Wide Adaptability Research Articles

Effects of Climate Change on Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) Growth across Europe: Decrease of Tree-Ring Fluctuation and Amplification of Climate Stress

From an economic perspective, Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is one of Europe’s most important tree species. It is characterized by its wide ecological adaptability across its natural range. This research aimed to evaluate the forest structure, productivity and especially radial growth of heterogenous pine stands in 16 research plots in the Czech Republic, Poland, Spain and Great Britain. The study assessed the tree-ring formation and its relationship to climate change for each country, using 163 dendrochronological samples. The stand volume of mature pine forest ranged between 91 and 510 m3 ha−1, and the carbon sequestration in the tree biomass was 40–210 t ha−1. The stands had a prevailing random distribution of trees, with a high vertical structure close to selection forests (forest stands with typical very diverse height, diameter and age structure). Spectral analyses showed a substantial decrease in fluctuations in the tree-ring index and a loss in natural growth cyclicity in the last thirty years. The results also evinced that mean air temperature was the most important factor influencing the radial growth compared to precipitation totals. Pine thrives in precipitation-stable locations, as shown by the results from Great Britain. The conclusions of this study confirm the fundamental effect of ongoing global climate change on the dynamics and growth of pine forests in Europe.

Improvement of cultivation techniques to increase sorghum productivity in Ende Regency, Indonesia

The sorghum crop has the potential to be developed in Ende Regency because it has wide adaptability and is tolerant to drought. Through proper processing, this commodity can be used as an alternative food for the people of NTT. Sorghum contains fibre that the body needs. Contains carbohydrates, nutrients, protein and vitamins. The main problem is the low productivity and income of sorghum farmers. This is because the cultivation technology is still conventional. Empowerment method used; counselling, training and mentoring. Technological improvements include tillage by ploughing once or twice and making beds. Overlapping sorghum with peanuts. The varieties used are Numbu, Suri 4, Super 1, Super 2, Soper 7 and Soper 9. Spacing Legowo 2: 1 where 2 rows of sorghum, 1 row of peanuts. Embroidery is done if the sorghum seeds do not grow. Fertilizers used, organic and inorganic, weeding at the age of 10-15 days, the second weeding together with the hilling, after the second fertilization. Pest control is carried out effectively. The application of cultivation technology affects increasing the productivity of sorghum.

Otimização da micropropagação de maçã silvestre ‘Zi Dieer’ através da proliferação de brotos axilares

ABSTRACT: Malus is an important ornamental plant around the world and widely used in commercial production due to its diversity and wide adaptability. ‘Zi Dieer’ crabapple has good adaptability to a wide temperature range (high and low), disease resistance, and high commercial value. To satisfy the market demand, we established ‘Zi Dieer’ crabapple micro-regeneration system for large-scale reproduction. Induced buds were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with various concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP: 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 mg/L) and 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA: 0.05, 0.1, 0.3 mg/L) for 35 days. The highest bud induction rate (93.3%) was observed on MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L BAP and 0.1 mg/L NAA, with average micro-shoot length of 1.32 cm. The germinated buds (1 cm in length) were propagated and cultured on MS medium supplemented with BAP (1.0, 1.5, 2.0 mg/L) and NAA (0.1, 0.3, 0.5 mg/L), after 35 days, on the MS basal medium supplemented with 1.5 mg/L BAP and 0.3 mg/L NAA, the best average number of new shoots is 8.56±0.13 (P<0.05) and good shoot length (4.94±0.09 cm), reproduction coefficient higher than MS medium (0) without PGRs. In order to induce rooting, the shoots (length 2 cm) are inserted in half strength MS (1/2 MS) medium containing 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 mg/L of 3-indole butyric acid (IBA) or NAA, and 1 g/L activated carbon (AC) was added on the basis of NAA 0.3 mg/L to study the effect of activated carbon on the rooting of crabapple. After 38 days of culture, compared with other treatments, among the explants treated with IBA, the rooting rate was higher in the 1/2 MS medium containing 0.1 mg/L (82.1%), and the highest root number (11.29±0.52) was observed, and the root length was the other treatments 2-3 times. Although, the highest rooting rate was observed on 1/2 MS medium containing 0.1mg/L NAA (87.8 %), but the bottom of these buds formed large callus, which was not conducive to survival, and the root length was short. In summary, a feasible and complete rapid propagation program for ‘Zi Dieer’ crabapple has been developed.

Optimal DoS attack on multi-channel cyber-physical systems: A Stackelberg game analysis

In this commentary, optimal denial-of-service (DoS) attack strategies on multi-channel cyber-physical systems (CPSs) are considered, which focus on energy allocation on communication channels. For simplicity, a Stackelberg game between one defender and one attacker is constructed. Compared with the existing literature, which mainly pay attention to static equilibrium, the dynamic process of the game is also exhibited in this paper, which fills the gap in the demonstration of dynamic decision-making between both players of the game. In the solution of Stackelberg equilibrium, a self-adaptive particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm with Sigmoid-like update function is applied to cope with the nonlinearity of the reward function with faster convergence and wider adaptability. Besides, to acquire better performance of both sides to allocate energy, an online computation algorithm is proposed for dynamic Stackelberg game. Finally, numerical examples are provided to illustrate similarities between theoretic static equilibrium and optimal strategies obtained by Monte Carlo simulations.

Evolution-Based Shape and Behavior Co-Design of Virtual Agents.

We introduce a novel co-design method for autonomous moving agents' shape attributes and locomotion by combining deep reinforcement learning and evolution with user control. Our main inspiration comes from evolution, which has led to wide variability and adaptation in Nature and has significantly improved design and behavior simultaneously. Our method takes an input agent with optional user-defined constraints, such as leg parts that should not evolve or are only within the allowed ranges of changes. It uses physics-based simulation to determine its locomotion and finds a behavior policy for the input design that is used as a baseline for comparison. The agent is randomly modified within the allowed ranges, creating a new generation of several hundred agents. The generation is trained by transferring the previous policy, which significantly speeds up the training. The best-performing agents are selected, and a new generation is formed using their crossover and mutations. The next generations are then trained until satisfactory results are reached. We show a wide variety of evolved agents, and our results show that even with only 10% of allowed changes, the overall performance of the evolved agents improves by 50%. If more significant changes to the initial design are allowed, our experiments' performance will improve even more to 150%. Our method significantly improved motion tasks without changing body structures, and it does not require considerable computation resources as it works on a single GPU and provides results by training thousands of agents within 30 minutes.

Efficiency and Cost of the “Fenton+Recapter” Combined Process for Treating the Electroplating Nickel Wastewater

The aim of this work was to investigate the “Fenton+Recapter” combined process for treating electroplating nickel wastewater. Firstly, five commonly used dithiocarbamate heavy recapters (DTC types) were compared and selected through trial tests. Then, the optimization of the sole Fenton process was carried out, including the dosing molar ratio of Fe2+/H2O2, the dosage of H2O2 and the reaction time. At last, the optimization and cost analysis of the combination process was carried out to meet the nickel wastewater treatment standards and to determine the optimal fit point. The experimental results showed that DTC-2 was a more suitable heavy recapter, with advantages of wide pH adaptation range (3.0-11.0), strong anti-interference, fast Ni removal rate, and low cost (1.20 ¥/t). The optimal molar ratio of Fe2+/H2O2 in the sole Fenton process was determined to be 0.8, which resulted in the optimum breaking effect and a 98.5% removal rate of Ni. The optimization of the combined process parameters showed that when the dosage of heavy recapter DTC-2 (1%) was 0.08 mg/L, 0.19 mg/L, 0.5 mg/L, 1.25 mg/L, 7.5 mg/L, and 25 mL/L respectively, the residual concentration of Ni in Fenton effluent was 0.2 mg/L, 0.3 mg/L, 0.5 mg/L, 0.7 mg/L, 1.0 mg/L, and 1.5 mg/L, which all could meet the discharge standards (concentration of Ni ≤0.1 mg/L). The best fit for the “Fenton+Recapter” combined process was to first treat nickel wastewater with Fenton until the Ni concentration was about 1.0 mg/L, and then use heavy recapter DTC-2 to capture and treat the wastewater until it meets the standard discharge. Under this condition, the treatment cost of the combined process was the lowest (7.79 ¥/t).

‘BRS Sarau’: A new late-ripening table peach cultivar with a wide climatic adaptation

‘BRS Sarau’: A new late-ripening table peach cultivar with a wide climatic adaptation

Adaptation potential of Miscanthus in a solonetz agricultural landscape

The aim of the study was to assess the ecological adaptability of Miscanthus cv. Soranovsky to saline agricultural landscapes and the phytomeliorative effect of the plant on saline soils. Location and time of the study. The field experimental part of the research was carried out in 2018-2020 in the central forest-steppe in the Barabinsky agrolandscape region (Experimental Research Station of the Siberian Federal Center for Agrobiotechnologies). Methods. The common methods of field and vegetation experiments, chemical analysis of soils and plant samples were used in the study. Results. Miscanthus can grow on solonetzic soils, providing a biomass yield of up to 5 t/ha under dry growing season conditions. The removal of nutrients from the soil by the biomass of Miscanthus stems was found to be low (8.2 kg/ha of nitrogen, 1.4 kg/ha of phosphorus and 9.7 kg/ha of potassium per year) due to their annual reutilization into rhizomes. This fact allow to avoid the danger of soil depletion during long-term cultivation of crops. Growing Miscanthus on meadow-chernozem solonetz for an average of three years led to changes in soil properties such as a decrease in pH, and changes in salts chemistry in the soil solution, manifested as a decrease in sodium bicarbonate content. Conclusions. Miscanthus as a crop has wide adaptation capabilities in relation to the marginal lands of the solonetz zone of West Siberia. Miscanthus plantings have a beneficial environment-forming effect on solonetz soils, due to the enrichment of soils with mineral nutrition elements and improvement of soil chemical properties.

Registration of ‘USDA Diamondback’ slow‐darkening pinto bean

AbstractThe pinto bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivar ‘USDA Diamondback’ (Reg. no. CV‐353, PI 698822) was released by the USDA‐ARS in 2022 as a high‐yielding cultivar with an upright architecture and the slow‐darkening seed coat trait. It was bred for tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses in a “purgatory” plot purposely managed to have compacted soil, low soil fertility, and intermittent drought conditions. Conversely, selection for high yield potential was conducted in non‐stress trials with tillage, irrigations, and fertilizers applied for optimal production. USDA Diamondback exhibits wide adaption to production regions across the United States, as evidenced by an average seed yield of 3808 kg ha−1 across 14 location‐years in the Cooperative Dry Bean Nursery. Virus testing and resistance gene–linked markers indicate USDA Diamondback has a three‐gene combination (bc‐ud, bc‐1, and bc‐3) that confers durable resistance to all known strains of Bean common mosaic virus and Bean common mosaic necrosis virus. A similar combination of pathogen and marker testing indicated that USDA Diamondback possesses the Ur‐3 and Ur‐6 genes for resistance to bean rust. The seed size, appearance, and canning quality characteristics of USDA Diamondback meets the industry standards for packaging and processing.

Methods of Blackberry Propagation in vitro Condition

Blackberry, one of the most important fruit species belonging to the Rosaceae family, can be grown in different environments due to having wide adaptation ability. Although it originated in Europe, today most of the common cultivars have North American origin. Also, expansion of its production last 25 years especially in Europe and the USA, the blackberry has become the fourth berry in the fresh berry market after strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Blackberry fruits are rich in vitamins, polyphenols, minerals, and antioxidants, especially gallic acid and routine. Many studies have proven that high nutritional composition has a positive effect on human health in preventing various diseases. It has an important place in the fresh and processed market. Frozen fruits can be used processed such as an ice cream, juice, jam, marmalade, cake, and sweet products. Blackberry breeding studies have been ongoing for over 100 years to increase yield and fruit quality, thornless cane, to improve disease insect resistance, and cane management and primocane fruiting. In vitro propagation is an alternative method to introduce new cultivars quickly into the market and to provide disease-free planting material compared with traditional methods. The purpose of this study was to summarize blackberry propagation methods in vitro conditions.

Digital phenotyping for robust seeds variability assessment in Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.

ABSTRACT: Foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.) is a cereal crop with potential as a functional food due to its high nutritional value and its wide adaptability to unfavorable environmental conditions. Seed-related traits of foxtail millet are difficult to observe due to its small size. Therefore, the development of an efficient and accurate method for characterizing foxtail millet seeds using digital imaging technology is essential. This study aimed to characterize the seed morphology for variability assessment of Indonesian local foxtail millet genotypes and to develop a model to estimate the 100-seed weight using ImageJ. A total of 28 Indonesian local foxtail millet genotypes were used in this study for seed morphology characterization and the development of the 100-seed weight estimation model. Foxtail millet genotypes from different regions in Indonesia exhibited diverse seed morphologies. The 100-seed weight estimation model (y = 0.123x - 0.0821 (R² = 0.9223)) demonstrated a highly significant positive correlation (r = 0.96, p < 0.01) between the predicted and actual 100-seed weights. The correlation coefficient from model validation was 0.8731 (p < 0.01), indicating that the obtained model could estimate the 100-seed weight of foxtail millet seeds in future studies.

Adaptation Trial of Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn) Varieties in East Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia Industry

Developing improved varieties with high yield and wide adaptation is one of the major objectives. This indicates that there are some localities which are not fully addressed to satisfy the need for maximizing yield, using high yielder, disease resistant and early maturing variety of the crop is very important. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted during the main cropping season of 2018 and 2019 at Chelenko ATVET Collage and Boko Agricultural Research sites in Meta and Fadis Districts (Woredas), respectively, with an objective to select adaptable, high yielder, early maturing and disease resistant or tolerant varieties across moisture stressed areas of eastern Oromia, Ethiopia. The treatments consisted of eleven released finger millet varieties including standard check were used as planting materials. The experiment was laid out as a randomized complete block design and replicated three times. The combined mean analysis of variance revealed that highly significant difference (P < 0.01) for days to maturity, plant height, finger per plant, finger length and grain yield whereas, significant difference (P < 0.05) were observed for days to 50% flowering, effective tiller per plant and thousand seed weight. The earliest days to flowering were observed on Tesema variety with 84.33 days but there was no significantly different with other tested varieties. The results showed that Mereb was the earliest in terms of maturity taking only 126.9 days. The results of combined mean values indicated that, Aksum (3090 kgha-1) followed by Gute (2807 kgha-1) were found to be high yielding finger millet varieties whereas, Mereb (2103 kgha-1) was identified as the least seed yielding variety as compared to all tested varieties. These results depicted that across location Aksum variety was significantly higher grain yield advantage by about 11.11% over standard check followed by Gute. Therefore, Aksum and Gute varieties were showed consistency over locations in this study and recommended to demonstrate with production packages in Meta and Fedis districts and similar agro ecologies.

Interfacial-engineered MOFs-POPs derived Co@N-doped carbon catalyst in boosting peroxymonosulfate activation and pollutant degradation: Roles of microstructure and exposed facets

Developing potent and durable heterogeneous catalysts is pivotal for advancing the implementation of the advanced oxidation processes in wastewater remediation. Herein, the “alloy” networks which were fabricated by incorporating zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) into porous organic polymers (POPs) matrix, was demonstrated, following pyrolyzed to prepare a core-shell Co@N-doped carbon-based catalyst (Co@NC-HBPC). The catalytic activity of Co@NC-HBPC for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) was regulated by modulating the preferential cobalt facet orientation, which in turn could be modulated by adapting the incorporation of ZIF-67. The as-prepared Co@NC-HBPC showed desirable Co dispersion, high catalytic reactivity (over 97 % degradation of Nitenpyram (NTP) within 20 min), high stability (maintaining 89.8 % NTP oxidation in five cycles), and wide environmental adaptability towards Fenton-like reaction. Both quenching and probe experiments verified the dominant roles of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and singlet oxygen (1O2) species in NTP degradation process. Texture coefficient (TC) analysis and theoretical calculations unraveled that the Co (200) facet displayed the highest activity for PMS activation, which could modulate the surface electronic structure of N-doped carbon layer shell. This study provides comprehensive insights into the synergistic effect of metal facet and material morphology in PMS activation, thus offering new prospects for designing highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts for environmental remediation.

Identification and Morphological Characterization of Sugar Palm Plants (Arenga pinnata Merr.) Growing on Different Altitudes

Trees of sugar palm (Arenga pinnata Merr.) can grow at an altitude of 0-1400 m above sea level. The best growth of the trees is at an altitude of 500-700 m above sea level. Sugar palm trees also have a wide adaptability to various environmental conditions. The purpose of this research was to determine the morphological characteristicss of sugar palm plants grown at an altitude of 500, 650, and 900 m above sea level so that the kinship relationship can be known. This research was conducted at three altitudes in Lareh Sago Halaban District, Lima Puluh Kota Regency, West Sumatra, namely Nagari Labuah Gunung (altitude 900 m above sea level), Nagari Bukik Sikumpa (altitude 650 m above sea level), and Nagari Tanjung Gadang (altitude 500 m above sea level) from July to August 2023. The method used was a survey with a purposive sampling technique. Identification was carried out on 36 morphological characters, including stems, leaves, fibers, fruits, and seeds. The data obtained were analyzed for their diversity and similarity. The results of the identification and characterization of qualitative and quantitative morphological characters at three different altitudes showed a relatively narrow diversity value. The overall morphological characters of the sugar palm plants were divided into 2 large groups with a coefficient value of 0.72 or 72% similarity distance.

Inheritance of factors and validation of loci linked to the kernel row number in tropical field corn (Zea mays L.)

Sustainable feeding of a growing population with nutritional security in the era of climate change is the leading challenge facing adeveloping nation. Field corn is one of those crops that can help achieve this goal due to its high productivity and wide adaptation. There is scope for further improving field corn productivity by targeting component traits such as kernel row number (KRN). In the present investigation, the kernel row number displayed significant variation as well asa positive correlation with yield and yield component traits under the study. The inheritance of the KRN trait was analyzed using the Wright-Castle estimator and chi-square test in two sets of F2 populations (AH4499 and AH4500) and parental lines (AI 505, AI 541 and AI 542). The analyses by the Wright-Castle estimator revealed that KRN is governed by two effective factors (1.92@ 2) with four contributing alleles in the AH-4499 population and four effective factors (3.93 @ 4) with eight contributing alleles in the AH-4500 population. Further analysis by East’s hypothesis (frequency of recessivehomozygote in F2=1/4n) produced similar results and the Chi-square test (0.01 level of significance) confirmed the non-significant difference between expected and observed recessive frequency in F2sof both the populations. This suggested that KRN is governed at least four genes with eight contributing alleles. In both the F2 populations, F1 value was non-significantly close to the mid-parent value suggesting the additive nature of KRN. Further, Bulked Segregant Analysis was carried out using AH-4500-F2 population having 231 individuals to validate linked loci. Out of 58 flanking SSR markers previously reported for the KRN trait, only nine markers were polymorphic for this population. These linked markers identified two putative QTLs for KRN i.e., qKRN2.1 and qKRN2.2 on chromosome 2 through inclusive composite interval mapping. The genetic distance with closely associated markers, bnlg 1017 was 9 cM for qKRN2.1 with a LOD score of 10.24 and a Proportion of Variance Explained (PVE%) of 16.86. The marker-trait association was further validated using F2:3 population and it was found that the marker bnlg 1017 showed a significant association with the KRN trait. Thus, the marker bnlg 1017 could be used to identify high KRN genotypes for use in breeding programs to enhance the productivity of tropical field corn.

Multi-Locations Evaluation of Garden Pea Genotypes for Pod Characters and Yield

Pea genotypes developed by national breeding program exhibit wide geographical adaptation. To identify the best high yielding and wide adaptive genotypes, fourteen garden pea genotypes (13 improved and commercial) were studied for their phenotypic traits at two locations (Horticulture Research Station, Dailekh and Agriculture Research Station, Dhankuta) during 2018–2019. Field experiments were conducted at randomized complete block design with three replications in both locations. Combined analysis over the locations revealed that genotypes had highly significant (p ≤ 0.01) effect on pod length, pod diameter, seed number/pod, pod weight and fresh pod yield. HRSDGP-11-18-1 produced the highest (12.5 t/ha) fresh pod yield, followed by HRSDGP-11-18-11 (12.3 t/ha) and the lowest (8.2 t/ha) fresh yield was recorded in HRSDGP-11-18-9. HRSDGP-11-18-1 and HRSDGP-11-18-11 had 25.0 and 23.0% higher yield advantage over Sikkim Local variety, respectively. Pod length, pod diameter and seed number/plot were significantly (p ≤ 0.01), and positively correlated with fresh pod yield, and selection of these traits aid for the improvement of yield in garden pea genotypes. HRSDGP-11-18-1 and HRSDGP-11-18-11 were found superior at both locations and can be recommended to evaluate them at on-farm condition for further verification.

Exploring Genetics by Environment Interactions in Some Rice Genotypes across Varied Environmental Conditions.

Rice production faces challenges related to diverse climate change processes. Heat stress combined with low humidity, water scarcity, and salinity are the foremost threats in its cultivation. The present investigation aimed at identifying the most resilient rice genotypes with yield stability to cope with the current waves of climate change. A total of 34 rice genotypes were exposed to multilocation trials. These locations had different environmental conditions, mainly normal, heat stress with low humidity, and salinity-affected soils. The genotypes were assessed for their yield stability under these conditions. The newly developed metan package of R-studio was employed to perform additive main effects and multiplicative interactions modelling and genotype-by-environment modelling. The results indicated that there were highly significant differences among the tested genotypes and environments. The main effects of the environments accounted for the largest portion of the total yield sum of squared deviations, while different sets of genotypes showed good performance in different environments. AMMI1 and GGE biplots confirmed that Giza179 was the highest-yielding genotype, whereas Giza178 was considered the most-adopted and highest-yielding genotype across environments. These findings were further confirmed by the which-won-where analysis, which explained that Giza178 has the greatest adaptability to the different climatic conditions under study. While Giza179 was the best under normal environments, N22 recorded the uppermost values under heat stress coupled with low humidity, and GZ1968-S-5-4 manifested superior performance regarding salinity-affected soils. Giza 177 was implicated regarding harsh environments. The mean vs. stability-based rankings indicated that the highest-ranked genotypes were Giza179 > Giza178 > IET1444 > IR65600-77 > GZ1968-S-5-4 > N22 > IR11L236 > IR12G3213. Among them, Giza178, IR65600-77, and IR12G3213 were the most stable genotypes. Furthermore, these results were confirmed by cluster-analysis-based stability indices. A significant and positive correlation was detected between the overall yield under all the environments with panicle length, number of panicles per plant, and thousand grain weight. Our study sheds light on the notion that the Indica/Japonica and Indica types have greater stability potential over the Japonica ones, as well as the potential utilization of genotypes with wide adaptability, stability, and high yield, such as Giza178, in the breeding programs for climate change resilience in rice.

Prioritization of Scheduled Surgeries Using Fuzzy Decision Support and Risk Assessment Methods

The aim of this study was to develop a method to minimize the risk of cancellation of planned surgery in hospital orthopedic departments. The paper proposes a method that combines multi-criteria and multi-faceted risk assessment. Two data sources are used: a fuzzy FTOPSIS method, combined with FMEA assessment. The FMEA method presented in this paper uses the technique of prioritizing preferences according to FTOPSIS similarity to the ideal solution and belief structure, in order to overcome the shortcomings of traditional FMEA indicators. Finally, a numerical case study of process optimization for elective surgery in a Polish clinic is presented. The focus was on planned hip replacements. The effectiveness of the method in assessing the main factors influencing cancellation of elective surgery is demonstrated. A high accuracy of the results and wide adaptability of the method to other areas are features of the combination of the abovementioned methods. The problem addressed in this publication is the high rate of cancellation of elective surgery. The selection of relevant criteria, their importance, and the preferences of the patients were studied. The results of the method provide a viable action plan for the proposed research problem. The proposed method is multifaceted and can be part of an information system to support reorganization, restructuring, and modification of an operational process.

ADDITIVE MAIN EFFECT AND MULTIPLICATIVE INTERACTION ANALYSIS FOR PRODUCTION TRAITS IN RICE RECOMBINANT INBRED LINES USING AMMI BIPLOT TECHNIQUE

The experiment was performed to assess the performance of 87 rice recombinant inbred lines (RILs), identify
 the productive environments and quantify genotype × environment interaction (GEI) effects on yield and yield
 related traits across four locations of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in Pakistan between 2021 and 2022.
 The pooled ANOVA showed significant differences of GEI for all traits. Across the studied environments, RIL
 AUP-3 took minimum days to heading (139) and produced the highest grain yield (4.1 t ha-1). AUP-3 and AUP30 displayed the highest kernel number in panicle of 214 and 226, respectively. Based on AMMI1 and AMMI2
 biplots, RIL AUP-3 was unanimously declared as the most stable and the highest yielding genotype. AMMI
 biplot analysis cumulatively explained 55.3%, 46.3% and 52.1% of total variation due to GEI for days to
 maturity, grains panicle-1 and grain yield, respectively. The AMMI biplot analysis confirmed the differential
 response of genotypes across environments, suggesting environment-based expression of genes. The AMMI
 biplot also manifested AUP-3 and AUP-30 as ideal genotypes for grains panicle-1 and grain yield, respectively.
 The Peshawar (E-1 and E-5) and Mingora (E-2) were the most discriminating and representative environment
 for grains panicle-1 and grain yield. Application of various stability models in this study identified AUP-3 and
 AUP-30 as the most stable and widely adapted genotype for grain yield and its components. The AMMI analysis
 identified genotypes both for specific and wide adaptation. Based on stability and yield performance, said
 genotypes were identified with superior performance than check cultivars. Therefore, recommended for
 commercialization. Also environments were clustered regardless of their geographical location, which revealed
 unpredictable nature of agro-climatic conditions across four tested locations.

GRAIN - BRAN QUALITY PARAMETERS and AGRONOMIC TRAITS of BREAD WHEAT CULTIVARS

Wheat (Triticum avestivum L.) has a wide adaptation limit and it is used as an important source of essential nutrients for both humans and animals. Wheat bran is also a by-product of the milling of wheat grain. It has a unique nutritional composition due to the amount and quality of proteins, mineral content and B complex vitamins content and dietary fiber content. One of the aims of this study was to determine the grain yield, yield components and quality traits of 36 wheat cultivars between 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. The other aim was to determine the nutritional properties of the bran obtained from these cultivars. Plant height, spike length, number of spikelets per spike, number of grains per spike, grain yield, thousand grain weight, test weight, wet gluten and sedimentation value traits were determined only in the whole grain, while ash content, protein content, starch content, fat content, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber, potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium traits were determined both in the whole grain and in the bran. It is expected that the data obtained in this study will be reported in the literature, evaluated in terms of product quality and taken into account in breeding programs.