scholarly journals Biofortification: High zinc wheat programme – The potential agricultural options for alleviating malnutrition in Pakistan

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qadir Bux Baloch ◽  
Muhammad Iqbal Makhdum ◽  
Muhammad Yaqub Mujahid ◽  
Sibgha Noreen

<p>The deficiency of micronutrients (zinc, iron, iodine and vitamin A) is persistently afflicting millions of people living across Africa, Southern Americas, Asia and Pakistan. Among these, the zinc deficiency syndrome is occurring by 47.6, 41.3, and 39.2% in pregnant, non-pregnant and children under 5 years, respectively in Pakistan. The reason being that majority of the people subsists on cereal-based diets, i.e., wheat. The commercially grown wheat varieties contain zinc about 25 mg/g, whereas about 40 mg/g zinc is required in daily diet.</p><p>The potential risk of zinc deficiency could be mitigated through certain interventions i.e., mineral drugs, food supplements, diversity in diets, production of fortified foods, and genetic biofortification of staple food crops. Among these, quantum increase in zinc content in wheat grains through genetic manipulation would be basics to alleviate zinc deficiency in the malnourished communities. The objective of the programme is to enhance the concentration of zinc nutrient from 25 to 40 mg/g in wheat grains through conventional plant breeding techniques.</p>Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad in collaboration with Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and International Maize &amp; Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and HarvestPlus, Pakistan started R&amp;D works to develop biofortified high zinc wheat varieties containing around 40 mg/g in the year 2009. The biofortified wheat crop is developed through conventional plant breeding techniques. The germplasm inherited with high zinc nutrient are crossed with high yielding and adopted to ecological conditions. The varieties are high yielding, and inheriting zinc around 40 mg/g in the grains under both irrigated and rainfed production environments. The Government of Punjab has also given high priority to develop and consume biofortified high zinc wheat in its multi-sectoral Nutrition Strategy Plan 2015, as potential agricultural option to address malnutrition in the Punjab province.

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Qadir Bux Baloch ◽  
Muhammad Iqbal Makhdum ◽  
Muhammad Yaqub Mujahid ◽  
Sibgha Noreen

<p>The deficiency of micronutrients (zinc, iron, iodine and vitamin A) is persistently afflicting millions of people living across Africa, Southern Americas, Asia and Pakistan. Among these, the zinc deficiency syndrome is occurring by 47.6, 41.3, and 39.2% in pregnant, non-pregnant and children under 5 years, respectively in Pakistan. The reason being that majority of the people subsists on cereal-based diets, i.e., wheat. The commercially grown wheat varieties contain zinc about 25 mg/g, whereas about 40 mg/g zinc is required in daily diet.</p><p>The potential risk of zinc deficiency could be mitigated through certain interventions i.e., mineral drugs, food supplements, diversity in diets, production of fortified foods, and genetic biofortification of staple food crops. Among these, quantum increase in zinc content in wheat grains through genetic manipulation would be basics to alleviate zinc deficiency in the malnourished communities. The objective of the programme is to enhance the concentration of zinc nutrient from 25 to 40 mg/g in wheat grains through conventional plant breeding techniques.</p>Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad in collaboration with Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and International Maize &amp; Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and HarvestPlus, Pakistan started R&amp;D works to develop biofortified high zinc wheat varieties containing around 40 mg/g in the year 2009. The biofortified wheat crop is developed through conventional plant breeding techniques. The germplasm inherited with high zinc nutrient are crossed with high yielding and adopted to ecological conditions. The varieties are high yielding, and inheriting zinc around 40 mg/g in the grains under both irrigated and rainfed production environments. The Government of Punjab has also given high priority to develop and consume biofortified high zinc wheat in its multi-sectoral Nutrition Strategy Plan 2015, as potential agricultural option to address malnutrition in the Punjab province.


2004 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 35-38
Author(s):  
Ralph Riley ◽  
John Enderby

Douglas Bell was the doyen of British plant breeders. He worked to turn what was previously a craft that made some use of science into a science–based technology.Having taken a first–class honours degree at the University College of Wales (Bangor), Bell went to the Cambridge University Plant Breeding Institute in 1928. There he worked under the supervision of F. L. (later Sir Frank) Engledow (FRS 1946). His PhD research concerned genetic variability in barley varieties, and barley remained his principal interest henceforth. At the height of his powers Bell was able rapidly to assess the agricultural potential of wide arrays of genetically distinct lines. This was based on keen observation and the ability to discriminate among many characteristics simultaneously. It often seemed like intuition. At the same time he was a keen judge of the malting quality of barley grain and was often called on to exercise his skill in competitions.After completing the PhD requirements, Bell continued to work with Engledow in the Cambridge School of Agriculture, first as a demonstrator and then as a lecturer. Generations of students praised the clarity of his lectures. From Engledow he inherited an interest in the components of yield in cereals. Starting with the number of ears per plant, spikelets per ear, grains per spikelet and grain weight he became interested in the physiology of yield. This subsequently led him to promote attempts to use physiological characteristics to predict yielding ability in the selection of new varieties. Also during this period Bell assisted Engledow in wheat breeding, work that resulted in the development of the breadmaking winter–wheat variety Holdfast.Bell's leadership in plant breeding came to its full realization when he became Director of the Plant Breeding Institute (PBI), Cambridge, in 1947. The government had decided in the immediate postwar period to expand agricultural research in the UK. Numbers of free–standing research establishments were created with the general responsibility for them vested in the Agricultural Research Council. Under these arrangements the PBI was separated from Cambridge University. As Director, Bell together with the governing body set a policy for the institute. It was then his responsibility to choose a site (Trumpington, Cambridge), recruit a staff and plan the buildings and facilities including the farm.


2020 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 203-223
Author(s):  
Richard B. Flavell ◽  
John W. Snape

Michael (Mike) Gale was an internationally well-known crop geneticist with a career devoted mostly to wheat genetics. However, he also studied rice, maize, pearl millet and fox millet for the benefit of agriculture in developing countries. He brought new knowledge and techniques into plant breeding that made a difference to crop improvement worldwide. Noteworthy is his team's leadership in (i) defining the genetic basis of dwarfism in wheat, the major genetic innovation underlying the previously achieved ‘green revolution’ in wheat production; (ii) expanding knowledge of ‘pre-harvest sprouting’, which occurs in many wheat varieties growing in temperate climates, which reduces their flour quality and value; (iii) developing the first comprehensive genetic maps of wheat based on isozymic and DNA-based molecular markers; and (iv) developing the comparative genetics of grasses based on the conserved order of genes on chromosome segments, consistent with the evolution of the species from a common ancestor. These discoveries had a major impact in plant genetics. His team also provided the worldwide cereal geneticists and breeding communities with technologies and genetic markers that accelerated the development of cereal genetics and facilitated more efficient plant breeding. He made major and influential contributions to international agricultural research, particularly targeted at developing countries, through his participation on international and national committees, including those of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research. His contribution helped to drive the international research agenda for crop genetics, plant breeding and plant science generally.


2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (03) ◽  
pp. 177-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie C. Dawson ◽  
Jessica R. Goldberger

AbstractParticipatory research, particularly participatory plant breeding (PPB), can increase the relevance of public-sector research to the agricultural community. PPB has mostly been used in developing countries with resource-poor farmers, but there is increasing interest among farmers in developed countries who are dissatisfied with the performance of available varieties. In 2006, scientists associated with the winter and spring wheat breeding programs in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and the Department of Community and Rural Sociology at Washington State University (WSU) conducted a survey of members of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers. Through analysis of the survey results, we sought to understand (1) whether or not farmers want to work with scientists in PPB programs and (2) the determinants of PPB interest. Results indicated that 52% of Washington wheat growers were interested in working with WSU scientists in a participatory breeding program. Interested farmers tended to be younger and college educated with fewer years of farming experience. Moreover, PPB interest appeared to be related positively to farm size, the number of wheat varieties planted, use of and interest in alternative production and marketing practices (e.g., seed saving, organic agriculture), and prior experience with WSU. Based on this analysis and ongoing discussions with farmers, we hope to develop a participatory wheat breeding program where farmers are able to choose their level of involvement with the breeding process based on their interest and needs. This new program will increase the relevance of WSU's wheat breeding programs to farmers in the state and could serve as a model for other public agricultural research programs seeking to increase farmer involvement and, thereby, democratize agricultural research.


1970 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-99
Author(s):  
Barkat Ali Quraishi ◽  
Muhammad Jameel Khan

Reliable knowledge about the contribution of various factors responsible for increasing agricultural production is indispensable for planning. This holds particularly for the fertilizer use, which has been recognized as one of the quickest and, perhaps, the cheapest means for increasing agricultural produc¬tion. In Pakistan the emphasis on planned development is gaining momentum and for this purpose more data and fuller information on fertilizer response are becoming increasingly essential. The Agricultural Research Stations in the country have been conducting experiments with a view to determining the extent to which the cropped yield may increase due to the application of fertilizer. But such experiments, because of their somewhat controlled nature in respect of certain factors, obviously can¬not tell us with a desired measure of accuracy as to what is actually happening at millions of private farms throughout the country. And, as such, the planning in this regard is apt to be wrong.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 1139-1148
Author(s):  
Othman & et al.

The research work was conducted in Izra’a Research station, which affiliated to the General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR), during the growing seasons (2016 – 2017; 2017 – 2018), in order to evaluate the response of two durum wheat verities (Douma3 and Cham5) and two bread wheat varieties (Douma4 and Cham6) to Conservation Agriculture (CA) as a full package compared with Conventional Tillage system (CT) under rainfed condition using lentils (Variety Edleb3) in the applied crop rotation. The experiment was laid according to split-split RCBD with three replications. The average of biological yield, grain yield,  rainwater use efficiency and nitrogen use efficiency was significantly higher during the first growing season, under conservation agriculture in the presence of crop rotation, in the variety Douma3 (7466 kg. ha-1, and 4162kg. ha-1, 19.006 kg ha-1 mm-1,  39.62 kg N m-2respectively). The two varieties Douma3 and Cham6 are considered more responsive to conservation agriculture system in the southern region of Syria, because they recorded the highest grain yields (2561, 2385 kg ha-1 respectively) compared with the other studied varieties (Cham5 and Douma4) (1951 and 1724 kg ha-1 respectively). They also exhibited the highest values of both rainwater and nitrogen use efficiency.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5010
Author(s):  
Kapila Shekhawat ◽  
Vinod K. Singh ◽  
Sanjay Singh Rathore ◽  
Rishi Raj ◽  
T. K. Das

The proven significance of conservation agriculture (CA) in enhancing agronomic productivity and resource use efficiency across diverse agro-ecologies is often challenged by weed interference and nitrogen (N) immobilization. The collective effect of real-time N and weed management has been scarcely studied. To evaluate the appropriateness of sensor-based N management in conjunction with a broad-spectrum weed control strategy for the maize–wheat system, an experiment was conducted at ICAR—Indian Agricultural Research Institute—in New Delhi, India, during 2015–2016 and 2016–2017. Weed management in maize through Sesbania brown manure followed by post-emergence application of 2,4-D (BM + 2,4-D) in maize and tank-mix clodinafop-propargyl (60 g ha−1) and carfentrazone (20 g ha−1) (Clodi+carfentra) in wheat resulted in minimum weed infestation in both crops. It also resulted in highest maize (5.92 and 6.08 t ha−1) and wheat grain yields (4.91 and 5.4 t ha−1) during 2015–2016 and 2016–2017, respectively. Half of the N requirement, when applied as basal and the rest as guided by Optical crop sensor, resulted in saving 56 and 59 kg N ha−1 in the maize–wheat system, respectively, over 100% N application as farmers’ fertilizer practice during the two consecutive years. Interactive effect of N and weed management on economic yield of maize and wheat was also significant and maximum yield was obtained with 50% N application as basal + rest as per Optical crop sensor and weed management through BM+2,4-D in maize and Clodi+carfentra in wheat crop. The study concludes that real-time N management, complemented with appropriate weed management, improved growth, enhanced agronomic productivity and endorsed N saving under a CA-based maize–wheat system in Trans Indo-Gangetic Plains.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepa Agarwal ◽  
William MacNaughtan ◽  
Julie King ◽  
Tim J. Foster

This research investigate the structural and functional differences between four main wheat cultivars in comparison to the wild relatives of wheat. “Wheat image from www.freepik.com.”


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 5585
Author(s):  
Sajid Fiaz ◽  
Sunny Ahmar ◽  
Sajjad Saeed ◽  
Aamir Riaz ◽  
Freddy Mora-Poblete ◽  
...  

A world with zero hunger is possible only through a sustainable increase in food production and distribution and the elimination of poverty. Scientific, logistical, and humanitarian approaches must be employed simultaneously to ensure food security, starting with farmers and breeders and extending to policy makers and governments. The current agricultural production system is facing the challenge of sustainably increasing grain quality and yield and enhancing resistance to biotic and abiotic stress under the intensifying pressure of climate change. Under present circumstances, conventional breeding techniques are not sufficient. Innovation in plant breeding is critical in managing agricultural challenges and achieving sustainable crop production. Novel plant breeding techniques, involving a series of developments from genome editing techniques to speed breeding and the integration of omics technology, offer relevant, versatile, cost-effective, and less time-consuming ways of achieving precision in plant breeding. Opportunities to edit agriculturally significant genes now exist as a result of new genome editing techniques. These range from random (physical and chemical mutagens) to non-random meganucleases (MegaN), zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/associated protein system 9 (CRISPR/Cas9), the CRISPR system from Prevotella and Francisella1 (Cpf1), base editing (BE), and prime editing (PE). Genome editing techniques that promote crop improvement through hybrid seed production, induced apomixis, and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress are prioritized when selecting for genetic gain in a restricted timeframe. The novel CRISPR-associated protein system 9 variants, namely BE and PE, can generate transgene-free plants with more frequency and are therefore being used for knocking out of genes of interest. We provide a comprehensive review of the evolution of genome editing technologies, especially the application of the third-generation genome editing technologies to achieve various plant breeding objectives within the regulatory regimes adopted by various countries. Future development and the optimization of forward and reverse genetics to achieve food security are evaluated.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document