FEATURE STRUCTURE OF A COTTON LEAF AS A MECHANISM OF PROTECTION AGAINST INSECT PESTS

Abstract

According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee, Uzbekistan accounts for about 4% of all cotton produced in the world and 10%
of world exports. At the same time, cotton makes up 45% of all Uzbek exports. But besides the purely commercial meaning, "white gold"
has always had a huge cultural significance for Uzbekistan. Cotton is a strategic agricultural crop, as after processing it is used in the
chemical, light industry and many other industries. Currently, legal documents are being adopted at the national level to solve the problem
of crop rotation in the cotton industry and the necessary mechanisms are being developed for their implementation. In addition, in the system
of insect control in cotton fields, the issue of resource conservation is very relevant, since by reducing harmful insects it is necessary to
achieve a reduction in resource costs in terms of increasing (or not reducing) the quantity and quality of the cotton crop. Protection of plants
from pests by various methods is widely used in world agricultural production. At the same time, according to the FAO, the losses of
agricultural products in the world still remain quite high and reach 30% of the volume of the world crop. To solve the problem of crop safety,
extensive and systematic scientific and practical work is being carried out to improve and develop methods and means of plant protection in
agriculture to prevent harm caused to plants by pests, diseases and weeds. In this regard, the purpose of this work was to establish the
correlating structural features of the leaves of wild representatives of the genus Gossypium L with economically valuable traits. 19
representatives were studied, among which were 7 parental species and 12 hybrids of their first generation. As a result, signs were established
that correlate with drought resistance and tolerance to insect pests.