Significant increases in rice production can be obtained in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) by increasing rice grain yield in existing production systems, expanding rice harvested area, and reducing harvest and postharvest losses. However, availability of labour at critical times is often a major constraint, and this situation is aggravated by the effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Delays during harves...

Cereal crops mainly cultivated as a rainfed crops, where grain yield is often limited by terminal drought stress. Therefore, ability of plants to withstand drought is an important aspect of crop production in water limited conditions. In this context grain yield is closely related to post-anthesis water availability. Hence, grain yield can be increased by restricting pre anthesis water use to m...

The low and declining productivity of many tropical soils are the major constraints limiting the realization of the improved genetic potential of crops that are now available. The need to take appropriate measures to check this decline in soil productivity is urgent as the rate of deterioration is on the increase and if not checked will have serious implications for future food demands of the i...

Grain amaranth, a pseudo-cereal with a rich history as a source of food in Meso America, is an attractive alternative crop suitable to be produced in semi-arid conditions. Grain amaranth production in the United States was 1,800 ha in 1991 (Stallknecht and Schulz-Schaeffer 1991). Most amaranth production is located in the Great Plains, especially in Western Nebraska (Williams and Brenner 1995),...

Zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) deficiencies are well-documented public health issue and an important soil constraint to crop production. Generally, there is a close geographical overlap between soil deficiency and human deficiency of Zn and Fe, indicating a high requirement for increasing concentrations of micronutrients in food crops. Breeding new plant genotypes for high grain concentrations of Fe a...

Immunoassay methods are available for detection and quantitation of proteins expressed by most biotechnology-derived crops in commercial production. The 2 most common test formats are enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunochromatographic (lateral flow) strip tests. Two ELISA methods, one for Roundup Ready soybeans and one for MON810 CrylAb corn, were the subject of large internati...

Heterosis is a common phenomenon in which the hybrids exhibit superior agronomic performance than either inbred parental lines. Although hybrid rice is one of the most successful apotheoses in crops utilizing heterosis, the molecular mechanisms underlying rice heterosis remain elusive. To gain a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of rice heterosis, comparative leaf proteomic analy...