Includes bibliographical reference.

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is the third most significant legume crop cultivated globally. Chickpea is infested by an average of about 60 insect pests, of which gram pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is identified as the major pest. The migratory nature, polyphagous, short life cycle, multivoltine and resistance to insecticides makes H. armigera very difficult to control. In order to develop the resistance in chickpea genotypes against H. armigera, it is very important to understand the interrelation between the chickpea biochemical constituents and their effect on insect growth and development. Hence, the current research has been undertaken where nine chickpea genotypes including both susceptible and resistant check, ICC-3137 and ICCL-86111 respectively were screened against pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera. All the genotypes in the varietal screening showed notable differences in terms of eggs and larval population, percentage of pod damage, and level of pest resistance The mean least eggs population was observed on ICC-17160 (0.726 eggs/ 5 plants) which was at par with GL-13001(0.862 eggs/5 plants). The minimum larval population was recorded in genotypes GL-13001(2.271 larvae/5 plants). The level of resistance against H. armigera on different cultivars are also investigated by adopting Detached Leaf assay. In leaf detached assay, significantly minimum and maximum weight gain as 2.39 mg and 4.65 mg recorded was respectively for ICC-17160 and JG- 24. The egg and larval population, larval weight, larval survival, percent pod damage demonstrated an inverse relationship with the density and length of non-glandular trichomes on leaves as well as on the pods and also with pod wall thickness but exhibited a direct relationship with pod length and pod width. Different biochemical constituents viz., total soluble sugar (TSS), proteins, total phenols, flavanols, tannins, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in chickpea genotypes were estimated from both leaves as well as pods at 48 and 96 hours after feeding of H. armigera. In the biochemical constituents, the highest total phenol, superoxide dismutase and tannins content were observed in genotype ICC-17160 whereas the highest protein and total soluble sugar content was recorded in the genotype JG-24. The flavanols and polyphenol oxidase content was found highest in GL-13001 which was statistically par with the genotype ICC-17160. The correlation analysis at 5% significance level between the average population of H. armigera and pod damage, with respect to biochemical constituents in various chickpea genotypes, revealed that total phenols, flavanols, tannins, superoxide dismutase, and polyphenol oxidase content were inversely correlated with the H. armigera population on chickpea genotypes. Whereas, total soluble sugar and protein content exhibited a positive association with the H. armigera population, leading to increased pod damage in chickpea genotypes. Among all the inter specific test genotypes, ICC-17160 showed best performance both biophysically and biochemically in contrast to the check varieties.