Agronomic performance of Indian wheat varieties and genetic stocks known for outstanding chapati quality characteristics

The aim of the present study was to evaluate set of wheat genotypes in one location for their agronomic performance and chapati quality. The cultivars included the tall traditional wheat of the pre-dwarfing era, which were known to excel for chapati quality. This set also included varieties known to have good chapati quality, commercially grown wheats, advanced lines and genetic stocks excelling in one or other quality attribute. All these genotypes developed for different component traits were evaluated along with the recently released high yielding varieties to assess their quality. The mean chapati score of these genotypes revealed that the tall varieties had a distinct edge over others and are the best resource available for this trait. C306 had a high mean chapati score of 8.17 followed by C518, C591 and C273. The released varieties WG357, HD2733 and PBW343 were intermediate in chapati quality whereas the genetic stocks WH1103 and WH712 had lowest score in the group. Among other agronomic traits recorded the traditional varieties were tall and had lower yields than the recently released varieties. The tall varieties had a slightly higher test weight. The environmental conditions and the quantitative nature of the chapati quality did not auger well with the set of genotypes tested however, better and stable performance of the tall traditional varieties. C306 the wheat variety released in 1965 for cultivation has remained the best quality genotype over the years and was also established from this study

Genetic gains in grain yield in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars developed from 1965 to 2020 for irrigated production conditions of northwestern plains zone of India

Field trials with 13 landmark wheat cultivars released between 1965 and 2020 were conducted at 15 different locations during 2019–2020 and 2020–2021, providing data from 30 environments. The study of the historical set of spring wheat varieties from the North-Western Plains Zone (NWPZ) of India developed in the last 55 years demonstrated an improvement of grain yield from 3208 to 6275 kg ha−1 or a genetic gain of 1.21% year−1 over long-term check cultivar C306. In real terms, the yield has increased at a rate of 44.14 kg ha−1 year−1. To compare the present genetic gain study, a trend analysis based on historical grain yield data in standard AVT in the zone from 1980 to 2020 was also attempted, which revealed that the percent yield increase was 0.78 per annum. To achieve a higher rate of genetic gain, it requires greater breeding efficiency in the national breeding program through more systematic use of genetic diversity to introduce novel alleles as well as application of new breeding approaches like speed breeding and genomic selection

Harnessing genetic potential of wheat germplasm banks through impact-oriented-prebreeding for future food and nutritional security

The value of exotic wheat genetic resources for accelerating grain yield gains is largely unproven and unrealized. We used next-generation sequencing, together with multi-environment phenotyping, to study the contribution of exotic genomes to 984 three-way-cross-derived (exotic/elite1//elite2) pre-breeding lines (PBLs). Genomic characterization of these lines with haplotype map-based and SNP marker approaches revealed exotic specific imprints of 16.1 to 25.1%, which compares to theoretical expectation of 25%. A rare and favorable haplotype (GT) with 0.4% frequency in gene bank identified on chromosome 6D minimized grain yield (GY) loss under heat stress without GY penalty under irrigated conditions. More specifically, the ‘T’ allele of the haplotype GT originated in Aegilops tauschii and was absent in all elite lines used in study. In silico analysis of the SNP showed hits with a candidate gene coding for isoflavone reductase IRL-like protein in Ae. tauschii. Rare haplotypes were also identified on chromosomes 1A, 6A and 2B effective against abiotic/biotic stresses. Results demonstrate positive contributions of exotic germplasm to PBLs derived from crosses of exotics with CIMMYT’s best elite lines. This is a major impact-oriented pre-breeding effort at CIMMYT, resulting in large-scale development of PBLs for deployment in breeding programs addressing food security under climate change scenarios

Investigating the role of high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) protein in end use quality of Indian flat breads

65-73Indian unleavened flat breads more commonly known as chapati are core to existence for two-third of its population. Glutenins and gliadins constitute gluten which gives extensibility and elasticity to the dough, traits which are of great importance in bread making. However, limited studies have been attempted to explore the relationship and functionality of the protein subunits with the quality of the unleavened flat breads. Chapati characterization and molecular analysis was carried on two set of genotypes firstly, different commercial wheat cultivars and genetic stocks for various quality parameters, secondly three back cross derived recombinant populations from the parents with different HMW-GS at Glu 1B locus to associate chapati quality with the glutenin subunits. Significant variation obtained in the genotypes revealed that tall varieties are distinct in quality followed by derivatives of C 306 and C 591 (7.8 for both DI 9 and DI 105). The SDS-PAGE analysis of the high molecular weight glutenin protein revealed that the subunit ‘20’ at Glu1B locus is unique to tall traditional wheats. However, such investigations in the recombinant populations indicated complex inheritance of this trait

Agronomic fortification of rice and wheat grains with zinc for nutritional security

Zinc (Zn) deficiency is the most widespread micronutrient deficiency in crop plants and humans. Low intake of Zn through diet appears to be the major reason for the widespread prevalence of Zn deficiencies in human populations. Application of Zn fertilizer in soil having low Zn increased the grain yield in wheat up to 6.4-50.1%. However, soil Zn application increased the grain yield of rice only up to 7.2-14.8%. Soil having sufficient Zn had no or little effect on grain yield with soil Zn application. The application of foliar Zn with or without propiconazole resulted in significant increases in grain Zn irrespective of soil Zn status. Application of foliar Zn along with propiconazole at earing and milk stages proved beneficial in increasing grain Zn content in both rice and wheat. Hence agronomic biofortification is possible and could be considerably economical if used along with a fungicide depending upon appearance of a disease

Biofortification of rice grain with zinc through zinc fertilization in different countries

Background Increasing zinc (Zn) concentration of rice seed has potential benefits for human nutrition and health. Enhanced levels of Zn in grain also contributes greatly to crop production through better germination and seedling vigor of rice plants grown on soils with limited Zn supply. Aims and methods This study evaluated the effect of soil and/or foliar Zn fertilizer application on grain yield and grain Zn concentration of rice grown in 17 field trials conducted in 2008 to 2010 in China, India, Lao PDR, Thailand and Turkey on soils ranging in pH from 4.8 to 8.8 and DTPA- extractable Zn from 0.5 to 6.5 mg kg(-1). Results Zinc fertilization had little effect on rice grain yield with the exception of increases of up to 10 % in some locations in China and India. As an average of all trials, Zn application increased grain yield by about 5 %. Grain Zn concentrations were, however, more effectively increased by Zn fertilization, especially with foliar Zn applications. On average, Zn concentration in brown rice (whole caryopsis with husk removed) was increased by 25 % and 32 % by foliar and foliar + soil Zn applications, respectively, and only 2.4 % by soil Zn application. The Zn concentration of un-husked rice (whole grain with husk), which was increased by 66 % by foliar Zn, showed a close association with the Zn in brown and white rice, indicating a possible penetration of Zn from the husk into the inner layers of the rice endosperm. Increase in grain Zn concentration by foliar Zn spray was significantly affected by the timing of the foliar application. More distinct increases in grain Zn by foliar Zn application were achieved when Zn was applied after flowering time, e.g., at early milk plus dough stages. Conclusions Foliar Zn spray offers a practical and useful means for an effective biofortification of rice grain with Zn. This practice consistently and significantly contributed to increases in grain Zn of rice irrespective of cultivars, environmental conditions and management practices in 5 different countries

Table_1_Application of potassium nitrate and salicylic acid improves grain yield and related traits by delaying leaf senescence in Gpc-B1 carrying advanced wheat genotypes.doc

Grain protein content (GPC) is an important quality trait that effectively modulates end-use quality and nutritional characteristics of wheat flour-based food products. The Gpc-B1 gene is responsible for the higher protein content in wheat grain. In addition to higher GPC, the Gpc-B1 is also generally associated with reduced grain filling period which eventually causes the yield penalty in wheat. The main aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of foliar application of potassium nitrate (PN) and salicylic acid (SA) on the physiological characteristics of a set of twelve genotypes, including nine isogenic wheat lines carrying the Gpc-B1 gene and three elite wheat varieties with no Gpc-B1 gene, grown at wheat experimental area of the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, PAU, Punjab, India. The PN application significantly increased the number of grains per spike (GPS) by 6.42 grains, number of days to maturity (DTM) by 1.03 days, 1000-grain weight (TGW) by 1.97 g and yield per plot (YPP) by 0.2 kg/plot. As a result of PN spray, the flag leaf chlorophyll content was significantly enhanced by 2.35 CCI at anthesis stage and by 1.96 CCI at 10 days after anthesis in all the tested genotypes. Furthermore, the PN application also significantly increased the flag leaf nitrogen content by an average of 0.52% at booting stage and by 0.35% at both anthesis and 10 days after anthesis in all the evaluated genotypes. In addition, the yellow peduncle colour at 30 days after anthesis was also increased by 19.08% while the straw nitrogen content was improved by 0.17% in all the genotypes. The preliminary experiment conducted using SA demonstrated a significant increase in DTM and other yield component traits. The DTM increased by an average of 2.31 days, GPS enhanced by approximately 3.17 grains, TGW improved by 1.13g, and YPP increased by 0.21 kg/plot. The foliar application of PN and SA had no significant effect on GPC itself. The findings of the present study suggests that applications of PN and SA can effectively mitigate the yield penalty associated with Gpc-B1 gene by extending grain filling period in the wheat.</p

Biofortification of wheat, rice and common bean by applying foliar zinc fertilizer along with pesticides in seven countries

Rice (Oryza sativa L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) are major staple food crops consumed worldwide. Zinc (Zn) deficiency represents a common micronutrient deficiency in human populations, especially in regions of the world where staple food crops are the main source of daily calorie intake. Foliar application of Zn fertilizer has been shown to be effective for enriching food crop grains with Zn to desirable amounts for human nutrition. For promoting adoption of this practice by growers, it is important to know whether foliar Zn fertilizers can be applied along with pesticides to wheat, rice and also common bean grown across different soil and environmental conditions. The feasibility of foliar application of zinc sulphate (ZnSO4.7H(2)O) to wheat, rice and common bean in combination with commonly used five fungicides and nine insecticides was investigated under field conditions at the 31 sites-years of seven countries, i.e., China, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, Brazil and Zambia. Significant increases in grain yields were observed with foliar Zn/foliar Zn + pesticide (5.2-7.7 % of wheat and 1.6-4.2 % of rice) over yields with no Zn treatment. In wheat, as average of all experiments, higher grain Zn concentrations were recorded with foliar Zn alone (41.2 mg kg(-1)) and foliar Zn + pesticide (38.4 mg kg(-1)) as compared to no Zn treatment (28.0 mg kg(-1)). Though the magnitude of grain Zn enrichment was lesser in rice than wheat, grain Zn concentrations in brown rice were significantly higher with foliar Zn (24.1 mg kg(-1)) and foliar Zn + pesticide (23.6 mg kg(-1)) than with no Zn (19.1 mg kg(-1)). In case of common bean, grain Zn concentration increased from 68 to 78 mg kg(-1) with foliar Zn alone and to 77 mg kg(-1) with foliar Zn applied in combination with pesticides. Thus, grain Zn enrichment with foliar Zn, without or with pesticides, was almost similar in all the tested crops. The results obtained at the 31 experimental site-years of seven countries revealed that foliar Zn fertilization can be realized in combination with commonly-applied pesticides to contribute Zn biofortification of grains in wheat, rice and common bean. This agronomic approach represents a useful practice for the farmers to alleviate Zn deficiency problem in human populations

Biofortification of wheat with zinc through zinc fertilization in seven countries

Aim Zinc (Zn) fertilization is an effective agronomic tool for Zn biofortification of wheat for overcoming human Zn deficiency. But it still needs to be evaluated across locations with different management practices and wheat cultivars, since grain Zn concentrations may be significantly affected by locations, cultivars and management. Materials Field experiments were conducted over 3 years with the following four Zn treatments: nil Zn, soil Zn application, foliar Zn application and soil + foliar Zn application to explore the impact of Zn fertilization in Zn biofortification of wheat. The experiments were conducted at a total of 23 experimental site-years in China, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Pakistan, Turkey and Zambia. Results The results showed that foliar Zn application alone or in combination with soil application, significantly increased grain Zn concentrations from 27 mg kg(-1) at nil Zn to 48 and 49 mg kg(-1) across all of 23 site-years, resulting in increases in grain Zn by 84 % and 90 %, respectively. Overall, soil Zn deficiency was not a growth limiting factor on the experimental sites. A significant grain yield increase in response to soil Zn fertilization was found only in Pakistan. When all locations and cropping years are combined, soil Zn fertilization resulted in about 5 % increase in grain yield. Foliar Zn application did not cause any adverse effect on grain yield, even slightly improved the yield. Across the 23 site-years, soil Zn application had a small effect on Zn concentration of leaves collected before foliar Zn application, and increased grain Zn concentration only by 12 %. The correlation between grain yield and the effectiveness of foliar Zn application on grain Zn was condition dependent, and was positive and significant at certain conditions. Conclusion Foliar Zn application resulted in successful biofortification of wheat grain with Zn without causing yield loss. This effect of Zn fertilization occurred irrespective of the soil and environmental conditions, management practices applied and cultivars used in 23 site-years. Foliar Zn fertilizer approach can be locally adopted for increasing dietary Zn intake and fighting human Zn deficiency in rural areas