Major Vegetable Crops Research Articles

IMPORTANCE AND PRODUCTION OF BULLET CHILLE PEPPER IN NEPAL; EFFICIENT NUTRIENT AND IT’S ESTABLISHMENT & MANAGEMENT

The Bullet Chilli Pepper (Capsicum spp.) is a major vegetable crop grown around the world, owing to its economic and nutritional value. This plant is a member of the broad Solanaceae family. The key challenges for vegetable crop improvement are related to agriculture’s long-term sustainability, food stability, and rising market demand. Chilli peppers grow well in a tropical climate due to their adaptation to warm and humid regions with temperature ranging from 18-30 degree Celsius. Nowadays, chilli peppers are cultivated all around the world under different climatic conditions and their production is gradually expanding. The origins of resistance to a wide range of pathogens in pepper, as well as the mechanisms of resistance to various biotic stresses, are discussed in this review article.

Tomato growth, yield, and quality response to mixed chemical–organic fertilizers and grafting treatments in a high tunnel environment

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a major vegetable crop world-wide and grown in high tunnels in many regions. This study investigates the use of two fertilizer sources, chemical and integrated (composted poultry manure plus urea) fertilizers, and grafting on growth, nitrate-N content, yield, and fruit quality of tomato grown in high tunnels in northwestern Washington. Grafting treatments consisted of ‘Panzer’ tomato grafted on one of three tomato rootstocks ‘Estamino’, Maxifort’, ‘DRO138TX’, or non-grafted (control). Application of chemical fertilizer increased number of leaves per plant, plant height, and cumulative fresh biomass of pruned suckers relative to tomato plants grown with the integrated fertilizer treatment. Grafted tomato plants had greater plant growth than non-grafted plants throughout the growing season. There was no significant difference between fertilizer treatments on nitrate-N concentration in plant tissue or fresh petiole sap; however, grafted plants contained higher levels of nitrate-N than non-grafted plants. Total and marketable fruit weight and number did not differ due to fertilizer source, but total and marketable fruit weight was higher for grafted plants than for non-grafted plants in 2016. There was no significant effect due to fertilizer source on fruit firmness, water content, pH, titratable acidity, and β-carotene; however, total soluble solids (TSS) and lycopene content were higher for fruit grown with integrated fertilizer in 2016. Grafting enhanced water content of tomato fruit in 2015, and TSS (°Brix) in 2016.

COVID‐19 impact on fruit and vegetable markets: One year later

More than 1 year after the outbreak of COVID‐19, Canadian fruit and vegetable markets continue to adjust to the evolving landscape. In this article, we focus on three key measures of input and output market performance that serve as indicators of the stability of fruit and vegetable markets in Canada in the medium‐term, and offer some insight for how these markets will continue to adjust in the longer run. Specifically, we use data to highlight the most recent trends in (1) the production and aggregate movement for major fruit and vegetable crops in the United States and Canada, (2) labor supply and immigration visa patterns, and (3) U.S.–Canada trade patterns for fruits and vegetables. We provide evidence that the fresh produce supply chain in Canada, and for markets in their largest trade partner in the United States, has remained relatively robust.

CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Generation of Pathogen-Resistant Tomato against Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus and Powdery Mildew.

Tomato is one of the major vegetable crops consumed worldwide. Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and fungal Oidium sp. are devastating pathogens causing yellow leaf curl disease and powdery mildew. Such viral and fungal pathogens reduce tomato crop yields and cause substantial economic losses every year. Several commercial tomato varieties include Ty-5 (SlPelo) and Mildew resistance locus o 1 (SlMlo1) locus that carries the susceptibility (S-gene) factors for TYLCV and powdery mildew, respectively. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) is a valuable genome editing tool to develop disease-resistant crop varieties. In this regard, targeting susceptibility factors encoded by the host plant genome instead of the viral genome is a promising approach to achieve pathogen resistance without the need for stable inheritance of CRISPR components. In this study, the CRISPR/Cas9 system was employed to target the SlPelo and SlMlo1 for trait introgression in elite tomato cultivar BN-86 to confer host-mediated immunity against pathogens. SlPelo-knockout lines were successfully generated, carrying the biallelic indel mutations. The pathogen resistance assays in SlPelo mutant lines confirmed the suppressed accumulation of TYLCV and restricted the spread to non-inoculated plant parts. Generated knockout lines for the SlMlo1 showed complete resistance to powdery mildew fungus. Overall, our results demonstrate the efficiency of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to introduce targeted mutagenesis for the rapid development of pathogen-resistant varieties in tomato.

Species Richness and Carbon Footprints of Vegetable Oils: Can High Yields Outweigh Palm Oil’s Environmental Impact?

Palm oil has been widely criticised for its high environmental impacts, leading to calls to replace it with alternative vegetable oils in food and cosmetic products. However, substituting palm oil would be environmentally beneficial only if the environmental footprint per litre oil were lower than those of alternative vegetable oils. Whether this is the case is not obvious, given the high oil yields of oil palm of up to 10 times those of alternative crops. Here, we combine global agricultural and environmental datasets to show that, among the world’s seven major vegetable oil crops (oil palm, soybean, rapeseed, sunflower, groundnut, coconut, olive), oil palm has the lowest average species richness and carbon footprint associated with an annual production of one litre of vegetable oil. For each crop, these yield-adjusted footprints differ substantially between major producer countries, which we find to be largely the result of differences in crop management. Closing agricultural yield gaps of oil crops through improved management practices would significantly reduce the environmental footprints per oil yield. This would minimise the need for further land conversion to oil cropland and indeed could increase production to such an extent that a significant area of oil croplands could be ecologically restored.

Widely Targeted Metabolomics Analysis Reveals Key Quality-Related Metabolites in Kernels of Sweet Corn.

Sweet corn (Zea mays convar. saccharata var. rugosa) is a major economic vegetable crop. Different sweet corn cultivars vary largely in flavor, texture, and nutrition. The present study performed widely targeted metabolomics analysis based on the HPLC-MS/MS technology to analyze the metabolic profiles in three sweet corn cultivars widely grown in China. A total of 568 metabolites in the three sweet corn cultivars were detected, of which 262 differential metabolites significantly changed among cultivars. Carbohydrates, organic acids, and amino acids were the majority detected primary metabolites. Organic acids were mainly concentrated on shikimate, benzoic acids, and quinic acid with aromatic groups. And the essential amino acids for the human body, methionine and threonine, were highly accumulated in the high-quality cultivar. In addition, phenylpropanoids and alkaloids were the most enriched secondary metabolites while terpenes were low-detected in sweet corn kernels. We found that the flavonoids exist in both free form and glycosylated form in sweet corn kernels. PCA and HCA revealed clear separations among the three sweet corn cultivars, suggesting distinctive metabolome profiles among three cultivars. The differential metabolites were mapped into flavonoid biosynthesis, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, biosynthesis of amino acids, and other pathways according to the KEGG classification. Furthermore, we identified skimmin, N′,N″-diferuloylspermidine, and 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid as the key quality-related metabolites related to grain quality traits in sweet corn. The results suggested variations of metabolic composition among the three cultivars, providing the reference quality-related metabolites for sweet corn breeding.

Market integration of selected tomato markets in Northern India

Vegetable production could be one of the best alternatives to break wheat-paddy rotation in the northern India. Among all the vegetables, tomato crop is a major vegetable crop after potato, chillies and peas. The study was conducted to assess the integration of tomato markets in northern India.. The present study was supported by the monthly wholesale prices of tomato data for the period of 201119 in the four national markets of India namely Amritsar, Ludhiana, Shimla and Delhi. The instability in the prices of vegetables is influenced by the number of factors such as variation in production, low price elasticity of demand, perishability and seasonality. Time series analysis of monthly prices indicated that seasonal price index does not follow any particular trend in these markets. The intra price rise (IPR), Average seasonal price variation (ASPV) and the coefficient of variation were found to be highest in Delhi and lowest for Shimla. The higher seasonal indices of all the markets were observed during the months of July-August-September-November. This was due to the early influx of monsoon which partially damaged tomato crop and led to tremendous effect on the supply and afterwards higher prices. The wholesale price series of tomato in Shimla, Delhi and Ludhiana markets were stationery at original series except Amritsar market which became stationery after first order differencing. Johensen's co-integration and Granger causality test was used to analyze the long run relationship among markets. All the markets were co-integrated with each other and were having a long run relationship. Majority of the markets were having a bidirectional price relationship and few have shown unidirectional/non-price movements.

COVID-19 Impact on Fruit and Vegetable Markets: One Year Later

More than one year after the outbreak of COVID-19, fruit and vegetable markets continue to adjust to the evolving landscape. In this article, we focus on three key measures of input and output market performance that serve as indicators of the stability of fruit and vegetable markets in the medium-term, and offer some insight for how these markets will continue to adjust in the longer run. Specifically, we use data to highlight the most recent trends in (i) the production and aggregate movement for major fruit and vegetable crops in the United States and Canada, (ii) labour supply and immigration visa patterns, and (iii) U.S.-Canada trade patterns for fruits and vegetables. We provide evidence that the fresh produce supply chain hasremained relatively robust in the months following the outbreak of COVID-19.

Farmers’ constraints and extension strategies for increasing the adoption of recommended plant protection practices in brinjal cultivation

Brinjal is a major vegetable crop grown in Tamil Nadu and it is one of the crops that uses the most chemicals for pest control. Though agricultural scientists and extension personnel are emphasizing on merits of Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM) methods, the adoption of IPDM is limited among farmers as they faced with multi pronged challenges. The major constraints faced by farmers in adoption of the recommended practices and extension strategies to improve the adoption by the farmers are described in this study. Ex-post facto research design was adopted and the research was carried out with 120 brinjal growers purposively selected from two blocks of Salem district in Tamil Nadu. Nearly half of the brinjal growers (45.83%) felt that high incidence of pest and non-availability of predators, traps (45.00%) were the prime constraints. Multi disciplinary approach to research, educating people are some of the methods suggested.

Growth and yield performance of different open pollinated tomato genotypes in Terai region of Nepal

Tomato is one of the major vegetable crops inNepal. The productivity of tomato in Nepal is very low due to lack of high yielding, disease and pests resistant varieties.The objective of the experiement was to evaluate the performance of open pollinated tomato genotypes. Ten open pollinated tomato genotypes were evaluated at on-station research field of Regional Agricultural Research Station, Parwanipur, Bara in the winter seasons of 2015 and 2017, and seven tomato genotypes were evaluated at farmers’ fields of Bara and Parsa districts, Nepal in the winter seasons of 2017 and 2018.The experiments were carried out in randomized complete block design with three replications. Results of the on-station experiments showed that HRDTOM084 produced the highest yield (29.1 t/ha in 2015 and 28.5 t/ha in 2017) and showed consistant performance over the two seasons. It was the superior genotype in terms of yield and yield attributing traits. Tomato genotypes HRDTOM011, HRD109, HRDTOM080 and HRDTOM086 were found vigorous with a score value 5 in 1 to 5 rating scale. The results of the farmers’ field experiment showed that the tomato genotypes HRDTOM084 and HRDTOM085 were found more productive and high yielding compared to other genotypes. The highest yield was produced in HRDTOM084 with a mean of two season yield 49.85 t/ha followed by HRDTOM085 with a mean of two season yield 47.42 t/ha).These genotypes showed moderate resistance to late blight and septoria leaf spot with a score value of 2.3 in 1-5 rating scale. Therefore, HRDTOM084 and HRDTOM085 were the most productive and gave higher yield compared to others. Hence, these two tomato genotypes can be used by tomato growers under field conditions in Terai region of Nepal.

Assessment of Irrigation Water Requirement for Major Vegetable Crops Using Penman-Monteith and Alternative Models in Northern Togo

Climate change has seriously impacted water availability and agriculture production in arid and semi-arid climates. Estimation of actual crop evapotranspiration (ETa) is critical for agricultural water resource management and proper irrigation scheduling. This study aimed to (1) estimate the reference evapotranspiration (ETo) and four vegetables actual ETa during crop off season using Penman–Monteith method and alternative climatic data models and, (2) to determine the irrigation water requirement for these main vegetable crops in northern Togo. Four (4) ground based weather stations were considered across the northern region of Togo for 1987 - 2016 period. Non parametric Mann-Kendall test was used for the significance of the trend analysis of off season reference and actual evapotranspiration. The results showed a decreasing trend in off season ETo at Dapaong, Mango and Kara weather stations while Niamtougou showed an increasing trend in the long term ETo. From all stations, only Niamtougou had a significant increasing trend in ETa for all vegetable crops under this study. Among the study locations, Mango had the highest irrigation water requirement for all four vegetable crops, followed by Kara. The lowest irrigation requirement was obtained at Dapaong. These results will help in irrigation planning for tomato, cabbage, carrot and onion in the semi-arid climate of Togo and similar environment.

Conservation Agriculture and Integrated Pest Management Practices Improve Yield and Income while Reducing Labor, Pests, Diseases and Chemical Pesticide Use in Smallholder Vegetable Farms in Nepal

Improving smallholder vegetable farms are critical for improving food security and livelihoods of people in low-income countries. Vegetable production is labor intensive and prone to pests and diseases. Conservation agriculture (CA) and integrated pest management (IPM) practices provide options to increase yields and minimize the use of chemical pesticides. We compared integration of CA and IPM practices (improved alternative system) with farmers’ traditional practice (conventional system) under replicated on-farm tests in four different locations (Lalitpur, Banke, Surkhet, and Dadeldhura) in Nepal. Data on yield, benefit–cost ratio (B:C), labor requirement, insect and disease infestation, and pesticide sprays on five major vegetable crops (tomato, cucumber, bitter gourd, cabbage, cauliflower) were measured. In tomatoes, cucumbers, and bitter gourds, the improved alternative system produced a significantly higher yield, greater benefit-cost ratio, reduced labor, decreased the infestation of pests and diseases, and required fewer pesticidal sprays. Average yield and net income were superior in cabbages and cauliflowers, but nonsignificant. Improved alternative system for all the vegetables were sprayed significantly fewer times than the conventional system. Overall, the improved alternative system for vegetable crops contributed not only to the improved income and livelihoods of people, but also can improve environment and human health due to the reduced use of pesticides. Further research on scaling these improved alternative practices through appropriate farmer organizations, and government and non-government actors can enhance the adoption of CA and IPM practices by smallholder vegetable producers.

Transcriptome Profiling Data of Botrytis cinerea Infection on Whole Plant Solanum lycopersicum.

Botrytis cinerea is a foliar necrotrophic fungal-pathogen capable of infecting >580 genera of plants, is often used as model organism for studying fungal-host interactions. We used RNAseq to study transcriptome of B. cinerea infection on a major (worldwide) vegetable crop, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Most previous works explored only few infection stages, using RNA extracted from entire leaf-organ diluting the expression of studied infected region. Many studied B. cinerea infection, on detached organs assuming that similar defense/physiological reactions occurs in the intact plant. We analyzed transcriptome of the pathogen and host in 5 infection stages of whole-plant leaves at the infection site. We supply high quality, pathogen-enriched gene count that facilitates future research of the molecular processes regulating the infection process.

Isolation, identification and biocontrol potential of entomopathogenic nematodes occurring in Purvanchal and Bundelkhand regions of Uttar Pradesh, India

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are being used for the management of insect pests occurring in both agricultural and horticultural crops. But native EPNs are reasonably more efficacious in controlling insect pests than introduced EPNs species because they are adapted to local environmental conditions and insect pests. Therefore, in the present study, a survey was conducted to isolate EPNs at 4 districts of Purvanchal Region and 1 district of Bundelkhand Region of Uttar Pradesh, India, between 2016 and 2017 years. Out of 130 soil samples, EPNs were recovered from 3 soil samples (2.3%). Morphological characters examination and ITS-rDNA region revealed that the 3 EPNs such as Steinernema sp. (IIVR JNC01 strain) Steinernema sp. (IIVR JNC02 strain), and Steinernema sp. (IIVR EPN03 strain) are belonging to Steinernema siamkayai. Further pathogenicity of all these strains was tested on Galleria mellonella Linnaeus and the most effective strain was used to determine the biocontrol potential against lepidopteran and coleopteran pests of major vegetable crops in comparison to commercially available Heterorhabditis indica (NBAIIH38 strain). Results revealed that S. siamkayai (IIVR JNC01 strain) caused 100, 100, and 85%, mortality of 3rd instar larvae of Spodoptera litura Fabricius, Spilosoma obliqua Walker, and Spoladea recurvalis Fabricius, respectively. Similarly, S. siamkayai (IIVR JNC01 strain) caused 92.5% mortality of 2nd instar grubs of Myllocerus subfaciatus Gurein under laboratory conditions. The present study revealed that EPNs commonly present at Purvanchal and Bundelkhand regions of Uttar Pradesh and S. siamkayai (IIVR JNC01 strain) isolated from the Bundelkhand Region showed a good biocontrol potential against major insect pests of vegetable crops.

Effect of cyclic irrigation using moderately saline and non‐saline water on onion (Allium cepa L.) yield and soil salinization in semi‐arid areas of Northern Ethiopia*

AbstractDue to the scarcity and/or unreliability of canal water supply, seepage water is haphazardly used for sole irrigation or in conjunction with canal water in most small‐scale irrigation schemes in northern Ethiopia. This has been a major cause of low crop yield and has aggravated soil salinization. The problem is more exacerbated for onion, which is the major irrigated vegetable crop and is sensitive to salinity. Thus, it is essential to assess a sustainable way to use both water resources conjunctively for the production of onion. A new study in the Ethiopian context was conducted to evaluate the effect of cyclic irrigation using non‐saline canal water (EC, 0.41–0.78 dS m−1) and moderately saline seepage water (EC, 0.82–2.19 dS m−1) on onion yield and soil salinization for two seasons (2014/2015 and 2015/2016) in the Gumselassa irrigation scheme, Ethiopia. Four irrigation water treatments were applied with three replications consisting of: C (canal), S (seepage), 2CS (two canal and seepage) and CS (canal and seepage). In both seasons, the onion bulb yield variations between the C, 2CS and CS treatments were not significant; however, the S treatment reduced the onion yield significantly compared to all but CS in 2015/2016. The S treatment resulted in significant salt accumulation in the upper soil profile (0–20 cm). The alternate (C : S) cyclic option is thus recommended for alleviation of the problem of freshwater scarcity, without undue onion yield reduction and soil salinization in Gumselassa and similar irrigation schemes.

Issues and approaches for linking small vegetables growers to markets in Bihar: A policy brief

This paper discusses the importance of markets to the rural people and strategy to achieve the remunerative price of their produced in order to reduce hunger and poverty as well as promoting health and nutrition in Bihar. This paper undertakes a situational analysis of existing marketing pattern, disposal pattern as well as expenses incurred while marketing of major vegetable crops in target district of Bihar based on five year average of data collected from traders , producers and consumers for the period from 2013-2018. Trend in arrivals and prices of major vegetables in the selected markets indicated that there was an increasing trend in arrivals and prices of different vegetables over different periods which might be because of the increase in general price level and increase in population. The major focused was on development of proper enterprise based policy for enhancing the livelihood security and creation of procurement centre in each production zones that would be act as added incentives to the vegetable growers. Therefore reliance type of organized retail market at public- private mode should be initiated as alternate channel for the marketing of vegetables and Gujarat kind of marketing model should be implemented for dairy products in which value addition should be initiated by the farmers.Linking small farmers to markets would only be possible through organized mandi /proper collection centre i.e. one centre for five villages should be established to assure the supply of vegetables in Bihar.

A method of transformation and current progress in transgenic research on cucumbers and Cucurbita species.

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) and Cucurbita species (squashes, pumpkins, and gourds), belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family, are among the major vegetable crops in the world. Transgenic approaches could contribute to the accumulation of new knowledge of these species and to the development of elite cultivars. Despite this, research reports using transformants of these species are very limited so far. One of the reasons for this may be that although there are effective transformation methods, these methods are not well known among researchers. In the present review, we describe efficient protocols for the transformation of cucumber and squash plants and mention possible pitfalls in and advice for following these protocols. In addition, we discuss the current progress of genetic transformation research using cucumbers and squash, including genome editing.

Identification and characterization of important sterile and maintainer lines from various genotypes for advanced breeding programmes of onion (Allium cepa)

AbstractOnion is one of the major vegetable crops in terms of production as well as consumption. In the current research, available onion genetic stock was evaluated to identify male‐sterile lines and produce high‐yielding F1 hybrids for future breeding programmes. A mitochondrial DNA‐based marker was mapped and correlated with phenotypic traits to isolate male‐sterile plants. Based on the floral and pollen structure, nine putative male‐sterile lines were identified. On the other hand, for nuclear marker identification at Ms locus, two sets of primers were used, one for Ms dominant allele and another for sterile and maintainer plants. Results revealed that 70% of open pollinated varieties (OPVs) possess plants with sterile cytoplasm coupled with genetic sterility at Ms locus, called sterile “A” line. Approximately 20% of plants in some genotypes were identified with normal (N) cytoplasm having recessive fertility gene at Ms locus, called maintainer “B” line. Based on the present findings, “A”, “B” and “R” (restorer line), future F1 hybrid seed production systems in onion is discussed.

Technological gaps in major vegetable crops and suggestions to sustain the vegetable production

Technological gaps in major vegetable crops and suggestions to sustain the vegetable production

Overview of Biotic Stresses in Pepper (Capsicum spp.): Sources of Genetic Resistance, Molecular Breeding and Genomics.

Pepper (Capsicum spp.) is one of the major vegetable crops grown worldwide largely appreciated for its economic importance and nutritional value. This crop belongs to the large Solanaceae family, which, among more than 90 genera and 2500 species of flowering plants, includes commercially important vegetables such as tomato and eggplant. The genus includes over 30 species, five of which (C. annuum, C. frutescens, C. chinense, C. baccatum, and C. pubescens) are domesticated and mainly grown for consumption as food and for non-food purposes (e.g., cosmetics). The main challenges for vegetable crop improvement are linked to the sustainable development of agriculture, food security, the growing consumers’ demand for food. Furthermore, demographic trends and changes to climate require more efficient use of plant genetic resources in breeding programs. Increases in pepper consumption have been observed in the past 20 years, and for maintaining this trend, the development of new resistant and high yielding varieties is demanded. The range of pathogens afflicting peppers is very broad and includes fungi, viruses, bacteria, and insects. In this context, the large number of accessions of domesticated and wild species stored in the world seed banks represents a valuable resource for breeding in order to transfer traits related to resistance mechanisms to various biotic stresses. In the present review, we report comprehensive information on sources of resistance to a broad range of pathogens in pepper, revisiting the classical genetic studies and showing the contribution of genomics for the understanding of the molecular basis of resistance.