Callosbruchus maculatus Resistance in Some Wild Relatives and Interspecific Derivatives of Pigeonpea
The present study of Screening of some wild relatives of pigeonpea against bruchid revealed that amongst the 4 Cajanus species, comprising of seven accessions, bruchid damage ranged between 14 and 30%, compared to 78% in the commercially cultivated pigeonpea variety ICPL 85010. Wild species Cajanus scarabaeoides accession ICPW 130 and C. platycarpus accession ICPW 66 had lowest damage (14% and 16% respectively). The larval/pupal period was prolonged in wild accessions (42 – 55days) compared to 33 days on the susceptible control ICPL 85010 indicating the antibiosis mechanism of resistance in the wild species. Though there was high oviposition on the seeds of interspecific derivative of C. platycarpus A 4-10-7-19, it had the least damage (10%). In the rest of the derivatives the damage rating ranged between 10 and 55% compared to 80% damage in the susceptible control, reflecting the potential of utilizing these wild species derivatives in pigeonpea crop improvement to overcome the Bruchid damage.