Yosei Oikawa

Characterization of Aroma and Agronomic Traits in Afghan Native Rice Cultivars

Abstract In this study, we collected native aromatic rice cultivars from north, east and northeast of Afghanistan, and check cultivars from Japan, Thailand and India. We characterized some important agronomic characters such as plant height, panicle number per plant, grain number per panicle, 1,000-grain weight, grain length and grain width to find the desirable characters for breeding programs. Many of them were classified into tall culm rice according to IRRI index, but had thin and slender grain, and strong aroma which are favorable characteristics in Afghanistan and surrounding regions. The aromatic character was characterized by three methods, 1.7% KOH sensory test, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-selected ion monitoring (GC-MS-SIM), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. These three methods gave similar results. Six out of 10 Afghan native rice cultivars were aromatic and four non-aromatic. Among the check cultivars, Basmati 370, Jasmine 85, Izayoi, Oitakoutou and Jakouine were aromatic and Nipponbare non-aromatic. Improvement of aromatic and high yielding rice and reduction of plant height are the important objectives for rice breeding in Afghanistan. The results showed that Pashadi Konar from Afghanistan has the intermediate plant height, heavier 1,000-grain weight (32 g), longer grain (11 mm) and favorable aroma. Therefore, this cultivar may be a good source of aromatic rice germplasm in Afghanistan. To clarify the genetic nature of aroma in rice, we crossed non-aromatic cultivar Nipponbare with aromatic cultivar Jasmine 85, and examined the aromatic character in the F2 generation by 1.7% KOH sensory test and PCR analysis. Non-aromatic and aromatic characters were segregated at a ratio of 3:1, showing that aroma is controlled by a single recessive gene.

Influence of Different Plant Materials in Combination with Chicken Manure on Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Contents and Vegetable Yield

Abstract The use of plant materials as soil amendments is an uncommon practice amongst major farming communities in Ghana, although it is necessary for soil fertility improvement. An examination of the effects of soil amendments is necessary to encourage the use of under-utilized organic resources in Ghana. Thus, a field experiment was conducted using 8 different tropical plant materials mixed with chicken manure as soil amendments for growth of tomato as a test crop. The plant materials included Leucaena leucocephala, Centrosema pubescens, Sesbania sesban, Gliricidia sepium, Mucuna pruriens, Pueraria phaseoloides, Azadirachta indica, and Theobroma cacao. There were two other treatments: one with equivalent amounts of chemical fertilizers and the other with no-fertilizer input (control). Plant materials were mixed with chicken manure to obtain a uniform carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratio of 5:1. Except the no-fertilizer control, all treatments received the same amount of nitrogen (N). To clarify the decomposition pattern of the plant materials in soil, an incubation experiment was conducted using only the plant materials before the field experiment. The Gliricidia treatment released significantly more mineral N than the other plant materials in the incubation experiment. However, the tomato fruit yield was not enhanced in the Gliricidia treatment in the field experiment. The known quality parameters of the tested plant materials, such as total N, total carbon (C), C:N ratio, and total polyphenols, had minimal effects on their mineralization dynamics. Azadirachta showed the best synergistic effect with chicken manure through significantly increasing soil microbial biomass and fruit yield of tomato. This result provides insights into the possible adoption of Azadirachta in combination with chicken manure as a soil amendment in small-scale agricultural holdings.

Relations of fine-root morphology on 137Cs uptake by fourteen Brassica species

Fourteen Brassica species consisting of seven leafy vegetables and seven root vegetables were examined for (137)Cs uptake differences in relation to their fine-root morphological characters. A pot experiment was conducted from November 2014 to February 2015 in a Phytroton using a contaminated soil of Fukushima prefecture. Leafy vegetables showed bigger root diameters, larger root surface area and larger root volume. Consequently, leafy vegetables had higher (137)Cs uptake compared to root vegetables. Among the three fine-root parameters, only root surface area was observed as a significant contributing factor to higher (137)Cs uptake in terms of transfer factor (TF, dry weight basis). Kakina exhibited higher (137)Cs TF value (0.20) followed by Chinese cabbage (0.18) and mizuna (0.17). Lower TF values were observed in turnip (0.059), rutabaga (Kitanoshou) (0.062) and radish (Ha daikon) (0.064).