Orobanche menace in crop plants: Host resistance as a potential tool to control

Abstract

Orobanche, ‘the total root parasite’ known for more than a century, causes large losses in the agriculture production system in most countries of Asian, African and European continents. A large number of crops such as tomato, sunflower, tobacco, hemp, many legumes and crucifers are parasitized by Orobanche spp. The cultural practices and application of herbicide were the measures being adopted for control of this weed which is usually involves high cost. Control through resistance breeding is the most cost effective approach to eradicate the weed. To breed any cultivar against Orobanche, it is first important to understand the host and weed complex completely. Here in this review attempts have been made to review the life cycle of parasite, host weed interaction, resistance breeding strategies in few crops and thus coming out with future research perspective for developing host plants resistant to Orobanche.