Potential of Wild relatives in Sorghum Improvement through Molecular Approaches

Wild relatives of crops play a key role in the development of high performing cultivars. Of the 22 species comprising the highly variable genus, Sorghum, only one, S. bicolor, is commercially cultivated for food, feed, and bioenergy production. Profitable utilization of wild species however, demands an interdisciplinary, multi-pronged approach to increase the probability of achieving the desired genetic improvement. In the past, plant breeders selected breeding material based on morphological characteristics that were readily observable and co-inherited with the desired traits. However, a combination of morphological and molecular analyses on large samples and smaller samples, respectively, would maximize both information and usefulness. Molecular diversity data can potentially bridge conservation and use when employed as a tool for mining germplasm collections for genomic regions associated with adaptive or agronomically-important traits (i.e., genes that have been important in adaptation to local environments or are associated with phenotypes selected by farmers or breeders. For sorghum, which is constrained by over 40 diseases and 150 insect pests, host plant resistance offers an effective, economical and environment friendly method of pest/pathogen control since it does not involve any additional investments by the resource poor farmers..

Sorghum landraces patronized by tribal communities in Adilabad district, Andhra Pradesh

465-471<span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Mangal; font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">An account of sorghum landraces cultivated by tribal farmers habituated in Adilabad district, Andhra Pradesh is provided. Badigi<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic"> jonna, Boda jonna, Chinna jonna, Chinna boda jonna, Darawat jonna, Erra jonna, Gadda jonna, Konkadala jonna, Leha jonna, Moddu jonna, Pachcha jonna, Pandari  jonna, Pandimutte jonna, Parsa jonna, Pedda jonna, Pelala jonna, Purabodaka, Rabi jonna, Sai jonna, Sanna jonna, Sevara jonna, Sevata  jonna, Seviri jonna, Talki jonna, Tekedari jonna, Tella boda jonna, Varagadi jonna, Vayu nowka jonna and Vubiri patti jonna are the landraces patronized by <span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Mangal; font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Gond, Kolam, Lambada, Nayakpod Andh, Koya, Manne, Pardhan <span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Mangal; font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">and Porja<span style="mso-bidi-font-family:Mangal;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"> ethnic groups. A total of 120 accessions of sorghum germplasm belonging to 29 named landraces were collected for conservation of diversity. The characteristics and uniqueness, folk taxonomy and general uses of these landraces of sorghum are highlighted. </span

Population structure of some indigenous aromatic rice (<em>Oryza sativa</em> L.) landraces of India

110-117The Indian sub-continent is home to a large number of indigenous aromatic landraces, which may serve as valuable genetic resources for future quality rice improvement to meet the ever growing demand for quality rice. In the era of high yielding modern varieties there is an urgent need to conserve and mainstream in production systems the valuable aromatic landraces occurring in traditional subsistence farming areas across the country. Understanding the population structure and adaptive variations of landraces is considered useful in this regard. In order to explore the genetic structure and diversity, 256 individuals of 8 aromatic landrace populations from four eco-geographic regions were genotyped using 17 SSR markers in the present study. Sixty-nine alleles were recorded and none of them were found common across all landraces. Twenty-six alleles were found unique to an individual landrace population. Kala Joha from Assam was most diverse in terms of effective number of alleles, expected heterozygosity and Shannon&rsquo;s information index. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed maximum variation of 39.36% among populations within groups followed by among groups (30.52%) and the rest (30.12%) within populations

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Not AvailableA stable extra early maize (Zea mays L.) line, derived from an accession (IC332069) with 36.7 days to tasseling and 38.7 days to silking with an ASI of 2.0 days was identified. On evaluation for three seasons from 2017- 19 against eight check varieties, which included early hybrids, composites and synthetics, it was found to be significantly early and stable indicating fixed nature of the trait in the accession. The morpho-agronomic characters of this accession collected from Jharkhand, its potential and importance as a source germplasm for developing extra early and early maize cultivars are highlighted.Not Availabl

Subsistence Farming, Agrobiodiversity, and Sustainable Agriculture: A Case Study

<div><p>Subsistence farming still predominates in many places across the globe including India. Crops and livestock are often integral key components of subsistence farming practiced generally by smallholder farmers. A precise documentation of traditional farming practices involving native diversity with overall objectives of their conservation and showcasing their role in addressing livelihood security of farmers was done in the present study. This case study was undertaken in three underprivileged districts of India representing specific agroecosystems. The outcome of the study could help develop a policy framework for bringing sustainable agricultural development to subsistence farming agroecosystems. It could also help in exploring and advocating the potential of various suggested “add-value” interventions to native agrobiodiversity in addressing livelihood security of farmers.</p></div

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Not AvailableNative germplasm resources are adapted to specific ecological niches. They have sustained over generations owing to the preference of local communities for their unique taste, the utility to particular dishes, and the low cost of cultivation. They may help eradicate malnutrition and act as a source for trait-linked genes. The present dataset comprises thirty-three native germplasm of maize collected from Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh states of India with an altitudinal variation of 386–2,028 m. They were evaluated for proximate composition, minerals, nutritional attributes, and antioxidant activity and compared with the standard values reported in the Indian Food Composition Table 2017 (IFCT2017). The nutritional profile showed moisture content in the range of 7.16–10.9%, ash 0.73–1.93%, crude protein 8.68–12.0%, crude fat 3.72–8.03%, dietary fiber 5.21–11.2%, and available carbohydrates 60.6–69.8%. Three accessions, namely, Malan 11 (7.06%), Malan 24 (7.20%), and Yellow Chamba Local 02 (8.03%) exhibited almost double the crude fat content as compared with the values notified in IFCT2017 (3.77). Total sugar content obtained was in the range of 5.00–11.3%, whereas the starch content was found between 50.9 and 64.9%. All the germplasm except Yellow Chamba Local reflected a higher protein content than reported values in IFCT2017 (8.80). Sathi, Safed Chamba Local, and Ragal Makka had nearly 12% protein content. Mineral malnutrition, mainly due to iron (Fe) deficiency, is a worldwide issue to science, humanity, and society. The mineral profile revealed that most germplasm had a higher iron content. Accessions with the iron content of nearly three times of IFCT2017 reported value were identified in germplasm belonging to three states. A negative relationship was observed between the altitude of the sample collection site and available carbohydrate content. In contrast, available carbohydrate showed inverse correlations with dietary fiber, protein, and fat content. The information generated in this study can be utilized to promote these germplasm as nutrifood, nutritional surveillance, labeling, and crop improvement programs.ICAR, This work was supported by externally funded projects, namely, the World Bank funded project through the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) scheme and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) project on Mainstreaming agricultural biodiversity conservation and utilization in the agricultural sector to ensure ecosystem services and reduce vulnerability