Browsing by Author "Akanksha Adhikari"

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Insect Pests Control of Crops and Biotechniques: A Comprehensive Approach
(CRC Press, 2025) Srishti Choudhury; K. Logeswaran; Alagesan Keerthana; Akanksha Adhikari; Habib Ali; Sangita Sharma; Vivek Pratap Singh; Vinod Kumar Dubey
The food and agriculture sector saw a whole revolution in agriculture with the utilization of biotechnological techniques for the production of new crop varieties. Plant bio techniques have seen their earliest successes in the creation and commercialization of transgenic crops with resistance towards major insect pests. The first line of transgenic crops resistant to insects was introduced nine years ago, and since then, there has been a steady increase in the acreage of these crops. However, plant resistance towards insects cannot be guaranteed and thus, novel strategies have been explored and developed to ensure durable and sustainable resistance. Insect pests are a major global source of damage to crops of commercial importance. The current strategies in the agriculture scenario primarily rely on chemical pesticides to reduce crop losses. A promising alternative to this is offered by bio techniques which continue to develop insect pest-resistant crop varieties. The first generation of transgenic plant varieties displaying insect resistance were based on Bacillus thuringiensis an insecticidal protein derived from B. thuringiensis. The second generation of transgenic insect-resistant varieties depended on both B. thuringiensis and non-B. thuringiensis proteins, which had unique modes of action and a broader spectrum of activity. The use of RNA interference (RNAi) encourages novel approaches to plant protection. The development and commercialization of genetically modified crops with dsRNA promise high performance in insect pest management. Despite the higher yield and improved performance of transgenic plants, whenever any attempt was made for their commercialization it has always met with backlash from the public. Thus, it is required to raise public awareness about the benefits of transgenic crops and clear people's misconceptions about transgenic crops to enable their rational deployment. This chapter attempts to bring into focus the social and environmental safety issues regarding transgenic crops. © 2026 selection and editorial matter, Habib Ali and Yutao Xiao; individual chapters, the contributors.