As an organic farmer in Kerala, I see jasmonic acid and protease inhibitors as the plant's own *kashtam* when pests attack—like our banana trees producing more bitter sap when beetles come. But this "distress signal" you ask about is not just an internal alarm; in my experience, the strongest signal is actually the smell that calls the *helpers*, like the wasps that come to eat the borers on my pepper vines. The books talk of isolated defences, but here the whole field communicates and the real protection comes from that community, not just one plant's chemical fight.
What makes me say this is watching my neighbour's mono-cropped cardamom fail with sprays, while my mixed plot with tulsi and marigold—where the smells mix and calls go out—stays healthier with fewer pests.
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