Context: In a move to fight against whiteflies National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) Lucknow has developed a pest-resistant variety of cotton and is going to start field trials this year from April to October in Faridkot Center of Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana.

• Whiteflies are one of the top ten devastating pests in the world that damage more than 2000 plant species and also function as vectors for some 200-plant viruses.
• Cotton is one of the worst-hit crops by whiteflies. As two-third of the cotton crop was destroyed by the whiteflies in Punjab in 2015.

Why this variety was needed?

• As Bt cotton is also a genetically modified cotton and present in the market for farmers usage but it is resistant to two pests only it is not resistant against white flies which not only damages cotton but many other crops too with this it transmits disease viruses too.

About the Research

• To develop the pest-resistant variety researchers explored 250 plants from lower plant biodiversity to identify novel protein molecules that are toxic to whitefly.
•  “Leaf extract of all the plants were prepared separately, and whiteflies were allowed to fed on them. Out of the 250 plants, the leaf extract of an edible fern Tectaria macrodonta causes toxicity to the whitefly.
• When whiteflies feed on sub-lethal doses of insecticidal protein, it interferes with the life cycle of insect that in turn resulted with very poor egg laying, abnormal egg, nymph and larval development and extraordinary poor emergence of the fly.  

However, this protein was found to be un-effective on non-target insects.

• “This clearly shows that the protein is specifically toxic to whitefly and does not cause any harmful effect on other beneficial insects like butterfly and honeybee. 

About Tectaria macrodonta fern

• Family (Christenhusz et al, 2011) : TECTARIACEAE
• Family (As per The Plant List) : Tectariaceae
• Species : Tectaria macrodonta
• Habit : Herb-Terrestrial
• Native : Tropical Asia
• Comments : Common in the Western Ghats.
• Distribution Locality : Chikamagalur; Dakshina Kannada; Hassan; Kodagu; Mysore; Shimoga; Uttara Kannada
• This fern is known to be used as salad in Nepal and as a concoction for the gastric disorders in many regions of Asia also goes in favour for the possibility of the insecticidal protein that is found in the fern.
• It works against whiteflies but being safe for application on the crop plants and provides protection from them.

About National Botanical Research Institute

• The CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) – is amongst one of the constituent research institutes of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi.

R & D Areas and Infrastructure

The aims and objectives of the Institute are pursued through various projects distributed among the following six broad areas of R & D supported by S&T support services for their respective activities:

1. Plant Diversity, Systematics and Herbarium
2. Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry and Product Development
3. Plant Ecology and Environment Technologies
4. Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
5. Plant Genetic Resources and Improvement
6. Botanical Garden, Plant Conservation and Agrotechnologies

Objectives

• Basic and applied research on plant diversity and prospection, plant-environment interaction and biotechnological approches for plant improvement.
• Development of technologies for new plant and microbial sources of commercial importance
• Building up germplasm repository of plants of indigenous and exotic origin, including rare, endangered and threatened species
• Providing expertise and assistance for identification, supply and exchange of plants and propagules, garden layout and landscaping
• Dissemination of scientific knowledge and technologies on plants and microbial resources through publications, training, capacity building and extension activities