The use of South African bred Opaque-2 maize in pig growth diets

No Abstrac

Utilization of protein from opaque -2 Maize by chicken and rat

No Abstrac

The aggregate economic benefits of the national cultivar trials for maize in South Africa with specific reference to the Highveld region

The South African maize sector has been revolutionised from a system of production with low use of modern technologies to a leading maize producer in the African continent. That transformation is in part attributable to South Africa’s investment in the national maize cultivar trials, which have facilitated the adoption and use of maize cultivars that are highly adapted to commercial farmer localities, causing considerable gains in yields. The economic value of the public investment in the trials remains unknown. This study uses experimental yields spanning 1977 - 2012 to attribute the influence of the national maize cultivar trials to maize yield improvement on farmer localities in the Highveld region of South Africa. Using attribution methods, the study estimates that 24.3 kg per hectare of extra maize yields accrued to commercial maize producers because of the national maize trials. The economic value of these investments was found to be R1.4billion (in 2012 currency values). The study estimates that South Africa received R37 of benefit for every rand invested by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) in the trials.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ragr202016-09-30hb201

Deteriorative changes in embryos of long-stored, uninfected maize caryopses

The subcellular changes occurring in the embryonic root tip and which accompany the deterioration of maize grain stored for varying periods up to 12 years are described. The ultrastructurally visible events which ultimately involve virtually all the intracellular components, are initiated by deterioration of mitochondria and the occurrence of chromatin clumping at a stage when germination has not declined. This sequence of deteriorative events is similar in all major respects to that which has previously been described for maize grains subjected to an accelerated ageing regime. The results are discussed in the context of the possibility of particularly mitochondria and chromatin having a higher water content than other subcellular locations, and the consequent concentration of free radical mediated events at these sites