NBRI (National Botanical Research Institute) developed a pest-resistant variety of cotton against whiteflies. The field experiment trials will begin from April to October at the Faridkot Center of Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana.

v  Whiteflies are one of the top overwhelming pests in the world that can damage more than 2000 plant species.

v  Researchers explore 250 plants to develop the pest-resistant diversity from lower plant biodiversity to recognize novel protein molecules that are toxic to whitefly.

v  In the trial, the leaves were extracted from all the plants. They were prepared separately. Then, the whiteflies were led to feeding on a total of 250 plants. It was experiential that the leaf extract of the edible fern Tectaria macrodonta caused toxicity to the whitefly.

v  This branch is known as a salad in Nepal. The plants work against whiteflies but being safe for function on the crop plants and provide protection from the plant.

v  As the whiteflies fed on the sub-lethal dose of insecticidal protein, it resulted in abnormal egg, very poor egg-laying, nymph, and larval development and extraordinary poor emergence of the fly.