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Frugivorous carnivores like civets consume fruits of many species and play an important role in their seed dispersal by virtue of depositing their scats farther away from the parent tree. This study was conducted to understand the role of the common palm civet in affecting the seed germination rate of three plant species (i.e. Syzygium cumini, Phoenix sylvestris and Ficus racemosa) in a tropical moist deciduous forest. We collected scats of common palm civets in Pachmarhi Wildlife Sanctuary, central India, and monitored the germination rate of these species for 90 days. Further, to understand the patterns of seed selection (if there are any), for seeds of a specific size, we compared the length, width, and mass of the civet‐ingested seeds with those of the control seeds. We had to discard the analyses on F. racemosa as none of its seeds in any treatment group germinated even after 50 days. Our results show a differential impact of gut passage: civet‐ingested P. sylvestris seeds experienced a higher germination percentage compared to the control seeds, while gut passage did not alter the seed germination of S. cumini. However, seed germination speed (proportion of seeds germinated per day) for both species, P. sylvestris and S. cumini, was faster for civet‐ingested seeds compared to their respective controls. Our findings also showed that civets preferred seeds that were shorter in length and width, and weighed less, in the case of P. sylvestris; however, no such statistically significant difference was found for seed selection in the case of S. cumini. Thus, our study shows that civets act as a legitimate seed disperser of plant species and exert a differential impact in altering the germination rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most likely found food in India is Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L). Hence by increasing the yield production of the beans in the market, it would spiral up the economy of the agricultural sectors in India. This study uses the stratified random sampling and the econo- metric models to mainly focus on the production and distribution of the beans in the food in- dustry.By data, it is observed that the limitation of sales to the market is due to shortage of efficient resources, irrigation techniques, scarcity of advanced selection of seeds and insufficient use of fertilizers.Thus if we take necessary precautions and try to enlarge the beans quantity produced, then surely it would lead to favorable results. Using STATA software, the parameters of the model were estimated version 11.Variables were put into a regression matrix and hence collinearity tests were conducted. To examine the tolerance level of the multi-collinearity for the model, Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) was used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maize (Zea mays L.) growing area in India is divided into five zones for cultivar testing. During triannual testing of genotypes in official trials within the All-India Coordinated Maize Improvement Program (AICMIP), a large number of entries is rejected each year. Therefore, only a low number of entries is carried forward to the advanced stage of testing. The subdivision of the breeding sites into zones results in limited data per zone. Hence, the question arises how to select the best genotypes per zone and how information can be borrowed across zones to improve the accuracy of selection within zones. We compared the performance of best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) using the correlation of genetic effects between zones with best linear unbiased estimation (BLUE) based on data per zone. In both cases, data were analyzed using a mixed model. We used simulations to calculate correlations between the true simulated values and the predicted genotype values obtained by BLUE and BLUP using the same models. The data structure and the variance components used in simulations were based on the analysis of 40 triannual series of four different maize maturity groups. Best linear unbiased prediction outperformed BLUE in 38 out of 40 series and on average across all series. An advantage of BLUP was observed for varying genetic correlations between zones. We conclude that the use of BLUP enhanced the estimation accuracy in zoned AICMIP maize testing trials and can be recommended for future use in these trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice blast resistance gene ‘ Pi-z’ present in rice genotypes, Zenith and Fukunishiki, represents a potential source of blast resistance for the north-western Himalayan region of India. We tested the reliability of microsatellite markers linked to Pi-z for assessing blast resistance phenotype in crosses of commercial importance. A new set of microsatellite markers linked to Pi-z was also developed by exploiting the publicly available marker and genomic resources of rice. Of the three previously reported markers for Pi-z, only MRG5836 was suitable for the marker assisted selection of Pi-z. Among the 17 microsatellites selected from the putative region of Pi-z locus, two, RM8225 and RM8226 cosegregated with MRG5836 and were located at distance of 1.2–4.5 cM from the gene. A new microsatellite marker ‘ SSR236’ was developed from the (CT)16 repeat of PAC clone P0502B12, which exhibited closer linkage (0.6–1.2 cM) to Pi-z. Survey of the allelic diversity at the loci of the Pi-z linked microsatellite markers revealed that the Fukunishiki and Zenith type alleles were not present in majority of the local indica rice genotypes. As these markers are polymorphic between the Pi-z donors and a great majority of local indica rices tested, they can be used as a selection tool in rice breeding programs aimed at improving the blast resistance of local rices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers in western Rajasthan (north-west India) produce and maintain their landrace populations of pearl millet through their own distinct seed management practices. The objective of this study was to characterize morphological and agronomic variability of different traits between and within three farmers' populations using quantitative–genetic parameters. Populations examined were a typical landrace and two modified landraces, which were generated through farmer introgression of modern varieties with different levels of subsequent selection. From these three populations, 100 random full-sib progenies were evaluated in field trials at two locations in western Rajasthan over two years. Significant genetic variation existed within the three populations. Estimates of heritability were moderate to high for all observed traits. Predicted selection response for grain yield across environments was 1.6% for the typical landrace and 2.2% for both the modified landraces. Results suggest that the introgression of modern varieties into landraces had increased the genetic diversity. Therefore, farmers' current breeding activities could open up new resources for plant breeding programmes aiming at plant improvement for the semiarid zones of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]