Role of Silicon in Providing Defence Against Insect Herbivory in Sugarcane Production

Abstract

Silicon (Si) is essential to the nutritional status of many monocot and dicot plant species, and it aids them in resisting abiotic and biotic challenges in various ways. This article explained the progress in exploring silicon-mediated resistance to sugarcane insect pests, its role in increasing juice quality attributes and cane production, the silicon status of soil and uptake by sugarcane plant, and the mechanisms involved. The aim is to determine the influence of different sources of Si application on the availability of silicon in soil, silicon uptake by plants, silicon effect in minimizing biotic stresses such as defence against sugarcane insect pest herbivory along with its effect on sugarcane yield in terms of juice and other component traits. There are two basic modes of action: enhanced physical or mechanical barriers and biochemical or molecular mechanisms that activate plant defence responses via bitrophic (plant-herbivore) interactions and tritrophic (plant-herbivore-natural enemy) interactions. By integrating the data reported in this research, a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between various sources of silicon treatments, increased sugarcane plant resistance and decreased sugarcane insect pest damage might be attained.