To make potato production more sustainable for smallholder farmers, product diversification through processing is critical. On the other hand, the processing sector mandated some stringent standards in order to maintain product quality, hence potato quality evaluations are required for chip processing industries. Specific gravity, starch, reducing sugars, tuber dry matter, and chip color are all important characteristics to consider for processing. This study was designed to find suitable potato varieties with satisfactory attributes for processing chips, in comparison with other processing potato varieties. Keeping this in mind, the study was performed during the winter season of 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 in Bangladesh. Six processing types of potato varieties viz. BARI Alu-25 (Asterix), BARI Alu-28 (Lady Rosetta), BARI Alu-29 (Courage), BARI Alu-68 (Atlantic), BARI Alu-70 (Destiny), and BARI Alu-71 (Dolly) were evaluated for different quality parameters (specific gravity, dry matter, starch content, reducing sugar, chip color, and crispiness). The result of the study showed an ample variation in the studied parameters among the potato varieties. Among the varieties, BARI Alu-28 (Lady Rosetta) and BARI Alu-29 (Courage) were found better for all the quality parameters, such as dry matter, starch, reducing sugar, chip color, and crispiness, and could be recommended for the processing industries.

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) is an important source of protein for people in developing countries. Aphanomyces root rot (ARR) has emerged as one of the most devastating diseases affecting lentil production. In this study, we applied two complementary quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis approaches to unravel the genetic architecture underlying this complex trait. A recombinant inbred line (RIL) population and an association mapping population were genotyped using genotyping by sequencing (GBS) to discover novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). QTL mapping identified 19 QTL associated with ARR resistance, while association mapping detected 38 QTL and highlighted accumulation of favorable haplotypes in most of the resistant accessions. Seven QTL clusters were discovered on six chromosomes, and 15 putative genes were identified within the QTL clusters. To validate QTL mapping and genome-wide association study (GWAS) results, expression analysis of five selected genes was conducted on partially resistant and susceptible accessions. Three of the genes were differentially expressed at early stages of infection, two of which may be associated with ARR resistance. Our findings provide valuable insight into the genetic control of ARR, and genetic and genomic resources developed here can be used to accelerate development of lentil cultivars with high levels of partial resistance to ARR.

Genotyping of lentil plant genetic resources holds the promise to increase the identification and utilization of useful genetic diversity for crop improvement. The International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) lentil reference set plus collection of 176 accessions was genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) and 22,555 SNPs were identified. The population structure was investigated using Bayesian analysis (STRUCTURE, k = 3) and principal component analysis. The two methods are in concordance. Genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) using the filtered SNP set and ICARDA historical phenotypic data discovered putative markers for several agronomic traits including days to first flower, seeds per pod, seed weight and days to maturity. The genetic and genomic resources developed and utilized in this study are available to the research community interested in exploring the ICARDA reference set plus collection using GWAS.

Maize inbred lines were evaluated by using line × tester method involving 11 lines and 3 testers for grain yield and its components through estimation of general combining ability (gca) and specific combining ability (sca) effects. Highly significant genotypic differences were observed indicated wide range of variability present among the genotypes. The crosses with high sca effect for grain yield were evolved from high × low general combiner parents which reveled additive × dominance type of gene action. The cross combinations 9MS4-1 × L22, 9MS4-1 × L486, 9MS4-2 × L431, 9MS4-11 × L486 and 9MS4- 15 × L431 with high positive sca effect having high mean values might be used for obtaining high yielding hybrids. The information on the nature of gene action with respective variety and characters might be used depending on the breeding objectives. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v39i4.22547 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 39(4): 675-683, December 2014

Orange fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) are desirable for high productivity and profitability and their distribution to improve the nutrition of river bank inhabitants of Gaibandha and Rangpur districts of Bangladesh. In this context, a field trial was conducted in two riverbank-based farmers’ fields such as Saghata, Gaibandha, and Pirganj, Rangpur, particularly in the Active Tista Floodplain Agro-ecological Zone of Bangladesh. Four OFSP varieties were evaluated, i.e., G1: BARI SP-8; G2: BARI SP-12; G3: BARI SP-14; G4: BARI SP-15, along with one local cultivar as a control (Red skin with white flesh). Significant variations among the sweet potato genotypes were noted for a number of tuberous roots plant⁻¹, length of root diameter of roots, tuberous root weight plant⁻¹, root yield (fresh), root yield (dry), beta-carotene yield, as well as energy output. Over the locations, BARI SP-12 produced about 73% higher root yield (32.00 t ha⁻¹) and it was like the BARI SP-8 (31.07 t ha⁻¹), which produced about 68% higher yield in comparison with local cultivar (18.51 t ha⁻¹). Across the location, BARI SP-8 performed better in root yield (31.89 t ha⁻¹) in Gaibandha, 69% superior to local cultivar, whereas BARI SP-12 performed better in Rangpur (33.66 t ha⁻¹), which was 86% greater than the local sweet potato cultivar. Considering the root dry yield production, BARI SP-8 produced the highest in the Gaibandha location after that Rangpur location. Further, BARI SP-14 had wider adaptability and stability over the year and location depended on the AMMI model. The beta carotene yield (Vitamin-A precursor) ranged 336–2957 kg ha⁻¹ among the OFSP varieties, whereas the highest (2957 kg ha⁻¹) carotene was recorded in BARI SP-14, similar to BARI SP-15 (2952 kg ha⁻¹) but was much lower in BARI SP-8 and BARI SP-12. Moreover, BARI SP-8 and BARI SP-12 were also economically profitable in terms of gross margin (3233 and 3364 US$ ha⁻¹, respectively), net return (3039 and 3170 US$ ha⁻¹, respectively) and BCR (3.21 and 3.31, respectively, vs. 1.91) due to higher returns with a similar production cost of the local cultivar. The results suggested that BARI SP-8 is economically profitable in the riverbank areas of Gaibandha, and BARI SP-12 is suitable for the riverbank areas of Rangpur.

Genetic diversity of 27 chickpea genotypes was studied through Mahalanobis D2 and Principal Component analysis. The genotypes under study fall into five clusters. The cluster II contained the highest number of genotypes (11) and Cluster I contained the lowest. Cluster I produced the highest mean value for number of pods per plant. The inter cluster distances were much higher than the intra cluster distances. Cluster V exhibited the highest intra cluster distance while the lowest distance was observed in cluster I. The highest inter cluster distance was observed between cluster I and II while the lowest was between cluster III and V. Considering all the characters, it was suggested that the genotypes BD6549, BD6603, and BD6548 could used as parents for future breeding programs to develop high yielding varieties of chickpea. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v37i1.11184 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 37(1): 129-136, March 2012