Improving pod borer complex tolerance in cultivated pigeonpea(Cajanuscajan)by using wild Cajanusspecies

Abstract

Pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera Hübner) is the single largest yield reducing factor in food legumes. Worldwide, pod borer causes an estimated loss of over $2 billion annually, despite over$1 billion value of insecticides used to control this devastating pest. In pigeonpea(Cajanuscajan(L.) Millsp.), an important food grain legume crop of the semi-arid tropics, Helicoverpa armigera causes maximum yield losses (25-70%) followed by pod fly, Melanagromyzaobtusa(10-50%), Marucavitrata(5-25%) and pod bug, Clavigrallagibbosa(10-30%). High levels of resistance to pod borer is not available in the cultivated genepool, which necessitates the exploitation of new anddiverse sources of variations