Evaluation of the performance of gum guar varieties in north eastern Karnataka, India

The climatic situation in north eastern parts of Karnataka (except Bidar district) is almost similar to that of Rajastan. There is considerable area under rainfed situations and guar being a highly drought and temperature tolerant summer annual legume crop, there is hope for guar as an alternate and contingent crop during drought year in this region. With this objective effort were made to introduce, evaluate and to identify suitable gum guar varieties for North eastern parts of Karnataka. Ten gum guar varieties developed, released and cultivated in Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat state were evaluated in Agricultural Research Stations (ARS) located in Bidar, Gulbarga, Yadgiri, Bellary and Raichur districts of Karnataka during Kharif 2013-14. At Bidar, the top entry with respect to yield was HG-884 (679.00 Kg/ Ha), Variety RGC-1031 (793.00 Kg/Ha) performed well with respect to seed yield in Gulbarga district. Genotypes GAUG-13 (614.00 Kg/Ha) and RGC-986 (501.00 Kg/Ha) recorded higher seed yield respectively, in Bellary and Yadgiri district. At Raichur GAUG-13, recorded highest seed yield of 1432.00 Kg/Ha. Over the locations genotype GAUG-13 recorded highest seed yield of 759.00 Kg/Ha followed by HG-884 (700.40 Kg/Ha) and RGC-986 (696.60 Kg/Ha). The varieties tested exhibited considerable significance differences among themselves at four locations, except at one location (Agricultural Research Station, Bheemarayanagudi, Yadgir district). Variety GAUG-13, recorded highest seed yield over three locations indicating its wider adaptability

Association of flowering time with phenological and productivity traits in chickpea

Phenology is an important trait for the adaption of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) to various target environments. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of flowering time on other phenological traits and yield-related traits. F2 and F3 segregating populations derived from the crosses of four early-flowering lines (ICCV 96029, ICC 5810, BGD 132 and ICC 16641) with a late-flowering cultivar (CDC Frontier) were used. In all crosses, flowering time showed significant positive association with days to pod initiation, days to maturity, plant height and biomass and non-significant correlation with number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant and grain yield per plant. Flowering time had a positive correlation with 100-seed weight in all crosses, with the exception of ICC 16641 × CDC Frontier where the correlation was non-significant. Harvest index was negatively associated with flowering time. In most of the crosses, early- and late-maturing F3 bulks showed significant differences with respect to biomass and harvest index, while for grain yield and 100-seed weight the differences were found to be non-significant. These results indicate that flowering time could be used as a reliable selection criterion in breeding for early-maturing chickpea and that a reduction in the duration of flowering time and maturity may not necessarily have a yield penalty in these genetic backgrounds

Molecular mapping of dry root rot resistance genes in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Dry root rot (DRR) caused by Rhizoctonia bataticola [(Taub.) Butler] is an emerging disease of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and a serious constraint to chickpea production in warm and arid regions. To identify the genomic regions conferring resistance to DRR, a total of 182 F9 derived Recombinant Inbred Lines (RILs) were developed from the cross between a susceptible line BG 212 and moderately resistant breeding line ICCV 08305. The parental lines and RILs were screened against Rb 6 isolate of R. bataticola using paper towel method under controlled environment at ICRISAT during 2016 and 2017. The RILs were genotyped with cost-effective SNP genotyping platform, Affymetrix Axiom CicerSNP array. As a result, a high-density genetic map with 13,110 SNP markers spanning 1224.11 cM with an average inter marker distance of 0.09 cM was developed. A single minor QTL (‘qDRR-8’) explaining 6.70% PVE with LOD scores 3.34 was identified on CaLG08 for DRR resistance which could be further explored for mining candidate genes and the linked SNP markers could be further validated for application in marker-assisted selection of DRR resistance in chickpea breeding programs

Molecular mapping of flowering time genes in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Flowering time is an important trait of chickpea that influences crop adaptation to a given climate. Earliness in both flowering time and maturity are important traits for increasing and stabilizing chickpea productivity in short season environments by avoiding end of season drought. A study was conducted to identify genes/quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling flowering time in chickpea using four F2 populations (ICCV 96029 × CDC Frontier, ICC 5810 × CDC Frontier, BGD 132 × CDC Frontier and ICC 16641 × CDC Frontier). Genetic studies revealed monogenic control of flowering time in the crosses ICCV 96029 × CDC Frontier, BGD 132 × CDC Frontier and ICC 16641 × CDC Frontier, while in the cross ICC 5810 × CDC Frontier, it was under digenic control with complementary gene action. The genetic linkage maps developed from four crosses consisted of 75, 75, 68 and 67 markers spanning 248.8 cM, 331.4 cM, 311.1 cM, and 385.1 cM, respectively. A consensus map spanning 363.8 cM with 109 loci was developed by integrating four genetic maps. QTL mapping detected major genomic regions controlling early flowering genes efl-1 (Qefl1-2) on CaLG04, efl-2 (Qefl2-1, Qefl2-2, Qefl2-3, Qefl2- 4) on CaLG01, 03, 04 and 08, efl-3 (Qefl3-3) on CaLG08 and efl4 (Qefl4-1) on CaLG06. Analysis of QTL regions on CaLG04 and CaLG08 provided several important candidate genes involved in regulation of flowering time and homeotic functions. The identified genomic regions with linked molecular markers can be deployed for introgressing early flowering trait into elite chickpea cultivars through marker-assisted breeding (MAB)

Econometric modeling of tobacco exports in the milieu of changing global and national policy regimes: repercussions on the Indian tobacco sector

IntroductionTobacco, an important commercial crop, plays a crucial role in farmers' incomes and livelihoods to a sizable population and contributes significant exchange earnings to the Indian economy. Currently, India is the second-largest tobacco producer after China, with a production of 758 million kg (13% of global production) and exports of ~190 million kg of tobacco (9% of global tobacco export volume). However, there are uncertainties surrounding the tobacco sector, such as growing public health and environmental issues associated with tobacco production and consumption and changing national and international tobacco-related policy regimes. In this context, the current study investigates the determinants of tobacco exports and geographical shifts in export destinations over the years.MethodsThe statistical models employed are co-integration, and vector error-correlation models to test the short-run and long-run dynamics relationship between tobacco exports and the explanatory variables, and the Markov chain approach to find out geographical shifts in export destinations.Results and discussionThe econometric model estimated the relationship between the tobacco export volume with domestic production, export price, and global demand for Indian tobacco, and investigated the geographical shift in export destinations of tobacco in the context of changing global and national policy regimes on the sector. The econometric modeling framework confirms that there exists a statistically significant relationship between Indian tobacco export demand, domestic production, export price, and world demand for Indian tobacco. The geographical shift was evident in major export destinations during the post-WHO-FCTC (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) regime. The model findings direct that India should take advantage of the export price, and global demand for tobacco as India ratified WHO-FCTC; there is no scope for horizontal expansion of the area under tobacco. This modeling framework aids as a tool to direct and explore the possible options with a greater emphasis on export-centric farming system in tobacco production by augmenting crop compliance and quality to meet the standards of international markets

Genetic dissection of drought tolerance in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is the second most important grain legume cultivated by resource poor farmers in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Drought is one of the major constraints leading up to 50 % production losses in chickpea. In order to dissect the complex nature of drought tolerance and to use genomics tools for enhancing yield of chickpea under drought conditions, two mapping populations—ICCRIL03 (ICC 4958 × ICC 1882) and ICCRIL04 (ICC 283 × ICC 8261) segregating for drought tolerance-related root traits were phenotyped for a total of 20 drought component traits in 1–7 seasons at 1–5 locations in India. Individual genetic maps comprising 241 loci and 168 loci for ICCRIL03 and ICCRIL04, respectively, and a consensus genetic map comprising 352 loci were constructed (http://cmap.icrisat.ac.in/cmap/sm/cp/varshney/). Analysis of extensive genotypic and precise phenotypic data revealed 45 robust main-effect QTLs (M-QTLs) explaining up to 58.20 % phenotypic variation and 973 epistatic QTLs (E-QTLs) explaining up to 92.19 % phenotypic variation for several target traits. Nine QTL clusters containing QTLs for several drought tolerance traits have been identified that can be targeted for molecular breeding. Among these clusters, one cluster harboring 48 % robust M-QTLs for 12 traits and explaining about 58.20 % phenotypic variation present on CaLG04 has been referred as “QTL-hotspot”. This genomic region contains seven SSR markers (ICCM0249, NCPGR127, TAA170, NCPGR21, TR11, GA24 and STMS11). Introgression of this region into elite cultivars is expected to enhance drought tolerance in chickpea

Effect of [OH-] linkages on luminescent properties of ZnO nanoparticles

Optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles prepared from a simple chemical method using sodium zincate bath show strong white light emission. X-ray absorption fine structure studies reveal a completely different local environment around Zn in these ZnO nanoparticles. The observed luminescence properties and local structural changes have been explained on the basis of a linkage between Zn and OH- ions in the surface layers of ZnO nanoparticles.Comment: J. Phys. Chem. C. (2011) (in print

One-Step Synthesis of Monodisperse In-Doped ZnO Nanocrystals

A method for the synthesis of high quality indium-doped zinc oxide (In-doped ZnO) nanocrystals was developed using a one-step ester elimination reaction based on alcoholysis of metal carboxylate salts. The resulting nearly monodisperse nanocrystals are well-crystallized with typically crystal structure identical to that of wurtzite type of ZnO. Structural, optical, and elemental analyses on the products indicate the incorporation of indium into the host ZnO lattices. The individual nanocrystals with cubic structures were observed in the 5% In–ZnO reaction, due to the relatively high reactivity of indium precursors. Our study would provide further insights for the growth of doped oxide nanocrystals, and deepen the understanding of doping process in colloidal nanocrystal syntheses