Export of Cucumber and Gherkin from India: Performance, Destinations, Competitiveness and Determinants

The performance, competitiveness, major destinations and determinants of cucumber and gherkin export from India have been studied. Export performance ratio has been used to estimate the competitiveness, and log linear type of demand function has been used to determine the export determinants. It has been observed that India has made tremendous progress in the export of cucumber and gherkin products during the past 15 years (1990-2005). The export has increased by about 128.5- times with an impressive annual compound growth rate of 37.46 per cent, as against only 4.38 per cent in the world market. The major export destinations for cucumber and gherkin have been identified as France, USA, Russia, Belgium and Spain. An increasing and high value of revealed comparative advantage (RCA) and a positive and increasing value for revealed symmetric comparative advantage (RSCA) have indicated high potential in their export, particularly for the provisionally-preserved and prepared/preserved products. One per cent increase in volume of international trade in cucumber and gherkin may increase the demand from India by 5.96 per cent. This indicates that India is highly competitive in export of cucumber and gherkin and has ample scope to further increase its export. The study has also revealed that exchange rate is a more dominant determinant of export from India than price of commodity.International Relations/Trade,

Performance, Competitiveness and Determinants of Tomato Export from India

The performance and competitiveness of export of tomato and its products from India have been analyzed to find (i) production and export performance of tomatoes in India, (ii) impact of trade liberalization on export of tomato and its products, (iii) major destinations of Indian tomato and tomato products, and (iv) determinants of tomato export. The export performance ratio (EPR) has been estimated to examine the export competitiveness of India in tomato and tomato products. Annual compound growth rate and coefficient of variation for two periods, before (1985-1994) and after (1995- 2004) the commencement of WTO have been estimated to study the impact of trade liberalization on the export performance of India in tomato and its products. Export demand function has been estimated using OLS technique and the factors affecting the export of tomato and its products from India have been identified. The study has revealed that the existence of high instability in export of tomato and its products require the attention of policymakers to retain hold on the international market.Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade,

Detection and frequency of recombination in tomato-infecting begomoviruses of South and Southeast Asia

which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background: Tomato-infecting begomoviruses are widely distributed across the world and cause diseases of high economic impact on wide range of agriculturally important crops. Though recombination plays a pivotal role in diversification and evolution of these viruses, it is currently unknown whether there are differences in the number and quality of recombination events amongst different tomato-infecting begomovirus species. To examine this we sought to characterize the recombination events, estimate the frequency of recombination, and map recombination hotspots in tomato-infecting begomoviruses of South and Southeast Asia. Results: Different methods used for recombination breakpoint analysis provided strong evidence for presence of recombination events in majority of the sequences analyzed. However, there was a clear evidence for absence or low Recombination events in viruses reported from North India. In addition, we provide evidence for non-random distribution of recombination events with the highest frequency of recombination being mapped in the portion of the N-terminal portion of Rep. Conclusion: The variable recombination observed in these viruses signified that all begomoviruse

FRUIT CHARACTERISTICS OF LITCHI GENOTYPES UNDER CHOTANAGPUR CONDITIONS

The litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) is an important evergreen sub-tropical fruit tree specific to climatic requirement for 'its production. Litchi possesses a narrow genetic base for various agrom ophol ogical traits. Continuous vegetative propagation of commercial cultivars has further narrowed down the genetic base resulting in the .restricted period of availability of fruits in the market. Cultivars have been classified on the basis of economic traits in China and on the basis of growth and flowering pattern in India (Arora et al. 1996; Singh, 1998). Rai and Vishal Nath (2001) reported a total of 51 genotypes being augmented from different litchi growing regions and maintained at HARP, Ranchi. Xuequin (1995) reported 20-25 main litchi types possessing characters of larger fruit size, small stone, thick and free aril of good quality with good flavor having canning quality from south China. However, cultivar synonymy does exit due to the insufficient information on i:;haracterization for different fruit morphological traits and delineation of the characters in its original name. Only few cultivars and be distinguished based on their fruits characters and maturity period. which creates confusion in identifying the suitable cultivar for any specific region. Keeping this in view, a study was carried out to characterize the different litchi genotypes on the basis of physico-chemical characteristics of fruit under the Chotanagpur plateau region of eastern IndiaUtchi has narrow genetic base owing to greater use of asexual propagation. Cultivar synonymy on the basis of local nomenclature causes confusion in identifying a genotype for any specific purpose. There fore, 17 genotypes under study have been characterized on the basis of fruit shape index (FSI), specific gravity, seed shape index (SS/), flatness of seed, number of protuberances/cm' and other physico-chemica/ characters of fruit. The cultivars China, Purbi and Bombaiya-11 found to have elongated fruit shape whereas Bedana, Swarna Roopa, Trikolia and Shahi posses roundish fruit shape. Regarding pulp %, the cultivars Bedana, D. Rose, Late Bedana, Green and Rose Scented has the high values. The cultivars Purbi, China, Swarna Roopa and Dehradun has thick peel. Widely spread protuberances was noticed in cultivars Swarna Roopa, Dehradun and Bedana. Bedana, Late Bed;ma and Swarna Roopa had smaller seeds. The cul/ivars Bombaiya-1, Bombaiya-11, Late Bedana, CHES-II, China and Purbi had slender seeds while Deshi, Bombaiya-1 and Late Bedana has flat seeds.Not Availabl

The population genomics of begomoviruses: global scale population structure and gene flow

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The rapidly growing availability of diverse full genome sequences from across the world is increasing the feasibility of studying the large-scale population processes that underly observable pattern of virus diversity. In particular, characterizing the genetic structure of virus populations could potentially reveal much about how factors such as geographical distributions, host ranges and gene flow between populations combine to produce the discontinuous patterns of genetic diversity that we perceive as distinct virus species. Among the richest and most diverse full genome datasets that are available is that for the dicotyledonous plant infecting genus, <it>Begomovirus</it>, in the Family Geminiviridae. The begomoviruses all share the same whitefly vector, are highly recombinogenic and are distributed throughout tropical and subtropical regions where they seriously threaten the food security of the world's poorest people.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We focus here on using a model-based population genetic approach to identify the genetically distinct sub-populations within the global begomovirus meta-population. We demonstrate the existence of at least seven major sub-populations that can further be sub-divided into as many as thirty four significantly differentiated and genetically cohesive minor sub-populations. Using the population structure framework revealed in the present study, we further explored the extent of gene flow and recombination between genetic populations.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although geographical barriers are apparently the most significant underlying cause of the seven major population sub-divisions, within the framework of these sub-divisions, we explore patterns of gene flow to reveal that both host range differences and genetic barriers to recombination have probably been major contributors to the minor population sub-divisions that we have identified. We believe that the global <it>Begomovirus </it>population structure revealed here could facilitate population genetics studies into how central parameters of population genetics namely selection, recombination, mutation, gene flow, and genetic drift shape the global begomovirus diversity.</p

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Export of Cucumber and Gherkin from India: Performance, Destinations, Competitiveness and Determinants

The performance, competitiveness, major destinations and determinants of cucumber and gherkin export from India have been studied. Export performance ratio has been used to estimate the competitiveness, and log linear type of demand function has been used to determine the export determinants. It has been observed that India has made tremendous progress in the export of cucumber and gherkin products during the past 15 years (1990-2005). The export has increased by about 128.5- times with an impressive annual compound growth rate of 37.46 per cent, as against only 4.38 per cent in the world market. The major export destinations for cucumber and gherkin have been identified as France, USA, Russia, Belgium and Spain. An increasing and high value of revealed comparative advantage (RCA) and a positive and increasing value for revealed symmetric comparative advantage (RSCA) have indicated high potential in their export, particularly for the provisionally-preserved and prepared/preserved products. One per cent increase in volume of international trade in cucumber and gherkin may increase the demand from India by 5.96 per cent. This indicates that India is highly competitive in export of cucumber and gherkin and has ample scope to further increase its export. The study has also revealed that exchange rate is a more dominant determinant of export from India than price of commodity

Performance, Competitiveness and Determinants of Tomato Export from India

The performance and competitiveness of export of tomato and its products from India have been analyzed to find (i) production and export performance of tomatoes in India, (ii) impact of trade liberalization on export of tomato and its products, (iii) major destinations of Indian tomato and tomato products, and (iv) determinants of tomato export. The export performance ratio (EPR) has been estimated to examine the export competitiveness of India in tomato and tomato products. Annual compound growth rate and coefficient of variation for two periods, before (1985-1994) and after (1995- 2004) the commencement of WTO have been estimated to study the impact of trade liberalization on the export performance of India in tomato and its products. Export demand function has been estimated using OLS technique and the factors affecting the export of tomato and its products from India have been identified. The study has revealed that the existence of high instability in export of tomato and its products require the attention of policymakers to retain hold on the international market

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