Indigenous Genotypes Research Articles

Comparison of Chicken Genotypes for Growth, Egg Production and Adaptability Traits Under Semi-Scavenging Condition

The study was conducted to evaluate the growth, egg production and adaptability performances of different chicken genotypes under semi-scavenging condition. The performance of Improved Horro (H), Cosmopolitan (C), Indigenous (L), and Koekoek (KK) chicken genotypes was evaluated in semi-scavenging condition over a 44-week period. The study utilized a completely randomized design (CRD), and the data were analyzed using the General Linear Model (GLM) in SAS software. A total of 360 chickens from the four genotypes were provided. For each genotype, around 30 chickens (with a 1:10 male-to-female ratio) were allocated to each lowland site, with each genotype placed in three replicate sites. The data for each genotype from all sites were then pooled. KK exhibited the highest body weight at hatch, followed by C and H, while L had the lowest. At eight weeks of age, KK also had the highest body weight and average daily weight gain, with C and H following, and L recording the lowest. KK had the highest body weights and weight gains, followed by C and H, while L showed the lowest body weights and weight gains at both 16 and 24 weeks of age. L and H showed significantly higher survival rates compared to KK and C. L reached the highest age at first egg lay, followed by C, KK, and H. KK had the greatest body weight at first egg lay and at the end of the experiment compared to C and H, while L had the lowest body weights at both first egg lay and 44 weeks. KK had the highest egg weight at first egg lay and throughout the experiment when compared to C and H, while L recorded the lowest egg weights at both first egg lay and 44 weeks. KK produced the highest number of eggs, followed by H and C, while L had the lowest egg count. In conclusion: The genotype differences of chickens substantially influenced growth, egg production and adaptability performances. It could also serve as reference for future growth, egg production and adaptability studies of defferent chicken genotypes.

EKSPLORASI KERAGAMAN PLASMA NUTFAH PADI LOKAL KUANTAN SINGINGI BERDASARKAN MORFOLOGI GABAH DAN BERAS

Farmers in specific region can play a crucial role in preventing the extinction of rare rice varieties by maintaining their commitment to local rice production. This not only contributes to the economic stability of the community but also necessitates exploration efforts to identify and gather specific plant species at risk of extinction. This study employs a descriptive research design to identify, gather, and compare the relationships between local rice genotypes in the Kuantan Singingi regency. The survey method utilizes a planned sample of rice seeds.The exploration process involves observing geographic coordinate locations, collecting local rice seeds, and examining grain and rice morphology based on Bioversity International, IRRI, and WARDA standards from 2007. The Kuantan River, with an altitude ranging from 28.95 to 61.56 meters above sea level, is prone to frequent flooding. A morphological study of grains reveals that, out of 26 local rice genotypes, one pair exhibits the highest similarity rate of 71% when compared to more diverse types. Notably, the white sironda rice from Pulau Madina village in Kuantan Hilir district and pandan wangi rice from Pauh Angit village in Pangean district are identified as the most identical genotypes. By identifying and preserving unique and highly-potential indigenous rice genotypes, this research significantly contributes to the enhancement of food stability, rural economy, and genetic resilience of rice plasma in Indonesia.

Genetic Variability Studies for Identification of High Yielding Genotypes with High Protein Content in Grain Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.

Background: Cowpea is a major legume crop which has high protein content and provides a powerful tool to combat malnutrition due to its highly nutritional value. Identification of superior genotypes will aid in cowpea breeding program. Genetic variability is the foremost requirement in a breeding population for the selection of high yielding genotypes. To develop a new high yielding variety, it is important to study the genetic variability present in it so that proper and efficient selection could be done and most promising genotypes could be identified. Methods: Keeping this in mind, studies on genetic variability in grain cowpea was done utilizing 40 diverse exotic and indigenous cowpea genotypes which were evaluated for ten quantitative characters for two consecutive years 2020 and 2021. The experiment was planted in randomized block design with 3 replications at Pantnagar. Data was recorded on ten characters. Result: Mean squares were found to be highly significant for all the characters. Cluster analysis revealed five genetically diverse clusters. Cluster I had 8 genotypes, cluster II had 9 genotypes, cluster III consisted of 12 genotypes, cluster IV had 6 genotypes and Cluster V consisted 5 genotypes. Cluster I had the greatest intra-cluster distance (2.500) whereas cluster V had the smallest intra-cluster distance (1.701). In the cluster V, one of the genotype Pant Lobia-2 exhibited the highest mean values for all the characters. The highest GCV and PCV was recorded by number of pods per plant (28.87, 29.19) followed by yield (q/ha) (28.72, 29.04). The higher value of phenotypic component compared to the corresponding genotypic component suggest that there was an environmental influence on the performance of the genotypes. Correlation studies revealed positive correlation between pod length, pods per cluster, seeds per pod and yield quintal per hectare. Path coefficient analysis showed the significant positive direct relationship between plant height, peduncle length, pod length, number of pods per cluster, number of pods per plant and number of seeds per pod with yield quintals per hectare. The results of the study showed that, out of the 40 genotypes evaluated, Pant Lobia-2 exhibited the best performance. It has attractive red bold seeds with 31% protein content. Therefore it can be used in grain cowpea breeding program.

Molecular characterization of rotavirus indicates predominance of G9P[4] genotype among children with acute gastroenteritis: First report after vaccine introduction in Pakistan

AbstractGlobally, Group A rotavirus (RVA) is the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis in children under 5 years old, with Pakistan having the highest rates of RVA‐related morbidity and mortality. The current study aims to determine the genetic diversity of rotavirus and evaluate the impact of Rotarix‐vaccine introduction on disease epidemiology in Pakistan. A total of 4749 children, hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis between 2018 and 2020, were tested at four hospitals in Lahore and Karachi. Of the total, 19.3% (918/4749) cases were tested positive for RVA antigen, with the positivity rate varying annually (2018 = 22.7%, 2019 = 14.4%, 2020 = 20.9%). Among RVA‐positive children, 66.3% were under 1 year of age. Genotyping of 662 enzyme‐linked immuno sorbent assay‐positive samples revealed the predominant genotype as G9P[4] (21.4%), followed by G1P[8] (18.9%), G3P[8] (11.4%), G12P[6] (8.7%), G2P[4] (5.7%), G2P[6] (4.8%), and 10.8% had mixed genotypes. Among vaccinated children, genotypes G9P[4] and G12P[6] were more frequently detected, whereas a decline in G2P[4] was observed. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the continued circulation of indigenous genotypes detected earlier in the country except G9 and P[6] strains. Our findings highlight the predominance of G9P[4] genotype after the vaccine introduction thus emphasizing continual surveillance to monitor the disease burden, viral diversity, and their impact on control of rotavirus gastroenteritis in children.

Morphological characterization of indigenous potato (Solanum tuberosum) genotypes

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the most important non-grained food and vegetable crop lauded for its nutritional and health benefits. Identifying any new potato genotype primarily depends on its morphological traits, including vegetative, floral and tuber parameters. The present study was carried out during 2020–21 and 2021–22 at the research farm of ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute, regional station, Modipuram, Uttar Pradesh and at ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute, Kufri-Fagu unit, Himachal Pradesh (for floral traits) to evaluate the potato genotypes for vegetative and tuber traits. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Total of 64 indigenous potato genotypes were characterized for 51 morphological traits for distinctiveness, uniformity and stability (DUS) test guidelines. For all traits, there was a high degree of variability between genotypes. Early maturing varieties are preferred owing to their suitability to fit into the potato-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)- paddy (Oryza sativa L.) cropping system. Most genotypes were either early or medium maturing based on foliage senescence. High variability was observed for tuber shape, i.e. genotypes bearing flattened, round, ovoid, oblong, long-oblong and reniform-shaped tubers were available. Tuber skin and flesh colour determining consumer preference depicted variability from whitish cream to dark purple-black skinned tubers. Novel genotypes bearing variegated tuber flesh with a niche market of specific consumer segments were noticed in genotypes Red flesh, Bareilly red, DRR Blue, Badami aloo and Kala aloo. Moreover, the results obtained from the present investigation indicated that the description of 64 indigenous potato genotypes based on notes can be used as a reference for the protection of new varieties under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Right Act (PPV&FRA) rules as well as a comparison against new candidate varieties.

Comparison of Economic Feasibility of Different Chicken Genotypes Under On-Station Condition

The main objective of this study was to compare the economic feasibility of Cosmopolitan (C), Improved Horro (H), ♂Improved Horro*Cosmopolitan♀ (HC), and ♂Cosmopolitan*Improved Horro♀ (CH) in reference to Indigenous (L) and Koekoek (KK) genotypes. The study employed a completely randomized design, with a total of 180 samples (36/genotype) for egg sales, 54 samples (9/genotype) for live bird sales, and 36 samples (6/genotype) for meat sales. Each genotype's eggs, live birds, and meat sales were triplicate. All data were analyzed using the GLM model in SAS Software. At 8–24weeks, KK had the highest feed intake (AFI8–24) compared to HC, CH, and C; nevertheless, L had the lowest next to H. At 8–52 weeks, KK, CH, and HC hens had the highest feed intake (AFI8–52), whereas L, H and C hens had the lowest. L had the lowest meat yield (MYD) next to H, but the KK had the highest between 8 and 24 weeks followed by the HC, CH, and C. Live genotypes and meats sales showed that KK had the highest costs (TC1) and meat sales (TC2) followed by HC, CH and C, but the lowest for H and L. KK had the lowest total live sale return (TR1), whereas H had the highest followed by L, CH, HC, and C.L had the lowest total meat sale return (TR2), while KK had the highest followed by HC, CH, C, and H.L hen had the lowest total egg sale return (TR3) followed by C, while the highest was achieved by CH hen followed by H, KK and HC.H had the highest live net return (NR1) followed by L, CH, C, and HC, while KK had the lowest. Meat net return (NR2) was the lowest for L and the highest for KK followed by HC, CH, C, and H. H had the highest net return of egg sales (NR3) followed by CH, C, KK, and HC, but L had negatively least. H registered the highest cost-benefit ratio (TR1/TC1vs.TR3/TC3) compared to other genotypes (live chicken and eggs). KK showed the highest cost-benefit ratio (TR2/TC2) followed by HC, CH, C and H, whereas L had the lowest for meat. In conclusion, the net return and cost-benefit ratio for live genotypes, meats and eggs were notably positive and feasible except L had (for egg case) negative net return and cost-benefit ratio.

Genetic Divergence Analysis of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Genotypes

A laboratory experiment was carried out with 30 indigenous genotypes of bread wheat along with three checks in a complete randomized design for divergence analysis. The trial was conducted at Seed Technology laboratory of Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology Kumarganj, Ayodhya during 2020-21. The observations were recorded on thirteen-character Test weight (1000-grain weight), seed width (mm), seed length (mm), shoot length, root length, seedling length, seedling dry weight, germination (%), first count, final count, vigour index-I, vigour index-II. The 30 genotypes grouped into 5 clusters resulted in cluster I and V emerging with highest number of entries as both were constituted by 9 entries followed by Cluster III having 6 genotypes and cluster II and VI having 4 genotypes respectively. The maximum intra cluster distance was estimated in the case of Cluster II (2.630) followed by cluster I (2.618), Cluster III (2.545), cluster IV (2.512), and cluster V (2.148). The highest inter-cluster distance was observed between clusters III and IV (6.062) Followed by clusters III and V (4.632), II and IV (4.489), cluster II and V ( 4.304). The minimum inter cluster was observed between II and III (3.317) followed by cluster IV and V ( 3.337) and cluster I and V (3.404). The cluster mean of 13 different characters for most of the character's highest cluster mean was observed in clusters IV and V and lowest cluster mean observed in cluster III and II.

In ovo feeding of methionine affects antioxidant status and growth-related gene expression of TETRA SL and Hungarian indigenous chicks

Methionine (Met) plays a substantial role in poultry due to its involvement in several pathways, including enhancing antioxidant status and improving growth performance and health status. This study examined how in ovo feeding of Met affects hatching performance, antioxidant status, and hepatic gene expression related to growth and immunity in the TETRA-SL LL hybrid (TSL) commercial layer and Hungarian partridge colored hen (HPC) indigenous genotypes. The eggs were injected with saline, DL-Met, and L-Met on 17.5 days of embryonic development. The results showed that the in ovo feeding of DL-Met significantly increased the hatching weight and ferric reducing the ability of the plasma (FRAP) compared with L-Met. The in ovo feeding of either Met source enhanced the liver health and function and hepatic antioxidant status of the chicks. The genotype’s differences were significant; the TSL genotype had better hatching weight, an antioxidant defense system, and downregulated growth-related gene expression than the HPC genotype. In ovo feeding of either Met source enhanced the chicks' health status and antioxidant status, and DL-Met improved the hatching weight of the chicks more than L-Met. Genotype differences were significantly evident in the responses of growth performance, antioxidant status, blood biochemical parameters, and gene expression to Met sources.

Nutritional and nutraceutical richness of neglected little millet genotypes from Eastern Ghats of India: implications for breeding and food value.

The study provides nutritional profiling of unexploited little millets from Eastern Ghats, which has ample opportunities for future breeding programs for enhancing the food quality and holds great potential in food industry. Little millet is an important small millet native to the Indian subcontinent and their nutritional value has been underutilized compared to other cereals. It's nutritional and nutraceutical profiling is essential to integrate the plants in developmental interventions. The present study evaluated comprehensive nutritional, nutraceutical and physico-functional properties of 14 selected little millet genotypes originated from Eastern Ghats of India and compared them with an improved variety (OLM 208) of the locality. The proximate compositions (per 100g) showed significant variations, with moisture content ranging from 4.13 to 8.48g, ash from 1.90 to 5.15g, fat from 2.35 to 5.74g, protein from 10.46 to 13.83g, carbohydrate from 70.92 to 77.89g, fiber from 2.03 to 7.82g and energy from 372.8 to 391.1kcal. These little millet flours are rich in phenol 5.37-12.73mg/g, flavonoid 1.06-8.25µg/g, vitamin C 12.72-22.86µg/g, antioxidants 7.22-23.17%, iron 20.38 to 61.60mg/ kg and zinc 17.47 to 37.59mg/ kg. The first two components of principal component analysis captures 73.0% of the total variation, which reflected huge variability among the investigated genotypes. Maximum heritability and genetic advance were recorded in flavonoid, fiber, iron, zinc, phenol and vitamin C across the populations. Taken together, some indigenous little millet genotypes such as Mami, Kalia and Bada, were exceptionally rich in fiber, protein, energy, flavonoid, vitamin C and antioxidants and are nutritionally superior compared to other varieties from the locality. These nutrition rich little millet genotypes have ample opportunities for future breeding programs to enhance the cereal quality and holds great potential in food industry for making high value functional foods.

Evaluation of performances and selection response of three indigenous chicken genotypes at seventh-generation

The present study was conducted to assessed the performances of three native chicken genotypes under intensive management. A total of 1042 day-old chicks comprising of 3 types of chicken, namely Naked Neck (NN-381), Hilly (HI-313), and Non-descript Deshi (ND-348), were Hatched for this study. The seventh generation, selection was practiced at 40 weeks of age according to 40-week body weight (BW), egg production (EP) up to 40-week, egg weight (EW) at 40 weeks, and age at maturity (ASM). The data were analyzed in a CRD. Day-old chick weight was significantly (P < 0.001) highest in HI (32.52 ± 0.32 g). Significant (P < 0.001) body weight differences among the genotypes were observed at the 12th week of age. Genotype had a significant effect on chick mortality. The average age at the first egg of ND 145.54days was 8.81 days earlier than that of HI 154.35days. Hatchability on fertile eggs differed significantly (P < 0.05) among the genotypes. The percentage of dead germ was affected (P < 0.001) by genotype. Feed consumption from 9 to 16 weeks showed a significant (P < 0.001) variation in feed intake among the native chicken genotypes. EP of ND, HI, and NN birds were expected to increase by 0.875, 1.585, and 0.255 %, respectively. The EW of ND, HI, and NN birds were expected to increase by 0.205, 0.250, and 0.015g, respectively. Responses to selection for EP and EW for three genotypes (ND, HI, and NN) were expected to be positive (increase). It is concluded that the Hilly genotype may be chosen for meat production and the Non-descript Deshi genotype for egg production.

Exploring the Chemical Content of Primula veris L. subsp. veris Wild-Growing Populations along a Climate Gradient: An HPLC-PDA-MS Quality Assessment of Flowers, Leaves and Roots for Sustainable Exploitation

Primula veris (cowslip) is an important medicinal–aromatic plant used traditionally for its expectorant and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as a valuable horticultural plant with ornamental value and agroalimentary interest (edible flowers and leaves). With extensive illegal harvesting across northern Greece to date, the long-term survival of Greek cowslip wild-growing populations seems compromised. With the aim to characterize the phytochemical content of locally adapted native genotypes of P. veris subsp. veris, we examined samples from 13 wild-growing populations sourced from 8 mountain areas along a longitudinal gradient of northern Greece. Flowers, leaves, and roots were separately evaluated with HPLC-PDA-MS for their chemical content to select the genotypes associated with the best phytochemical traits. The flowers were found to contain mainly flavonoids, isorhamnetin, quercetin, and kaempferol triglycosides, with varied population contents, generally higher in northwestern population samples with a colder and more humid climate; however, all in line with the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) reports. The leaves were characterized by the prevalence of kaempferol and quercetin triglycosides, being generally higher than that of the flowers. In the roots, saponins were detected in relatively low percentages, and the phenolic glycosides were found up to nearly 2%. The results of this study suggest a potential specificity of the marginal Greek genotypes being at the edge of the species’ native distribution range in Europe and Asia. The phytochemical characterization herein supports the domestication process of Greek native cowslip genotypes. In turn, this may alleviate the overharvesting pressure in wild populations, thus contributing to species conservation and offering an incentive for farmers to sustainably cultivate at local scales well-adapted indigenous genotypes of high value.

Genetic Assessment, Propagation and Chemical Analysis of Flowers of Rosa damascena Mill. Genotypes Cultivated in Greece

Rosa damascena Mill. is commercially the most important rose species used to produce essential oils. The plants of this species, cultivated in the district of Western Macedonia (Greece) for rose oil production, originated from indigenous genotypes but also nurseries abroad, mainly from Bulgaria. The present study investigated the genetic relationship between nine genotypes of R. damascena from Greece, one genotype from Turkey, three genotypes from Bulgaria and three genotypes from France using the molecular markers ISSR and SCoT. Also, the rooting ability of shoot cuttings from these nine genotypes was investigated by applying 2 g/L of the rooting regulator K-IBA. In addition, petals were chemically analyzed using GC-MS and LC-MS to identify the compounds that are the main components of the rose oil. The nine rose genotypes of R. damascena, cultivated in Greece, one from Turkey and one of the three genotypes from Bulgaria were clustered in one clade in the dendrogram. The other two genotypes from Bulgaria were clustered in a separate clade that demonstrated the existence of genetic diversity among the three Bulgarian genotypes, while the French genotypes were clustered in a third clade. The shoot cuttings rooted relatively easily (55–70%) with the application of K-IBA, without any significant differences among the nine genotypes. Large variation was observed among the nine genotypes in the main volatile compounds of the flower petal extracts, which are related to rose oil components. For these compounds, the concentrations in μg/g of the fresh petal weight were 2-phenylethylalcohol (1148.35–2777.19), nerol (27.45–64.93), citronellol (88.45–206.59), geraniol (69.12–170.99) and nonadecane (209.27–533.15). Of the non-volatile compounds, gallic acid was the most abundant phenolic acid in the petal extracts of the nine genotypes (0.28–0.82 μg/g), while for the flavonoids, quercetin and kaempferol variations of 0.35–1.17 μg/g and 0.26–2.13 μg/g were recorded, respectively.

Genotypic variability of drought-tolerance responses in underutilized indigenous finger millet genotypes

Genotypic variability of drought-tolerance responses in underutilized indigenous finger millet genotypes

Morpho-agronomic variability of okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench] genotypes in Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia.

A total of 21 okra genotypes were evaluated for 25 morpho-agronomic traits in 2020 at Dire Dawa, Ethiopia in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Analysis of variance showed significant differences at p<0.05 level of significance for all traits. Estimates of genotypic (GCV) and phenotypic (PCV) coefficients of variation range from 9.16 to 42.3% and 9.33 to 44.16%, respectively. Heritability in a broad sense (H2) and genetic advance as a percent of the mean (GAM) ranged from 29.57 to 91.89% and 10.39 to 83.53%, respectively. Estimated variability components (GCV, PCV, H2, and GAM) were high and moderate for all traits except days to 50% emergence 9.33% of GCV and PCV, internode length 9.16% of GCV and green fruit width 29.57% of H2 that were categorized under low. The first four principal component axes (PCA1 to PCA4) accounted for 7.83 to 35.02%, which accounted 74.56% of the total variability with eigenvalues that ranged from 1.95 to 8.75. Genetic distances estimated by Euclidean distance from the 25 traits ranged from 2.33 to 12.56 with a mean of 6.83, standard deviation of 1.8, and a coefficient of variation of 26.46%. The genotypes were grouped into four distinct clusters using the Euclidean distance matrix using UPGMA. Indigenous okra genotypes collected from Ethiopia were more divergent with high genetic distances and had a higher performance for most of the traits including growth, green fruit yield, and seed yield than introduced genotypes. In conclusion, this study showed the presence of variation among genotypes for most of the traits, indicating that selection of genotypes could be effective to develop okra varieties with high green fruit and seed yield through direct selection or crossing.

Screening and growth assessment of indigenous and exotic sesame genotypes under osmotic stress

Drought stress decrease plant growth especially during germination and seedling stages in dry areas. The plants of Sesame are moderately tolerant to drought although it is sensitive at germination and seedling stages. About 102 different sesame genotypes were acquired from the Ayub Agriculture Research Institute Faisalabad Pakistan and Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit (USDA) Griffin Georgia United States. Including two local varieties as check screened against drought tolerant were conducted in central lab of PMAS-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan during July 2019 by using 3 levels of osmotic potential (0, -0.18, and -0.36Mpa) created through Polyethylene Glycol (PEG 8000) following the complete randomized design and data were collected on growth and early seedling indices of sesame. The Hierarchical Cluster Analysis was performed by using IBM SPSS Statistics 23 software on the basis of drought tolerance index (DTI) and Membership Function Value (MFV). Results showed significant decline by increasing osmotic potential regarding studied traits. Ten (10) drought tolerant sesame genotypes namely PI – 153509PI – 154304 PI – 158053 PI – 158059 PI – 175907 PI – 158902 PI – 164142 PI – 164317 PI – 164763 PI – 180340 were selected which exhibited the DTI value (0.451 - 0.525) with the mean MFV value ranged from (0.856 - 0.913) and 5 genotypes had DTI value ranging from (0.075 - 0.150). The genotypes with average DTI ≥ 0.525 were considered as highly drought tolerant genotypes. Contrary, the genotypes with an average DTI ≤ 0.225 were considered drought sensitive and 20 genotypes were highly drought sensitive (HDS) with mean MFV value ranged from 0.103 - 0.196. Genotypes with drought tolerance characteristics can be used for future breeding programs to develop drought tolerant varieties for increasing growth and yield of sesame in drought prone areas.

SSR analysis to assess genetic diversity and population structure in parthenocarpy cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

SSR analysis to assess genetic diversity and population structure in parthenocarpy cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

Nutritional Parameters of Goat Milk and Its Consumption in Rural Communities

A survey was conducted using a pretested, semi-structured questionnaire in Mutoko district to determine the extent of goat milk consumption and reasons for the possible low-to-non-consumption of goat milk. A total of 120 respondents were randomly selected. Fresh goat milk samples were also collected from Mashona and Matabele goat breeds and analysed using a Milko-scan FT 6000 (FOSS, HillerOD, Denmark) to determine nutrient composition. Results from the study indicated that goat milk is lowly utilized – with only 14% of the surveyed households consuming goat milk. The respondents cited that goat milk was lowly utilised because goat milk consumption is traditionally uncommon in the area (57.70%) and has an undesirable strong smell (17.06%). Consuming goat milk was associated with reduced social status (10.66%). Respondents that had access to sufficient cow milk (13.96%) do not consume goat milk. Estimated mean milk yield per goat per milking, as reported in the study was 310.0±114.02 mL. High levels of education were associated with increased tendency to consume goat milk (χ2=246; df=40, p=0.000). Mashona goat milk had higher lactose (4.36%) and protein (4.77%) but lower fat content (3.45%) than Matabele goat milk. While goat milk is less popular in the study area, the milk from these indigenous goat genotypes is characterised by good nutritional value comparable to the accepted values of good quality milk. The quality of the milk, coupled with feeding and breed selection interventions to increase yield, has potential to be a rich nutrient source for small-holder communities threatened by malnutrition.

Evaluation of some promising indigenous brinjal genotypes under terai region of West Bengal

Present experiment was implemented under the Department of Vegetable and Spice Crops, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Coochbehar which situated at terai region of West Bengal during the autumn-winter season of 2019-20 and 2020-21 on 28 highly diversified brinjal genotypes on ten highly important yield and yield attributing traits to assess the extent of involvement of different genetic phenomena in manifestation of important yield related traits and to understand the inter relationship among them to design better selection criteria. Result revealed that there was close proximity in the magnitude among the component of coefficient of variation and these component exhibited high estimates coupled with high heritability for almost all the characters excepting days to first flowers and days to fruit maturity indicated less interference of the environmental factors in the manifestation of these traits. High magnitude of heritability coupled with genetic advance of mean for those character suggested possibility for selecting these characters based on phenotypic performance for further improvement at desired direction. Residual effect from path analysis was 0.1367 at genotypic level which suggested that contribution of the traits under study was approximately 86.5% on yield, argued for appropriate selection of traits for success of present experimental study. From character associationship and path coefficient it was found that expected yield was highly correlated in positive direction with average fruits per plant (0.68 and 0.801), average fruit weight (0.48 and 0.565), numbers of primary branches per plant (0.51 and 0.113); hence, these yield attributing traits were significantly positively related with each other which suggested that simultaneous selective breeding strategy considering these characters for improvement of yield could be rewarding due to their probable conditioning by additive gene action.

Genetic Diversity of Common Olive (Olea europaea L.) Cultivars from Nikita Botanical Gardens Collection Revealed Using RAD-Seq Method.

In different countries, interest in the commercial cultivation of the olive has recently greatly increased, which has led to the expansion of its range. The Crimean Peninsula is the northern limit of the common olive (Olea europaea L.) range. A unique collection of common olive's cultivars and hybrids has been collected in the Nikitsky Botanical Gardens (NBG). The aim of this study was to assess the genetic diversity of 151 samples (total of several biological replicates of 46 olive cultivars including 29 introduced and 11 indigenous genotypes) using the ddRAD sequencing method. Structural analysis showed that the studied samples are divided into ten groups, each of which mainly includes cultivars of the same origin. Cultivars introduced to the Crimean Peninsula from different regions formed separate groups, while local cultivars joined different groups depending on their origin. Cultivars of Crimean origin contain admixtures of mainly Italian and Caucasian cultivars' genotypes. Our study showed that the significant number of Crimean cultivars contains an admixture of the Italian cultivar "Coreggiolo". Genetic analysis confirmed the synonymy for the cv. "Otur" and "Nikitskaya 2", but not for the other four putative synonyms. Our results revealed the genetic diversity of the olive collection of NBG and provided references for future research studies, especially in selection studies for breeding programs.

The Ancient Olive Trees (Olea europaea L.) of the Maltese Islands: A Rich and Unexplored Patrimony to Enhance Oliviculture.

A prospecting campaign in the Maltese Islands has ensured the survival of several ancient olive trees (Olea europaea L.), genetically distant from known cultivars. Most of these plants were abandoned or partially cultivated. A two-year evaluation of fruit characteristics and compositions was performed on samples collected from the main representatives of these indigenous genotypes. Analyses were carried out using Gas Chromatography, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Near Infrared Spectrometry. Among the fruit samples, a wide range of variations was observed. Some of the genotypes showed fruit traits suitable for table olive production. This is the case of samples with a pulp/pit ratio higher than four, such as 1Wardija, 1Caritas, 1Plattini, 1Bingemma Malta and 3Loretu, whilst 1Bidni, 1Mellieha, 2Qnotta, 3Loretu, 1Bingemma Malta and 1Caritas were suitable for dual purpose. The total phenol content ranged from 6.3 (1Wardija) to 117.9 (2Mtarfa) g/kg of fresh pulp. The average percentage of MUFA was quite low for most of the varieties. These genotypes, which presumably originated in the Maltese Islands and are well adapted to the local pedo-climatic conditions, are being propagated for the following evaluation of their bio-agronomical performance (production, suitability to intensive cultivation, environmental sustainability, product quality, etc.). The purpose is to select, among these local genotypes, the most outstanding varieties, in terms of phenolic and FA profile and agronomical potential, to spread into cultivation, thereby contributing to an increase in the quality of the local table and olive oil production, strongly linked to the territory.