This study was conducted to assess the genetic variability and correlation of phenotypic characteristics in 12 tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) genotypes including 11 WorldVeg and one commercial variety (Pusa Ruby) in Terai (plain) region of Nepal in 2021–2022. This experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The phenotypic traits, including days to 50% flowering, plant vigor and height, fruit number/plant, fruit yield, fruit weight and diameter, fruit firmness and fruit pericarp thickness, and total soluble solids (TSS) content of the fruits, were studied. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among the genotypes for all the traits except for plant vigor. The genotype of AVTO1705 resulted the highest fruit yield (2.9 kg/plant) than Pusa Ruby, a commercial check (0.5 kg/plant). The phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) was higher than the genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the traits and PCV values were maximum for the number of fruits, fruit yield, and fruit weight. High PCV, GCV, and genetic advance (GA) were observed for yield, fruit weight, and plant height, respectively, indicating the additive gene effect. High heritability for fruit yield/plant and plant height inferred the phenotypic selection for their genetic improvement. Fruit yield was significantly (P<0.05) positively correlated with the fruit number and fruit weight, and direct selection of these traits are reliable for yield improvement in tomato.
This study was conducted to evaluate Korean rice cultivars to search any suitable varieties for the northern region of the Korean Peninsula (North Korea). A total of 92 rice varieties which included 74 bred cultivars from South Korea, 13 collections from North Korea and five local cultivars from China, were involved in the evaluating trials for their performance. Stability at three sites inthe northeastern areas of China, which are located in the northern border areas of North Korea, for three years from 2017 to 2019. The ecologically well-adapted rice varieties were selected at each trial site during the first year and employed again as the materials for the subsequent yield trials. A total of six varieties with relatively better performing and stability were selected through the subsequent trials at three sites for three years: Unkwang, Daejin and Taebaek at Dandong region; Hanseol and Taebong at Longjin region; Taebong and Namweon at Hunchun region, respectively. Dandong is located in the southeast parts of Liaoning, which has similar climatic characteristics to the west coastalregion of North Korea. Longjin is located in the middle-east parts of Jilin, which has also similar climatic characteristics to the northern inland region of North Korea. Hunchun is located in the northeastern parts of Jilin, which has presumably similar climatic characteristics to the northern part of the eastern coastal region of North Korea. Unkwang is characterized by its early maturity, with the heading at the 2nd of August, and reveals a yield potential of 7.11 T/ha with resistance to the blast (BL) and the bacterial leaf blade (BLB) diseases. It is predicted to be suitable for the northern area of the Suyang mountain region and the central inland region of North Korea. Daejin has asemi-early maturity heading around the 6th of August and yields of 6.06 T/ha with resistance to BL, BLB, and stripe virus (SV) diseases. Daejin will be adaptable to the northern area of Suyang mountain region. Taebaek is medium maturing variety of Indica/Japonica type. It is heading at the 14thof August with good ripening at maturity, and has yield potential of 6.84 T/ha with resistance to BL, BLB and SV diseases. It will be adaptable to the southern area of Suyang mountain region. Hanseol is early maturing, heading on the 3rd of August, and yields 6.44 T/ha with the short stature and cold tolerance (CT). It will be adaptable to the northern inland and mountainous regions of North Korea. Taebong is semi-early maturingwith the heading at the 6th of August and has a yield potential of 6.96 T/ha with cold tolerane and blast resistance. Taebong was also outstanding in theHunchun region, indicating a more or less wide adaptability in cold areas. It is expected to be adaptable to the northern inland region of North Korea as well as the northern part of the eastern coastal region. Namweon is a medium-maturing variety with aheading date of August 10, and a yield potential of 4.76 T/ha with cold tolerance and resistance to rice neck blast disease. It is expected to be adaptable to the northern part of the eastern coastal region.
Cucurbita is one of the crops with high demand in the world. Securing breeding sources is crucial and fundamental to any plant breeding program. This study was conducted to investigate the characterization of phenotypic traits and phylogenetic classification of germplasm provided by the National Agrobiodiversity Center of RDA. Fourteen phenotypic traits were measured in 199 accessions of Cucurbita germplasm. Among these germplasm, 92 accessions of C. moschata, 34 accessions of C. maxima, and 73 accessions of C. pepo were classified using the KASP marker from the Seed Industry Center. It was confirmed that there were five classifications in C. moschata, five in C. maxima and four in the C. pepo. The results of this study provide fundamental data on Cucurbita germplasm and are expected to be useful in breeding programs.
Cnidium officinale M. is an important crop that is widely used as a raw material for health functional foods. However, it is experiencing cultivation difficulties due to climate change and abnormally high temperatures. In response to this problem, the characteristics and main causes of the high-temperature damage occurring in C. officinale M. cultivation fields were analyzed. A survey of five farmhouse fields in Jecheon and Bonghwa, major C. officinale M. cultivation areas in Korea in 2018, indicated that about 5% to 37% of the cultivation fields in Jecheon and 5% to 15% of the fields in Bonghwa died from wilting. The high-temperature damage of the C. officinale M. fields is divided into two categories: upper leaves drying due to solar radiation and temperature, and lower leaves dying serially to the radiant heat of the vinyl mulch. Damage caused by radiant heat was typically greater. This is due to the greenhouse effect that occurs in the small space between the black vinyl mulching and the soil. The heat radiated to the surface of the ridge creating an environmental condition that greatly exceeded the atmospheric temperature especially on hot days. As a result, short plants with underground parts, such as C. officinale M., can suffer more high-temperature damage than other plants, so it is considered that it is necessary to develop related technologies such as mulching materials that can reduce pavement temperature in the future.
'Hanabell' is a new ornamental crabapple cultivar bred in 2020 at the Apple Research Institute, National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, Rural Development Administration. It was selected from seedlings obtained through the open-pollination of Malus baccata collected from Mt. Palgong, Gunwi-gun, and Gyeongsangbuk-do. Line selections were conducted from 2009 to 2016, and characteristic tests were evaluated from 2017 to 2019. The tree vigor and form of 'Hanabell' were determined to be medium and spreading, respectively. The flowering season of 'Hanabell' starts on April 17th and ends on May 2nd, lasting approximately 15 days. The size of 'Hanabell' flowers is approximately 48 mm, larger than that of general apple flowers, and they have a high ornamental value due to the abundance of blooms each year. Furthermore, 'Hanabell' possesses a distinct floral scent that releases a significant amount of benzyl acetate (C9H10O2) into the air during flowering, attracting bees. Subsequently, 'Hanabell' was officially submitted for variety protection to the KoreaSeed & Variety Service in 2021(Applicationno.2021-144).
In this study, an experiment was conducted on the domestic cultivar 'White and Cool' on a farm in Taean to compare the effects of conventional soil cultivation and net cultivation to increase yield and reduce labor input time during outdoor gladiolus cultivation. The above- and below-ground growth, yield, and input labor time were investigated after cultivating half of the seedlings using the conventional cultivation method and the other half using the net cultivation method. There was no difference in the above- or below-ground growth between net cultivation and conventional cultivation. However, the labor input time decreased 2.57 times, the yield of the irrigated area increased by 3%, and the self-fertilization yield increased by 28%. Based on these results, several factors should be considered during net cultivation. First, loose netting should be used for root development. Second, care should be taken while flattening when planting seedlings, and after sowing, the area should be covered with a net to prevent drying. Third, after completion of the installation, compaction should be performed to ensure close contact between the soil and netting, and after removing the space between the nets, the seedlings should be irrigated to induce early rooting.
This study aimed to evaluate the application of the multi-criteria decision-making approach, specifically Fuzzy-TOPSIS, in agriculture official development assistance (ODA) projects. The focus of the study was to identify the optimal location for establishing the Korea Agricultural Business Innovation Center (K-ABIC) in Uganda, as part of the "Strengthening Capacity for Youth Agribusiness Development in Uganda (SCADU)" project. In this study, six decision-makers assessed four candidate locations (alternatives) based on four criteria: accessibility, potential for rent expense reduction, suitability as an office and educational facility, and sustainability. Linguistic scales were utilized and transformed into triangular fuzzy numbers. Closeness coefficients (CC) were then calculated to prioritize the optimal location, which was found to be the Technology Research Center located in Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute Kabanyolo, outside of Kampala (alternative 3). The findings of this study confirmed the applicability and usefulness of Fuzzy-TOPSIS through a real case study conducted in Uganda. The practical implementation of multi-criteria decision-making methods, such as Fuzzy-TOPSIS, is expected to contribute to resolving decision-making challenges in the field of international development cooperation.
This study aimed to analyze the investment feasibility of the poultry model village project at the KOPIA Kenya Center of the Rural Development Administration. To achieve this objective, the study examined the effect on improving farm household income and conducted the Benefit-Cost analysis. The survey conducted one-on-one interviews with farmers who participated in the pilot project using the difference-in-difference method. The pilot project yielded an increase of 43,585 shillings(≒475,076 \)/ year per household in comparison to the conventional farms. The B/C ratio was 6.0, indicating a high level of investment performance.
Yellow-fleshed "Sweet Gold" kiwifruit on Jeju Island were studied to examine how irrigation and soil moisture control affected changes in photosynthetic traits and fruit quality during fruit maturation (120 to 170 days after full bloom). Concerning photosynthetic characteristics, the photosynthetic rate decreased by 10-19%, stomatal conductance by 24-47%, and transpiration rate by 8-25%, when compared to conventional irrigation, as irrigation was reduced and soil moisture content decreased. Fruit weight showed a tendency to increase until harvest, and while a lower soil moisture content led to a less pronounced increase in fruit weight, this difference was not statistically significant. The dry matter rate exhibited a similar trend to the change in fruit weight. Sugar content demonstrated a continuous increase after 130 days, with lower irrigation amounts resulting in higher levels of sugar content due to decreased soil moisture. The Hue value (h°) exhibited a continuous decrease after 140 days from full bloom, correlating with declining soil moisture content. After 130 days from full bloom, soluble sugar content increased rapidly while starch content gradually decreased after 150 days from full bloom. However, with conventional irrigation, the increase in soluble sugar content tended to be less noticeable. This study confirmed that in yellow-fleshed ‘Sweet Gold’ kiwifruit, managing irrigation and soil moisture reduction during the ripening period can lead to decreased fruit weight but increased dry matter, sugar content, and expression of flesh color, ultimately enhancing fruit quality and expediting ripening.