Effect of foliar applications of micronutrient and methanol on seed yield of soybean

The foliar application of micronutrients and organic solvents at critical stages of the crop will be effectively absorbed by the sources and translocated to the developing sinks, producing more number of pods and better filling of seeds in crops resulting in increased seed yield and improved seed quality. Keeping this in view, a field experiment has been carried out with 24 treatment combinations involving four chemical spray [Control, FeSO4 @ 0.50%, ZnSO4 @ 0.25% and Methanol @ 20% (v/v)] and six genotypes (Kalitur, Birsa soya, JS-9305, JS-335, JS-71-05 and Co-1) laid in RCBD with factorial concept in three replications at UAS, Dharwad during 2012 and 2013. Foliar application of micronutrients and methanol exhibited significant variation in various growth and yield parameters during 2012 and 2013 experiments and their pooled analysis. The pooled data revealed FeSO4 @ 0.50% foliar application had higher plant height at 90 DAS (58.16 cm), number of branches at 90 DAS (5.42) and number of trifoliate leaves at 60 DAS (19.35) compared to other treatments and control. Pooled analyses for seed yield and its components indicated maximum number of pods (50.81), pod length (4.09 cm), number of seeds per pod (3.20), seed yield per plant (21.78 g), seed yield (22.49 q/ha) and seed recovery (79.06%) in plants sprayed with FeSO4 @ 0.50% compared to other treatments and control. It is concluded from the study that application of FeSO4 @ 0.50% found to be effective for getting higher yield of soybean

Impact of pulsed electromagnetic field treatment on seed yield and quality of soybean

An exposure of seeds to pulsed electromagnetic field (PEF) before planting is known to change and stimulate a series of biochemical and biological effects in the seeds. The plants raised from such PEF treated seeds are reported to perform better in the field by exhibiting increased field emergence, vigorous growth and increased seed yield and quality. The field experiment was carried out with two soybean seed lots viz., fresh and revalidated seed lot and five pulsed electromagnetic field treatments viz., 0 Hz (control), 1 Hz, 10 Hz, 50 Hz, and 100 Hz to study the effect of PEF treatments on seed yield and quality parameters in soybean over two seasons (2012 and 2013). The pooled analysis indicated significantly highest number of pods per plant (55.53), pod length (4.60 cm), number of seeds per pod (3.42), seed yield per plant (23.35 g) and seed yield (22.63 q/ha) and seed recovery (77.78%) in the 50 Hz PEF treatment as against other PEF treatments and control. In respect of seed quality parameters, significantly higher 100 seed weight (12.30 g), seed germination (92.5%), shoot length (15.82 cm), root length (17.98 cm) seedling length (33.80 cm), seedling dry weight (1.134 g), seedling vigour index- I (3127), seedling vigour index -II (104.91), seed protein (37.65%), seed oil (18.04%) content and lower electrical conductivity of seed leachates (0.356 dSm-1) were recorded in the 50Hz PEF treatment as compared to other treatments. Application of 50 Hz pulsed electromagnetic field treatment is better for getting higher soybean yield

Eco-friendly approaches for Aspergillus.Flavus management in groundnut

Groundnut is a premier oilseed crop of worldgrown in tropical and subtropical climatic conditions. Among all the diseases affecting the groundnut, aflatoxin contamination is most concern as it affects the quality of the produce and thereby limiting the trade in International market. The efficacy biocontrol agents and natural products and reaction of different cultivars, germplasm and advanced breeding lines were tested in vitro. Among the biocontrol agents T.harzianum (IOF) was found best. Among the nine natural products the nimbicidin showed maximum inhibition of A.jlavus at all the concentrations (1, 5 and 10 per cent). Among the 10 cultivars, 34 germplasm and 25 advanced breeding lines,six weremoderately resistant, twenty one were susceptible and fourty seven were highly susceptible in spore spray method while in pin prick method only one (ICGV02266) showed the moderate resistance while remaining found highly susceptible. ICGV 02266 showed both seed coat and cotyledon resistance. Various eco-friendly approaches for management of Aspergillus flavus an Aflatoxin producing fungi in groundnut are discussed

Evaluation of inbred lines derived from commercial hybrids and their utilization in developing high yielding field corn (Zea mays L.) hybrids

Genetic enhancement and identification of genetically broad-based inbred lines for the development of new hybrids is the pre-requisite for the heterosis breeding. Newly derived 118 inbred lines were evaluated for their morpho-physiological characters in order to identify best suitable male and female parental lines. Total 10 best inbred lines were selected after thorough evaluation of 16 stable inbred lines, identified from the pool of 118 inbred lines. These inbred lines were crossed in line × tester manner, considering three inbred lines as male andrest as female, based on the Specific Combining Ability and General Combining Ability. Hybrids thus obtained were evaluated in two diverse agroclimatic situations and best heterotic hybrids were selected based on their standard heterosis and rank obtained in Duncan's Multiple Range Test analysis. Single location ANOVA for inbred lines and combined ANOVA for hybrids showed that selected inbreds and hybrids were significantly differing from each other. Since, there exists a Genotype × Environment interaction among hybrids, PCA also taken into consideration for giving weight as classification variable for the hybrids. Further, multi-location evaluation of these hybrids is proposed to identify stable hybrids suitable for large scale commercialization

Role of ICRISAT in Nigeria seed industry development

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a nonprofit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square km of land in 55 countries, the Semi-arid or Dryland Tropics has over 2 billion people, and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor. ICRISAT and its partners help empower these poor people to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through better agriculture. ICRISAT is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) consortium. The CGIAR is an informal association of countries, international organisations, and private institutions. It is cosponsored by the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The CGIAR`s main objectives are to sustain food security in developing countries through support to the international agricultural research systems..

Evaluation of groundnut genotypes for resistance to aflatoxin contamination

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is one ofthe premier oilseed crops ofthe world with export potential. Aflatoxin contamination of groundnut caused by Aspergillus flavus is a widespread serious problem in most groundnut-producing countries where the crop is grown under rain-fed conditions which adversely affects health of consumers of groundnut and its products. The marketability of contaminated produce, particularly in international trade is diminished to nil due to stringent standards of permissible limits on aflatoxin contamination set by the importing countries. Alleviation of aflatoxin contamination through genetic manipulation has been attempted in many groundnut producing countries. Breeding resistant cultivars is possible only when there are sources with stable, high levels of resistance to different mechanisms are available. Therefore, efforts to identify resistant genotypes would make other measu res more effective. In the present investigation 10 cultivars, 34 germ plasm accessions and 25 advanced breeding lines were screened by following spore spray and pin prick method. In spore spray method, six genotypes showed moderately resistant reaction (ICG-1122, ICG-2857, ICG-3336, ICG-7633, ICG-14985 and ICGV-02266), twenty one showed susceptible reaction and 42 showed highly susceptible reaction. While in pin prick method, only ICGV-02266 showed moderate resistant reaction and the remaining genotypes (68) showed a highly susceptible reaction. ICGV-02266 recorded moderate degree of resistance in both the methods of screening and showed both seed coat and cotyledon resistance, indicating the scope for its utility in aflatoxin resistance breeding in groundnut

Breeding Crop Plants for Improved Human Nutrition Through Biofortification: Progress and Prospects

Micronutrients are essential minerals and vitamins required by humans in tiny amounts which play a vital role in human health and development. Over three billion people in the world are malnourished, particularly in the developing countries. Current food systems cannot provide sufficiently balanced micronutrients required to meet daily needs and to sustain the wellbeing of people in developing countries. Heavy and monotonous consumption of cereal-based foods which contain limited amounts of micronutrients is one of the major reasons for the significantly high prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies in many of the developing countries. The development of crops with enhanced micronutrient concentration is one of the most sustainable and cost-effective approaches to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition globally. In this chapter we focus on the research to improve mineral element concentration in crops through plant breeding strategies, especially in major cereal crops and a legume which are most widely cultivated and preferred in Africa and Asia. Biofortification is an appropriate strategy to increase the bioavailable concentrations of an element in edible portions of crop plants through traditional breeding practices or modern biotechnology to overcome the problem of micronutrient deficiencies. Therefore, conventional breeding with modern genetic engineering approaches are important for developing crop cultivars with enhanced micronutrient concentrations to improve human health. This chapter reports on biofortification research on rice, pearl millet, sorghum, maize, wheat and common bean

Response of Irrigated Groundnut to Polythene Mulching on Broad Bed and Furrows during the Low Temperature Months in Nigeria

Experiments were conductedduring 2014- 2015 and 2015-2016 dry seasons to evaluate the response of selected groundnut varieties to Polythene Mulching (PM) onBroad Bed and Furrows (BBF)in the Sudan Savanna of Nigeria.The treatments consisted of Polythene mulch vs without mulch (control) and four groundnut varieties,laid outin Split plot design with four replications. The result showed that polythene mulch positively and significantly influenced the phenological and physiological variables as well as the yield and yield component of groundnut.Plot withPM emergence at mean of 8 days earlier and attained days to 50% flowering and maturity 11 and 10 days earlier than the control.Polythene mulch had positive and significant effects on all of the phenological, growth and yield parameters (100 seed weight,Spad Chlorophyll Meter Reading, LAI and shelling percentage) of groundnut. These effects ranged from 5% advantage in Spad Chlorophyll Meter Reading at 40DAS to 29% at LAI 60DAS.Mean pod yield of the mulch treatments (3401 kgha-1) was 39% higher than the control (2102 kgha-1). Samnut-24 had highest pod yield of 4009 kgha-1under the polythene mulch treatments. Polythene mulch also increased the haulm production by 26% over the control treatment (4775 vs 3505 kgha-1). The experiment showed that it is possible to produce high groundnut pod and haulm yields using PM onBBFin the Sudan Savanna of Nigeria

Potential sources of resistance to multiple biotic stresses in groundnut (arachis hypogaea l.)

The culti vated groundnut is an important oi Iseed crop of the world. Several biotic stresses reduce groundnut yields considerably. Culti va tion of resistant varieties is an ecologically sound and economically viable approach. But the occurrence and intensity of these stresses vary in space and time necessitating the use of multiple stress resistant genotypes. In the present study, 39 diverse groundnut genotypes were assessed for different biotic stresses under epiphytotic conditions..

Seed Trade Promotion

To feed the world population that is increasing from 7.32 billion in 2015 to 9.3 billion people in 2050, agriculture will play a fundamental role by doubling production to meet the world's growing demand for food, feed and fibre, through the incremental output that will come from increases in yields (FAO, 2009). Quality seed is the most important factor for increased crop production. In order to achieve the increase in productivities, high-quality seed is needed for maximum outputs and good returns for farmers. The global seed market was worth approximately $47 billion in 2012, with$9.9 billion of that total being internationally traded. Nigeria's Domestic Seed Market in 2012 accounts for $120 million. To strengthen the seed sector, it is crucial that seed growers and companies adhere to policies that guarantee quality standards and appropriate regulatory features. Thus a number of local, national and international organisations, conventions and treaties deal with the regulation of seed trade, ranging from production to delivery of quality seeds to growers. This is to provide an international regulatory framework that will oversee the interests of breeders, producers and consumers e.g. the ECOWAS seed regulatory policy. This paper aims at providing some insights into international and local institutions for seed trade promotion and advertising, seed import and export procedures, and guide to participation in agric-fairs and exhibitions