August 2016

Characterization of leaf rust resistance in international barley nurseries

Barley nurseries comprising 820 lines with 479 unique pedigrees sourced from the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) were screened for seedling and adult plant resistance (APR) against Australian isolates of barley leaf rust pathogen Puccinia hordei Otth. Ninety three percent of the lines were postulated to carry the seedling leaf rust resistance gene Rph3 based on their...

Author(s): K. S. Sandhu, D. Singh and R. F. Park

August 2016

Comparing pollination control bag types for sorghum seed harvest

Efficacy of pollination bags made of new nonwoven fabrics was compared with the traditional paper bags in sorghum during 2015 using three cultivars comprising BR007B (red seeded), SC283 (white seeded) and 1167048 hybrid with tannin (brown seeded). The five pollination bag treatments were: no bagging, traditional paper bag, paper bag plus plastic screen bag for extra bird protection, duraweb® SG2 polypropylene bag...

Author(s): R. E. Schaffert, D. S. Virk and H. Senior

August 2016

Inbreeding enhances field resistance to cassava brown streak viruses

Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) is currently the major disease affecting cassava production in Eastern and Southern Africa. Breeding for resistance has been hampered by a lack of sources of resistance and the complexity of CBSD. This study was initiated to assess the possibility of exploiting inbreeding, as a strategy for generating new sources of resistance to CBSD. This was based on the premise that inbreeding...

Author(s): Kaweesi Tadeo, Kyaligonza Vincent, Baguma Yona, Kawuki Robert and Morag Ferguson