Screening of chickpea varieties for resistance against the pulse beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus F. (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

The experiment was conducted during September 2020 - July 2021 at Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, Gujarat, India. The pulse beetle Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) is an economically important and most destructive pest of pulses including chickpea. The pest being an internal feeder is known to cause considerable losses to chickpea seeds during storage. Establishment of management strategies against C. maculatus for safe storage of chickpea seeds is important. So, attempts were made to study the various aspects pertaining to safe storage of chickpea seeds against C. maculatus. Ten varieties (GG 1, GG 2, GJG 3, GG 4, GG 5, GJG 6, JG 16, Dahod yellow, KAK 2 and AKG 1303) were tested for their susceptibility to C. maculatus based on the population growth, weight loss and germination loss during storage and categorized as highly resistant, resistant, susceptible and highly susceptible. In a nutshell, varieties GG 4 and GG 5 which fall under the highly resistant (HR) category whereas Dahod yellow, JG 16, GJG 6 and GJG 3 were resistant (R). GG 2 and GG 1 were susceptible (S) and the varieties KAK 2 and AKG 1303 were found highly susceptible (HS) to C. maculatus. None of the varieties tested was found to be immune against C. maculatus. Wrinkled or reticulated and dark seed varieties, these features seemed to be important in the preference of the bruchid for host selection. These results suggests that resistant verities can be used against pulse beetle.