Bottom-up effect of difference genotypes of ber, Ziziphus mauritiana against bruit borer, Meridarchis scyrodes Meyrick

Differences in genotypes of ber plant characters may effects on insect-plant herbivore interactions and variation in genotypes traits is responsible for modify the bottom-up effects. We evaluated the performance of different genotypes of Z. mauritiana against fruit borer, Meridarchis scyrodes Meyrick under field conditions in the semi-arid region of India. On the basis of pooled data, the ber genotypes under study indicated significantly low incidence of fruit borer in Safeda (13.27%) followed Tikadi (14.01%). Significantly greater incidence of fruit borer was registered in Sanaur-5, Chhuhara and Sanaur-2 with a magnitude of 75.09, 72.90 and 71.78 %, respectively. Basis of fruit borer, M. scyrodes incidence; Safeda, Tikadi, Darakhi and Illaichi were considered as resistant; BS-75-1, Gola, Goma Kirti, Seb and Umran were found moderately resistant; Dandan, Mahawali, Jogia, Sukavani, Narma, Reshmi and ZG-3 were found to be susceptible whereas, Banarasi Karaka, Banarasi Pawandi, Chhuhara, Kaithali, Mundia, Sanaur-2 and Sanaur-5 were highly susceptible to fruit fly. The flavinoid content (187.79 mg/100g) was found to be maximum in Illaichi followed by Safeda (179.03 mg/100g) and minimum in Chhuhara (40.68 mg/100g). The tannin content (511.57 mg/100g) was found to be the highest in Safeda followed by Tikadi (502.79 mg/100g) and the lowest in Chhuhara (264.78 mg/100g). Phenols content was highest in Safeda (239.01 mg/100g) followed by Darakhi (234.96 mg/100g) and lowest in Sanaur-5 (119.51 mg/100g) with values significantly higher in resistant and lower in susceptible genotypes. The minimum fruit length (17.18mm) in Illaichi,  fruit width (18.81mm) and pulp: stone ratio (2.12) in Tikadi and pericarp thickness (0.25mm) in Sanur-5 were found but maximum fruit length (43.17mm) in Umran, fruit width (33.4mm) in Dandan, pulp thickness (1.16mm) in Safeda and pulp: stone ratio (27.13) in Mundia genotypes, respectively. The phenols (0.96), Tannins (0.95), flavonoid (0.95) contents and pericarp thickness (0.88) had significant negative correlations with percent fruit infestation of fruit borer, M. Scyrodes. The fruit length (0.50) and pulp: stone ratio (0.77) showed significant positive correlations with percent fruit infestation of fruit borer, M. scyrodes and flavonoid contents explained 91.40% of the total variation in fruit borer, M. scyrodes infestation. Two principal components (PCs) were extracted which explained the cumulative variation of 88.48 %. PC1 explained 64.34 % of the variation while PC2 explained 24.14 % of variation. In conclusion, growers can adopt the potential resistant genotype (Safeda) of Z. mauritiana with minimal financial investment to obtain higher yields.