Welcome to MELSpace
DSpace is a digital service that collects, preserves, and distributes digital material. Repositories are important tools for preserving an organization's legacy; they facilitate digital preservation and scholarly communication.
Recent Submissions
- Delivering rust resistant wheat to farmers: A step towards increased food securityAuthor(s): Joshi, Arun Kumar; Azab Moustafa, Moustafa; Mosaad, M. G.; Osmanzai, M.; Gelalcha, Solomon; Bedada, Gashaw; Bhatta, M. R.; Hakim, A.; Kumar Malaker, Paritosh; Haque, M. E.; Prasad Tiwari, Thakur; Majid, Abdul; Kamali, M. R. Jalal; Bishaw, Zewdie; Singh, R. P.; Payne, Thomas; Braun, Hans-Joachim (The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI), 2010-06-20)Date: 2010-06-20Type: PresentationStatus: Open accessAn important step towards reducing the vulnerability of wheat in Africa and Asia, to the Ug99 race of the stem rust pathogen, is the substitution of current susceptible varieties with superior resistant varieties. In the 2008–09 cropping season, both seed multiplication and dissemination of Ug99 resistant varieties was initiated in Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and India. Ug99 resistant varieties must occupy about 5% of the area sown to wheat in each country to ensure sufficient seed to displace current popular varieties. Because of the underdeveloped seed industry and the small farm sizes in most of these countries, various strategies are being applied for rapid multiplication and dissemination of resistant varieties. Approaches being used for rapid multiplication and distribution include pre-release seed multiplication whilst candidate resistant lines are being tested in National Evaluation Trials and farmers’ participatory selection approaches. Resistant varieties were already released in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Egypt, and more varieties are expected to be released in 2010 in these and other countries. Our results show that some new Ug99 resistant lines have yield superiority over dominant local varieties. Activities and progress in seed multiplication, using existing and new Ug99 resistant varieties, are discussed.
- Physico-chemical characteristics and clay mineralogical composition of selected soils in arid and semi arid region of IranAuthor(s): Mirkhani, Rayehe; Roozitalab, Mohammad; Khaleghpanah, Naser; Rezaei, Najmeh; Teimouri, Saadollah (Australian Clay Minerals Society (ACMS), 2010-09-20)Date: 2010-09-20Type: Conference PaperStatus: Open accessOral Presentation in Australian Clay Mineral Conference Brisbane August 2010 This research investigates the mineralogical composition of soils in the arid and semi-arid regions of Karaj and Eshtehard, Iran. Eight soil sites were analyzed, revealing that illite and chlorite are the dominant clay minerals, originating from the parent material. Palygorskite was found in higher amounts in saline-sodic soils, particularly those developed on marl formations.
- Improving wheat stripe rust resistance in Central Asia and the Caucasus (abstract)Author(s): Ziyaev, Zafar; Sharma, Ram; Nazari, Kumarse; Morgunov, Alexey Ivanovich; Amanov, Amir; Ziyadullaev, Zokhid; Alikulov, Safar (The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI), 2010-06-20)Date: 2010-06-20Type: PresentationStatus: Open accessOral Presentation in BGRI 2010 Technical Workshop Russia 30-31 May 2010 Wheat is the most important cereal in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) and the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). Stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici is considered the most important disease of wheat in Central Asia and the Caucasus (CAC). Although stripe rust has been present in the region for long time, it has become a serious constraint to wheat production in the past 10 years. This is reflected by the occurrence of four epidemics of stripe rust in the CAC region since 1999, the most recent in 2009. Several wheat varieties occupying substantial areas are either susceptible to stripe rust or possess a low level of resistance. Information on the stripe rust pathogen in terms of prevalent races and epidemiology is not readily available. Furthermore, there is an insufficient understanding of effective stripe rust resistance genes in the region, and little is known about the resistance genes present in the commercial varieties and advanced breeding lines. The deployment of resistant varieties is further complicated by putative changes in virulence in the pathogen population in different parts of the CAC. Many improved wheat lines received through international nurseries or other exchange programs have shown high levels of resistance to stripe rust, leaf rust and powdery mildew to local pathogen populations. It is anticipated that this germplasm will play an important role in developing stripe rust resistant wheat varieties either through direct adoption or using them as parents in breeding programs.
- International surveillance of wheat rust pathogens: progress and challengesAuthor(s): Park, Robert; Fetch, T; Hodson, David; Jin, Yue; Nazari, Kumarse; Prashar, Mohinder; Pretorius, Z (Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI), 2010-06-20)Date: 2010-06-20Type: PresentationStatus: Open accessSurveillance of wheat rust pathogens, including assessments of rust incidence and virulence characterization via either trap plots or race (pathotype) surveys, has provided information fundamental in formulating and adopting appropriate national and international policies, investments and strategies in plant protection, plant breeding, seed systems, and in rust pathogen research. Despite many successes from national and regional co-ordination of rust surveillance, few attempts were made to extend rust surveillance to international or even global levels. The Global Cereal Rust Monitoring System was established to address this deficiency. It is underpinned by an information platform that includes standardized protocols for methods and systems used in surveys, preliminary virulence testing, data, sample transmission and management at the field and national and global levels, and includes two web-based visualization tools. While considerable progress has been made towards a global system for monitoring variability in the wheat stem rust pathogen, and linking this to the threat posed by this pathogen to regional wheat production, some challenges remain, including ongoing commitment to support rust surveillance, and the ability to share and compare surveillance data.
- Sources of resistance in wheat to Russian wheat aphid, Sunn pest and Hessian fly, identified using the Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS)Author(s): El Bouhssini, Mustapha; Street, Kenneth; Amri, Ahmed; Chen, Ming-Shun; Lhaloui, Saadia (the Entomological Society of America, 2010-12-30)Date: 2010-12-30Type: PresentationStatus: Open accessOral Presentation at the Entomological Society Meeting, San Diego, California, 11-15 Dec 2010 Russian wheat aphid (RWA), Diuraphis noxia (Kurdjumov), Sunn pest, Eurygaster integriceps Puton, and Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor (Say) are the most important insect pests of wheat in North Africa, West and Central Asia. Host plant resistance is the most economical and practical means for controlling these insects. The Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) was used to identify three trait-specific best-bet subsets, totalling 1544 accessions of bread wheat and durum wheat, selected from a total of 16,000 geo-referenced accessions conserved in the genebanks of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the Vavilov Institute and the Australian Winter Cereals Collection (www.figstraitmine.org ). The selected material was screened in the field and greenhouse in Syria for resistance to RWA and Sunn pest. The screening for Hessian fly resistance was carried out in the greenhouse in Syria, Morocco and the USA. Twelve bread wheat lines were found resistant to RWA, one durum wheat and eight bread wheat accessions with good levels of resistance at the vegetative stage to overwintered Sunn pest adults, and 23 durum wheat lines resistant to the Great Plains (GP) Hessian biotype in the USA. These resistant accessions will be used as sources of resistance in the breeding programs, which will contribute to the overall integrated pest management program designed to control damage from these insects in North Africa, West and Central Asia, and elsewhere. This study also showed the effectiveness of the FIGS approach to mine genebanks for valuable traits.