International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
ICRISAT Open Access RepositoryNot a member yet
12134 research outputs found
Sort by
Dissection of the Genetic Basis of Resistance to Stem Rot in Cultivated Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.) through Genome-Wide Association Study
Get PDFPeanut (Arachis hypogaea) is an important oilseed and cash crop worldwide, contributing an important source of edible oil and protein for human nutrition. However, the incidence of stem rot disease caused by Athelia rolfsii poses a major challenge to peanut cultivation, resulting in significant yield losses. In this study, a panel of 202 peanut accessions was evaluated for their resistance to stem rot by inoculating plants in the field with A. rolfsii-infested oat grains in three environments. The mean disease index value of each environment for accessions in subsp. fasitigiate and subsp. hypogaea showed no significant difference. Accessions from southern China displayed the lowest disease index value compared to those from other ecological regions. We used whole-genome resequencing to analyze the genotypes of the accessions and to identify significant SNPs associated with stem rot resistance through genome-wide association study (GWAS). A total of 121 significant SNPs associated with stem rot resistance in peanut were identified, with phenotypic variation explained (PVE) ranging from 12.23% to 15.51%. A total of 27 candidate genes within 100 kb upstream and downstream of 23 significant SNPs were annotated, which have functions related to recognition, signal transduction, and defense response. These significant SNPs and candidate genes provide valuable information for further validation and molecular breeding to improve stem rot resistance in peanut
Inheritance of seed protein in two interspecific pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) crosses
No full textPigeonpea is one of the primary sources of protein for most rural communities of south Asia and Africa. The enhancement of protein from the present level of 20–22% will help masses in their nutritional well-beings. Breeders have identified high-protein (28–30%) germplasm amongst the wild relatives of pigeonpea; and these can serve as donors in breeding high-yielding high-protein cultivars. To achieve this, information on the inheritance of seed protein will be useful in organizing interspecific matings, generation advancement, and selection schemes. In the present study, two interspecific crosses, involving two pigeonpea cultivars ('Pant A2' and 'ICP 6997') and a wild species (Cajanus albicans (W. & A.)), were made to study the inheritance of seed protein in F1, F2, and BC1F1 generations. The high-protein trait was found to be controlled by two independent dominant genes with complementary effects. These genes are tagged with symbols “HPt1” and “HPt2”. The authors believe that now opportunities exist for enhancing the protein levels in pigeonpea through breeding approaches
Cultivation of sweet sorghum on heavy metal-contaminated soils by phytoremediation approach for production of bioethanol
No full textThe term heavy metals (HMs) has a wide range of meanings, and there has been no consistent definition by any authoritative body such as the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) over the past 60years (Duffus, 2002). However, over the past two decades, this term has been used by numerous publications and legislations for indicating a group name for metals or semi-metals that cause toxicity to humans, plants, and animals and ecotoxicity. Though the imprecise term is defined by several researchers at various levels including density, atomic number, atomic weight, chemical properties, and toxicity, there is no
connectivity between these properties. For instance, Koller and Saleh (2018) stated that HMs are elements having an atomic number greater than 20 and atomic density above 5gcm
-3 and exhibit properties of metals. HMs have been in use by human beings for several hundred years. Recalcitrance in environment, toxicity, and bioaccumulative nature of HMs have proven them to be environmental pollutants (Ali et al., 2019). Lead has been used in water pipes and pigments for glazing ceramics. Mercury was reported to be used as infant’s teething pain killer and was also used as medicine for Syphilis by Romans. Cadmium is majorly used in rechargeable batteries, which were discarded along with household wastes (Jarup, 2003). As this chapter deals with bioremediation aspects, HMs causing human and ecotoxic
effects were considered further. Three kinds of HMs are of concern, including toxic metals (Hg, Cr, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, As, Co, Sn, etc.), precious metals (Pd, Pt, Ag, Au, Ru, etc.), and radionuclides (U, Th, Ra, Am, etc.) (Wang and Chen, 2006)
Insight into the genome of an arsenic loving and plant growth-promoting strain of Micrococcus luteus isolated from arsenic contaminated groundwater
Get PDFContamination of arsenic in drinking water and foods is a threat for human beings. To achieve the goal for the reduction of arsenic availability, besides conventional technologies, arsenic bioremediation by using some potent bacteria is one of the hot topics for researchers. In this context, bacterium, AKS4c was isolated from arsenic contaminated water of Purbasthali, West Bengal, India, and through draft genome sequence; it was identified as a strain of Micrococcus luteus that comprised of 2.4 Mb genome with 73.1% GC content and 2256 protein coding genes. As the accessory genome, about 22 genomic islands (GIs) associated with many metal-resistant genes were identified. This strain was capable to tolerate more than 46,800 mg/L arsenate and 390 mg/L arsenite salts as well as found to be tolerable to multi-metals such as Fe, Pb, Mo, Mn, and Zn up to a certain limit of concentrations. Strain AKS4c was able to oxidize arsenite to less toxic arsenate, and its arsenic adsorption property was qualitatively confirmed through X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Quantitative estimation of plant growth-promoting attributes like Indole acetic acid (IAA), Gibberellic acid (GA), and proline production and enhancement of rice seedling growth in laboratory condition leads to its future applicability in arsenic bioremediation as a plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR)
Pilot studies on GP level Crop yield estimation using Technology (Rabi 2020-21) using Sentinel 1&2 Satellite data for Rice and Wheat
Get PDFDiffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) for rapid soil testing and soil quality assessment in smallholder farms
Get PDFRapid soil testing and soil quality assessment are essential to address soil degradation and low farm incomes in smallholder farms. With the objective of testing diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) to rapidly assess soil chemical properties, nutrient content and a soil quality index (SQI), samples of surface soil were collected from 1113 smallholder farms in seven districts in Bundelkhand
region of Uttar Pradesh, India. A minimum dataset (MDS) approach was followed to estimate SQI using the three chemical parameters of soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and soil organic carbon (SOC), and 11 different soil nutrients. Principal component and correlation analyses showed that soil pH, SOC content and three available nutrients - copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and sulphur (S)
- may constitute the MDS. Estimated SQI values showed strong positive correlation with crop yields. Results of chemometric modelling showed that the DRS approach could yield the coefficient of determination (R2) values in the validation datasets ranging from 0.79 to 0.94 for exchangeable calcium (Ca) followed by 0.67–0.88 for exchangeable potassium (K), 0.52–0.86 for SOC and 0.53–0.81
for available boron (B) content. Except in one district, the DRS approach could be used to estimate SQI values with R2 values in the range of 0.63–0.81; an R2 value of 0.71 was obtained in the pooled dataset. We also estimated the three-tier soil test crop response (STCR) ratings to compare DRS and wet chemistry soil testing approaches. Similar STCR ratings were obtained for both these approaches in more than 86% of the samples. Parameters for which both the
methods yielded similar ratings in more than 80% of the samples were EC (>98%), pH and exchangeable Ca (>81%) and available B (>89%). With similar ratings, these results suggest that the DRS approach may safely be used for
farmers' fields, replacing the traditional wet analysis approach of soil testing
Home gardens, household nutrition and income in rural farm households in Odisha, India
Get PDFHome gardens have been an integral part of the recent
food-based interventions aimed at stimulating changes
in dietary patterns and improving nutrition. However,
evidence of their effects on food security, dietary quality,
child anthropometry and incomes is limited, particularly
among vulnerable populations groups. Using panel
data from a sample of approximately 1900 households
from vulnerable population groups in Odisha, India,
difference-in-differences and other econometric techniques,
we analyse the effects of home gardens on food security,
dietary quality, child anthropometry and income. On average,
home gardens contribute to better household food
security, higher dietary quality of men and women but
do not contribute to higher children's dietary quality and
anthropometry. Also, home gardens increase monthly per
adult equivalent incomes by 37% and reduce the prevalence
of poverty by 11.7 percentage points. Quantile regression
results suggest that home gardens enhance food security
and incomes in all quantiles, but richer farmers benefit
more than poorer farmers. Overall, home gardens can
enhance household food security, dietary quality of men
and women, and income gains among vulnerable farming
population groups, but they may not suffice to improve
child dietary quality and anthropometry
Delivering context specific, climate informed agro-advisories at scale: A case study of iSAT, an ICT linked platform piloted with rainfed groundnut farmers in a semi-arid environment
Get PDFThe influence of climate and weather-based advisories in planning and managing agricultural systems under highly variable conditions was evaluated to understand the potential benefits and challenges associated with the
use of probabilistic climate and weather information. A pilot study, conducted with 720 farmers in Anantapur
district of Andhra Pradesh, India over 3 cropping seasons in the period 2017–2020, used a semi-automated decision support tool, the “intelligent agricultural Systems Advisory Tool – iSAT” to generate and disseminate pre- and in-season advisories by integrating insights from historical trends in climate, current weather and climate and weather forecasts. The pre-season advisory was based on the seasonal climate forecast and aimed at improving the preparedness of farmers for the forthcoming season. The in-season advisories were aimed at providing advice on the various farm operations where weather may play a role in management, i.e., land
preparation, timing of planting and harvesting, crop management etc. After piloting the advisory system over the
3 cropping systems, a survey was conducted to evaluate how and what operations were influenced by the advisories
and how well iSAT performed in developing and disseminating context-specific advisories through the season. The results have indicated that the advisories have influenced both strategic and tactical management decisions made by farmers. Strategic decisions on crop diversification are evident from land allocation in the treatment compared to the control villages. The influence of tactical farm decisions varied between operations, villages and years. Overall, 80% of the farmers used the information for making decisions on harvesting, 79% for sowing while 65% of farmers used it for land preparation. Advisory information has impacted crop productivity positively, with increases in the climate-informed villages of between 1 and 56% over the uninformed. The results further indicate that the farmers considered advisories more useful during the normal and below normal
seasons as compared to above normal seasons
Agronomic Potential of Avocado-Seed Biochar in Comparison with Other Locally Available Biochar Types: A First-Hand Report from Ethiopia
Get PDFBiochar is a promising option for improving soil fertility and agricultural productivity. (e potential of biochar for speci.c purposes depends on its physical and chemical characteristics. (e avocado seed is widely available as a leftover after the /eshy part is used for food and as a byproduct of avocado-oil producing agro-industries in Ethiopia. Its potential as a biochar for an agronomic purpose has not been studied. (e objective of this study was to compare the agronomic potential of avocado-seed biochar (ASB) type in comparison to other biochar types produced from locally available feedstocks at two selected pyrolysis
temperatures (450 and 550°C). It was identi.ed that on a mass-base, the produced biochar yields were in a range of 29.68 to 47.45%, higher for ASB pyrolyzed at 450°C. (e scanned images of the biochar types showed a remarkable surface morphology for bamboo biochar (BB) and ASB. (e bulk density of the biochars were in the range of 0.21 to 0.49 g/mL. (e highest volatile matter was measured for BB-450°C, .xed carbon for BB-550°C, and ash content for BB-450°C. (e mean pH values were in the range of 9.1 to 11.3. (e ASB-450 and 550°C exhibited higher nutrient content. (e highest cation exchange capacity (CEC) was recorded for ASB-450°C; organic carbon (OC) for corncob biochar (CCB) was followed by ASB-450 and 550°C. (e calcium carbonate (CaCO3) content of ASB-550°C was the second-highest value next to co>ee husk biochar (CHB). In this study, ASB and BB were found to have important qualities for improving degraded agricultural soils in terms of soil acidity, nutrient content, and soil
fertility. (erefore, ASB-450°C and BB-450°C can be suggested to be promising candidates for reclaiming acid-soils and for
improving nutrient-depleted infertile soils into agriculturally productive soils