Development of insect-resistant varieties: a rational approach to sustainable development
1993
Legacion, D.M. (Philippines Univ. Los Banos, College, Laguna (Philippines). Inst. of Plant Breeding)
The establishment of the Institute of Plant Breeding on June 5, 1975 in the College of Agriculture at U.P. Los Banos [Philippines] marked the beginning of a partnership between plant breeders and entomologists in addressing the insect pest problems of important agricultural crops particularly corn. Since 1975, IPB's corn breeders and entomologists have focused their attention on corn's most destructive insect pests - - the Asean corn borer, The various IPB corn improvement teams have achieved the following accomplishments: 1.) development of techniques for artificial infestation of corn plants at appropriate plant age and insect numbers and identification of ten corn borer-resistant accessions; 2.) identification of 14 corn borer-resistant population tentatively called XV3; 3.) evaluation of the reaction of pre-Seedboard Open-pollinated varieties and hybrids and OPVs entered in the National Cooperative Tests; and 4.) evaluation of advanced families of XV3, development of a cheaper artificial diet for corn borer larvae, and studies on the mechanism of corn borer resistance in corn. Breeding for corn borer resistance in corn has resulted in the development of resistant populations/varieties but their impact has not been seen yet in the farmer's field. The strong bias given by NCT people and Philippine Seedboard officials for yield performance alone has not allowed the release of slightly inferior, in terms of yield, but superior, in terms of corn borer resistance, experimental corn varieties. There is a need to correct this situation considering that corn bred exclusively for yield is more likely to be infested by corn borer and other insects. It is not too late to see which fits better in any scheme of sustainable development/agriculture - -the insect-resistant variety or the insecticide-loving variety.
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