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- Author or Editor: Teddy E. Morelock x
Southernpea varieties have shown the ability to yield differently when planting dates are altered. Identification of yield potential based on planting date would allow producers to select varieties based on time of planting. Ten varieties of peas with three different maturities were selected. The ten varieties were planted on five dates over a 2-year period. Results indicate that relative days to maturity can be shortened or lengthened by time of planting. Varieties planted in early June or early August took longer to mature than when they were planted in late June or early July. Southernpeas planted between 15 June and 15 July will normally produce the highest yields. Some long-season, upright varieties can be planted as early as 1 June with no loss in yield. Indeterminate and short-season varieties in this experiment showed the ability to produce high yields when planted as late as 1 Aug. These results suggest that some southernpea varieties will respond dramatically to different environmental conditions created by altered planting dates.
Temperate zone fruit crops undergo bud dormancy which can be described as a mechanism for avoiding the exposure of tender flowers and leaves to low winter temperatures. In Kenya, apple growing is mostly hampered by inadequate chilling that causes the plants to have prolonged dormancy leading to poor flowering and consequently low yield. Although the chilling requirements are obligatory, under subtropical and especially tropical conditions avoidance is possible. To achieve this, it is necessary to select cultivars with low chilling requirements. This has proven effective in Zimbabwe with cultivar Matsu which is grown without a need for artificial breaking of dormancy. In Kenya like Zimbabwe, low chilling requiring cultivars such as Anna have been grown successfully. However, for cultivars with high chilling requirements, there is need to apply artificial techniques/methods to enhance bud break. Some of the cultural techniques used are: defoliation after harvesting and bending of the shoots holizontally. Defoliation after harvesting has particularly been used successfully in the island of Java in Indonesia and it enables two crops to be grown per year. Root chilling of rootstock has also been found to enhance bud break of the shoot. In addition, chemicals like KNO3, mineral oil and thiourea (TU) have been found to be effective in breaking bud dormancy in Kenya. This paper is reviewing the challenges encountered in growing apples in the tropics and Kenya in particular and the progress that has made in addressing them.
Cowpea, or southernpea, is an important food legume that provides a source of high-quality protein, especially in the mature seeds. In the United States, industries exist to supply dry and processed seeds. Our aim is to develop a regeneration system for cowpea as a prerequisite for genetic engineering. Our objective was to examine the in vitro responses of shoot tips to growth regulators. Shoot tips isolated from in vitro-germinated seedlings (`Coronet') were cultured on MS medium containing 2,4-D at 0, 0.01, 0.1, or 1 mg·liter–1 and kinetin at 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 mg·liter–1. Cultures were maintained at 12-hour photoperiods and 24C. Callus, shoots, and roots or combinations thereof developed depending on the treatment. Callus formed on 1 mg 2,4-D/liter, regardless of the kinetin level, but at 0.1 mg 2,4-D/liter and 5 or 10 mg kinetin/liter, shoots also grew. Callus, shoots, and roots developed on 2,4-D lower than 0.1 mg·liter–1. Callus induced on 5 mg kinetin/liter and 0.01 mg 2,4-D/liter regenerated shoots on transfer to 5 mg kinetin/liter and 0.1 mg NAA/liter. This work may assist in the development of a micropropagation system for cowpea.
Callus, induced in the dark from leaf tissue of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L. cv. Fall Green) on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with (in mg·liter -1) 2 kinetin and 0.5 2,4-D regenerated shoots upon transfer to a medium containing 2 kinetin, 0.01 2,4-D, and 1 GA3. Complete plants were established by stimulating rooting of the shoots with 1 mg IBA/liter and transferring them to potting soil; survival was 60%. Chemical names used: N-(2-furanylmethyl)-1H-purin-6-amine (kinetin); 2;4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D); gibberellic acid (GA3); 1H-indole-3-butanoic acid (IBA).
Genotype by environment (G × E) effects in Regional Cooperative Southernpea trials for the southeastern United States were investigated to characterize the extent, pattern, and potential impact of G × E on seed yield of southernpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp] genotypes. The structure of G × E effects was investigated using the Additive Main Effect and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) method. AMMI analyses revealed a highly significant genotype × environment interaction, most of which was partitioned into a genotype × location component of variance. AMMI first principal component axis scores stratified environments into two groups that minimized variation within groups. Biological interpretation of groupings and visual assessment of the AMMI biplot, revealed high-yielding genotypes interacting positively with one group of environments and conversely, low-yielding genotypes interacting positively with the other group. There were some significant rank changes of genotypes as yield potential varied across environments. Some environments showed similar main effects and interaction patterns indicating that most of the G × E effects could be captured with fewer testing sites, and consequently redundancy of some testing environments over years.
Three taxa, Colletotrichum orbiculare, the unconfirmed teleomorph of C. orbiculare (Glomerella cingulata var. orbiculare), and C. magna, have been reported to cause anthracnose of cucurbits. In a previous study, virulence, vegetative compatibility, and mtDNA RFLPs have been used to examine these taxa. The three taxa can be distinguished based on mtDNA RFLPs. Under controlled greenhouse inoculation tests, only isolates of C. orbiculare (CO) from cucurbit hosts were highly virulent on cucurbit foliage; isolates of G. cingulata (GC) and C. magna (CM), and CO from cocklebur hosts were weakly virulent or avirulent. The majority of CM and GC isolates were recovered from fruit, whereas most CO isolates were recovered from foliage. A study was conducted to evaluate the pathogenicity and virulence of anthracnose isolates on cucurbit fruit. Twenty-seven isolates of the three taxa were selected based on the host and geographic origin, mtDNA RFLP haplotype, vegetative compatibility group, and race. Mature fruit from cucumber cultivars Marketer (susceptible) and H19 (resistant) and watermelon cultivars Black Diamond (susceptible) and Charleston Gray (resistant) were used. Fruit were inoculated by placing Torula yeast agar inoculum plugs (8mm in diameter) into wounds. Following inoculation, the wounds were covered with Parafilm and incubated for 8 days at 25C at 100% RH. On the third day the Parafilm was removed from the wound. Disease symptoms were evaluated by measuring lesion diameter and depth and evaluating the presence or absence of sporulation. All three anthracnose taxa are capable of infecting cucurbit fruit. CM and GC isolates were more virulent than CO isolates on cucumber. In contrast, on `Black Diamond', CO isolates were more virulent than CM and GC isolates. No significant differences in virulence were observed on `Charleston Gray'. There were no significant differences in virulence between the races of CO except on `Charleston Gray', where race 2 isolates were significantly more virulent than race 1. CO isolates from cocklebur were only weakly virulent on cucurbit fruit.
Southernpeas, Vigna unguiculata, are a popular vegetable in the southeastern United States. Southernpeas (cowpeas) are widely known by the many different horticultural types, i.e., blackeye, pinkeye, purple hull, cream, cowder, etc. `Elegance' was widely tested under the designation Ark 96-918. It was entered in the Regional Southernpea Cooperative Trials from 1997–2002, where it performed well. It is a root-knot nematode resistant cream that exhibits an upright bush habit with concentrated pod set and good yield potential. The seed are medium size and produce a high quality canned product. `Elegance' is unique in the fact that it is a purple hull cream with the pods turning from dark green to purple when the seed reach the green mature stage. The second release, Ark 98-348, is a selection out of `Chinese Red' that is less viney and has a more concentrated pod set and maturity than the `Chinese Red' types that are commercially grown. It was tested in the observational Regional Southernpea Cooperative Trials from 2000–02. In trials at the University of Arkansas Vegetable Substation, it outyielded industry standard `Chinese Red' types Ark 93-640 and 93-641, by 30%.
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) is an important grain legume, which in developing countries provides much of the protein in human diets. A plant regeneration system for cowpea was developed. Cotyledons were initiated on MS medium containing 15 to 35 mg·L-1 benzylaminopurine (BAP) for 5 to 15 days. For shoot regeneration, the explants were transferred to a medium containing 1 mg·L-1 BAP. Regeneration percentage (1% to 11%) and the number of shoots (4 to 12 shoots per explant) were significantly influenced by genotype. The duration of culturing and BAP concentration in the initiation stage significantly affected the regeneration capacity. Explants initiated on 15 mg·L-1 BAP for 5 days resulted in the highest regeneration percentage. Conversely, the highest number of shoots was obtained from explants initiated on 35 mg·L-1 BAP. This is the first report of plant regeneration of U.S. cowpea cultivars.
A preliminary study has shown that the addition of 15% (v/v) coconut water (CW) to the culture medium significantly improved callus growth, shoot-regenerative capacity, and shoot growth in leaf disk cultures of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.). Subsequently, the influence of a range of CW concentrations, 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, or 20% (v/v), was examined. Callus weight obtained after 5 weeks showed direct relationship to the concentration of CW. This stimulator action was observed in both cultivars tested in this study, `High Pack' and `Baker'. On CW-containing medium, shoot regeneration was expedited to 4 to 5 weeks compared with 8 to 12 weeks on a CW-free medium. Callus of `Baker' induced on a CW-free medium exhibited a significant increase in shoot regeneration frequency when transferred to a regeneration medium enriched with CW, suggesting that the addition of CW to the regeneration medium only is sufficient to achieve improved regeneration.