Morphological studies on interspecific hybrids between Solanum indicum L. and Solanum melongena L.

Abstract

Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) is one of the most common, popular and principal vegetable crops grown all over India. A substantial quantity of the crop is damaged annually due to diseases and pests, especially fruit borers, little leaf and rootknot nematodes. No resistant varieties are so far under cultivation and the pesticidal measures are not much effective and are also costly and injurious to health of the consumers as well as farmers. To overcome this problem, it is desirable to try interspecific hybridization and transfer the resistance present in some of the wild species. Solanum indicum L., a prickly shrub found wild in forests and hilly tracts is reported to be resistant to little leaf and brinjal fruit and shoot borer under field conditions [1].