Introduction The khapra beetle , Trogoderma granarium E., is a highly destructive storage insect pest all over the world. Management of this pest is challenging due to its high resistance to commonly used chemical insecticides. Methods A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of two wheat genotypes, zinc (Zn) biofortified wheat (Zincol-2016) and conventional wheat (Sehar-2006) at various proportions, on T. granarium population build-up, damage assessment, and nutritional composition of grains associated with insect infestation. Results The results indicated significant differences in all tested parameters, with lower pest survival and development rates in Zn-biofortified wheat compared to Sehar-2006. The grain weight loss was remarkably low in the treatments where the percentage of Zn-biofortified wheat was high and vice versa. Moreover, the moisture content (MC) of high Zn-biofortified percentages remained relatively stable throughout the experiment, while Sehar-2006 exhibited a significant increase in MC. In proximate analysis, the contents of crude fat, crude protein, crude fiber, ash, and starch were significantly reduced when the percentage of Sehar-2006 was high. Discussion The implications of these results indicated that the nutritional qualities of Zn-biofortified wheat genotypes negatively affected the development of T. granarium ; thus, it can be an efficacious approach not only for ensuring food security but also for protecting grains against storage pests. The findings demonstrate the potential of Zn-biofortified wheat as an innovative, sustainable approach for integrated pest management (IPM) in grain storage. Further research is recommended to explore the underlying mechanisms driving the observed effects and to evaluate the long-term impact of incorporating Zn-biofortified wheat cultivars into IPM programs.
Maqsood et al. (Mon,) studied this question.