INHERITANCE OF RESISTANCE TO PODFLY AND PODBORER IN THE INTERSPECIFICCROSS OF PIGEONPEA

Pigeonpea, Cajanus cajan, is an important grain legume of Asia and Afr ica. The podfly, Melanagromyza obtusa, and the podborer, Helicoverpa a rmigera, are the major insect pests of this crop, An accession (JM 414 7) of the wild species Cajanus scarabaeoides appears to possess resist ance to these insect pests. For investigating the inheritance of resis tance a cross was made between the susceptible cultivar Pant A-3 as fe male and the wild species. The parental lines and their F-1, F-2 and b ackcross generations were studied. For podfly, the per cent pod damage was recorded on individual plants. The results suggested that resista nce to podfly is governed by the two recessive genes, In the podborer screening for antixenosis was carried out through the dual-choice aren a test, The results indicated that a single dominant gene is involved in the antixenosis.