Screening Soybean (Glycine max (L) Merril) lines for morphological resistance to the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (L) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)

Abstract

A study was carried out during the first and second seasonsofl997 at Namnlonge Agricultural and Animal Production
Research Institute {NAAR I) to determine whether there were some soybean varieties in the NAARI germplasm which
were resistant to the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula and to establish the basis of morphological resistance
to this stink bug. Some morphological characteristics ofthe soybean plant were considered for the study. During the
first season, the soybean genotypes NG ll-36/93A, NC J 1-9/93A and NG2-19/92A '''ere significantly less infested by
the stink bugs, while NG9-5/92A and NG I-23/92A were the most infested. In the second season, the most infested
genotypes were NG 1-28/92A and NG9-5/92A. The correlation coefficients between the stink bugs and the selected
soybean morphological characteristics were very low but significant at P = 0.05. This suggested that the resistance
observed was not only attributed to morphological factors, but to many other factors probably bio-chemical factors
causing antibiosis.