The J. Derek Bewley Career Lecture. Seeds–plants–crops–biodiversity–environment–people: illustrating understanding and ideas

The J. Derek Bewley Career Lectures presented at the triennial meetings of the International Society of Seed Science support early-career seed scientists by providing retrospective views, from those late in their careers, of lessons learned and future implications. Ambition, ability, inspiration, foresight, hard work and opportunity are obvious career requirements. The importance of mentoring and teamwork combined with the clear communication of results, understanding and ideas are emphasized. The role of illustration in research, and its dissemination, is outlined: illustration can support hypothesis development, testing and communication. Climate change may perturb the production of high-quality seed affecting conservation as well as agriculture, horticulture and forestry. An illustrative synthesis of the current understanding of temporal aspects of the effects of seed production environment on seed quality (assessed by subsequent seed storage longevity) is provided for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.). Seed science research can contribute to complex global challenges such as future food supplies from seed-propagated crops in our changing climate whilst conserving biological diversity (through seed ecology and technologies such as ex situ plant genetic resources conservation by long-term seed storage in genebanks), but only if that research can be – and then is – applied.

Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King.) as urban tree: tree growth and wood quality variation in a progeny test

Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) is a tree species widely planted not only for timber production but also as a shade tree in urban areas both on the side of the highway (green belt) and other green open areas. The objective of this study was to analyze the genetic variation of growth and wood quality of a mahogany progeny test at the Parung Panjang, Bogor, which will be converted into a seedling seed orchard for high quality seed production. The progeny test was established using a randomized complete block design involving 96 families originating from seven populations (land races) in Java Island, i.e., Cianjur, Sumedang, Tasikmalaya, Magelang, Gundih, Madiun, and Jember. The results showed that the family had a significant effect on all the growth and wood quality parameters. Individual and family heritability for all growth and wood quality traits were categorized into the high, i.e., 0.33 - 0.96 and 0.35 - 0.56, respectively. The selection simulation showed that the selection percentage of 44.68% (45 best families) gave the optimum genetic gain based on growth and wood quality traits.

Prerequisites for the Creation of a Mechatronic System of Indented Cylinders for the Separation of Fine Seeds

Nowadays, an important aspect for achieving a high level of seed production is the expansion of the range of high-quality seed material, which disrupts the technological process of separation and increases its costs. The purpose of the study is to analyse indented separator cylinders for cleaning small-seed crops and develop an appropriate mechatronic system for their control, the use of which would allow performing the technological process of separation with lower specific operating costs and higher productivity. The presented analysis of the technical support of the process of separation of seed material of small-seeded crops indicates the need to improve indented separator cylinders based on automated control of their parameters using photo or video recording of the seed separation with subsequent processing. It has been established that the determination of formal performance indicators of an indented separator cylinder is not trivial. Based on the results of the analysis, a design and technological scheme of the mechatronic system of an indented separator cylinder has been developed. The difference between the proposed system and the conventional one is that the camera captures the trajectory of seeds. This information is processed in the control unit, which in turn changes the speed of rotation of the gear motor and, as a result, the drum with cells, the angle of inclination of the tray, the angle of rotation of the flap with the stepper motor of the hopper dispenser. These manipulations with the operating parameters of the indented separator allow adjusting it to changes in the seed mixture composition, thereby improving the quality and productivity of separation. In addition, due to the automatic adjustment of the operating parameters of the indented separator, the participation of the operator in the separation process is practically not required, which reduces labour costs

Seed Quality as Related to Harvest Time in Three Key Perennial Grasses Native to Puna Tussock Rangelands of Peru

Seed-based rehabilitation programs represent a primary foundation for rangeland recovery, which requires high-quality seed of key native species. The objective of this research was to determine the seed quality at different harvest times for three key perennial grasses native to puna tussock rangelands of Peru: Festuca dolichophylla, Festuca humilior, and Calamagrostis vicunarum. Seeds of each species were harvested at 21, 28, and 35 days after anthesis and evaluated by standard tests to determine the purity, size, viability, and germinability. On average, the seed purity of the studied species ranged between 23% and 44%, hundred-seed weight between 34 mg and 73 mg, seed viability between 24% and 60%, and the seed germination between 18% and 34% over the harvest dates. The highest seed quality was observed in C. vicunarum. Seed quality parameters of the studied species did not show a consistent variation over the harvest times. Overall, the species studied presented relatively low seed quality; therefore, when using it in rehabilitation programs for rangeland recovery, it is important to carry out a previous cleaning process (to reduce nonviable seeds and inert matter) and to use a sufficient quantity of seed for effective establishment of these key grasses.

Feeding different cultivars and quality levels of faba bean to broiler chickens

A concern of both pulse growers and poultry producers is how frost damage around harvest time affects the nutritional quality of faba bean for broiler chickens. To investigate, 2 zero-tannin cultivars (Snowbird, Snowdrop) and 1 low vicine and convicine cultivar (Fabelle) sourced from seed growers were spring planted 3 weeks later than recommended (mid-May) and harvested late October to purposely increase frost damage. Parent, certified seed (high quality) and harvested frost damaged beans (low quality) of the 3 cultivars were fed to 740 chickens housed in 64 floor pens in a 2 x 3 factorial plus control (9 pens of 11 or 12 birds per treatment). Starter (d 0 to 11), grower (d 12 to 24) and finisher (d 25 to 40) diets included 15, 30, and 45% faba bean in partial (starter, grower) or total replacement of soybean meal (SBM; control). Harvested Snowbird, Snowdrop, Fabelle averaged 52, 62, 17% blackened hull and 35, 43, 51% immature beans, respectively. There was a cultivar x quality interaction (P < 0.05) on daily feed disappearance (ADFI) and gain-to-feed (G:F). Broilers fed low quality Snowdrop consumed 10 g/d more finisher and 6 g/d more feed overall than those fed low quality Snowbird or Fabelle; broilers fed parent seed were intermediate. Feeding low quality Fabelle resulted in best overall G:F (0.646) vs. high quality Snowbird (0.611), high quality Fabelle (0.624), or low quality Snowdrop (0.624). Average daily weight gain (ADG) and bird body weight (BW) at the end of each growth phase were not affected by cultivar or quality level. Controls fed SBM only grew 2.75 g/d faster overall and were 113.5 g heavier at the end of the trial than broilers fed faba bean (P < 0.05). Controls fed SBM only had 0.024 g/g better overall G:F than broilers fed faba bean (P < 0.05). Feeding low quality beans or high quality seed had no effect on antemortem BW, chilled carcass weight (WT), dressing percentage or yield of saleable cuts except that broilers fed Snowbird or Snowdrop had 0.8%-unit larger thighs than those fed Fabelle. Controls fed SBM only were 110 g heavier at slaughter, had 72 g heavier chilled carcass WT, and 0.5%-unit greater dressing percentage than broilers fed faba bean (P < 0.05). These results indicate that feeding frost damaged and(or) immature faba bean, to the extent observed in this trial, did not negatively affect growth performance or carcass attributes of broiler chickens compared to feeding parent, certified, high quality seed of these cultivars.

Studies with Urochloa brizantha cv. MG5 Vitória in Okinawa, Japan: Vegetative propagation and a tractor tyre stress test

Feeding of high quality grass is critical to ensure breeding cows remain healthy with high reproductive rates and growing and fattening cattle achieve good growth rates. The Brazilian grass cultivar, Urochloa brizantha cv. MG5 Vitória, is highly nutritious and is known for its drought tolerance. In view of its low seed production potential in subtropical Japan and of phytosanitary problems (contamination with soil particles) of imported seed, a study was conducted in Okinawa to assess 2 methods of propagating this cultivar vegetatively. Cutting stems (culms) at about 10 cm from ground level and inserting them 3 cm into a 50:50 compost:soil mixture produced a 77% success rate in terms of rooted plantlets in a glasshouse compared with 67% for cutting the culm at 3 nodes from the base, subsequently allowing 2 weeks for adventitious roots to form on the lowest node, then cutting below the node where roots emerged and planting the rooted propagule in the same mixture. It seems that the simple process of cutting stems at about 10 cm from ground level and inserting them into a suitable mixture of soil and compost should result in an acceptable yield of plantlets for establishment of an MG5 forage crop. However, locating a source of high-quality seed free of phytosanitary problems seed would seem to be a better solution to increase the areas in Okinawa planted to MG5.In the tractor tyre stress trial conducted over 2 years, an MG5 forage crop established from seed showed depressed yields on the treatment subjected to tractor tyre pressure but performed as well as Chloris gayana, a much-used forage grass in Okinawa.

Multiple Local Community Detection via High-Quality Seed Identification over Both Static and Dynamic Networks

Local community detection aims to find the communities that a given seed node belongs to. Most existing works on this problem are based on a very strict assumption that the seed node only belongs to a single community, but in real-world networks, nodes are likely to belong to multiple communities. In this paper, we first introduce a novel algorithm, HqsMLCD, that can detect multiple communities for a given seed node over static networks. HqsMLCD first finds the high-quality seeds which can detect better communities than the given seed node with the help of network representation, then expands the high-quality seeds one-by-one to get multiple communities, probably overlapping. Since dynamic networks also act an important role in practice, we extend the static HqsMLCD to handle dynamic networks and introduce HqsDMLCD. HqsDMLCD mainly integrates dynamic network embedding and dynamic local community detection into the static one. Experimental results on real-world networks demonstrate that our new method HqsMLCD outperforms the state-of-the-art multiple local community detection algorithms. And our dynamic method HqsDMLCD gets comparable results with the static method on real-world networks.

Evaluation of spring soft wheat varieties and zonal features of seed production in the Altai Territory

One of the leading grain crops in Russia is spring wheat. This is a strategic food crop of our country; it is also an important component in the structure of forage crops for monogastric animals, such as pigs and poultry. The purpose of the research was to evaluate spring soft wheat varieties of different maturity groups in order to identify genotypes as the starting material for obtaining varieties adapted to the cultivation zones, and to determine the areas optimal for the production of grain for seed purposes with high quality indicators. Field studies have been carried out in three ecologically different zones: the Priobskaya zone, the Prialtaiskaya zone, and the Prisalairskaya zone. Under the conditions of the Altai Territory, genetic sources of spring soft wheat have been identifi ed for different soil and climatic parameters of the study zones, the use of which will allow obtaining high-yielding varieties with high quality grain for specific cultivation conditions. The variability of the indicators of the characteristics of varieties in three ecologically different zones has been determined. The indicators of adaptability and stability of spring soft wheat varieties in different zones of cultivation have been determined. The optimal zones for conducting breeding work and seed production of varieties have been identifi ed. New scientific data on the quality parameters of seed grain in various agro-climatic zones of the Altai Territory have been obtained. The share of the contribution of the factors “variety”, “year”, “environment” to the variability of grain quality characteristics has been established. The economic efficiency of cultivating varieties of spring soft wheat for the production of high-quality seed grain has been determined.

Identifying Climate Change Adaptation Efforts in the Batutegi Forest Management Unit, Indonesia

The Batutegi Forest Management Unit (FMU) in Lampung Province, Indonesia is beginning to observe the consequences of climate change. Meanwhile, communities in Batutegi are also suggesting that effects of climate change are becoming more prominent in their region. Indicators include rising air temperature and the increasing regularity of extreme weather changes. Studies show that land cover has decreased by up to 95% in the region. As these trends intensify, predictions note that the Batutegi reservoir and the productivity of the surrounding protected forests will be affected. This research examines FMU efforts to adapt to vulnerabilities from environmental and climate change. The broader objective of this research is to determine the appropriate climate change adaptation efforts, specifically regarding the management of sustainable forest protection. The method is conducted through regression analysis to identify significant variables and applies the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to identify priorities for planned interventions for climate change adaptation by the FMU. Based on regression results there were four significant variables, i.e. appropriate agroforestry initiatives, non-timber forest products, community institutional support, and local policy engagement. This research also considers various kinds of technologies of adaptation applied by local communities. Examining community efforts also presents possibilities for improving FMU institutional planning that is locally responsive. This is done primarily through agroforestry techniques and other community conservation practices. Based on the result of the AHP analysis, the findings highlight various programs related to agroforestry technologies as the top priority. Thereafter, priorities point to institutional development policies. Together, these priorities can form the basic considerations for developing climate change adaptation policies in Batutegi. These policies can be applied with, and by communities in managing forests through agroforestry, beginning with support for high quality seed procurement that also supports all phases of cultivation and supply chain through final product marketing. As a result, forest productivity and support for local income can form a robust approach for fulfilling community needs despite the effects of environmental and climate change in Batutegi.