The characterization of genetic divergence and relationships of a set of germplasm is essential for its efficient applications in crop breeding and understanding of the origin/evolution of crop varieties from a given geographical region. As the largest rice producing country in Europe, Italy holds rice germplasm with abundant genetic diversity. Although Italian rice varieties and the traditiona...

After domestication, plant species were often transported widely, and many genetically distinct farmers’ varieties (FVs, crop varieties traditionally maintained and grown by farmers) developed in specific locations. FVs continue to be grown today by many small-scale farmers in traditionally-based agricultural systems (TBAS), fulfilling both local or regional consumption needs, as well as the la...

1. Introduction The performance of a particular variety is the result of its genetic constitution and the environment in which it has been grown. In practice it is quite possible that a particular variety may not exhibit the same phenotypic performance under different environments or different varieties may respond differently to a specific environment. This variation, arising from the lack of ...

Crop genotypes play a dominant role in crop production systems. They affect crop productivity by their higher yield potentials, resistance against insect pest and diseases under different climatic conditions. To evaluate different varieties of rice for their growth and yield characteristics, an experiment was conducted during 2012. Four varieties including IR28, NERICA-4, Koshihikari and Nippon...

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an ancient oilseed crop known for its nutty seeds and high-quality edible oil. It is an unexplored crop with a great economic potential. The present study deals with assessment of genetic diversity in the crop. Twenty two RAPD and 18 SSR primers were used for analysis of the 47 different sesame accessions grown in different agroclimatic zones of India. A total of ...

"> The present study described the diversity of wheat and barley varieties andlandraces available in farmer’s fields in Syria using different indicators. Analysisof spatial and temporal diversity and coefficient of parentage along withmeasurements of agronomic and morphological traits were employed to explain thediversity of wheat and barley varieties or landraces grown by farmers in Syria.Farm...

Low temperature during reproductive stage of spring wheat causes sterility of pollen grains and reduced yield. Field experiment was conducted during the winter season in the farm of Indian Agricultural Research Institute with wheat crop to study the effect of temperature on phenology and pollen sterility of spring wheat crop. Lower mean temperature during the crop growth period led to enhanced ...

Computational tomography is an important technique for developing digital agricultural models that may help farmers and breeders for increasing crop quality and yield. In the present study an attempt has been made to understand rice seed development within the panicle at different developmental stages using this technique. During the first phase of cell division the Hounsfield Unit (HU) value r...

The lack of land ownership can discourage agricultural technology adoption, yet there is scarce evidence of the impact of land rental contracts on the adoption of improved crop varieties in developing countries. The current study investigates such impact using a nationally representative survey of Ethiopian maize farmers. In contrast to many previous studies, we show in a simple model that cash...

BACKGROUND Endogenous microRNAs (miRNAs) are potent negative regulators of gene expression in plants and animals. Artificial miRNAs (amiRNAs)-designed to target one or several genes of interest-provide a new and highly specific approach for effective post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) in plants. METHODOLOGY We devised an amiRNA-based strategy for both japonica and indica type strains ...