Evaluation of soybean genotypes for resistance to key insect pests

Introduction

Soybean or soya bean, [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] belongs to family Leguminosae, subfamily Papilionaceae, plays major role in the world food trade and is known as the "Golden bean, Miracle bean and Wonder bean" of the 20th century. Its cultivation and use could be traced back to the beginning of China's agricultural age. Chinese medical compilations, dating back 6,000 years, mention its utilization for human consumption (Krishnamurthy and Shivashankar, 1975) [11] . To the populace of China, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Philippines, and Indonesia, for centuries, soybean has meant to be meat, milk, cheese, bread and oil. This could well be the reason, why in these countries, it has earned epithets like "Cow of the field" or "Gold from soil" (Horvath, 1926) [9] . In the scenario of world's oilseed cultivation, soybean occupies an important place due to its high productivity, economic viability and important contribution towards maintaining fertility of soil. According to estimates by the Soybean Processors Association of India (SOPA) for the Kharif 2025-26 season, soybean in India was cultivated on approximately 114.4 lakh hectares, with a total production of about 105.36 lakh tonnes and an average productivity of around 920 kg/ha, reflecting a decline in both production and yield compared to earlier years (Anonymous, 2025) [2] . Madhya Pradesh contributes more than 50 per cent in total area and production of soybean and is called as "Soya State". Which having sowing area 52.000 lakh/ha, expected yield 1065 kg/ha and estimated production 55.529 lakh MT. In Maharashtra area under soybean 45.00 lakh/ha, production is 50.16 lakh/MT and productivity is 1063 kg/ha (Anonymous, 2024) [1] . In Maharashtra area under soybean 45.00 lakh/ha, production is 50.16 lakh/MT and productivity is 1063 kg/ha (Anonymous, 2024) [1] . For the Kharif season in 2025, the soybean area in Maharashtra was estimated to be around 48.2 lakh hectares, with production projected at approximately 46.74 lakh tonnes, resulting in an average productivity of about 970-1000 kg/ha (Anonymous, 2025) [2] . About 380 insect species on soybean have been reported from different regions of the world. Out of them 65 insect species had been reported to attack soybean from cotyledon stage to harvesting stage from Karnataka (Rai et al. 1973) [12] . The defoliators [tobacco caterpillar, Spodoptera litura (Fab.), Semilooper, Thysanoplusia orichalcea (Fab.), Bihar hairy caterpillar, Spilarctia obliqua (Walk.) and gram pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) are feeding on foliage, flower and pods causing significant yield losses. The productivity of soybean is low in India due to various biotic and abiotic factors. Among the biotic factors, the ravages caused by the insect pests are of great importance in causing considerable yield losses.

Materials and Methods

Screening of soybean genotypes for their reaction to insect pests was carried out in

AICRP method of categorization (ICAR-IISR, 2025)

All the genotypes were categorized by following AICRP's (based on CD at 1% and CD at 5%) to know their reaction against a particular pests as below.

1. HR = values < (mean-CD at 1%) 2. R = values between (mean-CD at 1%) and (mean-CD at 5%) 3. MR = values between (mean-CD at 5%) and mean 4. LR = values between mean and (mean + CD at 5%) 5. S = values between (mean + CD at 5%) and (mean + CD at 1%) 6. HS = values > (mean + CD at 1%).

Results and Discussion

The results obtain from the screening of soybean genotypes against girdle beetle, stem fly and defoliators [14] screened seventy soybean cultivars against stem fly (Melanagromyza sojae) during kharif 1994 at New Delhi under natural infestation. No cultivar was resistant. Thirty-nine cultivars were moderately resistant (28.9-41.7% stem tunnelling), with DS93-P-40-3 showing the least damage (28.9%). Twentyeight cultivars showed low resistance (43.0-59.4%), while DSK 92-19 and DS93 MPT 16-1 were susceptible and DS91-2-1 was highly susceptible (68.5% tunnelling). The present finding are in similar with the finding of Salunke et al. (2002) [13] studied fourteen soybean genotypes at Parbhani during kharif 1998-99 and observed wide variation in major insect pests. NRC-37 recorded the lowest damage from leaf miner, stem fly, and girdle beetle, while MAUS-20, JS (SH)-9246, and RSC-3 showed the highest incidence of leaf miner, stem fly, and girdle beetle, respectively. Gupta et al. (2004) [5] evaluated field resistance of soybean cultivars against major insect pests. Based on pooled mean infestation, cultivars MACS-13, JS-84-200, JS-86-24, JS-81-1610 and JS-78-41 were resistant to stem fly, several JS and J8 lines showed resistance to girdle beetle, and cultivars such as JS-77-81, PK-478, JS-86-24 and related lines were found resistant to pod borer. In that table 1 data showed for stem fly tunneling is varied from 4.32 to 9.62 percent. DSB 32 is resistant found least infestation from stem fly, JS 97-52 (7.41) [8] screened eleven soybean genotypes for resistance to major defoliators and found KHSb-2, DSb-2, DSb-1 and Bragg to be moderately resistant, while DSb-6-1 and JS93-05 were susceptible; JS-335 and Monetta were highly susceptible. From table 2 data showed that significant differences with respect to girdle beetle infested plants among various soybean genotypes. The overall girdle beetle infestation in various genotypes varied from 4.76 to 30.95 per cent at peak infestation. The genotypes JS97-52 (

References

1. Anonymous. SOPA statistics. Soybean Processors Association of India; 2024. Available from: https://www.sopa.org/statistics
2. Anonymous. SOPA estimates of soybean area, production and productivity for India (Kharif 2025-26). Indore: Soybean Processors Association of India; 2025.
3. Bayu MSYI, Krisnawati A, Adie MM. Response of soybean genotypes against armyworm, Spodoptera litura, based on no-choice test. IOP Conf Ser Earth Environ Sci. 2018;102:012033-012033.
4. Fattah A, Salim A, Ayyub A, Wahditiya AA, Yasin M, Widiarta NI, Nugraha Y. Effect of the number of rows and cultivars of soybeans on damage intensity of pest and predator populations in corn-soybean intercropping, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Legume Res. 2023;46(8):1087-1091.
5. Gupta M, Chourasia SS, Raj SS. Field resistance of soybean genotypes against incidence of major insect pests. Ann Plant Prot Sci. 2004;12(1):63-99.
6. ICAR-Indian Institute of Soybean Research. Annual progress report 2024-25: All India Coordinated Research Project on Soybean. Indore: ICAR-IISR; 2025. Available from: http://icar-nsri.res.in/AICRPSreport.html
7. Hadiwiyono H, Wijayanti R, Triyana H, Turkadze T. Damage intensity of pod borer attack on seven soybean cultivars on mahogany and pine agroforestry. BIO Web Conf. 2024;104:00015-00015.
8. Harish G, Patil RH, Patil PV. Identification of resistant sources to major defoliator pests of soybean. Karnataka J Agric Sci. 2009;22(1):215-217.
9. Horvath AA. Changes in the blood composition of rabbits fed on raw soy beans. J Biol Chem. 1926;68(2):343-355.
10. Kanjarla R, Satyanarayana J, Umamaheshwari T, Jagadeeshwar R. Screening of soybean germplasms for resistance against stem fly and stem girdler. J Entomol Zool Stud. 2020;8(6):420-422.
11. Krishnamurthy K, Shivashankar K. Soybean production in Karnataka. UAS Tech Ser No. 12. Bangalore: University of Agricultural Sciences; 1975.
12. Rai PS, Reddy KVS, Govindan R. A list of insect pests of soybean in Karnataka State. Curr Res. 1973;2:97-98.
13. Salunke SG, Bidgire US, More DG, Keshbhat SS. Field evaluation of soybean cultivars for their major pests. J Soil Crops. 2002;12(1):49-55.
14. Sekhar JC, Rana VKS, Siddiqui KH, Mohan T. Comparative susceptibility of soybean germplasm to stem fly, Melanagromyza sojae (Zehntner). Indian J Entomol. 2000;62(3):316-317.
15. Upadhyay J. Screening of soybean genotypes against stem fly, Melanagromyza sojae. J Entomol Zool Stud. 2017;2:1994-1999.