage to a minimum.
Basic Principles of IPM
1) Thorough understanding of the crop, pest and the environment and their
interrelationships.
2) Requires advanced planning.
3) Balances cost/benefits of all control practices.
4) Requires routine monitoring of crop and pest conditions.
1a. Understanding Crop Growth and Development: How do you grow a
healthy crop?
• When is the crop most susceptible to pest damage?
• When is the crop under stress?

1b. Understanding the Pest:

• Proper Identification

Before any recommendation is made, correct identification of the pest species

is needed. For example, the common root knot nematode occurs worldwide as
40 different species, of which six species with at least six specialized races are
most prevalent in agricultural fields. So recommendations on crop rotations
and resistant varieties are only helpful if accurate nematode identifications are
made in the laboratory.

1c. Understanding the Pest and Their Life Cycle:

• When is the pest present

• When is it most susceptible to control-”Weak Link”
• When is too late to control

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1d. Understanding the environment:
• How does it affect crop growth

– Stress

– Time within susceptible stage

• How it affects pest development

– High mortality

– High survival

DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES:

• Cultural control
• Mechanical control
• Physical control
• Legal control
• Biopesticides
• Breeding for Host Resistance
• Semiochemicals
• Chemical control
Breeding for Resistance: Breeding plants for resistance to insects is really
just another form of biological pest control. Rather than finding insects to
attack the pests, breeders look for genetic traits (or combinations of traits) that
reduce an organism's susceptibility to attack or injury by its insect pests.

CONCEPT OF HOST PLANT RESISTANCE: Since host plant resistant is

the result of interactions between the plant and the insect, it is therefore
assumed that optimal conditions under which a plant species is grown are also
favourable enough for the growth and development of the insect so that the
plant species is accepted by the insect. The host plant resistance should,
therefore be viewed by comparing the performance of a variety under
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optimum conditions for the growth and development of the plant in the
absence and presence of insect population capable causing maximum loss to
the host plant

In general, there are three approaches that plant breeders use to

develop resistant cultivars:

i) Antibiosis. Plants produce a wide variety of defensive compounds

(allelochemicals) that protect them from herbivores. These compounds
may reduce growth, inhibit reproduction, alter physiology, delay
maturation, or induce various physical or behavioral abnormalities in
herbivores. By purposely selecting for plants with high levels of
allelochemicals, or by breeding such plants with less resistant ones, it is
often possible to develop new cultivars that resist pest injury yet still
retain desirable characteristics.
ii) Antixenosis: A physical or chemical property of a plant can make it so
unpalatable that it is largely protected from herbivore attack. This type
of resistance is often known as non preference. It may involve the
presence of feeding repellents (or the absence of feeding attractants), or it
may involve physical traits such as hairs, waxes, or a thick, tough
epidermis that do not provide the pest with a desirable feeding substrate.
iii) Tolerance: Some plant genotypes are simply able to "tolerate" injurious
insects better than others. Tolerant cultivars may be exposed to the same
pest populations as susceptible ones, but they do not suffer as much
injury.
Basis of resistance: A number of plant characteristics are known to render the
cultivar less suitable or unsuitable for feeding, oviposition and development of insect
pests. These are:

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 i) Biophysical basis
ii) Biochemical basis

i) Biophysical basis: Plant resistance is controlled by several

morphological factors which are:
Remote factors: Colour, Shape, Size

Close range factors: Thickening of cell wall and rapid proliferation of

plat tissue. Solidness and other stem characteristics, Trichomes, Surface
waxes

ii) Biochemical basis: Broadly, the chemicals imparting resistance to

insects can be classified into two main categories:
a) Nutrients: The host plant may be deficient in certain nutritional
elements required by the insect and hence prove resistant.
b) Allelochemicals: These are non nutritional chemicals produced by an
organism of one species and affect the growth, health, behviour or
population biology of individuals of other species.

These are classified into two categories:

A) Allomones: Which confer an adaptive advantage to the

producing organism ie host plant

B) Kairomones: Which give adaptive advantage to the receiving

organism ie phytophagous insect.
Screening techniques for pest: The different screening techniques for pest
resistance are listed below.

1. Field Screening
2. Green house screening
3. Laboratory Screening:
4. Bioassay techniques
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 Developing resistant cultivars by traditional breeding methods can be a
slow and uncertain process. But new advances in biotechnology now make it
possible to pluck genes from one organism and insert them into the cells of a
completely different species. For example, the delta-endotoxin gene
from Bacillus thuringiensis, an insect pathogen, has already been isolated and
inserted into crop plants Cells of the genetically engineered plants can
produce their own toxin, making them "resistant" to certain insect herbivores
(e.g., Lepidoptera).

A brief explanation of the nature of damage of insect pests of important

vegetable crops and their management is given as under:

Sr No Name of Nature of damage Management

insect/pest

1 Cabbage aphid The colonies of the During initial stage

aphid are seen on leave, of crop, syrphid
bud and inflorescence. predators help in
Damage is caused by suppressing the
nymphs and adults population of this
which suck cell sap aphid so the activity
from plant parts. Due to of this pest remains
sucking of the sap low both due to low
curling of leaves takes temperature and due
place. to the activities of
predators during
winter, however,
during February,
when the temperature
rises a spray of
malathion (0.05%)
may be given and it is
repeated after 15 days
if the attack persists

2 Cabbage Damage is caused by The yellow egg

butterfly caterpillars which in the masses of this pest

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 earlier stage feed in can be collected and
groups and scrap the killed by crushing.
leaf surface but later on Spray of Neem seed
they may eat up the kernel extract (4%)
entire leaves leaving and application of
only the harder mid rib malathion (0.05%)
also help in reducing
the population of
caterpillars.

3 Diamondback Damage is caused by the Sprinkler irrigation

moth larvae which in earlier after every third day
stage mine the leaves in evening hours is
and later on feed on the effective. Spray
exposed leave making application of
hole of variable size. chlorpyriphos
(0.05%) is also
effective. Same
insecticide should not
be applied repeatedly.

4 Painted bug: Damage is caused by This pest can be

nymphs and adults controlled by spraying
which suck sap from the of oxy demeton
leaves and the methyl (0.05%)
developing pods which
gradually wilt and dry
up. On leaves, palish or
whitish marking appear
and such leaves turn
brown.

5 Cutworm Soon after transplanting, In the field where

cutworms attack the cutworms are known
tomato seedling. The to cause damage in
larvae hide in the soil the previous years,
during day time and drenching with
come out at dusk and cut chlorpyripjos (0.04%)
seedlings at the ground should be done in the
level. The larvae are basin of the plants.
voracious eaters. They
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 fell more seedling than Use well rotten FYM.
they can consume.

6 Tomato fruit Damage is caused by Use pheromone traps.

borer larva which feed on Application of
foliage, flower bud and Bacillus thuringiensis
flowers for some time var kurstaki and
and later enters into the HaNPV. Pest can also
developing fruits. Small be managed by spray
green fruits are of of cyprmethrin
preferred. (0.0075%) or
deltamethrin
(0.0025%) at 15-day
interval.

7 Serpentine Damage is caused by The pest can be

leafminer larva which feed in the managed by spraying
tissues in between the of deltamethrin
layer of the leaf. The (0.0028%) followed
pest makes galleries by another spray of
which are prominent on triazophos (0.15%) at
leaves. 15-day interval.

8 Greenhouse Damage is caused by Install yellow traps

whitefly nymphs and adults for monitoring.
which suck sap from Application of
foliage resulting in entomopathogenic
yellowing of leaves fungi. Spray the crop
which fade and dry with imidacloprid
away. The nymphs also (0.01%) or
excrete honeydew on acetamiprid.90.02%).
which sooty mould Neem formulations
develops which (@2-3 ml/lt of water
interferes with can also be used
photosynthetic activity against this pest. .
of plant.

9 Red spider mite Damage is caused by This mite is attacked

nymphs and adults by by natural enemies
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 feeding on underside of
leaves. Due to
extraction of
chlorophyll, leaves show
characteristics blotching
and bronzing. Lateron
the leaves dry up.
10 Fruit fly Damage is caused by
larvae which feed inside
the tomato fruit on fruit
pulp due to which the
fruit is rendered unfit for
human consumption.
11 Pea leafminer More serious damage is
caused by larvae. They
make prominent whitish
tunnels in the leaves
which interfere with
proper photosynthesis
activity of plants. The
manufacture of the food
by leaves is severely
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like coccinellids,
thrips, chrysopids,
phytoseid mite etc.
Of these bio control
agents, phytseiid
mite, Amblyseius
tetranychvorous can
be mass reared on
caster pollen grains
and released when
the spider mite
population begins to
appear on the crop.
All the infested fruits
that fall to the ground
should be collected
and buried deep (at
least 2 feet) in the
soil followed by
drenching malathion
to avoid the escape of
emerging adults.
Besides the fruit flies
can be managed by
applying bait spray
which consists of
malathion (10ml), gur
(50 grams) and water
(5 lts).
The population of the
pea leafminer is
naturally kept under
control by a large
number of larval and
pupal parasitoids
which include
braconids and
eulophids.
Application of oxy
 affected. demeton methyl
(0.025%) or
dichlorvos (0.04%)
during the second
week of February
help in reducing the
population of this
pest.

12 Black bean bug Both adults and nymphs Before flower

suck sap usually from initiation and pod
lower side surface of formation stage,
leaves. As a result of spray the crop with
sap sucking, the oxy demeton methyl
chlorophyll content is (0.025%) or
reduced which dimethoate (0.03%).
ultimately affects the
quality and yield of the
crop. Severely attacked
leaves show severe
minute yellowish specks
and small, black
pustules of excreta.

13 Blister beetle Damage is caused by The beetles can be

adults which feed on managed by spraying
foliage, flowers and fenvalerate (0.01`%)
developing pods.

14 Red pumpkin Damage is caused by Collection and

beetle adults who feed on destruction of adults
leaves by making biting are helpful in
holes on them, The reducing the beetle
attack is prominent population. It can
during May-June. In also be controlled by
severe infestation, spraying of carbaryl
flowers are also (0.1%) at 10-day
damaged. interval

15 Red cotton bug Both adults and nymphs Hand picking and
cause damage by killing of insect in
sucking cell sap for kerosinized water is
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 leaves and fruits. The effective in checking
plant becomes weak and the population of this
stunted which ultimately pest. Deep ploughing
affect the yields. The exposes the eggs thus
infested fruits may curl causes desiccation of
up. eggs. The pests can
also be controlled by
applying malathion
(0.05%).

16 Brinjal shoot Damage is caused by Use fevlalerate

and fruit borer larvae which bore into (0.01%).
the tender shoots, flower
buds and ultimately into
fruits thus render them
unfit for human
consumption.

17 Brinjal hadda Damage is caused by Hand picking and

beetle adults and grubs which destruction of eggs
feed on the upper and adults in the early
surface of leaves, eat stages help in
leaf tissue, leaving reducing the
parallel bands of population of this
uneaten tissue which pest Application of
turn brown, dry up and carbaryl (0.1%) is
ultimately fall off. useful in controlling
this pest.

References:

Dhaliwal, GS. 2009. Integrated Pest Management. Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana.

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