A field trial was conducted for two consecutive seasons (2013/14 and 2014/15), at the Gezira Research Station, Wad Medani, Sudan, to evaluate the agronomic performance of fourteen early maturing soybean germplasm introduced from USA, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Croatia, under irrigated cropping environment. Highly significant differences (P ≤ 0.0001) were detected among the fourteen varieties for the eight agronomic traits in 2013/14 and 2014/15. Over the two seasons, Vietnam coll. 1 had the high grain yield (945 kg/ha), followed by N04-9859 (828 kg/ha) and AGS 327 (798 kg/ ha). Days to maturity ranged from 71 to 86 days over the two seasons. In both seasons, Vietnam coll. 1 and AGS 327 had the high agronomic performance in fodder yield, plant height and height to first pod. The agronomic performance of Vietnam coll. 1 and AGS 327 provides a clear example of the adaptability of tropical soybean germplasm to irrigated environments in Sudan comparing to other temperate germplams. The relative high yield of Vietnam coll. 1 and AGS 327 can be maximized by increasing plant populations/unit area. The unique soybean germplasm from the southern US and South Korea is valuable genetics resource for soybean germplasms at Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC), Sudan to broaden the genetic base of the released soybean varieties through introgression of potentially useful genes for drought-related and nutritional quality traits.

In the past years, few grain sorghum varieties with limited yield potential have been developed and grown in Korea. Hybrids tend to be more productive and resistive to unfavorable environmental conditions than pure line varieties. However, no hybrid cultivars are available and never have been planted for grain sorghum in Korea. The main aims of this study were to (i) verify if US x Korean and US x US hybrids increase grain yield in Korea; (ii) assess the performance of waxy hybrids in Korea and the US; (iii) estimate general combining ability and specific combining ability for the lines studied; and (iv) identify superior lines and hybrids for future use in breeding. Two distinct sets of waxy-endosperm sorghum hybrids derived from Korean landraces and US lines (Texas A&M University) were tested in the US and Korea. Compared to the parental lines, hybrids derived from US lines and Korean landraces showed yield increase that ranged from 2% to 127%. Hybrids created from US lines showed higher heterosis than US x Korean hybrids. Hybrid vigor was observed in the US and Korea, but shifts in ranks of hybrid performance occurred. The results indicate that it is feasible to develop grain sorghum hybrids adapted to Korean conditions only if delibrate selections take place in Korea. A combination of Korean and US sources could provide an acceptable germplasm base for developing Korean landrace based sorghum hybrids.

The agronomic performance of four introduced corn(Zea mays L.) hybrids and a domestic hybrid Suwon 19(control) was compared for silage production in the Middle Northwestern Coast(MNWC). Middle Southwestern Coast(MSWC) and Middle Northern Inland(MN1) regio

This study was conducted to determine the effects of cutting frequency and cutting height on agronomic characteristics and yield performance of sorghum-sudangrass hybrid, cv. Pioneer 855 F on the experimental field of Livestock Experiment Station, Suweon.

The growth and yield performance of 19 new com hybrids were evaluated. Results showed that all hybrids had a superior growth performance in the drained-paddy than in the upland field except for daeyul × cheongdo and hyoryeong × cheongdo in plant height, cheongdoyeop × wx-3 in tassel1ength, and cheongdo (black) × wx-3 in number of tassel branch. The same hybrids, except cheongdoyeop × wx-3, obtained lower ear quality in drained-paddy field compared to upland in terms of ear weight, and ear and grain setting length. The highest yield in the drained-paddy and upland fields was obtained in the hybrids ks5wx × ks6wx × cheongdo (1,633.3kg · 10a-1) and daeyul × wx-3 (1,516.7kg · 10a-1), respectively. Highest yield among the wx-3 crosses was obtained in daeyul which was 1,583.3kg · 10a-1 and 1,516.7kg · 10a-1 in drained-paddy and upland field, respectively. For the crosses of wx-8, highest yields were recorded in the cultivar bugye50 (1,466.7kg · 10a-1) and seokgu12 (1,384.6kg · 10a-1) for drained-paddy and upland field, respectively. In the case of cheongdo, highest yields were obtained in ks5wx × ks6wx (1,633.3kg · 10a-1) and seokgu14 (1,111.1kg · 10a-1) for drained-paddy and upland field, respectively. Result also showed that the drained-paddy soil had better physicochemical properties than the upland. The relatively high performance in terms of growth parameters and yield of com hybrids planted in the drained-paddy field is in agreement with the higher organic matter and micro-element content of drained-paddy field.

Genetic improvement of the cultivated soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr] may be possible through hybridization with its wild progenitor, G. soja Sieb. & Zucc. Interspecific cross between G. max (Hwangkeumkong) and G. soja (IT.182932) was made in the summer of 1997. In F2 the percentage of plant height, nodes per plant, and pods per plant were high but gradually reduced from F2 to F4. In contrast pod length, seeds per pod, and 100-seeds weight were increased gradually through generations advanced. Wild variation as evident in F2 in plant height, number of branches, pods per plant, and 100-seeds weight. Twenty six percent of the F2, 44 % of the F3 and 60% of the F4 segregants showed more G. max traits. The combination of useful traits from both species is possible through interspecific hybridization. The characters that could be transferred from wild species to cultivated species are more pod number, better capacity, and resistance to disease and insects. The interspecific derivatives offer scope for selection for high grain yield. Therefore, introducing genes from G. soja to G. max could be contribute to greater genetic diversity of future cultivars. And semicultivated soybean had some desired characteristics including tolerance to adverse environments and multi-seed characters. It means the infusing of semicultivated germplasm to the cultivated soybean could increase number of seeds and pods per plant significantly, and consequently could enhance selecting potential on yield.

A total of 20 soybean recommended varieties which were developed until late 1980's in Korea was evaluated at Suwon. Comprehensive evaluation and correlation analysis were conducted on the agronomic characters. Great variations were found in these genotypes for branch number, pod number, and grain yield per plant. The variation in number of pods/plant ranged from 53 to 164, and in grain yield from 25.9 to 68.8 g. The coefficient of variation for most of the characters had a wide range. In correlation coefficient, grain yield per plant showed a positive phenotypic association with weight of pods, pod number of branches, and weight of stem. Multiple regression analysis was done to formulate selection criteria. It indicated that stout and medium-stature genotypes with more branches, resulting in varieties with more pods per plant but with medium-size seeds are available to obtain high-yielding varieties.

This study was conducted to analyze the responses of some agronomic traits to the different cultural environments and relations among the agronomic traits for selecting sesame varieties with higher cultural stabilities. The indexes for stability parameters measured were coefficient of variability, heritabilities, genetic correlations and path coefficients of agronomic traits according to locations and years in Korea. The heritabilities of agronomic traits showed different by locations and years. Number of seeds per capsule and 1000 seeds weight showed higher heritabilities, but stem length and seed weight per plant showed relatively lower heritabilities. Average heritabilities of some agronomic traits in 1998 were comparatively higher than those of 1999. Of six areas, Jinju area showed biggest coefficient of yield variability in 1998-1999. Iksan and Taegu areas showed higher heritabilities in 1998, but Iksan and Jinju areas showed lower heritabilities in 1999. Genetic correlations were slightly higher than corresponding phenotypic correlations. Stem length showed positive genetic correlation with the number of capsules per plant, and seed weight per plant and the number of capsule per plant showed positive genetic correlation with seed weight per plant. On the analysis of path coefficients, stem length and number of capsules effected highly on grain yield. Great regional variations were observed on the effects of agronomic traits on grain yield. Higher direct effects of stem length on grain yield were observed at Suwon, Chungwon, Taegu, Jinju and Naju areas, but in Iksan area was observed higher direct effect of the number of capsules per plant on grain yield in 1998. In 1999, higher direct effect of stem length on grain yield was observed at Chungwon and Suwon areas. Iksan and Taegu areas were also observed higher direct effect of the number of capsule per plant on grain yield.

Three different male-sterile cytoplasmic lines and their common maintainer 'Zhenshan 97B' and two elite restorer lines were used to study cytoplasmic effects on agronomic trait manifestation per se under different nitrogen supply levels. The result showed that cytoplasmic effects could be modified by nitrogen environments. The cytoplasmic effect on grain yield under 150 kg N/ha varied depending on crosses, while it was significantly negative in most crosses under both 60 and 330 kg N/ha. The correlation and path-coefficient analyses suggested that it was expected to improve cytoplasmic effects through reducing maximum tillers and increasing the percentage of productive tillers, leading to increased productive tillers and higher yield in hybrid rice by the aid of cultural practice and genetic transformation. This study also revealed that the same cytoplasm in different combinations had differential effect under the same nitrogen environment, indicating that cytoplasmic effect was produced by interaction of nuclear genes with cytoplasm rather than cytoplasm per se. These results indicated the usefulness of evaluating diverse cytoplasmic sources in various nuclear genotypes bred for hybrid rice breeding program. The finding also suggested that negative cytoplasmic effect could be effectively overcome by elite restorer lines through the interaction of nuclear genes with female cytoplasm.