Yield trials of black rice Cempo Ireng M7 generation of Gamma-Ray irradiation

Cempo Ireng rice is local rice that is rich in anthocyanins. The issue with Cempo Ireng rice is its lengthy harvest life, high habitus, and low production. Plant mutations are one method for overcoming this. The study’s goal is to create better mutant plants with high yields. The study was conducted by placing three lines in plots from December 2019 to August 2020. The results were descriptively evaluated and compared to the control using the T-test. The results showed that the mutant plant was superior to black rice without irradiation (control). The line with the highest productivity value (per hectare) was line 51 which was 8.45 tons/ha. Line 44 has the highest average anthocyanin content of 75.10 ppm.

Selection of upland rice lines in advanced yield trials and response to abiotic stress

Tirtana A, Purwoko BP, Dewi IS, Trikoesoemaningtyas. 2021. Selection of upland rice lines in advanced yield trials and response to abiotic stress. Biodiversitas 22: 4694-4703. Breeding programs to obtain superior upland rice varieties with high productivity and adaptive in dryland must be prioritized to maximize the potential of dryland. This research aimed to obtain information on the agronomic performance of upland rice lines in advanced yield trials and select the best lines with high productivity and tolerance to drought stress and aluminum toxicity. Advanced yield trials were conducted from November 2016 until March 2017 in Bogor and Sukabumi using a randomized complete block design, where three replications were nested in the environments. Aluminum and drought stress evaluations were conducted at Muara Research Station, Bogor, in May-June 2018 and September-October 2018. Based on the selection index, twelve lines were selected with superior agronomic characters and high yield potential. These lines had characteristics as follows: days to harvesting (110.2-116.0 days), number of filled grains (70.6-101.3 grains), number of unfilled grains (27.9-58.4 grains), and productivity (2.2-2.9 tons ha-1). Evaluation of drought tolerance showed four lines with better drought tolerance than the drought-sensitive check IR20. The aluminum tolerance evaluation obtained two tolerant lines and nine lines with moderate responses to aluminum toxicity. The selected lines need to be further evaluated in multilocation trials.

Binamorich-2: A new high yielding Chilli variety of Bangladesh

Chilli is one of the most important spices as well as cash crop in Bangladesh. This study was undertaken at Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) to characterize the collected germplasm morphologically and select a desirable one for commercial cultivation in Bangladesh. More than fifty chilli germplasm were collected from local and exotic sources were put into evaluation to select desirable ones for directly use as varieties or for future usage as breeding materials. Through observation trials five germplasm were selected considering their better agronomic performance. Selected germplasm was evaluated through different trials at different chilli growing areas of Bangladesh during 2018 to 2020. Recommended cultural management for chilli cultivation was followed. The germplasm, IndoCF-25 produced significantly higher yield both green chilli and dried chilli than control varieties (Binamorich-1 and BARI Morich-1) in most of the trials. Over two years of advanced yield trial and on-farm trial, IndoCF-25 produced higher yield (32.00 t ha-1) while BARImorich-1 produced (12.15 t ha-1). IndoCF-25 was produced the longest plant height (78.8 cm), higher number of fruits (78.8) compared to Binamorich-1 (52.8), longer fruit size (13.95 cm), breadth (5.32 cm) and single fruit weight (11.38 g) compared to the check varieties. IndoCF-25 was found to be moderately tolerant to anthracnose, wilting and mosaic diseases, and also showed lower insect infestation than control varieties. Results of yield trials indicated that IndoCF-25-1 was suitable for cultivation in Bangladesh. Though check variety Binamorich-1 produced the highest yield (34.05 t ha-1) among three tested genotype/varieties, due to the better pungency as well as other quantitative and qualitative performances, BINA has applied for registration of IndoCF-25-1 to the National Seed Board (NSB) of Bangladesh. Consequently, the NSB of Bangladesh registered IndoCF-25-1 as a high yielding better pungent chilli variety in 2020 as Binamorich-2 for commercial cultivation all over Bangladesh.

Heterogeneous and conditional returns from DT maize for farmers in Southern Africa

This paper assesses the relative advantage of drought-tolerant (DT) maize, conditional on drought severity, using an unbalanced panel of 4 years of on-farm yield trials and high-resolution precipitation data (10-day measurements at a 0.05° resolution) in Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Under rain-fed conditions, DT maize yield exceeds that of other varieties: 7 per cent higher yields on average and 15 per cent higher yields under moderate drought stress. While this contrasts with higher estimates measured in controlled trials, it nonetheless represents an economically significant advantage. This study further measures heterogeneity in the relative advantage conditional using conditional quantile analysis.

Relative Tomato Spotted Wilt Incidence and Field Performance among Peanut Cultivars as Influenced by Different Input Production Practices in Georgia.

During 2017-19, 30 replicated yield trials were conducted to determine relative tomato spotted wilt (TSW) incidence and general field performance among 19 runner and virginia market type peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars. Four different input production practices were compared across three Georgia locations (Tifton, Plains, and Midville). Two early-planted (April) field tests were conducted at Tifton and Plains each year. One early-planted trial involved maximum-input practices of recommended pesticides with irrigation, and the other early-planted field trial did not receive any fungicides, insecticides, or irrigation. Early-planted maximum-input production practices with irrigation resulted in the highest percentage of mid-season TSW and late-season total disease incidences while also producing the highest pod yields and dollar values. Two other optimum-planted (May) maximum-input field tests were conducted at Tifton, Plains, and Midville, GA as part of the official statewide variety trials (OVT). These OVT utilized maximum-input production practices of pesticides both with and without irrigation. In the OVT, midseason TSW incidence showed no difference between irrigated and non-irrigated; however, the end-of-season total disease percentages which were predominantly TSW did show significantly higher disease percentage, produced the highest pod yields and dollar values within the irrigated field tests compared to the non-irrigated tests. In the overall four tests comparison, disease results showed significantly lower TSW incidence in the early-planted tests without fungicides and insecticides input production practices and no-irrigation; whereas, both optimum planted OVT(s) had the lowest total disease incidence. Overall average field performance for pod yields and dollar values were significantly highest in the optimum-planted tests with maximum-inputs including irrigation. Significant differences were also found among the 19 peanut cultivars. ‘Georgia-06G’, ‘Georgia-12Y’, and ‘Georgia-18RU’ had the lowest relative TSW incidence compared to the other runner-type cultivars. ‘Georgia-19HP’ had the lowest TSW incidence and total disease incidence among the virginia-type cultivars. Among the runner cultivars, Georgia-12Y had the lowest total disease incidence at the end of the season. The highest pod yields were found with Georgia-06G and ‘Georgia-16HO’; whereas, Georgia-18RU and Georgia-06G had the highest dollar values among the runner-type peanut cultivars. Georgia-19HP had the highest pod yield and dollar value among the virginia-type cultivars.

Agronomic and yield selection of doubled haploid lines of rainfed lowland rice in advanced yield trials

Akbar MR, Purwoko BS, Dewi IS, Suwarno WB, Sugiyanta, Anshori MF. 2021. Agronomic and yield selection of doubled haploid lines of rainfed lowland rice in advanced yield trials. Biodiversitas 22: 3006-3012. Selection process is important step to obtain high yielding variety. This study aimed to obtain information on agronomic performance of doubled haploid lines of rainfed rice in advanced yield trials and select the best lines for multi-location yield trials. Two experiments were conducted in Bogor and Subang using a randomized complete block design for each location and consisted of 35 doubled haploid lines and two check varieties namely Ciherang and Inpari 18 as a treatment. The result revealed that interaction between genotype and environment (G x E) significantly affected all agronomic characters, except on the panicle length. Characters with high heritability value were all agronomic characters except number of productive tillers and productivity. Genotypic correlation analysis showed that number of productive tillers and weight of 1000 grains had significant and positive correlation with productivity. The selection used weighted selection index based on multivariate analysis. Fourteen lines were selected for multi-location yield trials. These lines had characteristics as follows: number of productive tillers (14.0-17.7 tillers), weight of 1000 grains (24.7-32.5 g), and productivity (5.0-6.2 ton ha-1). The selected lines can be evaluated further to obtain superior lines in multi-location trials.

Identification of Genetic Loci and Candidate Genes Related to Grain Zinc and Iron Concentration Using a Zinc-Enriched Wheat ‘Zinc-Shakti’

The development of nutritionally enhanced wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with higher levels of grain iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) offers a sustainable solution to micronutrient deficiency among resource-poor wheat consumers. One hundred and ninety recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from ‘Kachu’ × ‘Zinc-Shakti’ cross were phenotyped for grain Fe and Zn concentrations and phenological and agronomically important traits at Ciudad Obregon, Mexico in the 2017–2018, 2018–2019, and 2019–2020 growing seasons and Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) molecular marker data were used to determine genomic regions controlling grain micronutrients and agronomic traits. We identified seven new pleiotropic quantitative trait loci (QTL) for grain Zn and Fe on chromosomes 1B, 1D, 2B, 6A, and 7D. The stable pleiotropic QTL identified have expanded the diversity of QTL that could be used in breeding for wheat biofortification. Nine RILs with the best combination of pleiotropic QTL for Zn and Fe have been identified to be used in future crossing programs and to be screened in elite yield trials before releasing as biofortified varieties. In silico analysis revealed several candidate genes underlying QTL, including those belonging to the families of the transporters and kinases known to transport small peptides and minerals (thus assisting mineral uptake) and catalyzing phosphorylation processes, respectively.