Revisiting rice breeding methods – evaluating the use of rapid generation advance (RGA) for routine rice breeding

Rice production needs to increase in the future in order to meet increasing demands. The development of new improved and higher yielding varieties more quickly will be needed to meet this demand. However, most rice breeding programmes in the world have not changed in several decades. In this article, we revisit the evidence in favour of using rapid generation advance (RGA) as a routine breeding method. We describe preliminary activities at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to re-establish RGA on a large scale as the main breeding method for irrigated rice breeding. We also describe experiences from the early adoption at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. Evaluation of RGA breeding lines at IRRI for yield, flowering time and plant height indicated transgressive segregation for all traits. Some RGA lines were also higher yielding than the check varieties. The cost advantages of using RGA compared to the pedigree method were also empirically determined by performing an economic analysis. This indicated that RGA is several times more cost effective and advantages will be realized after 1 year even if facilities need to be built. Based on our experience, and previous independent research empirically testing the RGA method in rice, we recommend that this method should be implemented for routine rice breeding in order to improve breeding efficiency.     

红蓝LED光照强度对茶树生长及生物化学成分的影响

以‘黔湄601’一年生茶树苗为试材,光量比为1∶3的LED红蓝光作为光源,探讨不同光照强度对茶树幼苗生长特性的影响、光合色素及生物化学成分的变化趋势,探索茶树苗生长发育对光强的响应机制。采用LED精准调节光质和光强,设置50μmol·m-2·s-1、100μmol·m-2·s-1、150μmol·m-2·s-1、200μmol·m-2·s-14个处理。结果表明,不同光强处理15 d后,50μmol·m-2·s-1光照强度有利于茶树叶色素含量的增加及Ca/Cb值的降低;100μmol·m-2·s-1光照强度有利于茶树叶茶多酚含量的降低及氨基酸含量的增加,酚氨比值最低;150μmol·m-2·s-1光照强度对茶树叶重增加有促进作用;200μmol·m-2·s-1光照强度有利于茶树叶茶多酚含量的增加和氨基酸、光合色素含量的减少;酚氨比值最高,光合色素含量最低。红蓝LED光照强度过低、过高都不利于茶叶品质形成,综合考虑,100μmol·m-2·s-1光照强度最有利于茶叶功能成分的积累,是茶叶LED光源设施栽培的理想光照强度。本研究结果对于设施茶树种植具有重要的参考意义。     

Embodied Resources in Fish and Shrimp Feeds

Global averages were obtained for amounts of energy, land, water, wildfish, nitrogen, and phosphorus embodied in aquaculture feed ingredients. These data allowed amounts of these embodied resources to be calculated for typical feed formulations for channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus; hybrid catfish, I. punctatus♀ × I. furcatus♂; Vietnamese catfish, Pangasius spp.; Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar; rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss; tilapia, Oreochromis spp.; whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei; and black tiger shrimp, Penaeus monodon. Embodied resource use per m.t. of feed varied among species: energy, 4.90–12.48 GJ/m.t.; land, 0.082–0.312 ha/m.t.; water, 502–1227 m³/m.t.; wildfish, 0–2880 kg/m.t.; nitrogen, 3.08–8.63 kg/m.t.; phosphorus, 1.16–5.62 kg/m.t. These calculations did not account for variations in site‐specific factors related to embodied resources and feed composition and use. But they suggest that reducing feed conversion ratio (FCR) by 0.1 unit for the seven species (species groups) could potentially reduce feed use by around 1.1 million tonne (Mt) while conserving 9.8 million GJ of energy, 270,000 ha of agricultural land, 1.4 billion m³ of freshwater, and 1.24 Mt of wildfish. Reduction of the FCR is a powerful means of lessening farm‐level production costs and negative impacts of feed production and use.     

苗后除草剂喷施时期对杂草防治及冬油菜产量和品质的影响

为了探究苗后除草剂不同施用时期对北方冬油菜田间杂草的防控效果及其对冬油菜生长、产量和品质的影响,以当地主栽甘蓝型冬油菜天油2266和白菜型冬油菜天油H614为试验材料,选用对冬油菜安全的苗后除草剂高效氟吡甲禾灵,设置4个喷施时期处理,于2018-2019年开展大田试验。结果表明,越冬后不同时期喷施苗后除草剂,甘蓝型冬油菜田间杂草总数较对照减少57.54%~92.56%,杂草总鲜重较对照降低75.40%~97.48%,第2时期（3月25日）处理产量较对照增加354.50kg/hm²;白菜型冬油菜田间杂草株防效和鲜重防效分别为55.91%~92.02%和37.17%~97.46%,产量较对照增加2.29%~16.77%。因此,在冬油菜大量返青但未封行前施用苗后除草剂,可显著防控田间杂草并增加冬油菜籽粒产量。     

棉花叶枝数与种植密度对单株结铃数的影响

为了探明棉花叶枝数和密度对单株结铃的影响规律，试验设置5种留叶枝方式：不留叶枝（CK）、留1叶枝、留2叶枝、留3叶枝、留全部叶枝；5个种植密度（万株·hm^－2）：2.25，3.00，3.75，4.50，5.25。研究结果表明：在同一密度条件下，随叶枝的增多，单株铃数增加；留1叶枝单株铃数较对照增加10%左右，留2、3叶枝单株铃数较对照增加15%左右，保留全部叶枝较对照增加25%左右。在同一叶枝处理下，随密度的增加，单株铃数减少；密度每增加7500株·hm^－2，5种留叶枝方式的单株结铃分别减少2.60个、3.04个、3.06个、3.44个和3.71个。总铃数随叶枝和密度的增加而增加，当总成铃为88.24万个·hm^－2时产量最高。     

Effects of Feeding Frequency on Apparent Energy and Nutrient Digestibility/Availability of Channel Catfish,Ictalurus punctatus,Reared at Optimal and Suboptimal Temperatures

This study examined the effects of feeding frequency (daily versus every other day [EOD]) on nutrient digestibility/availability of channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, reared at optimal (30 C) and suboptimal (24 C) temperatures. A 28% protein practical diet was used as the test diet, and chromic oxide was used at 0.75% of the diet as a maker. Twenty channel catfish of a mean weight of 141 g/fish were stocked into 12 flow‐through aquaria (110 L). Fish were fed daily or EOD to apparent satiation for 7 d before fecal samples were collected by the dissection method. Fish fed EOD to apparent satiation consumed more diet on days fed than those fed daily, and fish reared at 30 C consumed more diet than those reared at 24 C. Neither feeding frequency nor water temperature significantly affected apparent digestibility coefficients for energy and protein and apparent availability coefficients for total amino acids. Results show no advantage by feeding EOD over feeding daily on nutrient digestibility and diet utilization efficiency.     

The efficiency of nitrogen in cattle manures when applied to a double‐annual forage cropping system

The use of cattle manure (CM) for fertilization presents challenges for optimizing nitrogen (N) use. Our work aimed to assess N efficiencies, in a 6‐year experiment with three biennial rotations of four crops: oat–sorghum (first year) and ryegrass–maize (second year) in a rainfed humid Mediterranean area of Spain. Fertilization treatments included the following: control (no N), 250 kg mineral N ha^?1 year^?1 (250MN), three CM rates (supplying 170, 250 and 500 kg N ha^?1 year^?1) and four treatments where the two lowest CM rates were complemented with either 80 or 160 kg mineral N ha^?1 year^?1. Treatments were distributed randomly in each of three blocks. Maximum dry‐matter yield (~44–49 t ha^?1 rotation^?1) was achieved in the third rotation, and only the control and the 170CM yielded significantly less. Within the limitations of the EU Nitrate Directive, the N steady state supply of 170CM always requires a complement of mineral N (80 kg N ha^?1) to maximize N agronomic efficiency. The maximum N‐fertilizer replacement value (250CM vs. 250MN) was 0·67, without significant differences between the two treatments in other N‐related efficiency indexes, which indicates that plants took advantage of residual‐N effects. Nitrogen losses by leaching in the 250CM treatment were around 5–7% of the N applied. This reinforces the sustainability of manure recycling in long cropping seasons.     

基于深度学习的牛肉大理石花纹等级手机评价系统

大理石花纹是影响牛肉品质等级的重要指标,目前中国牛肉加工企业对大理石花纹的评价是由专业分级人员参照标准图谱完成,具有主观性强、耗费人工的缺点。针对上述问题,该研究提出了基于深度学习的智能分级方法,设计一种具有4层卷积的神经网络结构,实现了大理石花纹特征的自动提取,并基于智能手机开发了牛肉大理石花纹检测软件。该研究共采集样本图像1 800张,按3:1:1分为校正集、验证集和测试集。为进一步验证模型,将该方法与传统机器视觉方法进行了比较,提取了牛肉大理石花纹的大、中、小脂肪颗粒个数,脂肪总面积和脂肪分布均匀度5个参数,并建立了多元线性回归模型。试验结果表明,该研究所用方法大理石花纹检测准确率更高,验证集检测正确率为97.67%。最后编写了手机软件,将模型移植入Android手机,在手机平台上调用模型进行大理石花纹检测。试验表明,该软件对测试集样本的检测准确率为95.56%,单张检测时间低于0.5 s。该研究结合卷积神经网络分类能力强和智能手机运行速度快等优点,开发了牛肉大理石花纹的手机评价系统,具有较好的实用性和便携性,可提高牛肉大理石花纹检测效率,有助于提高农畜产品检测的智能化水平。