Redesigning Research on Crop Resistance to Insects: Experiences with Tomato

Abstract

Exploitation of host plant resistance (HPR) against insect pests has gained greater importance in intensive agriculture since the days of Reginald H. Painter. In spite of the initial euphoria mentioning few success stories, currently it warrants for introspection and redesigning of research strategies in developing insect tolerant/resistant crop cultivars. Conventional tools of resistance breeding, though successful, have lost its legacy because of temporal, manpower, and cost considerations. The declined output in terms of research publications or pest resilient crop cultivars stands testimony to the dwindling number of entomologists and breeders concentrating on such conventional tools. Many of the novel molecular approaches such as marker aided selection, mapping QTL have gained much prominence and few successful outputs are being popularized. Though many preliminary laboratory reports on molecular techniques in HPR are widely surfacing, their field success is less validated. The success of pest resilient cultivars depends on various factors including preference by growers based on better yield and economic parameters and in turn preference by consumers based on organoleptic characters. The sustained use of genetically modified crops is still suspected and debated. Further, the consumerist enigma attached to its wider adoption needs to be rusticated through ostensible safety studies. Our two decade-long experience in exploiting the resistant traits in a huge germplasm of tomato has given a far insight into the trends that were followed earlier, failures faced in developing insect tolerant cultivars and the conceptual changes visualized for the future, which are highlighted in this chapter. Redesigning Research on Crop