Deployment of Resistance in Teak to Key Insect Pests

Abstract

Teak (Tectona grandis) is subjected to serious depredation by insect pests in nurseries, plantations and natural forests. A good number of pest resistant genotypes of teak have been identified but are not operationally deployed. Host resistance provides a highly practical eco-friendly approach of insect bio-control, as a long term solution of the problem. The cause of resistance in teak could be the result of escape from insect attack due to difference in flushing time, which in turn may have been caused by chemical, environmental or genetic factors. The present review has contemplated these aspects and elucidates research and development on clonal resistance in teak to its most pernicious insect pests, Hyblaea puera Cramer (Lepidoptera : Hyblaeidae), commonly known as teak defoliator and Eutectona machaeralis (Walker) (Lepidoptera : Pyralidae), teak leaf skeletonizer. It has also highlighted breeding for insect resistance in teak and role of biotechnology in development of resistance.