International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
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Identification of superior haplotypes in a diverse natural population for breeding desirable plant height in soybean
Get PDFKey message Plant height of soybean is associated with a haplotype block on chromosome 19, which classified 211
soybean accessions into five distinct groups showing significant differences for the target trait. Genetic variation is pivotal for crop improvement. Natural populations are precious genetic resources. However, efficient strategies for the targeted utilization of these resources for quantitative traits, such as plant height (PH), are scarce. Being an important agronomic trait associated with soybean yield and quality, it is imperative to unravel the genetic mechanisms underlying PH in soybean. Here, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) significantly associated with PH in a natural population of 211 cultivated soybeans, which was genotyped with NJAU 355 K Soy SNP Array and evaluated across six environments. A total of 128 SNPs distributed across 17 chromosomes were found to be significantly associated with PH across six environments and a combined environment. Three significant SNPs were consistently identified in at least three environments on Chr.02 (AX-93958260), Chr.17 (AX-94154834), and Chr.19 (AX-93897200). Genomic regions of ~ 130 kb flanking these three consistent SNPs were considered as stable QTLs, which included 169 genes. Of these, 22 genes (including Dt1) were prioritized and defined as putative candidates controlling PH. The genomic region flanking 12 most significant SNPs was in strong linkage disequilibrium (LD). These SNPs formed a single haplotype block containing five haplotypes for PH, namely Hap-A, Hap-B, Hap-C, Hap-D, and Hap-E. Deployment of such superior haplotypes in breeding programs will enable development of improved soybean varieties with desirable plant height
Photoperiod Insensitivity in Pigeonpea Introgression Lines Derived from Wild Cajanus Species
Get PDFPigeonpea is a photoperiod-sensitive crop; therefore, the introgression of photoperiod insensitivity could increase its adaptability to new environments. We determined the effect of extended daylength (ED; 16 h light) on the phenotypical traits of extra-early, early, and mid-early maturing pigeonpea introgression lines (ILs) derived from wild Cajanus species belonging to secondary and tertiary gene pools. Plants were grown under natural daylength and extended daylength in a greenhouse. Comparisons of the time of floral bud initiation, days to flowering, plant height, number of branches, and number of leaf nodes on the main stem at flowering revealed photoperiod-insensitive lines. All traits varied widely among the ILs. Analyses of flowering traits revealed large genetic components with low genotype X treatment interactions and high broad-sense heritability. The photoperiod most strongly affected the number of primary branches, followed by plant height. The
extended day advanced flowering by approximately four days in extra-early ILs, confirming that these ILs are quantitative, short-day plants. The photoperiod insensitivity index varied from 0.88 in ICPP 171541 (moderately photoperiod sensitive) to 0.99 in ICPP 171546 and ICPP 171561 (photoperiod insensitive). These photoperiod-insensitive extra-early flowering ILs can be used to enrich the genetic diversity of pigeonpea and to develop photoperiod-insensitive cultivars for cultivation in
new environments
Can Feeding a Millet-Based Diet Improve the Growth of Children?—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Get PDFUndernutrition, such as stunting and underweight, is a major public health concern, which requires multi-sectoral attention. Diet plays a key role in growth and should optimally supply all required nutrients to support the growth. While millets (defined broadly to include sorghum) are traditional foods, and climate smart nutritious crops, which are grown across Africa and Asia, they have not been mainstreamed like rice, wheat, and maize. Diversifying staples with millets can potentially provide more macro and micro nutrients, compared to the mainstream crops. However, there is little known scientific evidence to prove millets’ efficacy on growth. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to collate evidence of the benefits of millets in improving the growth of children. Eight eligible randomized feeding trials were included in the meta-analysis. Results from the randomized effect model showed a significant effect (p < 0.05) of millet-based diets on mean height (+28.2%) (n = 8), weight (n = 9) (+26%), mid upper arm circumference (n = 5) (+39%) and chest circumference (n = 5) (+37%) in comparison to regular rice-based diets over for the period of 3 months to 4.5 years, which was based on largely substituting rice with millets. When an enhanced and diverse diet was served, replacing rice with millet had only minimal growth improvement on chest circumference (p < 0.05). The quality assessment using GRADE shows that the evidence used for this systematic review and meta-analysis had moderate quality, based on eight scoring criteria. These results demonstrate the value of adding millet as the staple for undernourished communities. Further understanding of the efficacy of millets on growth in a wider range of diets is important to develop appropriate dietary programs and improve the nutritional status of various age groups across Africa and Asia
Morphological and molecular insights of calcium in peanut pod development
Get PDFCalcium is an important secondary macronutrient after nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium for the proper development of the plant. It is typically important for the formation of cell walls, cell members and accumulates in the plant cells. Calcium deficiency occurs rarely in nature but excess calcium limits plant communities on calcareous soils. In peanut, calcium uptake by plants from the soil will remain in the plant tissues and will not be transported back to developing pods where calcium requirement is more. The geotropic growth of peanut pods had capacity of absorption of calcium from the soil for filling and development of pods. Application of calcium before the pod development stage in peanut is required to have sufficient calcium available to the pods which could help an increase in yield up to 20–30%. The calcium-related genes in different metabolic pathways help in the regulation of embryo abortion in peanut and also a well-documented role in mediating plant responses to abiotic and biotic stimuli. This article provides a summary of the role of calcium, its management details, the transport of calcium into plants through the soil and overview of calcium genes in peanut pod development
Population Breeding in Pigeonpea: A Review
Get PDFIssues related to the stagnation of yield in pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L). Millsp.] are as old as seven decades or even more. This may be a consequence a number of factors but ineffectiveness of pure line breeding appears on the top of the list as it was the only method used by each and every crop breeder. The natural out-crossing of the crop, always considered a bane, was never used in the pigeonpea breeding until mid-seventies, when a hybrid breeding programme was initiated jointly by ICRISAT and ICAR. Besides this, some population breeding schemes were also suggested and tried on a limited scale in pigeonpea. The authors in this paper have reviewed various aspects of these population breeding methods. It is concluded that the methods such as stratified mass selection and sybrid breeding have good technical base and can be tried for enhancing seed yield in pigeonpea
Streptomyces consortia‑mediated plant growth‑promotion and yield performance in chickpea
No full textFourteen Streptomyces strains reported earlier as plant growth promoters (PGP) in chickpea were characterized for production
of ammonia and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase and solubilization of silica and zinc. The
results showed that nine (CAI-17, CAI-78, KAI-26, CAI-21, CAI-26, MMA-32, CAI-140, CAI-155 and KAI-180) and six
(CAI-17, CAI-21, CAI-26, CAI-13, CAI-93 and KAI-180) strains were found to produce ammonia and ACC deaminase,
respectively, while one (KAI-180) and eight (CAI-17, CAI-21, CAI-26, MMA-32, CAI-13, CAI-85, CAI-93 and KAI-180)
strains solubilized silica and zinc, respectively. The selected 14 Streptomyces strains were categorized into three consortia
groups, consortium-1 (CAI-17, CAI-68, CAI-78, KAI-26 and KAI-27), consortium-2 (CAI-21, CAI-26 and MMA-32) and
consortium-3 (CAI-13, CAI-85, CAI-93, CAI-140, CAI-155 and KAI-180), based on their compatibility, and evaluated for
their PGP traits in chickpea. The experiment was conducted under field conditions with two chickpea varieties over two
years. The consortia-treated plots enhanced nodule number up to 23%, nodule weight up to 36%, root weight up to 27% and
shoot weight up to 26% at 30 days after sowing and pod weight up to 35%, pod number up to 34% and grain yield up to 24%
at harvest over the un-inoculated control plots. The harvested grains of consortia treatments were found to enhance crude
protein up to 14%, crude fibre up to 17% and crude fat up to 16% over the grains from un-inoculated control. The rhizosphere
soils of the consortia-treated plots enhanced total nitrogen up to 21%, organic carbon up to 8% and available phosphorous
up to 16% over the un-inoculated control plots. This investigation demonstrated the potential use of the selected consortium
of Streptomyces strains in the farmers’ fields to improve the chickpea yields and soil fertility
Rice yield estimation using remote sensing and crop simulation model in Nalgonda district, Telangana
Get PDFA study on “Rice yield estimation using Remote Sensing and crop simulation model in Nalgonda district, Telangana” was carried out during kharif, 2021.
Precise and real-time agricultural yield data at the national, international and regional levels is becoming increasingly crucial for global food security. Crop yield forecasting could be very useful in advanced crop planning, strategy creation, and management. Because of the importance of yield prediction in food security, the present study used the APSIM-ORYZA model and remote sensing to estimate rice yield. The core objective of this study was to develop a method to integrate remotely sensed data and APSIM model for rice yield estimation in Nalgonda district, Telangana. This study includes mapping of rice growing areas and execution of APSIM model, followed by integration of remote sensing and crop simulation model for rice yield prediction and verification using government statistics.
Based on stratification, two villages, Telakantigudem from Kangal mandal and Mallaram village from Kattangoor mandal in Nalgonda district were selected and ten fields from each village were chosen for the study to collect the measured LAI values with the help of ceptometer in the fields and the crop management data from the respected farmers. Crop classification was performed on Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 time series data using a Random Forest (RF) classifier and ground reference points collected from field surveys in the Google Earth Engine platform. The results demonstrated an overall accuracy of 92% and a kappa coefficient of 0.85, and rice area was validated with the crop coverage report (kharif, 2021) provided by the Department of Agriculture (DOA), Telangana state showed a relative variation of -0.16%.
Remote sensing products like VV, VH AND VH/VV from Sentinel-1 and NIR, Red and NDVI from Sentinel-2 were derived using GEE and were calibrated with the measured LAI data collected from farmers’ fields. The result showed that there was a significant relation (R2=0.78) between NDVI and field LAI and hence it was considered for integration with the crop model output. Maps were derived showing spatial variation in crop extent, and leaf area index (LAI), which are crucial in yield assessment.
Execution of APSIM-ORYZA model was done using the weather parameters, soil parameters, genetic coefficients and crop management data. The evaluation of the model with simulated yield and observed yield in the farmers’ fields showed linear regression of R2 = 0.79, root mean square error (RMSE)=804 kg ha-1 and mean absolute error (MAE)=728 kg ha-1. The overall spatially averaged model yield for the district showed 4925 kg ha-1 which is deviated by 2% from the average yield in the government statistics with 5024 kg ha-1. The study showed that by assimilation of remotely sensed data with the crop models, crop yields before harvest could be successfully predicted
Perceptions on Sack Gardening in Rural Areas: The Case of Vegetable Stakeholders in Koutiala and Bougouni, Mali
Get PDFAbstract: Understanding the perception of sack gardening technology is important in order to better support the adoption of sack gardening in households, given the nutritional role vegetables play. This notwithstanding, research has not yet been carried out to understand the stakeholders’ perception of sack gardening technology in the zones of Bougouni and Koutiala, where sack gardening technology was introduced under the Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation
(Africa-RISING) project. This study assessed the perception of farm households on sack gardening technology and specifically to understand to what extent this innovation responds to household needs. Q-methodology was used to identify rural household’s viewpoints and principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to compare stakeholders’ opinion typologies to discourses retained
by Q-method results. Focus group discussions were used to identify the statements used for the q-set in the individual surveys. Our findings showed three factors or discourses which reflected the stakeholders’ viewpoints. A nutritional role, the role of making vegetables available for household
consumption and the role of environment protection, specifically soil protection, were indicated in the stakeholders’ opinions. The understanding of the different discourses retained provides insights that can be used to design public and private interventions to support the usage of the technology in households or the adoption of this technology
Identification of genes controlling compatible and incompatible reactions of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) against blast (Magnaporthe grisea) pathogen through RNA-Seq
Get PDFBlast [Magnaporthe grisea (Herbert) Barr] is an economically important disease in Asian pearl millet production ecologies. The recurrent occurrence of blast in the past one decade has caused enormous strain on grain and forage production. Identification of resistance genes is an important step to develop durable varieties. The present study is the first attempt to use RNA-Seq to investigate the transcript dynamics in a pearl millet inbred ICMB 93333, which had a unique differential reaction to two isolates—Pg 45 (avirulent) and Pg 174 (virulent) of M. grisea. The inbred was inoculated by both isolates and samples taken at six different time intervals for genome-wide RNA-Seq experiment. The transcriptome results revealed the differential expression of more than 2,300 genes. The time-specific comparison showed activation or repression of specific genes in various pathways. Genes and transcriptions factors related to pathogenesis-related proteins, reactive oxygen species generating and its scavenging genes, cell wall defense, primary and secondary metabolic pathways, and signaling pathways were identified by comparing the host-plant compatible and incompatible interactions. The genes identified from this experiment could be useful to understand the host-plant resistance and design novel strategies to manage blast disease in pearl millet
Streptomyces-mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles for enhanced growth, yield, and grain nutrients in chickpea
No full textIn the present study, two plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) strains of Streptomyces griseus (KAI-26 and MMA-32) and one PGPR strain of S. albus (KAI-27) were screened for their ability to bio-synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and evaluated for their growth promotion in chickpea. The formation of Streptomyces-mediated biogenic AgNPs was confirmed through UV–visible spectrophotometer, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Zetapotential, Fourier Transforms Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) analysis. In greenhouse, the biogenic AgNPs followed by Streptomyces strains significantly increased plant growth promoting traits and nitrogen fixation over the untreated plants. Defense enzymes, namely ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, phenylalanine ammonia lyase, polyphenol oxidase and superoxide dismutase were also found higher in the selected Streptomyces and biogenic AgNPs treated chickpea plants. The bio-fortification studies carried out by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) revealed a significant enhancement of Fe, Zn, Mn and K contents in the harvested chickpea grains that were treated with the Streptomyces strains and biogenic AgNPs over the untreated plants. The results of the present study, further aids in the efficient utilization of the selected PGPR and their biogenic AgNPs as better delivery agents in agriculture