INTEGRATED INSECT PEST MANAGEMENT-PHYSIOLOGICAL & MOLECULAR APPROACHES

The agricultural land is becoming a scarce resource with increased pressure of population wherein ways to enhance the crop productivity needs to be strengthened. One of the focuses is to curb the crop losses due to insect pests in a sustainable manner. The alarming and detrimental effects of chemical pesticides on environment and non target organisms, integrated pest management has been evolved with viable, benign and ecofriendly strategies. As juvenile hormone(JH) plays an important role in insects physiology and reproduction, the systems (metamorphosis, moulting and reproduction) related to JH are potential targets of pest management. Genes for insect specific enzymes that metabolize JH can be expressed to develop recombinant baculovirus, which can disrupt physiology and inturn becomes detrimental to the pest itself. Further, the role of JHbinding protein, Ecdysone receptor proteins are also explored for biocontrol strategies. Developement of novel recombinant baculovirus biopesticide and its applicbility are discussed.