agronomy Review An Overview of the Bionomics, Host Plant Resistance and Molecular Perspectives of Sesamia inferens Walker in Cereals and Millets Niranjanadevi Jeevanandham 1, Nalini Ramiah 2, Vanniarajan Chockalingam 3 and Ramalingam Jegadeesan 1,* 1 Department of Biotechnology, Center for Excellence in Innovations, Agricultural College & Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Madurai 625 104, India;
[email protected] 2 Department of Agricultural Entomology, Agricultural College & Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Kudumiyanmalai 622 104, India;
[email protected] 3 Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Agricultural College & Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Madurai 625 104, India;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 16 July 2020; Accepted: 25 August 2020; Published: 4 November 2020 Abstract: There is an urgent need to enhance agricultural production as well as productivity to meet the food demand of the growing population, estimated to be 10 billion by 2050, using a holistic and sustainable approach. The daily food sources for almost three-fourth of the global population, cereals and millets, are prone to several biotic factors and abiotic pressures. In particular, cereals and millet cultivation are limited by the polyphagous pink stem borer, Sesamia inferens Walker (Lepidoptera:Noctuidae) gaining national importance, since its larvae and pupae are concealed within the stem, none of the management measures have been found effective in controlling the menace. However, host plant resistance (HPR) is a reasonable and ecologically safe method wherein resistance mechanisms of crops could lower the stem borer infestation. The foremost challenge in understanding the mechanism would be to detecting the genes of interest in the crop using novel biotechnological approaches.