The purpose of this study was to investigate the impacts of cane-based fruiting position on fruit quality at harvest in a golden-flesh kiwifruit variety, ‘Sweet Gold’ (Actinidia chinensis var. chinensis). The vines were grown on a pergola-trained system, under a protected plastic film house in Jeju, Korea. The cane-based fruiting positions were classified into six sectors with three sectors acropetally from the trunk to the apex of the leader, and two sectors acropetally from the leader to the apex of the cane. Fruits positioned in sectors far away from the trunk (sectors three and six) tended to be heavier, whereas fruits in sectors close to the trunk (sectors one and four) exhibited higher dry matter, soluble solid contents, and flesh coloration. The highest firmness was obtained at the fruits positioned far from the trunk and leader (sector six). Titratable acidity was slightly impacted. The highest starch content was obtained from the fruits of sector six far from the trunk and leader, whereas the highest soluble sugar content was from sector one proximal to the trunk and leader. Results indicate appreciable variations in fruit quality parameters at harvest, among fruits at different fruiting positions within vines. However, these variations were inconsistent over the years, and there were no distinct correlations among these fruit quality parameters.

Sustainable capacity building of the rice value chain in Africa is essential in achieving the rice self-sufficiency and poverty alleviation. The breeding capacity enhancement has also been at the heart of AfricaRice’s mandate. Therefore, the Korea-Africa Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (KAFACI) has concentrated breeding capacity enhancement for young breeders or breeding technicians of national research institutes in the KAFACI member countries. Four-month trainings have been conducted at the Regional Training Center located in Saint Louis, Senegal. The actual practice training is as follows; First is to learn practical skills and techniques of key aspects of rice breeding which are field preparation and layout, sowing, transplanting, fertilizer application, weed control, water management, hybridization/crossing, selection, yield and yield components determination, and rice palatability testing. Second is to learn some theoretical aspects of plant breeding through lectures including basic principles of breeding, evaluation for biotic and abiotic stresses, and statistical analysis. Third is to learn about the accurate use of field and lab equipment for rice breeding. Forth is to learn about proper scientific reporting and presentation. The courses were organized twice per year following two rice cultivation seasons in Senegal. From 2019, a total of 24 trainees participated in the 4 month courses. We believe they have acquired the basic knowledge and skills to implement rice breeding activities indpendently in their countries.

The Korea-Africa Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (KAFACI) has been cooperating with AfricaRice since 2014 for the eradication of hunger and poverty in Africa through sustainable agriculture and its industrialization. At first, rice breeding activities for staple food production started with KAFACI member countries by sharing high-yielding Tongil-type rice breeding lines and varieties. The Africa Rice Development Partnership project entitled “Enhancement of high-yielding rice germplasm and breeding capacity of rice producing countries in Africa” is implemented for the period from 2016 to 2025 with three phases. The actual rice breeding activities have been conducted by applying anther culture haploid breeding technology in the laboratory and field of AfricaRice Saint-Louis center. The 1,547 elite lines selected through participatory variety selection were distributed to 21 national breeders of KAFACI member countries. These lines derived from the 1,181 cross combination and 34,616 breeding lines on Korea and AfricaRice germplasm crossed. Among them 11 new Tongil-type rice varieties have been selected and registered in the national variety catalogue of Senegal, Mali, Rwanda, Malawi, and Tanzania.

This study explored the possibility of forming a coating layer containing alginic acid on the surface of a magnesium alloy to be used as a biomaterial. We formed a coating layer on the surface of a magnesium alloy using a plasma electrolytic oxidation process in an electrolytic solution with different amounts of alginic acid (0 g/L ~ 8 g/L). The surface morphology of all samples was observed, and craters and nodules typical of the PEO process were formed. The cross-sectional shape of the samples confirmed that the thickness of the coating layer became thicker as the alginic acid concentration increased. It was confirmed that the thickness and hardness of the sample significantly increase with increasing alginic acid concentration. The porosity of the surface and cross section tended to decrease as the alginic acid concentration increased. The XRD patterns of all samples revealed the formation of MgO, Mg2SiO4, and MgF2 complex phases. Polarization tests were conducted in a Stimulate Body Fluid solution similar to the body's plasma. We found that a high amount of alginic acid concentration in the electrolyte improved the degree of corrosion resistance of the coating layer.

Iris laevigata, which belongs to the Iridaceae, is now designated as an “endangered” (EN) grade by Korea Forest Service because it does not have many natural sites known for its reckless development and damage to its natural habitats. This study was carried out to establish the propagation protocol from seed to restore the native habitat of the I. laevigata and to utilize it for ornamental purposes. Basically, the appearance and internal structure of seeds were observed and imbibition experiments were conducted. Germination rate was measured by cold stratification experiment, after warm followed by cold stratification experiment, and GA3 treatment experiment. The seeds had underdeveloped embryos, which had grown to about 25% of those of fully matured seed before germination. In the controlled laboratory experiment, after cold stratification at 5°C for 0, 4, 8, or 12 weeks, the seeds germinated to 0, 11.7, 43.4, or 51.7%, respectively, after 4 weeks of incubation at 25°C. After warm stratification (25°C, 8 weeks) followed by cold stratification for 0, 4, 8, or 12 weeks, the seeds germinated to 0, 51.7, 85.0, or 88.3%, respectively, after 4 weeks of incubation at 25°C. GA3 treatment did not overcome the dormancy. Our study determined the dormancy type of I. laevigata seed. Imbibition experiments showed that there was no physical dormancy, and it was also found that there was an underdeveloped embryo when it was observed that the embryo was growing according to the period of incubation. A nd t he e m bryo grew a t relatively w arm temperatures. It is concluded that the seeds of I. laevigata have morphophysiological dormancy (deep simple MPD). This is the first report to determine the dormancy type in seeds of this valuable ornamental plant.

Non-destructive estimation of leaf area is a more efficient and convenient method than leaf excision. Thus, several models predicting leaf area have been developed for various horticultural crops. However, there are limited studies on estimating the leaf area of strawberry plants. In this study, we predicted the leaf areas via nonlinear regression analysis using the leaf lengths and widths of three-compound leaves in five domestic strawberry cultivars (‘Arihyang’, ‘Jukhyang’, ‘Keumsil’, ‘Maehyang’, and ‘Seollhyang’). The coefficient of determination (R2) between the actual and estimated leaf areas varied from 0.923 to 0.973. The R2 value varied for each cultivar; thus, leaf area estimation models must be developed for each cultivar. The leaf areas of the three cultivars ‘Jukhyang’, ‘Seolhyang’, and ‘Maehyang’ could be non-destructively predicted using the model developed in this study, as they had R2 values over 0.96. The cultivars ‘Arihyang’ and ‘Geumsil’ had slightly low R2 values, 0.938 and 0.923, respectively. The leaf area estimation model for each cultivar was coded in Python and is provided in this manuscript. The estimation models developed in this study could be used extensively in other strawberry-related studies.