Optimization of genetic transformation protocol mediated by biolistic method in some elite genotypes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

We report here an efficient genotype-independent genetic transformation system in wheat. Highly regenerable embryogenic calli obtained from mature seeds were employed as the target tissue for the genetic transformation of three bread wheat varieties viz C306, HDR77 and PBW343 representing diverse genetic background. The plasmid pDM803 containing GUS and BAR genes driven by rice Act1 and maize Ubiqutin promoter, respectively was transferred into a month-old calli employing particle delivery system. The bombarded calli were transferred to medium supplemented with phosphinothricin at 4 mg L-1 for the selection of the transformed calli. The transgenic calli were confirmed for the expression of GUS by histochemical analysis of β-glucuronidase. Transformation efficiency of the genotypes was calculated based on the number of calli bombarded and the number of plants that were resistant to Basta. Among the three genotypes studied, C306 had a higher efficiency of 0.56% followed by HDR77 with 0.5% and PBW343 with 0.22%. The transformation system developed in this study may facilitate studies on functional genomics and crop improvement via transgenic development.Keywords: Wheat, biolistic, transgenics, bar, phosphinothricin, transformation efficiencyAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(6), pp. 531-53

Estimation of land surface temperature for Coimbatore District using Landsat imagery

The impact of climate change is visually witnessed in the present environment by various natural disasters. This phenomenon of land surface temperature is one of the significant aspects to be estimated for the study of climate change. The increase in Land Surface Temperature (LST) may be due to ongoing developments in the field of urbanization and globalization. The objective of the study was to estimate the increase in the LST in relation to the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and assess the spatial variation in the LST due to land use/land cover change. The study utilized Landsat 8 data to assess the land-use changes and their relation with LST in one of the main urbanized cities, i.e.  Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, using Landsat imagery due to the availability of various land cover types by using the mathematical expressions in ARCMAP software. This study compares the LST between 2015 and 2020 to observe the change in the NDVI and LST over a period of 5 years in the Coimbatore district. There was an increase of 1°C in 5 years and the area of high LST had been increased comparatively. The maximum LST was found to be 73°C in 2015, which increased to 74°C in the year 2020 ;and the minimum LST was found to be 15°C in 2015, which increased to 19°C in the year 2020 depicting the ongoing change in the land use of the district. The study findings will help promulgate sustainable urban land-use policies and can be used for mitigating climate change

Impact of Climate Change on Dryland Sorghum in India

This paper presents results of climate change impacts on sorghumin semi arid tropics (SAT) regions of India and adaptation strategiesto overcome the impact. The main objective of the paper is how touse crop simulation model to assess the climate change impact andhow best we can reduce the impact through integrated watershedapproach. InfoCrop, a generic dynamic crop model, provides inte-grated assessment of the effect of weather, variety, pests, and soilmanagement practices on crop growth and yield, on soil nitrogen andorganic carbon dynamics in aerobic, anaerobic conditions, and alsogreenhouse gas emissions. The model has reasonably predictedphenology, crop growth yield. Sorghum crop was found to be sensitiveto changes in carbon dioxide (CO2) and temperature. Future climatechange scenario analysis showed that sorghum yields (CSH 16 andCSV 15) are likely to reduce at Akola, Anantpur, Coimbatore andBijapur. But yield of CSH 16 will increase little in Gwalior (0.1%) at2020 and there after it will reduce. At Kota, the sorghum yield is likelyto increase at 2020 (3.3 & 1.7% in CSH 16 and CSV 15, respectively)and no change at 2050 and yield will reduce at 2080 in both varieties.The increase in yield at Gwalior and Kota at 2020 will be due toreduction in maximum temperature and increase in rainfall from thecurrent. Adoption of adaptation measures like one irrigation (50mm)at 40-45 days after sowing would be better for rain-fed kharif sorghumin the selected location of the SAT regions. The yield gap betweendistrict average and simulated rain-fed potential is so wide at Akola,Anantpur, Bijapur and Kota compared with Coimbatore and Gwalior. Ifwe bridge the yield gap, we can overcome the climate change impact.Integrated Genetic and Natural Resource Management (IGNRM)through watershed management would be an appropriate method tobridge the yield gap to sustain the sorghum yield and food securit

Performance of dual-purpose sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) under different sowing windows and crop geometry

India is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and its impact on agricultural production and livestock. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is an important food crop of India cultivated in tropical and subtropical climates, especially the semiarid tropics; varying environmental attributes significantly affect its duration and yield. Therefore, the present research aimed to evaluate the potential of dual-purpose sorghum under varying sowing windows and crop geometry. The experiment was conducted in Eastern block farm of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University during the summer season- 2022. The experiment was laid out in strip plot design with three different dates of sowing in the main plot, i.e., D1 - First fortnight of February, D2 - First fortnight of March and D3 - First fortnight of April and six different crop geometries in the subplot viz., 45 x 15 cm (S1),45 x 10 cm(S2), 45 x 5 cm (S3), 30 x 15 cm (S4),30 x 10 cm (S5) and 30 x 5 cm (S6) and replicated thrice.The results revealed that sowing during the first fortnight (I FN)  of April with a spacing of 45x 15 cm resulted in maximum grain yield(2585 kg/ha) and for fodder yield, April I FN sowing with a crop geometry of 30x 5 cm resulted in maximum green biomass (43.6 t/ha) as well as dry matter production. So, spacing of 30x 5 cm helps in better utilization of resources along with maximum fodder yield

InfoCrop – a crop simulation model for assessing the climate change impacts on crops

This study presents results of evaluation in terms of its validation and impact of climate change on Indian mustard (Brassica juncea), sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) and maize (Zea mays) by using the crop simulation model, ‘InfoCrop’. Simulated results of mustard model showed a spatial variation in yield among all five regions in both irrigated and rainfed mustard. Under irrigated conditions, the yield reduction in 2020, 2050 and 2080 would be highest in Eastern-IGP (Indo-Gangetic Plain) region followed by Central-IGP. This was due to maximum projected rise in temperature in Eastern-IGP where maximum and minimum temperature would rise by 5.1° and 5.6°C in 2080. The reduction of irrigated mustard yield was least in Northern-IGP under almost all scenarios. But in western India, yield reduction gradually increased from 2020 to 2080. In future climate change scenarios, the rainfall would be projected to increase in 2050 irrespective of the locations. But in 2020 and 2080 rainfall would reduce in Northern-IGP, Western and Central India. This was reflected higher yield reduction in rainfed mustard in these three locations. In sorghum, the future climate change scenario analysis showed that the yields (CSH 16 and CSV 15) are likely to reduce at Akola, Anantpur, Coimbatore and Bijapur. But yield of CSH 16 will increase slightly in Gwalior (0.1%) at 2020 and thereafter it will decline. At Kota the sorghum yield is likely to increase in 2020 (3.3 and 1.7 % in CSH 16 and CSV 15 respectively) with no change in 2050 and yields will be reduced at 2080 in both varieties. Maize trend is similar from the sorghum impact except in the UIGP where rainfall could be projected to increase in the future. In MIGP and SP(Southern Plateau), expected reduction would be 5%, 13%, 17% and 21%, 35%, 35% in 2020, 2050 and 2080 respectively from the current level

Vulnerability assessment of kharif rainfed sorghum to climate change in SAT regions of India

This paper presents results of Info Crop model evaluation in terms of its validation, sensitivity impact and adaptation of sorghum to climate change in semi arid tropics (SAT) regions of India. The model has reasonably predicted phenology, crop growth yield. Sorghum crop was found to be sensitive to changes in carbon dioxide (CO2) and temperature. Future climate change scenario analysis showed that sorghum yields are likely to reduce at Akola, Anantpur, Coimbatore and Bijapur. At Kota the sorghum yield is likely to increase at 2020 and no change at 2050 and yield will reduce at 2080. The increase in yield at Gwalior and Kota at 2020 is due to reduction in maximum temperature and increase in rainfall from current. Adoption of adaptation measure like one irrigation (50mm) at 40-45 days after sowing would be better adaptation strategies for rainfed kharif sorghum with existing varieties in the selected location of the SAT regions

Efficient land water management practice and cropping system for increasing water and crop productivity in semi‐arid tropics

In Indian semi-arid tropics (SATs), low water and crop productivity in Vertisols and associated soils are mainly due to poor land management and erratic and low rainfall occurrence. This study was conducted from 2014 to 2016 at the ICRISAT in India to test the effect of broad bed furrows (BBF) as land water management against conventional flatbed planting for improving soil water content (SWC) and water and crop productivity of three cropping systems: sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]–chickpea (Cicer arientinum L.) and maize (Zea mays)–groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) as sequential and pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.)] + pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] as intercropping, grown under different nutrients management involving macronutrients (N, P, and K) only and combined application of macro- and micronutrients. The results stated that the SWC in BBF was higher over flatbed by 9.35–10.44% in 0- to 0.3-m, 4.56–9.30% in 0.3- to 0.6-m and 3.85–5.26% in 0.6- to 1.05-m soil depths during the cropping season. Moreover, depletion of the soil water through plant uptake was higher in BBF than in flatbed. Among the cropping systems, sorghum–chickpea was the best in bringing highest system equivalent yield and water productivity with the combined application of macro- and micronutrients. The BBF minimized water stress at critical crop growth stages leading to increase crop yield and water productivity in SATs. Thus, BBF along with the application of macro- and micronutrients could be an adaptation strategy to mitigate erratic rainfall due to climate change in SATs

Climate Change- Water Food and Environmental Security

Climate Change is real and its implications are going to be borne by the poorest of the poor. If climatic change is accompanied by an increase in climate variability, many agricultural Producers will experience define hardships and increased risk. The Sat regions, which have economies largely based on weather-sensitive agricultural productions systems, are particularly vulnerable to climate change..............................

Studies on Water Absorption Properties of Fiber- Board Prepared Using Sugarcane Bagasse with Natural Resins

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of fiber content and incorporation of natural resin on the water absorption behavior and swelling in thickness of sugarcane bagasse (SB)-reinforced epoxy-natural resin fiber-boards. Artificial (epoxy) and natural resins (cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) resins, black dammar and pine resins) were used as a binder. The weight proportions of fiber: epoxy + hardener: natural resin were viz., 1:1:1.50, 1:1:1.75, 1:1:2. The lowest water absorption percent value for the sample immersed for 2 h and 24 h is shown by board prepared by mixing cashew nut shell liquid resin. There was less swelling in the thickness of the fiber board made with the fiber to resin weight ratio of 1:2.75. The cashew nut shell liquid resin was found to be effective in terms of Water absorption (WA) and thickness swelling (TS). Hence, the cashew nut shell liquid resin would be an alternate source for artificial resin source with less environmental hazards