Insect Pest Resistance Factors in Rice Bean

Abstract

Presently insect pest menace has significantly affecgeted the crop productivity worldwide. At present more than 10,000 insect species posing imminent threat to different food crops have been identified (Rauf et al. 2019). For many decades, the most widely adopted approach has been the use of agrochemicals for pest management. Pesticides were used initially to benefit human life through increasing crop production, but their adverse effects overweighed the benefits associated with their use (Gill and Garg 2014). The situation is getting worse in developing countries due to rapid increase in human population together with changing climatic conditions. Therefore, in order to feed expanding human population in face of changing climatic scenario, crop protection without affecting the environmental health must be an integral component of modern-day agriculture practices. Currently farmers are utilizing pesticides indiscriminately and injudiciously which has led to wide concerns among agriculturist and environmentalist regarding the long-term damage to environmental health, reduction in population of natural enemies (Predators, parasites and parasitoids), beneficial insects, development of resistance and resurgence in targeted insect-pests, and their biomagnification in food chain (Kranthi et al. 2002a, b). Since the concerns regarding the use of ecologically unsafe pesticides have increased, therefore, investigation on developing more economical and eco-friendly pest management strategies has become imperative. The promising alternative approach for preventing agricultural losses or to control pest population is exploiting the potential toxicity of plant inhibitory proteins. Genes encoding these proteins provide a great means of transferring resistance to susceptible crops using recombinant DNA technology.