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The pod borer [Helicoverpa armigera Hubner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)] is responsible for causing up to 90% damage in chickpea due to its regular occurrence from the vegetative growth to the pod formation stage. In order to manage this problem, growers are tempted to increase the amounts of pesticides, but indiscriminate or injudicious use of pesticides has resulted in residues in the food chain, pesticide resistance, and pest resurgence, in addition to causing harm to non-targeted beneficial organisms and the environment. Here, we reviewed the sustainable approaches to reduce the incidence of pod borer and achieve sustainability in chickpea production systems through the adoption of an integrated approach involving host plant resistance, good agronomic practices, and judicious use of chemical and biological methods. We found that the following major points have been reported to reduce the survival and damage of pod borer: (1) use of resistant varieties (the cheapest and the best method of pod borer management); (2) implementing a number of good agronomic practices, such as early sowing with optimum planting density and fertilizer levels, including inter/trap crops (coriander, mustard, linseed, sunflower, sorghum, and marigold) and installing animated bird perches and T-perches at 2 m distance of predatory zones; and (3) monitoring pod borer through pheromone traps (which is also necessary to understand the major factors influencing pest population and to make the pest control program more effective). Integrating all of these approaches with biological control has shown some encouraging results for sustainable pod borer management and has resulted in high chickpea yields. This review highlights examples of successful management approaches from past studies that were implemented in experimental and farmers' fields. These approaches can be explored as reproducible practices for managing the pest in locations with similar H. armigera concerns. We conclude that an integrated approach is most effective for long-term sustainable management programs.

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Weeds cause serious constraint to faba bean (Vicia faba L.) productivity. Broad weed control is hampered by the availability of postemergence herbicides to control them, as the current faba bean cultivars are highly susceptible to them. Therefore, the deployment of postemergence herbicide tolerance is desirable in faba bean. To address this, 130 accessions were screened for their response in mature plants under field conditions to the recommended dosage of two herbicides, metribuzin at 250 g a.i. ha −1 and imazethapyr at 75 g a.i. ha −1 at Marchouch and Terbol stations. The recorded herbicide damage score (HDS) varied from 1 (no visual damage) to 5 (full damage with death of more than 50% of plants) at both locations. Low but highly significant (p < .01) and positive correlation (+0.26) was obtained between the recorded HDS at both locations. Both herbicides significantly delayed flowering and maturity time occurrence, reduced plant height and grain yield, and increased number of branches. Reduction index (RI) correlated positively with HDS score at Terbol station in different seasons and at Marchouch in 2016-2017 seasons. Eleven tolerant accessions were identified and further evaluated to 1×, 1.5×, and 2× of recommended dose of both herbicides. The results indicated that the harmful effect of herbicides on grain yield reduction intensified from 13.4 to 27.2% and from −7.6 to 1.8% as the dose of metribuzin and imazethapyr increased respectively from 250 to 500 g a.i. ha −1 and from 75 to 150 g a.i. ha −1 . Tolerance to metribuzin and imazethapyr in eight faba bean accessions was confirmed with no significant reduction in grain yield.

The impacts on yields of cluster bean were assessed for normal (15 July) and late (30 July) sowing environments and foliar spray of thiourea (500, 1000 ppm) and salicylic acid (50, 100 ppm) at 45 and 60 days after sowing (DAS).Significantly higher yield parameters, yield, economics, protein content and nutrient uptake were recorded with foliar spray of thiourea at 500 ppm as compared to all other bio regulator sprays. Similarly, spray of salicylic acid at 100 ppm enhanced yield and other growth parameters which were statistically at par with those for thiourea 500 ppm foliar spray at 45 and 60 DAS. The data show that the foliar application of bio regulators at normal sowing date enhances seed yield of clusterbean by improving the physiological processes. The interaction effects were significant between the sowing date and bio-regulators on the seed yield. The highest seed yield of 993 and 845 kg/ha was obtained with foliar spray of thiourea at 500 ppm in normal and late sowing, respectively, while the lowest yield of 775 and 769 kg/ha was obtained for the water spray control in normal and late sowing, respectively.