Which pest management method involves breeding plants for resistance to pests?

• A. Host resistance
• B. Augmentation
• C. Antibiosis
• D. Chemical control

Answer: (A)

Breeding plants for resistance is about giving crops genetic traits that make them less vulnerable to pests. By selecting and combining resistance genes in new varieties, plants can deter feeding, reduce pest survival, or impair pest development, which lowers damage without needing to spray chemicals. This preventive approach fits well with integrated pest management because it reduces pest pressure at the source and promotes long-term, environmentally friendlier protection.

Other options describe different strategies: augmentation relies on releasing beneficial organisms to control pests, not on plant genetics; antibiosis is a specific way resistance can work by harming the pest after it consumes the plant, but the question targets the broader practice of breeding for resistance; chemical control uses pesticides rather than plant-based resistance.