Background. Up to 75% of crop species benefit at least to some degree from animal pollination for fruit or seed set and yield. However, basic information on the level of pollinator dependence and pollinator contribution to yield is lacking for many crops. Even less is known about how insect pollination affects crop quality. Given that habitat loss and agricultural intensification are known to d...

Seed yield and oil content are two important agricultural characteristics in oil crop breeding, and a lot of functional gene research is being concentrated on increasing these factors. In this study, by differential gene expression analyses between rapeseed lines (zy036 and 51070) which exhibit different levels of seed oil production, BnGRF2 (Brassica napus growth-regulating factor 2-like gene)...

The antifungal activity of phenolic compounds extracted from olive pomace against Alternaria solani, Botrytis cinerea and Fusarium culmorum was investigated. Olive pomace, a by-product of olive oil production, was used as a source of phenolic compounds. The extracted phenolics were added to a medium to reach phenol concentration of 0.1 and 0.2 % (w/v) and tested for their antifungal activity ag...

Planning the artificial pollination of agricultural crops requires knowledge of the floral biology and reproductive system of the crop in question. Many studies have shown that rapeseed (Brassica napus Linnaeus) is self-compatible and self-pollinated, but its productivity may be increased by insect visitation. In the present study, the floral biology and the response of productivity to insect v...

The present paper provides an enumeration of leguminous taxa of Balaghat Ranges of Maharashtra along with their habits, phenological deta and voucher specimen numbers. During the present work, a total of 123 species, 4 subspecies and 17 varieties of Fabaceae have been recorded for Balaghat Ranges of Maharashtra, of which 119 taxa are occurring in wild while 25 are under cultivation. The members...

Stylet-Oil was effective in reducing incidence of tobacco etch virus (TEV) (Genus: Potyvirus, Family: Potyviridae) in ‘Scotch Bonnet’ pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacquin) plots by about 24% and delaying its spread by 7 days. A backpack mist blower (low volume) was used to apply JMS Stylet-Oil at pressures of about 1000 kPa to pepper plants weekly, from transplant until the end of the crop. Seedli...

With the recent decline of honey bees, Apis mellifera (L.) (Hymenoptera: Apidae), there is a need for alternative or supplemental crop pollinators, such as Osmia cornifrons (Radoszkowski) (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). However, O. cornifrons propagation could be impeded by a cleptoparasitic mite, Chaetodactylus krombeini Baker. We investigated the effects of formic acid and wintergreen oil on mor...

Oil palm has become one of the most important crops in the world with questions being raised about its economic and environmental sustainability. Agricultural systems models are regularly employed in studying sustainable crop management but no detailed model is currently available for oil palm systems. We developed a production systems model for oil palm within the Agricultural Production Syste...

Sarcocornia ambigua (Michx.) M.A. Alonso & M.B. Crespo is the most widely distributed species of the perennial genus of glasswort in South America, and it shows great biotechnological potential as a salt-water irrigated crop. Qualitative and quantitative compositions of fatty acids were determined in the seeds of S. ambigua that were cultivated in southern Brazil. Hexane extraction of the seed ...