In the past, breeding for incorporation of insect pest resistance or tolerance into cultivars for use in integrated pest management schemes in oilseed rape/canola (Brassica napus) production has hardly ever been approached. This has been largely due to the broad availability of insecticides and the complexity of dealing with high-throughput phenotyping of insect performance and plant damage parameters. However, recent changes in the political framework in many countries demand future sustainable crop protection which makes breeding approaches for crop protection as a measure for pest insect control attractive again. At the same time, new camera-based tracking technologies, new knowledge-based genomic technologies and new scientific insights into the ecology of insect–Brassica interactions are becoming available. Here we discuss and prioritise promising breeding strategies and direct and indirect breeding targets, and their time-perspective for future realisation in integrated insect pest protection of oilseed rape. In conclusion, researchers and oilseed rape breeders can nowadays benefit from an array of new technologies which in combination will accelerate the development of improved oilseed rape cultivars with multiple insect pest resistances/tolerances in the near future.

Divergence of chemical plant defence mechanisms within the Brassicaceae can be utilized to identify means against specialized pest insects. Using a bioassay‐driven approach, we (a) screened 24 differentBrassica napuscultivars,B. napusresyntheses and related brassicaceous species for natural plant resistance against feeding adults of the pollen beetle (Brassicogethes aeneus), (b) tested for gender‐specific feeding resistance, (c) analysed the flower bud metabolomes by a non‐targeted approach and (d) tested single candidate compounds for their antifeedant activity. (a) In no‐choice assays, beetles were allowed to feed on intact plants. Reduced feeding activity was mainly observed onSinapis albaandBarbarea vulgarisbut not onB. napuscultivars. (b) Males fed less and discriminated more in feeding than females. (c) Correlation of the metabolite abundances with the beetles' feeding activity revealed several glucosinolates, phenylpropanoids, flavonoids and saponins as potential antifeedants. (d) These were tested in dual‐bud‐choice assays developed for medium‐throughput compound screening. Application of standard compounds on single oilseed rape flower buds revealed highly deterrent effects of glucobarbarin, oleanolic acid and hederagenin. These results help to understand chemical plant defence in the Brassicaceae and are of key importance for further breeding strategies for insect‐resistant oilseed rape cultivars.