In the Vietnamese Mekong delta, soil quality and crop yield are steadily declining under rice monocultures with three crops per year. The objective of this study was to evaluate the medium-term effects of rotating rice with upland crops and adding organic amendments on rice yield and relate it to soil quality. A field trial with split-plot design including two factors and three replicates was carried out from 2017 to 2020, over the course of nine consecutive cropping seasons. Crop rotations and organic amendments were applied as main-plot and subplot factors, respectively. The rotations were: 1) rice–rice–rice (R–R–R), 2) soybean–rice–rice (So–R–R), and 3) sesame–rice–rice (Se–R–R), while organic amendment treatments included: i) no amendment (NO-AM); ii) compost of rice straw and cow manure (RS+CM), and iii) sugarcane compost (SGC); the composts were applied at a rate of 2.0 t ha-1. The rotation cycle started with the so-called spring–summer (SS), followed by summer–autumn (SA) and ended with the winter–spring (WS) season. Rice yield significantly (P < 0.05) increased by organic amendments after nine growing seasons (2019–2020 WS), with an increment of 5.1% for RS+CM (7.07 ton/ha) and 6.1% for SGC (7.14 ton/ha). Contrary to our expectation, rotations with upland crops did not significantly increase rice yield. Rice yield significantly and positively correlated with an integrated soil quality index SQI (r = 0.86) for the topsoil (0–15 cm), but not for the subsoil (15–30 cm). The increased availability of soil nutrients (Si and marginally also P) and improved soil physical properties probably induced by organic amendments, along with other soil properties under study, cumulatively attributed to enhanced rice yield. Use of a SQI involving several soil quality indicators enables to overall quantify the importance of soil fertility for rice yield versus other factors and it provides an effective means of quantifying the integrated effect of improved management. Moreover, integrating a wide range of soil quality indicators in a SQI ensures its applicability across diverse settings, including different crop rotations and various soil types.

In order to address the issue of nutrient deficiency in coconut coir-based nursery substrates, three materials with nutrient supplementation effects, namely pig manure, composted rice husks, and agricultural humic acid, were added in equal volumes to the coir-based substrate. The newly formulated substrates were then tested for their seedling growth effects on cucumber and rice. Results indicate that the substrate formulation consisting of "10% pig manure + 30% peat + 50% coconut coir + 10% vermiculite" was capable of satisfying the growth requirements of both cucumber and rice seedlings, with the highest acceptance among farmers.

The substitution of chemical fertilizers by organic manure plays a critical role in sustainable crop production. Nevertheless, organic amendments promote the global warming potential (GWP) in rice paddies due to increased methane (CH4) emissions. Increasing evidence shows that lime application can reduce CH4 emissions from acidic paddy soils, while it is still not clear whether liming can reduce the GWP in rice fields under organic manure substitution. A two-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the impacts of pig manure substitution and lime application on grain yield, CH4 and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in a subtropical double-cropped rice field in China. The experiment consisted of three treatments: chemical fertilization (CF, 100% N from urea), 50% of chemical N substituted by pig manure (1/2N + M), and the 1/2N + M treatment plus lime amendment (1/2N + M + L). On average, 1/2N + M reduced rice yield by 5.65% compared to CF, while lime application had no effect on rice yield. Mean cumulative CH4 emissions were 218.8% higher in 1/2N + M than in CF, whereas 1/2N + M + L reduced CH4 emissions by 36.6% compared to 1/2N + M. Neither pig manure substitution nor lime application affected N2O emissions. Consequently, 1/2N + M increased the GWP and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) by 214.6% and 228.3%, respectively, compared to CF. In contrast, 1/2N + M + L reduced the GWP and GHGI by 36.4% and 36.5% compared to 1/2N + M. Lime application can mitigate CH4 emissions and GWP induced by pig manure amendment in double-cropped rice fields.

Within the context of sustainable material development for the construction sector, this study explores the viability of panels composed of recycled newspaper-derived cellulose (9%), rice husk (14%), borax (15%), and polyvinyl acetate-based glue (62%). The methods employed involve water absorption and density tests, following ASTM C-1763 and C-303 standards. The fire resistance test conforming to the European standard UNE 23-725-90, and a mold growth test using AOAC 2002.11. The composite is prone to absorbing a significant amount of water when exposed to humid conditions. However, the incorporation of rice husk and borax can provide benefits such as improved moisture resistance compared to other cellulitic insulators, which may be advantageous in specific climates. Also, the developed composite has an intermediate density compared to other polymeric materials. This characteristic presents advantages in applications that demand a balance between strength and lightness. During the fire resistance tests, the samples with borax presented less fire propagation, and superficial damage compared with the specimens without borax. This is important, considering the fireproofing property, required in building materials. The presence of borax in the composite has an inhibitory effect on the growth of fungi and yeasts. These findings are consistent with previous research. Nevertheless, further research and testing are imperative to assess its viability and performance for commercial applications.

Amylose content (AC) stands as a pivotal determinant of rice grain quality, primarily governed by the Waxy gene (Wx), with its allelic diversity significantly influencing AC variation. In the current culinary landscape, soft rice varieties, known for their low AC and superior palatability, are particularly sought after by consumers. Notably, many soft japonica rice varieties cultivated in southern China, including the Nangeng series, are characterized by the presence of the Wxmp allele, derived from the ancestral Wxmq allele. While both alleles are associated with reduced AC, there remains a paucity of detailed understanding regarding the interplay between specific functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within these alleles and the overarching rice grain quality. Employing site-directed mutagenesis, we engineered three distinct transgenic rice lines, each harboring either the Wxmp, Wxmq, or Wxb-5c alleles, against the background of the glutinous rice cultivar Nip(wx). This suite of transgenic rice showcased a gradation ingrain transparency inversely correlated to AC, delineating a sequence from Wxmq, signifying the lowest, through Wxmp, to Wxb-5c, indicating the highest. Consequently, this gradation in AC precipitated variations in other rice grain physicochemical attributes, such as the taste value of cooked rice, gel consistency (GC), and starch pasting properties. Furthermore, analyses of gene expression and enzyme activity revealed that the functional SNPs, Ex4-53G/A and Ex5-53T/C, lead to a decline in the GBSSI enzyme activity without affecting expression levels. These findings underscore the potential of harnessing these SNPs in breeding programs aimed at developing soft rice varieties endowed with enhanced culinary qualities.

The development of analog rice, apart from being an effort to diversify food, also has the potential to be develop as functional food in fulfilling the nutrients needed by a community. Katuk leaf is known for its ability to accelerate breast milk production for lactating women which is inseparable from sterol as bioactive content. This study aimed to determine the best formulation of analog rice made from cassava flour, banana flour, Katuk leaf powder and soy lecithin that was sensory acceptable, in a shape resembling rice, and able to fulfill the nutritional needs of lactating women. Analog rice was produced using extruder machine before the physical and sensory properties analyses were carried out, followed by the chemical properties analysis. Formulation C (80% cassava flour, 20% banana flour, 3% Katuk leaf powder and 0.5% soy lecithin) was obtained as the best or most preferred formulation based on sensory analysis which the grain shaped oval round resembling original rice and had green-brownish color, fluffy texture, distinct aroma and taste derived from the raw material used. Therefore, this research is expected to support the development of analog rice for providing the main staple food for fulfilling the lactating women’s nutrition.

Plant cells' ability to withstand abiotic stress is strongly linked to modifications in their mechanical characteristics. Nevertheless, the lack of a workable method for consistently tracking plant cell mechanical properties severely restricts our comprehension of the mechanical alterations in plant cells under stress. With Polyethylene Glycol (PEG6000), we created a drought-like environment, and we used the Double Resonator Piezoelectric Cytometry (DRPC) method to dynamically and non-invasively track changes in the stress (ΔS) created and viscoelasticity (storage modulus G' and loss modulus G") of protoplasts and suspension cells of rice during drought stress. The findings demonstrate that, rice suspension cells and protoplasts react mechanically differently to 5%–15% PEG6000 stress, implying distinct resistance mechanisms. However, neither of them can withstand 25% PEG6000 stress, they respond mechanically similarly to 25% PEG6000 stress. The results of DRPC are further corroborated by the morphological alterations of rice cells and protoplasts observed under an optical microscope. To sum up, the DRPC technique functions as a precise cellular mechanical sensor and offers novel research tools for the evaluation of plant cell adversity and differentiating between the mechanical reactions of cells and protoplasts under abiotic stress.

Rice blast and brown planthopper (BPH) are two of the most destructive diseases and pests in rice (Oryza sativa L.) production in China. The development of multi-resistant varieties is widely recognized as the most efficient and environmentally friendly approach to controlling crop diseases and pests. Functional molecular markers (FMMs) have been developed from functional variants in the genic region associated with trait variation, greatly enhancing the efficiency of identifying and pyramiding valuable genes in crop breeding. In this study, two FMMs and a multiplex PCR amplification system were developed for two major broad-spectrum BPH resistance genes, Bph6 and Bph9. By assistance of FMMs in multi-resistant rice restorer line development pipeline, two lines (Huahui7713 and Huahui3006) with blast and BPH resistance were developed by pyramiding three resistance genes Pigm, Bph6 and Bph9. Huahui7713 and Huahui3006 as male lines, two new hybrid rice varieties (WeiLiangYou7713 and Xuanliangyou3006) were certificated and commercial released in China. WeiLiangYou7713 and Xuanliangyou3006 showed improved blast and BPH resistance, and no penalty on yield and grain-quality. Annual promotion area of WeiLiangYou7713 has exceeded 53.3 thousand hectares, indicating its widespread adoption and success in the market. Huahui7713 and Huahui3006 could have great potential for utilization in blast and BPH resistance rice breeding.

Genetic variability in rice breeding program plays the very crucial role. It provides outstanding pool of superior alleles governing better agronomic and quality characters through association mapping. For the understanding of population structure and genetic relationship among the different rice lines is indispensable prior to setting of correlation among dynamic alleles and traits. In the present investigation, genetic diversity and population structure of 116 rice accessions by using 64 polymorphic SSR markers was targeted for the evaluation of the genetic relatedness and diversity. Genotyping assessment based on SSR markers revealed a total of 225 alleles, with an average PIC value of 0.755. The germplasm lines were classified into three distinct subgroups through population structure analysis, utilizing both model and distance-based approaches. AMOVA analysis showed that 11% of the total variation could be attributed to differences between groups, while the remaining 89% of the variation was likely due to differences within groups. The study suggests that the population structure and genetic relatedness should be considered when working with the core collection of 116 rice germplasm lines for association mapping, aiming to establish marker-trait associations.

To ensure consumers can purchase high-quality rice, accurate identification of rice varieties is particularly important. Methods: This article conducts research based on machine learning algorithms from the perspectives of image, spectrum, and spectrogram fusion. Six types of hyperspectral image data of rice were preprocessed using convolutional smoothing (SG) and multiple scatter correction (MSC). Texture information of the images was extracted using gray-level co-occurrence matrix. Spectra, texture, and spectrogram data were fused into a new matrix. Spectral, texture, and spectrogram fusion data were used as inputs for the model, and support vector machines (SVM), logistic regression (LR), and K-nearest neighbors (KNN) classification models were constructed and compared. Results: From the classification results, the spectrogram fusion classification performance was better than classification models using only spectra or texture. Conclusion: The research results showed that the accuracy of SVM and LR classification models exceeded 90%, and the LR model performed the best, effectively classifying rice varieties.

Background/objectives: The health benefits of resistant starch are well known, but there have not been many studies available documenting the effect of basmati rice products containg resistant starch upon blood glucose level and lipid profile in vivo efficacy. Methods: Common cooking methods were used to prepare basmati rice products including two boiling methods viz. boiling 1 (boiling by absorption), boiling 2 (boiling in extra amount of water), frying and pressure cooking. The cooked rice were held at various temperatures and times: it was made fresh (T1), kept at room temperature (20–22°C) for 24 h (T2), kept at 4°C for 24 h (T3), and then reheated after being kept at 4°C for 24 h(T4). Next, the products' proximate composition, total dietary fibre (soluble and insoluble), resistant starch (RS), and In vitro starch digestion rate (rapidly and slowly digested starch) were examined. The effect of RS on blood glucose and lipid profile were measured in humans and rats. Histopathological study of liver and pancreas in rats were also observed. Results: The basmati rice prepared by boiling 1 and stored with T3 was found more effective to control blood glucose and lipid profile. Similarly in rats, the blood glucose level, cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL were reduced about 29.7, 37.9, 31.3 and 30.5% respectively, after consumption of basmsti rice prepared by boiling 1 and stored at T3. Conclusion: Rice products stored at 4⁰C have a high amount of resistant starh, insoluble dietary fibre, slowly digestible starch and low glycemic index. Thus helps to inhibit glycogen and lipid synthesis.

Plants significantly shape root-associated microbiota, making rhizosphere microbes useful environmental indicator organisms for safety assessment. Here, we report the pyrosequencing of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA in rhizosphere soil samples collected from transgenic cry1Ab/cry1Ac Bt rice Huahui No. 1 (GM crop) and its parental counterpart, Minghui63. We identified a total of 2,579 quantifiable bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Many treatment-enriched microbial OTUs were identified, including 14 NonGM-enriched OTUs and 10 GM-enriched OTUs. The rhizosphere microbiota communities were influenced more strongly by growth in the field than by rice varieties. Furthermore, Huahui No. 1 transgenic Bt rice had a greater impact on the rhizosphere bacterial communities than Minghui63. Early developmental stages of the transgenic Bt rice had a significant impact on many Bacillaceae communities. While soil chemical properties were not significantly altered by the presence of transgenic Bt rice, we found peak expression level of Bt proteins during the seedling stage, which may be an intriguing factor for bacterial diversity variations. Based on these findings, we conclude that transgenic Bt rice has a significant impact on root-associated bacteria. This information may be leveraged in future environmental safety assessments of transgenic Bt rice varieties.

Eco-agricultural technology is crucial to alleviating agricultural resource scarcity and environ-mental pressures. However, financial constraint affects its successful promotion. Digital finance has a significant impact on farmers, but existing research lacks an exploration of the impact of digital finance on farmers' adoption of eco-agricultural technology. This study focuses on Rice–Crayfish Co-cultivation Technology as an example. It utilizes survey data from 1,063 households in China. An Endogenous Switching Probit model is employed to solve self-selection bias. The results reveal several key findings. First, the average treatment effect on the treated is 51.5%. This indicates that if farmers who use digital finance were to stop using it, the probability of adopting rice–crayfish co-cultivation technology would decrease by 51.5%. Therefore, digital finance is beneficial for farmers in adopting this technology. Second, heterogeneity analysis reveals that digital finance has a greater promoting effect on older farmers, those with lower education levels, and higher proportions of agricultural income. This suggests a greater reliance on digital financial services among vulnerable groups. Third, digital finance promotes farmers' adoption of rice–crayfish co-cultivation technology by alleviating financial constraints, expanding information channels, and increasing social capital accumulation. Overall, the findings offer valuable insights for for-mulating supportive policies.

The modifications in planting structure and continuous land use adjustments have significant implications for the structure, diversity, and functioning of arthropod communities in farmland landscapes, particularly regarding the biological control of pest insects by natural enemy species. Therefore, there is an urgent need to comprehensively and accurately assess insect community diversity in croplands. In this study conducted between 2022-2023, we utilized Malaise traps and sweep netting to collect insects from three different double-cropping paddy fields. We extracted DNA from preservative ethanol of Malaise traps and tissue samples of selected parasitoid wasps, followed by amplification using DNA barcoding primers to prepare high-throughput sequencing libraries. As a result, we annotated a total of 4956 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to 174 genera and 32 families of parasitoid wasps. Our findings demonstrate that the ethanol filter method efficiently captures a wide range of information diversity. However, it demonstrates a lower resolution and may result in a reduction of species abundance. Furthermore, we have identified additional insect species in the parasitoid samples. This demonstrates that high throughput sequencing from adult parasitoid wasps can effectively detect host specie, enabling a comprehensive understanding of host species and providing novel insights into food web construction.

(1) Background: There is a risk of Aflatoxin B1(AFB1) pollution in yellow rice wine[1],threatening human life and health, the risk is a major focus of government attention and social concern.The current detection technology cannot meet the needs of large-scale testing due to the disadvantages of high false positive, cumbersome operating procedures or high cost.Therefore, it is urgent to study and establish a high-sensitivity and high-fast detection method for AFB1 to provide technical support for yellow rice wine quality supervision and risk assessment.; (2) Methods: In this study, three-factor and three-level orthogonal experiments were carried out for oscillation time, reaction temperature and tomography time to determine the best reaction conditions for pretreatment.AFB1 detection was carried out by aflatoxin time-resolved fluorescence immunochromatography technology，Through the ratio of the T signal value of the detection line to the C signal value of the quality control line and the natural logarithmic value of the standard solution concentration[2], a rapid detection technology of time-resolution fluorescence immunochromatography is established.The technology was methodically assessed, the actual yellow rice wine samples were tested, and the results were compared with the HPLC method; (3) Results: The results show that the optimal reaction conditions for pretreatment are: the sample oscillation time is 20min, the sample reaction temperature is 37°C, and the sample chromatography time is 6min. In the actual sample detection of yellow rice wine, The time-resolved fluorescence immunochromatography detection technology established in this study detects AFB1. The detection limit is 0.3 μg·kg-1,The linear range is 0.8-12.0μg·kg-1,The linear equation of the corresponding standard curve y=-0.1913x+0.5206 (R2=0.9948),The standard deviation is 0.029.The results of the in-batch accuracy and precision of this method show that the addition and recovery rate is 77.9% - 105.7%,The coefficient of variation is in 4.5% - 10.3%; Inter-batch accuracy and precision test results show that the addition recovery rate is75.9% - 85.8%,the coefficient of variation is in 8.1% - 13.9%,explain that the detection technology has good accuracy and precision.Compared with HPLC, the relative error is less than 10%,It shows that aflatoxin time-resolution fluorescence immunochromatography technology is in good agreement with the test results of national standard methods; (4) Conclusions:he rapid detection technology of time-resolution fluorescence immunochromatography of AFB1 in yellow rice wine is easy to operate with fast detection speed, high sensitivity, good repeatability and stability, and has broad application prospects.

The chloroplast is important organelle responsible for photosynthesis and various bio- synthetic functions essential to green plants. However, the regulatory mechanism of chloroplast development remains elusive. Here, we characterized a mutant with defective chloroplasts in rice (Oryza sativa L.) named it albino and lethal 13(osal13), which exhibited a distinct albino phenotype in leaves, eventually leading to seedling lethality. Molecular cloning revealed that OsAL13 encodes a novel protein in rice for which no homologous gene or known conserved domain was found. Analysis of the biological characteristics showed that the RNAi2 leaf was completely albino phenotype, the root and shoot lengths were significantly inhibited compared with wild type. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that RNAi2 were defective in chloroplast development. Overexpression of OsAL13 resulted the photosynthetic rate increase, So the total grain number per panicle also would be significantly increase. Besides, OsAL13 was located in chloroplast and constitutively expressed in various tissues, including green and non-green tissues. In addition, disruption of OsAL13 resulted in altered expression of plastid-encoded polymerases and nuclear-encoded chloroplast genes, OsAL13 also affected hormone levels in plant tissues. Therefore, our results provide new insights into the role of OsAL13 in regulating chloroplast development in rice.

Salt stress is one of the most severe environmental stresses limiting the productivity of crops, including rice. However, there is a lack of information on how salt-stress sensitivity varies across different developmental stages in rice. In view of this, a comparative evaluation of contrasting rice varieties CSR36 (salt tolerant) and Jaya (salt sensitive) was conducted, wherein NaCl stress (50 mM) was independently given either at seedling (S-stage), tillering (T-stage), flowering (F-stage), seed-setting (SS-stage) or throughout the plant growth, from seedling till maturity. Except for S-stage, CSR36 exhibited improved NaCl stress tolerance than Jaya, at all other tested stages. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the improved NaCl stress tolerance in CSR36 coincided with enhanced activities/levels of enzymatic/non-enzymatic antioxidants (root ascorbate peroxidase for T- and S+T stages and root catalase for F-, S+T and S+T+F-stages) and higher accumulation of osmolytes (shoot proline for F-stage and S+T+F-stage), indicating better antioxidant capacitance and osmotic adjustment, respectively. In contrast, higher shoot accumulation of Na+ and consequent increase in Na+/K+, Na+/Ca+2 and Na+/Mg+2 ratio in root and shoot, were identified as major variables associated with NaCl stress induced growth reduction in Jaya. In addition, CSR36 exhibited higher levels of Fe3+, Mn2+ and Co3+ and lower Cl- and SO42-, suggesting its potential to discriminate essential and non-essential nutrients, which might contribute to NaCl stress tolerance. Taken together, the findings provided the frame-work for stage-specific salinity responses in rice, which will facilitate crop-improvement programs for specific ecological niches including the coastal regions. Rice, salt stress, stage-specific salinity, antioxidant defense, ionic homeostasis, salt tolerance

Rice is an important cereal crop worldwide, the growth of which is affected by rice blast disease, caused by the fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae. As climate change increases the diversity of pathogens, the disease-resistance genes (R genes) in plants must be identified. The major blast-resistance genes have been identified in indica rice varieties; therefore, japonica rice varieties with R genes now need to be identified. Because leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domain proteins possess R-gene properties, we used bioinformatics analysis to identify the rice candidate LRR domain receptor-like proteins (OsLRR-RLPs). OsLRR-RLP2, which contains six LRR domains, showed differences in the DNA sequence, containing 43 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in indica and japonica subpopulations. The results of M. oryzae inoculation analysis indicated that indica varieties with partial deletion of OsLRR-RLP2 showed susceptibility, whereas japonica varieties with intact OsLRR-RLP2 showed resistance. oslrr-rlp2 mutant generated using clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) showed increased pathogen susceptibility, whereas plants overexpressing this gene showed pathogen resistance. These results indicate that OsLRR-RLP2 confers resistance to rice, and OsLRR-RLP2 may be useful for breeding resistant cultivars.

Stresses due to drought and high soil salt content are the most severe threats to global rice pro-duction, causing a significant decline in rice yield. Therefore, this study examined the effects of treatment with various plant extracts on the stresses on rice plants associated with drought and high salinity. Additionally, this study examined various physiological and biochemical parameters such as growth, photosynthetic activity, chlorophyll content, and lipid peroxidation in rice plants after treatment with selected plant extracts under drought and salt stress conditions. Out of the eleven extracts tested, four extracts, namely soybean leaf, soybean stem, Chinese chive, and onion extracts, were found to effectively reduce drought stress. A reduction of only 24-37% in shoot fresh weight was observed in rice plants under drought stress that were treated with these ex-tracts compared to the 78% reduction observed in control plants. In addition, rice plants under salt stress which were treated with soybean leaf, soybean stem, moringa (Moringa oleifera), and Undaria pinnatifida extracts were observed to have lower reductions in shoot fresh weight (3-23%) com-pared to the control plants (43%). The effectiveness varied with the concentrations of the plant ex-tracts. Water content was higher in the rice plants treated with extracts than in the control plants after 6 days of drought and salt stress, but not after 4 days of drought and salt stress. Although photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm) and electron transport rate (ETR), and the content of pigments (chlorophyll and carotenoid) varied based on the types and levels of stress and the extracts that the rice plants were treated with, generally photosynthetic efficiency and pigment contents were higher in the treated rice compared to control plants than in the control plants. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as the superoxide radical, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels increased as the duration of the period of stress increased. ROS and MDA levels were lower in the treated rice compared to control plants. Proline and soluble sugar accumulation also increased as the duration of the stressperiod increased. However, proline and soluble sugar ac-cumulation were lower in the treated rice compared to control plants. Generally, all the parame-ters investigated in this study were similar regardless of the plant extract used for treating the rice plants. Thus, extracts found to be effective in this study can be used to alleviate the adverse effects of stress on rice crops associated with drought and high salinity soil.

This study developed Makgeolli (Korean traditional alcoholic beverage) by adding raw 20% Codium fragile (Cf), a green seaweed, to a mixed base consisting of rice and oats (1:1 ratio) (COM) and analyzed its quality characteristics and antioxidant activity. The rice based Makgeolli supplemented with raw 20% Cf was designated as control (CRM). The physicochemical (pH, acidity), microbiological (yeast, lactic acid bacteria), antioxidant (DPPH, ABTS), and sensory properties (7-henodonic scale) of CRM and COM were investigated during 7 days of fermentation. The pH/acidity levels of CRM and COM reached 3.66/0.68 and 3.69/0.95 after 7 days of fermentation, respectively. Compared to CRM, COM had lower alcohol and sugar contents (P < 0.05) (CRM: 14.5%/9.8 Brix, COM: 11.2%/7.4 Brix). However, COM contained more yeast and lactic acid bacteria (P < 0.05) (CRM: 1.30/4.28 log, COM: 6.04/6.09 log) compared to CRM. The antioxidant activity of DPPH/ABTS (P < 0.05) in COM was approximately 1.5 times that of CRM (CRM: 40.00/51.57%, COM: 56.76/70.91%). In addition, COM had an excellent sensory preference score (P < 0.05) due to its overall fresh flavor and savory taste (CRM: 4.93, COM: 6.06). Therefore, COM was shown to be Makgeolli with enhanced antioxidant function, with yeast and lactic acid bacteria, and improved flavor, suggesting the possibility of commercializing this Makgeolli.

The incidence of celiac disease and gluten intolerance has been significantly rising globally. Gluten-free product consumption registered a sudden rise also among tolerant people, due to psychosocial factors. Biscuits are popular, low-cost bakery foods, consumed by nearly everyone worldwide. The removal of gluten from the baked product causes some undesirable traits and different textures and tastes. The main goal consists of creating a food product with the same taste and texture as a product with gluten. Moreover, gluten-free bakery products are usually low-grade sources of protein and poor in dietary fiber. Quinoa is a source of TDF and valuable protein. In this study, quinoa flour was used as the main constituent in the formulation of gluten-free c to improve their nutritional properties. Six different recipes with different percentages of quinoa flour have been realized. The formulations were compared, by rheological analysis, of each other and with a wheat flour control shortbread. The recipes with rheological features more similar to control shortbread were subjected to a discrimination analysis and the preferred was characterized from a chemical-physical and sensorial point of view. The experimental shortbreads constituted a good compromise to exploit the good nutritional composition of quinoa maintaining an acceptable sensory profile.

Rice production in the Anhui province is threatened by fungal diseases. We obtained twenty-five fungal isolates from rice and wild-rice leaves showing leaf spot disease collected along the Yangtze River. A phylogenetic analysis based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS), translation elongation factor 1 alpha (TEF1-α), and beta tubulin (TUB2) sequences revealed that one isolate (SS-2-JB-1B) grouped with Nigrospora shaerica, one (QY) with Nigrospora chinensis, twenty-two with Ngrospora oryzae, and one strain (QY-2) grouped in its own clade, related to but clearly different from N. oryzae. Nineteen tested isolates including sixteen strains from the N. oryzae clade and the three isolates of the other three clades, caused disease on detached rice leaves. The three isolates that did not belong to N. oryzae were also able to cause disease on rice seedlings, suggesting that they were rice pathogens. Isolate QY-2 differed from the other isolates in terms of colony mor-phology, cell-size, and susceptibility to fungicides, indicating that this isolate represents a new species that we named Nigrospora anhuiensis. Our analysis showed that N. sphaerica, N. chinensis, and the new species N. anhuiensis can cause rice leaf spot disease in the field. This research pro-vides new knowledge for understanding rice leaf spot disease.

In recent years, green and healthy foods have attracted much attention. Plant-based foods have become a new trend to replace animal-derived foods. In this study, we used walnut and purple rice as the primary raw materials to produce yogurt. The process included boiling, mixing, grinding, inoculation, fermentation, and sterilization. We then analyzed the similarities and differences between the resulting walnut purple rice yogurt and unfermented walnut purple rice milk, as well as dairy-based yogurt, in terms of physical chemistry, flavor, and sensory characteristics. We also examined the similarities and differences between fermented walnut purple rice milk and conventional warm yogurt. The study results revealed that walnut purple rice yogurt exhibited greater viscosity than walnut purple rice milk and conventional dairy-based yogurt. Additionally, the former displayed enhanced stability and recovery ability. Notably, distinguishable differences were observed between the three types of yogurts in terms of the presence of unknown volatiles and the umami signal as indicated by electronic nose/tongue and GC-IMS analyses. The umami flavour of walnut purple rice yogurt surpasses that of traditional dairy-based yogurt, whilst its salty taste is lower than that of walnut purple rice milk. Despite possessing a weaker aroma than dairy-based yogurt, it is more potent than walnut purple rice milk. Additionally, its relative abundance of olefins, ketones, and alcohols enhances its unique flavour profile, surpassing both other options. Based on sensory analysis, it can be deduced that walnut purple rice yogurt has the highest overall acceptance rate.

This research explores the enhancement of bio-oil quality through upgrading with the magnetic bimetallic oxide (CuO-Fe3O4) catalysts supported on the activated rice straw biochar (AcB). These catalysts were employed in a supercritical ethanol-based upgrading process. Various characterization techniques, including elemental analysis, XRD, BET, TGA, and SEM, were utilized to characterize the prepared catalyst. The study revealed significant improvements in the physical characteristics and chemical composition of the bio-oil, with higher heating value (HHV) increasing from 21.3 to 32.1 MJ/kg. Esterification and transesterification were identified as key reactions contributing to this improvement. Notably, the pH of bio-oil increased from 4.3 (raw bio-oil) to 5.63 (after upgrading), signifying reduced acidity. The analysis of the bio-oil's chemical composition highlighted a decrease in oxygen content and an increase in carbon and hydrogen content. At the optimum conditions, the application of supercritical ethanol proved to be an efficient method for enhancing the bio-oil's properties. A crucial transformation occurred during the upgrading process and more than 90% % of carboxylic acids were converted into esters, primarily ethyl acetate at the optimal conditions. This study has demonstrated the effective enhancement of raw bio-oil from rice straw through the utilization of carbon-based bimetallic oxide catalysts in a supercritical upgrading procedure.

Natural Fibre Composites (NFC) are eco-friendly, sustainable alternatives to synthetic polymers. However, some intrinsic natural fillers´ properties hinder their widespread implementation as re-inforcement in polymeric matrices and require further investigation. In the scope of this study, the thermal, rheologic, mechanical (tension and flexural modes), morphological properties, water ab-sorption and dimensional stability of the NF polypropylene (PP) based injection moulded compo-sites with the rice husk (rh) and olive pits (op) of 20 wt% and 30% wt%, were investigated. The results suggest that the higher content of the rice husk and olive pits led to a similar reduction of the Melt Flow Index (MFI), independent of the additive type compared to virgin polypropylene (PPv). The melting and crystallization temperatures of the PPrh and PPop composites did not change with statistical significance. The composites are stiffer than the PP matrix by up to 49% and possess higher mechanical strength in what concerns the tension mode at the expense of de-creased ductility. PPrh and PPop have superior flexural modulus in the bending mode, while the flexural strength improvement was accomplished for the PP30%rh. The dimensional stability of the composites was improved as the linear shrinkage in the flow direction was decreased by 49% for PPrh and 30% for PPop, positively correlating with an increase in the filler content and stiff-ness. PPop was less susceptible to water sorption than PPrh due to fibres' composition and larger surface-to-area volume ratios.

Crop digital twin is redefining traditional farming practices, offering unprecedented opportunities for real-time monitoring, predictive and simulation analysis, and optimization. This research embarks on an exploration of the synergy between precision agriculture, crop modeling, and regression algorithms to create a digital twin for augmenting farmers the concentration and composition prediction-based crop nutrient recovery. This captures the holistic representation of crop characteristics, considering the intricate relationships between environmental factors, nutrient concentrations, and crop compositions. However, the complexity arising from diverse soil and environmental conditions makes nutrient content analysis expensive and time-consuming. This paper presents the result of a predictive digital twin case study that employs six regression algorithms namely Elastic Net, Polynomial, Stepwise, Ridge, Lasso, and Linear Regression to predict rice nutrient content efficiently, particularly considering the coexistence and composition of multiple nutrients. Our research findings highlight the superiority of the Polynomial Regression model in predicting nutrient content, with a specific focus on accurate nitrogen percentage prediction. This insight can be used for nutrient recovery intervention by knowing the precise amount of nutrient to be added into the crop medium. The adoption of the Polynomial Regression model offers a valuable tool for nutrient management practices in the crop digital twin, potentially resulting in higher-quality rice production and a reduced environmental impact. The proposed method can be replicable in other low-resourced crop digital twin system.

The 2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP) is the most important volatile in determining the aroma of fragrant rice, however, the transcriptional regulation mechanism of 2-AP biosynthesis in fragrant rice is still unclear. In this study, the Osp5cs1 knockout mutant lines and OsP5CS1 over-expression lines were constructed by genetic transformation of indica rice cultivar i.e., ‘Zhonghua11’, which was knocked out OsBADH2 to produce fragrance in aromatic rice. The OsP5CS1 gene was also identified as a key gene in the 2-AP biosynthesis pathway of aromatic rice. The OsP5CS1 promoter was used as bait, and the transcription factor OsbZIP60-like was screened by yeast one-hybrid assays. The transcription factor OsbZIP60-like specifically bound to the OsP5CS1 gene. The dual luciferase reporting system found that OsbZIP60-like transcription factor promoted the transcriptional activation of OsP5CS1. Compared with the wild type, the OsP5CS1 gene expression was significantly down-regulated in Osbzip60-like mutant, and resulted in substantial reduction in 2-AP biosynthesis. Moreover, the OsP5CS1 gene expression was significantly up-regulated in OsbZIP60-like over-expressed plants, and the 2-AP concentrations were also increased whereas the Osbzip60-like mutants were found to be sensitive to Zn deficiency. Overall, the OsbZIP60-like transcription factor promoted the 2-AP accumulation. This study provides a theoretical basis for the transcriptional regulation mechanism of 2-AP biosynthesis and explores the function of OsbZIP transcription factor in fragrant rice.

The genetic potentials of rice cultivars will need to be expressed to their fullest if global rice production is to be expanded enough by 2050 to meet the increased demand of expanding population while the availability of land and water per capita dwindles. New and ‘improved’ rice varieties have contributed greatly to increased production over the past 50 years, but the rate of rice yield increase based on genetic changes has declined in recent decades compared with the early years of the Green Revolution. In fact, many rice consumers continue to prefer to consume ‘traditional’ rice varieties (referred to also as local, native, unimproved, or indigenous) because of their taste, aroma, texture, and other qualities. Further, many farmers prefer to cultivate these varieties because of their better adaptation to local climatic and soil conditions and their evolved resistance to endemic stresses. The practices that comprise the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), including transplanting rice seedlings at a young age, wide spacing between plants, keeping the soil well-aerated rather than inundated, and enhancing soil organic matter, provide traditional rice varieties with micro-environments that are more favorable for the expression of their genetic and agronomic potentials. Interactions among rice plants, soil characteristics, water, energy, and other inputs improve the phenotypic and physiological performance of rice plants. This paper considers how the cultivation of traditional rice varieties with SRI methods can raise yields, reduce farmers’ costs of production, and generate higher incomes, while contributing to the conservation of rice biodiversity.

The models of partial least squares (PLS) regression and artificial neural network (ANN) for evaluation of texture properties of cooked germinated brown rice (GBR) using the Fourier transform near infrared (NIR) spectra of uncooked whole grain combined with data separation methods, spectral pretreatment methods were investigated in this study. The ANN was outperformed in evaluation of hardness by back extrusion test of cooked GBR using the smoothing combined with standard normal variate pretreated NIR spectra in the range of 12,500-4,000 cm−1 of 188 whole grain samples where the calibration sample set was separated from prediction set by Kennard-Stone method where the best ANN model for hardness from hidden layers of 25 and 8 iteration time provided R2, r2, RMSEC, RMSEP, Bias and RPD of 0.9987, 0.9447, 0.1021 N, 0.7699 N, 0.0216 N and 4.3 respectively. The PLS regression of 64 sample KDML GBR group and 64 sample various variety GBR group, provided models for the hardness of the former and the toughness of the latter which developed by using 7506−5446.3, 4605.4−4242.9 cm−1 which included the amylose vibration band of 6834 cm−1 while toughness model was from 9403.8-6094.3 cm−1 where included 6834 and 8316 cm−1 vibration bands of amylose which influenced the texture of cooked rice. The PLS regression models for hardness and toughness were with the r2 of 0.85 and 0.82, and the RPD of 2.9 and 2.4, respectively. The ANN model for hardness of cooked GBR should be implemented to the practical use in GBR production factories for the quality assurance and further updating using more samples and several brands to obtain the robust models.

The purpose of this study is to identify the different effects exerted by planting density and nitrogen fertilization on high-salinity Reclaimed Paddy Fields(RPF) and General Paddy Fields(GPF), and to find the amount of fertilization and the planting density suitable for the growth of forage rice in each paddy field. In both experimental locations, there was no significant change in the soil due to N treatment, but in the case of RPF, electrical conductivity(EC) decreased significantly from more than 5dS/m to up to 2.87dS/m during the yellow ripe stage due to the influence of floods and concentrated precipitation on the fields. In all soils, as both the amount of N treatment and the planting density increased, there was a proportional relationship in which the number of tillers and the dry weight also increased, with the occurrence of lodging also being increased. The dry weight, as expected, was 1.5 times higher at a planting distance of 10 cm, rather than 16 cm. In addition, in both locations N treatment led to an increase in the dry weight, but when N treatment reached 400kg/ha (2.0), the dry weight decreased instead. Moreover, although there was no clear difference in feed value according to N treatment, in RPF, neutral detergent fiber(NDF) was higher than 60%, RFV was less than 98, and TDN was also low, confirming that the quality of rice was higher in GPF.

OsNRAMP5—a member of the same family as the iron, manganese (Mn), and cadmium (Cd) transporter OsNRAMP1—is responsible for the transport of Mn and Cd from soil in rice. Knockout of OsNRAMP5 markedly reduces both Cd and Mn absorption; therefore, in low -Mn environments, such plants would exhibit Mn deficiency and suppressed growth. Amino acid mutations in IRT1 alter its metal selectivity. We generated random mutations in OsNRAMP5 via error-prone PCR, and used yeast to screen for the retention of Mn absorption and inhibition of Cd absorption. The results showed ththat alanine 512th is the most important amino acid residue for Cd absorption, and that its substitution resulted in the absorption of Mn but not Cd.

Reducing meat consumption is better for the environment. Unfortunately, commercial plant-based meat substitutes are often more expensive than meat and thus have not seen widespread adoption. This paper analyzes commercially-available spirulina, soy, pea, and brown rice protein isolates characteristics to provide data for non-meat protein cost reductions. Thermal and rheological properties, viscosity, density, and particle size distribution are analyzed for further study on alternative protein-based food processing. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis produced dry amorphous-shaped curves and paste curves with a more distinct endothermic peak. Extracted linear temperature ranges for processing in food production for spirulina was 70-90ºC; soy protein was 87-116ºC; pea protein was 67-77ºC; and brown rice protein was 87-97ºC. Viscosity analysis determined each protein material was shear-thinning and that viscosity increased with decreased water concentration, with rice being an exception to the latter trend. The obtained viscosity range for spirulina was 15,100-78,000cP; soy protein was 3,200-80,000cP; pea protein was 1,400-32,700cP; and brown rice protein was 600-3,500cP. The results indicate that extrusion is a viable method for further processing of the protein isolates as this technique has a large temperature operating range and variable screw speed. Data provided here can be used to make single or multi-component protein substitutes.

Rice provides ~20% of human dietary energy and, for many people, a similar share of their protein. Rice cultivation, however, produces significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, comparable to those from the aviation sector. The main GHG from rice production is methane, mostly a result of conventional rice cultivation (CRC) keeping rice fields continuously flooded during the crop cycle. There is extensive evidence that alternate wetting and drying (AWD) of rice fields substantially reduces methane emissions. AWD is one component of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), an agroecological approach to the management of plants, water, soil and nutrients practiced by millions of farmers in both lowland irrigated rice and upland rainfed cultivation. Thirteen countries have included SRI in their Nationally Determined Contributions to GHG reduction or climate change mitigation. This article reviews 16 field studies of the net reduction in GHG emissions from the adoption of AWD, eight from the adoption of SRI, and two that compared SRI and AWD. Where available, the review includes data on yield and therefore on carbon dioxide-equivalent GHG emissions per kilogram of rice produced. The evidence indicates that AWD and SRI offer a similar and substantial reduction (~35–41%) in GHG emissions per hectare compared with conventional rice cultivation. However, SRI offers ~66% greater yield than CRC, and therefore greater reduction in emissions per kilogram of rice, ~54% more than AWD. The limited data directly comparing SRI and AWD support this finding. SRI also appears to have greater potential to sequester carbon in the soil. SRI lowers rice farmers’ costs of production, adds to their income and can make climate-friendly methods more attractive. Both AWD and SRI are greatly preferable to current conventional practices, but SRI offers opportunities to contribute to food security while directly addressing the drivers of climate change.

Soil cadmium (Cd) contamination has become a serious problem in China. In this study, the goals of the field experiments were to understand how the application of nitrogen fertilizer at the full heading stage and filling stage reduced the uptake of Cd in rice by affecting the distribution of Cd in iron plaques on the root surfaces and subcellular in the root and flag leaf. The hydroponic culture experiments aimed to explore the effect of interaction or deficiency of nitrogen and cadmium on cadmium accumulation in rice at the late growth stage. The results showed that under the condition of having enough nitrogen supply during the early growth stage, applying nitrogen fertilizer during the full heading stage and filling stage resulted in a significant increase in the concentration of Fe and Cd on the root plaques at the milk stage and mature stage. Additionally, it increased the concentration and proportion of Cd in the soluble fraction of subcellular in the flag leaves at the milk stage. On the other hand, when there was a deficiency of nitrogen, the concentration of Fe in the root plaques increased significantly, while the concentration of Cd in the root plaques decreased significantly. Moreover, the proportion of Cd in the flag leaf cell walls increased significantly. Regardless of whether there was sufficient or deficient nitrogen supply during the early growth stage, applying nitrogen at the full heading stage reduced the Cd concentration in brown rice by 35.11% and 57.25%, respectively. Under hydroponic culture conditions with both Cd exposure and later-stage nitrogen supply significantly increased the Cd concentration in brown rice. However, in the absence of Cd, nitrogen supply significantly reduced the Cd concentration in brown rice. The accumulation of Cd in brown rice was significantly correlated with the accumulation of Fe and Mn at the late growth stage. Our findings indicate that when there is sufficient nitrogen nutrition during the early growth stage of rice, topdressing nitrogen fertilizer at the full heading stage combined with lime with mineral element fertilizers such as Fe and Mn is an effective approach to reduce the presence of cadmium in rice grains.

Rice cultivation is the main agricultural activity in Asia, and it results in an enormous amount of agricultural waste, that are usually disposed-off by burning, causing serious environmental health and climate problems. Pakistan is the tenth largest producer in the world and the fourth exporter of rice in the world. To date, there are no studies targeting Pakistan’s profile monitoring its contribution in open burning emissions from rice straw waste. This study presents the characterization of PCDD/Fs, PCBs and PAHs emissions from three samples of rice straw collected from the main rice cultivation regions of Pakistan (Punjab, Sindh and Azad Jammu and Kashmir) in relation to the role of metal-based agricultural additives. PCDD/Fs, PCBs and PAHs emissions were quantified using a fixed grid system biomass plant and measuring the macro-pollutants online and sampling the organic micro-pollutants and metals in isokinetic mode, followed by ISO and CEN standards methods. In addition, role of agrochemicals was monitored in terms of metal catalysis resulted in POPs emissions. This study provides the characterization of most relevant group of pollutants (metals, PCDD/Fs, PCBs and PAHs) as a result of agricultural waste combustion. The rice straw samples from AJK showed high values of organochlorine micro-pollutants compared to the values followed by samples from Punjab and Sindh, i.e., respectively, ∑PCDD/F (2594>1493>856 pg/Nm³) and ∑PCB (41>38>30 pg/Nm³). Whereas the organic micro-pollutants ∑PAH, indicators of incomplete combustion (PICs), were recorded high in the samples from Sindh followed by Punjab and AJK. This study supports the idea that the phenomena that lead to the formation of PCDD/F and PCB are influenced not only by poor combustion but also by the presence of metal catalysts or precursors in the burned fuel.

Floods are some of the most devastating crop disasters in Southeast Asia. The Pampanga River Basin in the Philippines is a representative flood-prone area, where cultivation patterns are varied according to the flood risk. However, quantitative analyses on the effects of flooding on cultivation patterns remain quite limited. Accordingly, this study analyzes MODIS LAI data (MCD15A2H) from 2007 to 2022 to evaluate annual and geographical differences in cultivation patterns in the Candaba municipality of the basin. The analysis consists of two stages of hierarchical clustering: a first stage for area classification and a second stage for the classification of annual LAI dynamics. As a result, Candaba is divided into four areas, which are found to be partly consistent with the observed flood risk. Subsequently, the annual LAI dynamics in each area are divided into two or three clusters. The obvious differences among the clusters are caused by flooding in the late rainy season, delaying the start of planting in the dry season. The clusters also indicate that the cultivation patterns slightly changed over the 16 years of the study period. The results of this study suggest that the two-stage clustering approach provides an effective tool for the analysis of MODIS LAI data when considering cultivation patterns characterized by annual and geographical differences.

Honey bees are vital organisms that provide ecological and economic value to humans. However, in recent years, the increase in honey bee losses due to various environmental factors, including pesticides, has become a growing concern. In Europe, neonicotinoid pesticides that are banned are being used without restrictions in the domestic setting, leading to ongoing damages as a result. Ongoing research is continually being conducted to demonstrate the risks associated with neonicotinoid pesticides. However, validation of the actual damages and impact in the field remains absent. Therefore, in this study, we observed changes in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies located near rice cultivation areas as they progressed beyond the rice pesticide application period. Furthermore, we collected honey bees exposed to the clothianidin and analyzed their stress-related gene expression. The results showed that the foraging behavior of honey bee colonies located near rice cultivation areas did not exhibit significant differences between the treatment site (Cheongyang and Gimje) and the control site (Wanju) during the experimental period. However, it was observed that the expression levels of stress-related genes in honey bees collected from the treatment group were significantly higher than those in the control. Most of the stress-related genes were associated with detoxification processes in response to pesticides. As a result, pesticide treatment in proximity to rice cultivation areas did not cause direct damage to honey bees but had an indirect impact, suggesting the potential for ongoing chronic damage.

Cambodia faces the challenge of managing excess water during the wet season and insufficient water during the dry season. This harms human life and endangers aquatic and natural resources, agricultural practices, and food security. In order to ensure the well-being of both people and food security, water governance is crucial. However, Cambodia's water governance is hindered by various obstacles, including sectoral and centralized influences, top-down and large-scale strategies, a lack of coordination among relevant agencies, and limited involvement of local communities. This study delves into water governance across different sectors, from centralized to community-based natural resources management to tackle these challenges. Through analyzing literature and case studies of farmer water user communities (FWUC), community fisheries (CFis), and community fish refuges (CFRs) in three Mekong Delta provinces in Cambodia, the study concludes that although water governance has improved, it has resulted in a decline in fishery resources from rivers and water bodies and an increase in water conflicts among farmers and sectors in the face of climate change. To enhance water governance in Cambodia, it is critical to integrate it at the district level. This will promote sustainable water use and management across the country and pave the way for a brighter future.

The present article summarises Earth Observation (EO)-based rice mapping strategies since 1979, with a focus on data, methodologies, and methods based on 3,700 research publications across global literature and its comparison with the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD). Various quan-titative analyses were conducted through bibliometric analysis using the VOS viewer and Scopus database. Optical images, particularly MODIS and Landsat time series datasets, were found to be the most commonly utilized. Landsat data had the highest share in the global context, while MODIS data research dominated in the VMD, while Sentinel series data and the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform became more popular in recent years. The research on rice mapping using UAVs has been gradually creeping into global rice mapping research but is a loophole yet to be implemented in the VMD. The most widely used approaches for rice mapping globally were Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, and Principal Component Analysis. Indices like EVI, NDVI, and RVI were commonly used for rice mapping and monitoring. The findings underscore the critical role of EO-based rice mapping studies in the VMD in addressing sustainability and food security chal-lenges.

RCH is known rapidly enhance cold tolerance of insects. Trehalose has been demonstrated to be one of the cryoprotectant in L. oryzophilus, an important invasive pest of rice in China. Trehalose synthesis mainly occurs through the TPS/TPP pathway in insects. In this study, LoTPS gene was cloned and characterized for the first time. Its expression and trehalose content changes elicited by RCH were investigated. Our results revealed that RCH not only increased the survival rate of adults but also upregulated the gene expression level of LoTPS and increased trehalose content under low temperature. We hypothesized upregulated LoTPS promoted trehalose synthesis and accumulation to protect adults from low-temperature damage. To further verify the function of LoTPS gene, we employed RNAi technology. Our findings showed that RCH efficiency disappeared and failed to increase the survival rate when the adults were fed dsRNA of LoTPS. Additionally, inhibiting LoTPS gene expression resulted in no significant difference in trehalose content between RCH and non-RCH treatments. Furthermore, the expression patterns of TRET and TRE were also affected. Collectively, these results indicate the critical role of LoTPS in L. oryzophilus cold resistance after RCH induction. LoTPS can enhance the survival ability by regulating trehalose metabolism. These findings contribute to further understanding of the role of TPS in insect cold resistance and invasiveness of L. oryzophilus. Moreover, RNAi of the LoTPS opens up possibilities for novel control strategies against L. oryzophilus in the future.

A 4×2 factorial experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of feeding dietary gamma-oryzanol and vitamin E tocotrienols in hens reared in 840 (low cage density; LCD) or 420 cm2/hen (high cage density; HCD). A total of 120 hens were allocated into eight groups with five replicates. Diets were a control (CON) or the control diet supplemented with 200 ppm gamma-oryzanol (GO-200), 200 ppm vitamin E tocotrienols (VE-200) or 200 ppm gamma-oryzanol + 200 ppm vitamin E tocotrienols (GE-400). Results showed that HCD-housed hens decreased (P &lt; 0.01) egg performance and quality. Average egg weight (AEW), egg mass and FCR improved in all supplemented treatments. Results on the AEW, FCR, and eggshell qualities of birds kept at the HCD revealed the best responses in the GE-400 group (P &lt; 0.01). Among hens kept on an HCD, there was a noticeable decrease in HMGCR mRNA abundance in the VE-200 group, while the highest IFN-γ mRNA abundance was found in hens fed the GO-200 diet (P &lt; 0.05). Thus, this study suggested that dietary GO or VE at 200 ppm either individually or in combination could improve performance and egg quality as well as regulate the abundance of immune- and stress-related genes.

Rice cultivation serves as a significant anthropogenic source of methane (CH4), a primary greenhouse gas, and nitrous oxide (N2O), a secondary greenhouse gas. Although N2O emissions remain relatively small compared to CH4 emissions, they are remarkably affected by nitrogen-fertilized soil conditions during rice cultivation. To date, investigations are very limited concerning N2O emissions from rice cultivation in relation to environmental factors such as temperature, rainfall, and soil properties. In this case study, we investigated the characteristics of N2O emissions in the central region of South Korea, where a single rice cropping cycle occurs annually over a span of three years, from May 2020 to May 2023. We investigated the impact of variations in temperature and soil moisture on N2O emissions during rice cultivation. In this context, we attempted to discover the complex dynamics of N2O emissions by comparing longer fallow periods with the rice cultivation periods and extended non-dry periods with irrigated periods. We observed that extremely high N₂O flux events encountered during the fallow period appeared to have a substantial impact on the yearly cumulative N₂O emissions, surpassing the impact of cumulative N₂O emissions during the rice cultivation period. We found that high N₂O flux events arose not only from artificial nitrogen inputs but also due to temperature and soil moisture variations influenced by weather conditions. We concluded that assessing N₂O emissions solely based on the rice cultivation period would underestimate annual emissions. To prevent underestimation of N₂O emissions, continual gas collection throughout a year covering both rice cultivation and fallow phases is required in align with monitoring of varying temperature and soil moisture conditions. Based on our findings, we recommend that at least a three whole year evaluation period is needed to ensure estimation accuracy of N₂O emissions under varying nitrogen fertilization rates. Also, the findings from this study would help prepare a further revision or refinement of N2O emission factor from rice cultivation in the national greenhouse gas inventories defined by the inter-governmental panel on climate change (IPCC).

Veterinary antibiotics (VAs) have been indiscriminately used in animal feed for the past five decades to increase and ensure profits with negligible environmental considerations. The VAs amoxicillin (AMX), chlortetracycline (CTC), and oxytetracycline (OTC), which can be unintentionally introduced by irrigation water during rice cultivation, were evaluated for their phytotoxic effects, absorption-translocation into plants, and soil residues using a randomized complete block design. It was found that exposure to VAs can severely affect the photosynthetic pathway of rice plants. The uptake and translocation of VAs by rice plants varied significantly. CTC and OTC translocated more easily than AMX, a member of the β-lactam class, which accumulated at the lowest concentration compared to CTC and OTC across all treatments. Rice yield was about 4.3 - 5.7% lower in the experimental plots that received fifty-fold the background levels of VAs compared to the control. The findings indicate that these widely used veterinary antibiotics can hamper crop production, leave residues in the soil, and constitute a risk to human health if introduced into the agro-ecosystem unintentionally.

Long-term storage may reduce the nutritional quality of brown rice, so the present study was aimed to evaluate the nutritive values and application in pig diets. In Exp.1, 18 Landrace × Yorkshire (L × Y) barrows with initial body weight (IBW) of 25.48 ± 3.21 kg were randomly assigned to three treatments, which included corn diet, one-year stored brown rice (BR1) diet and six-year stored brown rice (BR6) diet, to determine the digestible energy (DE) and metabolisable energy (ME) value of stored brown rice. In Exp. 2, 24 barrows (L × Y; IBW: 22.16 ± 2.42 kg) fixed with ileal T-cannula were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments, including corn diet, two stored brown rice diets and nitrogen-free diet, to evaluate the amino acid (AA) digestibility of stored brown rice. In Exp. 3 and 4, 108 crossbred weaned piglets (L × Y; IBW: 9.16 ± 0.89 kg) and 90 crossbred growing pigs (L × Y; IBW: 48.28 ± 3.51 kg) were allotted to 3 treatment diets, including control diet and two stored brown rice diets, respectively, to investigate the application of stored brown rice in weaned piglet and growing-finishing pig diets. Results showed that: 1) The DE and ME of corn and stored brown rice showed no significant differences (P > 0.05), while the apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of arginine, histidine, aspartic acid, and the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of arginine and histidine were higher in stored brown rice compared to corn (P < 0.05). 2) Compared with the control diet, the stored brown rice diets showed no significant effects on growth performance, nutrient apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) and serum biochemical indices (P > 0.05), but decreased digestive enzymes activities in duodenum, jejunum and ileum of piglets (P < 0.05). 3) Compared with the control diet, the stored brown rice diets showed no significant effects on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, fatty acids profiles in the longissimus dorsi muscle of growing-finishing pigs (P > 0.05). In conclusion, the brown rice stored for 6 years under good conditions has no obvious changes in available energy and nutrient values. Although it may reduce digestive enzyme activity in small intestine of the piglets, the stored brown rice showed no obvious adverse effect on growth performance and meat quality, and can be effectively used in pig diet.

This study investigated novel quantitative traits loci (QTLs) associated with the control of grain shape and size as well as grain weight in rice. We employed a joint strategy multiple GAPIT (Genome Association and Prediction Integrated Tool) models [(Bayesian-information and Linkage-disequilibrium Iteratively Nested Keyway (BLINK)), Fixed and random model Circulating Probability Uniform (FarmCPU), Settlement of MLM Under Progressive Exclusive Relationship (SUPER), and General Linear Model (GLM)]–High Density SNP Chip DNA Markers (60,461) to conduct a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS). GWAS was performed using genotype and grain-related phenotypes of 143 recombinant inbred lines (RILs). Data show that parental lines (Ilpum and Tung Tin Wan Hein 1, TTWH1, Oryza sativa L., ssp. japonica and indica, respectively) exhibited divergent phenotypes for all analyzed grain traits), which was reflected in their derived population. GWAS results revealed the association between seven SNP Chip makers and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for grain length, co-detected by all GAPIT models on (Chr) 1–3, 5, 7, and 11), were qGL1-1BFSG (AX-95918134, Chr1: 3820526 bp) explains 65.2%–72.5% of the phenotypic variance explained (PVE). In addition, qGW1-1BFSG (AX-273945773, Chr1: 5623288 bp) for grain width explains 15.5%–18.9% of PVE. Furthermore, BLINK or FarmCPU identified three QTLs for grain thickness independently, and explain 74.9% (qGT1Blink, AX-279261704, Chr1: 18023142 bp) and 54.9% (qGT2-1Farm, AX-154787777, Chr2: AX-154787777 bp) of the observed PVE. For t length-to-width ratio, the qLWR2BFSG (AX-274833045, Chr2: 10000097 bp) explains nearly 15.2%–32% of PVE for LWR. Likewise, the major QTL for thousand-grain weight (TGW) was detected on Chr6 (qTGW6BFSG, AX-115737727, 28484619 bp) and explains 32.8%–54% of PVE. The qTGW6BFSG QTL coincides with qGW6-1Blink for grain width and explained 32.8%–54% of PVE. Putative Candidate genes pooled from major QTLs for each grain traits have interesting annotated functions that require functional studies to elucidate their function in the control of grain size, shape, or weight in rice. Genome selection analysis proposed makers useful for downstream marker-assisted selection based on genetic merit of RILs.

Rice production is a significant contributor to methane emissions, accounting for ap-proximately 11% of global anthropogenic emissions. However, methane emissions in rice fields could effectively be reduced by implementing proper management practices and careful cultivar selection. The impact of nitrogen fertilizers on methane emissions is mul-tifaceted, as these fertilizers enhance crop growth and influence the activity of me-thane-producing (methanogens) and methane-consuming microbes (methanotrophs), leading to complex outcomes in methane emissions. In this study, we used qPCR to quan-tify methanogens and methanotrophs using mcrA (methanogenesis-related gene) and pmoA (methane oxidation-related gene) primer sets under different nitrogen levels (0, 50, and 100%) and rice varieties. The results revealed that higher nitrogen input led to higher methanogen inhabitation in the rhizosphere. Additionally, the abundances of methano-gens and methanotrophs varied among the different rice varieties. Furthermore, it was observed that there may be an additive effect between the rice variety and nitrogen level used. These findings suggest that future breeding efforts should involve screening for me-thane-related microbes in rice cultivars adapted to low-nitrogen conditions. By identifying and selecting rice varieties that promote lower methanogen levels and higher metha-notroph inhabitation, significant steps can be taken to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from rice cultivation.

Abstract: Rice production is a significant contributor to methane emissions, accounting for approximately 11% of global anthropogenic emissions. However, there is potential for effectively reducing methane emissions from rice fields through the implementation of proper management practices and careful cultivar selection. The impact of nitrogen (N) fertilizers on methane (CH4) emissions is multifaceted, as these fertilizers not only en-hance crop growth but also influence the activity of methane-producing microbes (Meth-anogens) and methane-consuming microbes (Methanotrophs), leading to complex out-comes in CH4 emissions. In this study, we utilized qPCR to quantify methanogens and methanotrophs using mcrA (methanogenesis-related gene) and pmoA (methane oxida-tion-related gene) primer sets under different nitrogen levels (0, 50, 100%) and rice varie-ties. The results revealed that higher nitrogen inputs led to higher methanogen inhabita-tion in the rhizosphere. Additionally, the abundances of methanogens and metha-notrophs varied among different rice varieties. Furthermore, through the analysis of two-way ANOVA, it was observed that there may be an additive effect between rice variety and nitrogen level. Furthermore, enhancing agronomic traits related to yield can reduce methanogen inhabitation. These findings suggest that future breeding efforts should in-volve the screening of methane-related microbes in rice cultivars adapted to low nitrogen conditions. By identifying and selecting rice varieties that promote lower methanogen lev-els and higher methanotroph inhabitation, we can take significant steps towards mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from rice cultivation.

Integrated cultivation strategies can significantly improve rice yield. However, it is unclear how integrated cultivation practices improve soil microbial diversity and its related mechanism in rice field. Therefore, four integrated cultivation practices i.e., no N application (N0), local farmers’ practice (FP), high-yield and high-efficiency practice (HYEY), and super-high-yield cultivation practice, impacts on soil properties and structure composition of microbial community were explored. Compared with N0, SHY treatment, significantly increased soil alkaline nitrogen and organic matter contents. HYHE and SHY treatments significantly altered soil fungal community and Alpha diversity. Based on Venn diagram analysis, the composition of bacterial communities under all treatments was similar, but with different compositions of fungal communities. Cluster analysis indicates that the Proteobacteria was the absolute dominant group of bacterial communities, and Chloroflexi, Bacteroidetes, and Acidobacteria were the dominant group. Different cultivation methods also led to changes in the main factors affecting soil bacteria and fungi composition. Available potassium and organic matter were the main environmental factors that affected bacteria, with the strong of available potassium on the soil. To sum up, SHY and HYEY were beneficial management options in terms of improved soil fertility Alpha diversity of the soil bacterial community respectively.

The diagnosis and management of cow's milk allergy (CMA) is a topic of debate and controversy. We aimed to compare the opinions of expert groups from the Middle East (n=14) and the European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) (n=13). These Expert groups voted on statements developed by the ESPGHAN group and published in a recent position paper. The voting outcome was compared. Overall, there was consensus amongst both groups of experts. Most experts agreed that symptoms of crying, irritability and colic, as single manifestations, do not suggest CMA. They agreed that amino-acid-based formula (AAF) should be reserved for severe cases (e.g. malnutrition and anaphylaxis) and that there is insufficient evidence to recommend a step-down approach. There was no consensus on the statement that a cow’s milk-based extensively hydrolysed formula (eHF) should be the first choice as a diagnostic elimination diet in mild/moderate cases. Although the statements regarding the role of hydrolysed rice formula as a diagnostic and therapeutic elimination diet were accepted, 3/27 disagreed. The votes regarding soy formula highlight the differences in opinion in the role of soy protein in CMA dietary treatment. Generally, soy-based formula is seldom available in the Middle East region. All ESPGHAN experts agreed that there was no added value of probiotics, prebiotics, and synbiotics to the efficacy of elimination diets, whereas 3/14 of the Middle East group thought there was sufficient evidence. Therefore, there is not a consensus on the optimal diagnostic and therapeutic elimination diet for CMA, but the first-choice elimination diet and the stepwise management approach reveal some differences.

Rice canopy height and density are directly usable crop phenotypic traits for the direct estimation of crop biomass. Therefore, it is crucial to rapidly and accurately estimate rice canopy phenotypic parameters. To achieve non-destructive detection and estimation of essential phenotypic parameters in rice, a platform based on LiDAR point cloud data for rice phenotypic parameter detection was established. Data collection of rice canopy layers was performed across multiple plots. The LiDAR-detected canopy top point clouds were selected using a method based on the highest percentile, and the rice canopy surface model was calculated. Canopy height estimation was the difference between ground elevation and percentile value. To determine the optimal percentile defining the rice canopy top, testing was conducted incrementally from 0.8 to 1 with an increment of 0.005. The optimal percentile value was found to be 0.975. The root mean square error (RMSE) between LiDAR-detected canopy height and manually measured canopy height was calculated. The prediction model based on canopy height (R2=0.941, RMSE=0.019) exhibited a strong correlation with actual canopy height. Linear regression analysis was conducted between gap fraction of different plots and manually detected average Leaf Area Index (LAI) of rice canopy. Prediction models for canopy LAI based on ground return counts (R2=0.24, RMSE=0.1) and ground return intensity (R2=0.28, RMSE=0.09) showed strong correlations but had lower correlation with rice canopy LAI. Regression analysis was performed between LiDAR-detected canopy height and manually measured rice canopy LAI. The results indicated that the prediction model based on canopy height (R2=0.77, RMSE=0.03) was more accurate.

Sarocladium and Fusarium species are commonly identified as causal agents of rice sheath rot disease worldwide. However, limited knowledge exists about their genetic, pathogenic, and toxigenic diversity in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, where an increasing incidence of this disease has been observed. This study aimed at identifying, characterizing, as well as assessing the genetic, pathogenic, and toxigenic diversity of the pathogens associated with rice sheath rot disease in Mali, Nigeria, and Rwanda. In this study seventy fungal isolates were obtained from rice plants displaying disease symptoms on research and farmer’s fields in Mali, Nigeria, and Rwanda. Thus, an extensive comparative analysis was conducted to assess their genetic, pathogenic, and toxigenic diversity. The Fusarium spp. were characterized using the translation elongation factor (EF-1α) region, while a concatenation of Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) and Actin-encoding regions were used to resolve Sarocladium species. Phylogenetic analysis revealed four Fusarium species complexes. The dominant complex in Nigeria was the Fusarium incarnatum-equiseti species complex (FIESC), comprising F. hainanense, F. sulawesiense, F. pernambucatum, and F. tanahbumbuense, while F. incarnatum was found in Rwanda. The Fusarium fujikuroi species complex (FFSC) was predominant in Rwanda and Mali, with species such as F. andiyazi, F. madaense, and F. casha in Rwanda, and F. annulatum and F. nygamai in Mali. F. marum was found in Nigeria. Furthermore, Fusarium oxysporum species complex (FOSC) members, F. callistephi and F. triseptatum, were found in Rwanda and Mali, respectively. Two isolates of F. acasiae-mearnsii, belonging to the Fusarium sambucinum species complex (FSAMSC) were obtained in Rwanda. Isolates of Sarocladium which were previously classified in three phylogenetic groups were resolved into three species which are: attenuatum, oryzae and sparsum. S. attenuatum was dominant in Rwanda, while S. oryzae and S. sparsum were found in Nigeria. Also, the susceptibility of FARO44, a rice cultivar released by Africa Rice Centre (AfricaRice) was tested against isolates from the four Fusarium species complexes and the three Sarocladium species. All isolates evaluated could induce typical sheath rot symptoms albeit with varying disease development levels. In addition, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to determine variation in the in vitro mycotoxins of the Fusarium species. Regional differences were observed in the in vitro mycotoxins profiling. Out of the forty-six isolates tested, nineteen were able to produce one to four mycotoxins. Notably, very high zearalenone (ZEN) production was specific to the two F. hainanense isolates from Ibadan-Nigeria, while Fusarium nygamai isolates from Mali produced high amounts of fumonisins. To the best of our knowledge, it seems this study is the first to elucidate genetic, pathogenic, and toxigenic diversity of Fusarium species associated with the rice sheath rot disease complex in selected countries in SSA.

The effects of exogenous inorganic [i.e., nitrate (NO3-)/ammonium (NH4+)] and organic [i.e., glutamate (Glu)/argine (Arg)] N alone and in combination on the accumulation of proline (Pro) in rice plant under trivalent chromium [Cr(III)] stress were studied through the mass balance matrix model (MBMM). ‘NH4+’ application showed the largest contribution to the Pro content in rice shoots under different concentrations of Cr(III), followed by ‘NO3-’, ‘Arg’, and ‘Glu’ application respectively. While, ‘Arg’ application displayed the largest contribution to the Pro content in roots under Cr(III) stress, followed by ‘NH4+’, ‘Glu’, and ‘NO3-’ application. Among the combination cases of N sources used, the application of ‘NH4++Arg’ showed the greatest contribution to the Pro content in both roots and shoots of Cr(III)-treated rice seedlings, while the application of ‘NO3-+Glu’ showed the least contribution to the Pro content in rice seedlings under Cr(III) stress. Results from this study indicated that the level of indigenous Pro in rice seedlings is quite sensitive to Cr(III) stress under different N sources, and mathematical modeling showed a reliable result to estimate the relationship between Pro content and N source application in rice plants in response to Cr(III) exposure .

In order to enhance understanding of RNA-binding proteins in rice, a comprehensive investigation was conducted on the RRM1 gene family of rice, encompassing genome-wide identification and exploration of its role in rice blast resistance. Physical and chemical properties of the OsRRM1 gene family in rice was analyzed, including conserved domain, motif, location information, gene structure, phylogenetic tree, collinearity analysis, cis-acting elements, GO, and KEGG. Furthermore, the expression patterns of the OsRRM1 gene were examined at different time intervals following rice blast treatment. Furthermore, the alterations in expression patterns of selected OsRRM1 genes were assessed using quantitative real-time PCR(qRT-PCR). A total of 212 members of the OsRRM1 gene family were identified, which were dispersed across 12 chromosomes. Many of these genes exhibit multiple exons and introns, all of which encompass the conserved RRM1 domain and share analogous motifs. This observation suggests a high degree of conservation within the encoded sequence domain of these genes. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the existence of five subfamilies within the OsRRM1 gene family. Furthermore, the investigation of the promoter region identified homeopathic elements that are involved in nucleic acid binding and interaction with multiple transcription factors. By employing GO and KEGG analysis, four RRM1 genes were tentatively identified as crucial contributors to plant immunity, while the RRM1 gene family was also found to have a significant involvement in the complex of alternative splicing. Additionally, gene expression analysis indicated that the majority of OsRRM1 genes exhibited constitutive expression. The results of the qRT-PCR analysis revealed distinct temporal changes in the expression pattern of the OsRRM1 gene following rice blast treatment. These findings contribute to the existing knowledge of the OsRRM1 gene family, establish a foundation for further investigation into the role of the OsRRM1 gene in response to rice blast infection, and hold theoretical significance for future studies on the functionality of the OsRRM1 gene.

In Ghana, rice remains a critical crop, representing 15% of the country's GDP. However, production has been hindered by limited water access, degraded soil, pests and diseases, and ineffective pesticide use. These issues have impeded industry growth while adversely affecting the environment and impairing socioeconomic development. To combat these challenges, it is necessary to implement sustainable production strategies that emphasize environmental protection, resource management, and socioeconomic progress. This study evaluates sustainable rice production in Ghana, taking into account its consequences on the environment, socioeconomic growth, and food security. It pinpoints gaps and offers advice for stakeholders, policymakers, and scholars to transition to sustainability. The study illuminates the increasing significance of rice in Ghana and its role in food security, illustrating increased output due to widened land rather than higher yields. It underscores the necessity of fulfilling surging demand while implementing environmentally friendly practices. The paper scrutinizes the difficulties encountered by the rice sector, such as restricted water supplies and soil degradation, along with the adverse impacts of pests, diseases and inefficient pesticide utilization. Sustainable methods are imperative for Ghana's agribusiness, environmental protection, and socioeconomic progress. By embracing green techniques, prioritizing resource management, and investing in research, Ghana can surmount production issues. This review provides invaluable insight and suggestions for policymakers, academicians, and stakeholders alike to ensure sustainable rice production for current and future generations.

Initial evaluations of the System of Rice Intensification in India and elsewhere have mainly fo-cused on its impact on yield and income and have usually covered just one or two seasons. Re-searchers at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research conducted a more comprehensive evalua-tion of SRI methods over six years (six wet and six dry seasons), comparing these methods with three other rice crop management systems: modified, partially mechanized SRI (MSRI); direct-seeded rice (DSR); and normal transplanting with inundated fields (NTP). SRI grain yield was found to be about 50% higher than with NTP (6.35 t ha-1 vs 4.27 t ha-1), while the MSRI yield was essentially the same (6.34 t ha-1) and 16% higher than with DSR (5.45 t ha-1). Compared to NTP, SRI methods significantly enhanced soil microbial populations over time, bacteria by 12%, fungi by 8%, and actinomycetes by 20%. Indicators of biological activity in the rhizosphere were also higher, dehydrogenase by 8.5% and FDA enzymes by 16%. Glucosidase activity, an indicator of soil organic matter, was 78% higher. Relative to normal transplanting methods, SRI reduced GHG emissions by 21%, while DSR reduced them by 23% and MSRI by 13%, which indicated pos-itive effects of the alternate and improved methods over normal transplanting. Economic analy-sis showed that both gross and net economic returns to be higher with SRI than with MSRI and the other management systems evaluated. While the six-year study documented many ad-vantages of SRI crop management, the MSRI version evaluated is a promising adaptation that provide similar benefits but with lower labor requirements.

Drought poses a significant constraint on rice production, and in this study, we have discovered a novel drought-sensitive mutant, designated as dsm3, arising from the progenies of indica rice variety Zhonghui8015 treated with EMS. Under drought stress conditions, dsm3 exhibited characteristic withered leaf tips, accompanied by increased levels of MDA and H2O2, reduced Pn, and decreased activity of POD and SOD. Genetic analysis revealed that the withered leaf tip phenotype was governed by a single recessive gene, designated as Osdsm3.To begin with, Osdsm3 was initially mapped to the short arm of chromosome 1 through a cross involving dsm3 and 02428. Subsequently, utilizing a population of 2591 F2 individuals, we narrowed down the location of Osdsm3 to a 78Kb interval, encompassing 13 open reading frames (ORFs). Sequencing analysis unveiled a mutation (1275G→A) in the exon of the candidate gene (LOC_Os01g10680), leading to premature translation termination. Moreover, a quantitative RT-PCR assay demonstrated high expression of OsDSM3 in the panicle and sheath, with a significant upregulation of drought stress-related genes under drought conditions. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that Osdsm3 shares evolutionary homology with UNE1, an intracellular transport protein found in Arabidopsis thaliana. Subcellular studies further confirmed that OsDSM3 resides in the cytoplasm. In conclusion, the forthcoming cloning of Osdsm3 holds promise for delving deeper into the molecular mechanisms governing rice drought resistance.

In rice, symbiotic N fixation via nodule bacteroids does not take place naturally. Although N fixation by endophytic and associative diazotrophs has been reported in rice, main organs and seasonal regulation for the N fixation have not been elucidated. In this study, therefore, seasonal changes of nitrogenase (acetylene reduction) activity and carbohydrate contents in culm internode (IN), basal nodes (BN), and crown root (CR) were investigated in manure compost (MC)- and chemical fertilizer-applied rice. Nitrogenase activity increased after rooting, and reached the highest activity in BN of MC-applied rice at panicle initiation. In BN of MC-applied rice, the sucrose content was low whereas the higher glucose content was detected at panicle initiation. Although bacterial and diazotrophic bacterial populations were most abundant in CR, the nitrogenase activity seemed to be restricted by its trace sucrose and glucose contents. In addition, alpha-Proteobacteria and Clostridia phyla were abundant in BN-specific bacterial microbiota at panicle initiation. These results suggest that the increased N fixation in BN at panicle initiation might be sustained both by the non-structural carbohydrate supply from photosynthetic apparatus and BN-specific bacterial microbiota including diazotrophs.

Agroforestry with a sustainable model of production is considered to be an effective solution to the unsustainability of the existing model in agricultural production, and it is also an important topic for ecosystem services and sustainable development goals to improve human well-being. In addition, existing literatures confirm that the importance of forest functions in increasing agricultural production and maintaining agro-ecological sustainability. The "rice-fish-duck-forest" is an important representative of the agroforestry complex ecosystem because of its unique management mechanism and characteristic social culture. As a result, "rice-fish-duck-forest" ecosystem services are beginning to be studied. In the absence of a systematic scientific understanding of the ecosystem services of "rice-fish-duck-forest", there are potential challenges to its sustainable development. This study thoroughly analyzed the current literature on rice-fish-duck-forest ecosystem services in order to have a more thorough grasp of it and to be more sustainable. This research found that research on the ecosystem services of "rice-fish-duck-forest" involves four themes: "regulational", "ecology", "economy", and "socio-culture". Deforestation, socio-cultural marginalization, and Low community management participation are the three main issues facing the "rice-fish-duck-forest" ecosystem service. To address these issues, this paper builds a framework for the sustainable development of rice-fish-duck-forest ecosystem services within the context of current management frameworks for agriculture and forestry, and further discusses its relevance to the Sustainable Development Goals. This study will provide a theoretical decision-making guide for the transformation of agriculture to agroforestry and the sustainable development of agroforestry.

To avoid the endless accumulation of QTL effects during pyramiding breeding, QTL epistasis plays a role of homeostasis. Four single-segment substitution lines with heading date QTLs were utilized to construct pyramiding materials with dual QTLs and triple QTLs, allowing for the estimation of QTL epistatic effects on heading date in rice. The epistatic components of dual QTL and triple QTL interactions were analyzed using data from three seasons of two years. All four QTLs can be considered as dominant loci, demonstrating superdominance. 75% of dual QTL interactions and 81.25% of triple QTL interactions obtained statistically significant results, reaffirming the prevalence of epistasis. Interactions of four QTLs with three positive effects and one negative effect generated 62.5% negative dual QTL epistatic effects and 57.7% positive triple QTL epistatic effects, forming the balance relationship “positive-negative-positive”. In fact, QTL effects were consistently partially neutralized by mixed QTL epistatic effects so as to control the infinite accumulation of QTL effects. QTL epistasis plays a role of homeostasis on heading date in rice. However, there were two exceptions. The directions of OsMADS50 and Hd3a-2 effects were consistently aligned with those of their mixed epistases, suggesting that the QTL or gene could be employed in pyramiding breeding with different objectives. This study elucidated the mechanism of epistatic interactions among four QTLs and provided valuable genetic resources for improving heading date in rice.

The objectives of this research were to determine 1) the energy contents of broken rice in dairy cows by animal calorimetry and 2) the effects of various levels of broken rice in diets on dairy cow performance. Four multiparous Holstein-Friesian crossbred cows at 70 ± 31 (mean ± SD) days in milk were assigned according to a 4 × 4 Latin square design with four periods. The four treatments included a diet substitution with broken rice on a 0, 12, 24, and 36% dry matter basis in the basal ration. Indirect calorimetry with a ventilated head box respiration system was used to determine energy metabolism. The substitution of broken rice in the diet did not affect dry matter intake, milk yield, milk composition, feed efficiency or energy balance (p > 0.05). Increasing broken rice substitution in the diet resulted in a linear increase in enteric methane energy losses and digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, and fiber (p < 0.05), whereas the digestibility of crude protein and ether extract decreased (p < 0.05). The metabolizable energy requirement for maintenance was 504 kJ/kg metabolic body weight, and the efficiency of metabolizable energy used for lactation was 0.76. The estimated net energy value of broken rice for lactation was 8.68 MJ/kg. Our results indicated that increasing the proportion of broken rice in the diet up to 36% had no adverse effect on feed intake and production performance in dairy cows.

An experiment was conducted in 2016 & 2017 for development of novel rice hybrids for aerobic ecology with lesser yield penalties in comparison to irrigated ecosystem, further with added advantage of reduced methane emissions and water budget as witnessed in irrigated system. Based on the restorer / maintainer reaction and spikelet fertility (%), 10 restorer lines were selected to cross with 3 CMS lines in the line by tester fashion in Yasangi (summer) season 2016-17. Resulting 30 experimental hybrids besides 13 parental lines (10 Restorer lines and 3 B - lines of akin CMS lines) and checks (GK 5022, CR Dhan 201) assessed during Vankalam (rainy) season 2017 at three different places/locations viz., Rajendranagar, Warangal and Kampasagar. The outcome of experiment were two experimental hybrids viz., APMS-6A × HRSV – 7 and IR-79156A × ATR – 372, were categorized as stable hybrids with desirable sca effects, heterosis (ranging from 7% to 13%) over best check GK 5022 along with an in-essence performance for yield and other yield attributing characters.

The texture properties of cooked rice are a dominant property which can indicate the eating quality. Evaluation of back extrusion (BE) test precision and sensitivity for cooked germinated brown rice (GBR) texture in production process was investigated in this study. BE test on texture properties of cooked GBR rice show high precision of measurement of hardness, toughness and stickiness tests which indicated by the repeatability and reproductivity test but the sensitivity indicated by coefficient of variation of the texture properties. The findings of the study of the effect of different soaking and aging duration in the production of Khao Dawk Mali 105 (KDML 105) GBR on cooked GBR texture measured by BE test confirmed the developed protocol for evaluation of high precision and sensitivity of the texture measurement method. Repeatability and reproducibility of reliable measurements have a low standard deviation of the farthest different between replicates, which is considered high precision. High coefficient of variation where the relative wide variation of the absolute value of the property can be detected indicate high sensitivity which even small resolution can be detected or vice versa. But the correlation coefficient among the texture properties by BE were not related to the precision or sensitivity of the test. By these results, the original protocol for determination of precision and sensitivity of food texture measurement was successfully verified as the usable evaluation protocol for GBR texture measurement.

Background: The therapeutic benefits of fermented foods in the treatment and prevention of Type 2 diabetes mellitus have been reported. Aim: Inhibitory effect of fermented rice beverages on α-amylase, α-glucosidase and pancreatic lipase was evaluated. Method: Two fermented rice beverages-fermented rice alone (FKR) and fermented rice plus roasted peanuts (FKRG) were produced using spontaneous fermentation. Capacity of the beverages to inhibit al-pha-glucosidase, alpha-amylase and pancreatic lipase in vitro was evaluated and compared with standards (positive controls). Results: FKR exerted inhibition of α-glucosidase between 9.23-21.11% and FKRG 1.11-17.36% at the various concentrations respectively, with both samples showing the most significant inhibition (about 20%) at 125 μg/mL. FKRG exhibited greater alpha-amylase inhibition activity than FKR, but for both samples, the most significant (P < 0.05) inhibition occurred at 500 μg/mL. With pancreatic lipase, no significant inhibition was observed for both FKR and FKRG at the tested concentrations compared to Orlistat used as control; how-ever, at 31.25 μg /mL FKRG showed an inhibitory effect of approximately 15%, which was not evident at higher concentrations. Conclusion: Low to moderate inhibition of α-amylase, α-glucosidase and pancreatic lipase by both FKR and FKRG, showed that the fermented rice beverages have potential to modulate hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes in vitro. This is an indi-cation that fermented rice beverage could prevent postprandial hyperglycemia in vivo.

Cadmium (Cd) contamination in rice grains is posing a significant threat to global food security. To restrict the transport of Cd in the soil-rice system, an efficient way is to use the ionomics strate-gy. Since calcium (Ca) and Cd have similar ionic radii, their uptake and translocation may be linked in multiple aspects in rice. However, the underlying antagonistic mechanisms are still not fully understood. Therefore, we first summarized the current knowledge on the physiological and molecular footprints of Cd translocation in plants and then explored the potential antagonistic points between Ca and Cd in rice, including exchange adsorption on roots, plant cell wall compo-sition, co-transporter gene expression, and transpiration inhibition. This review provides sugges-tions for the Ca/Cd interacting study in rice and introduces the ionomics research to better control the accumulation of Cd in plants.

Durability of concrete requires a dense microstructure which can be achieved by using self-compacting concrete (SCC). Both calcined clay (CC) and rice husk ash (RHA) are promising supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) that can partially replace cement, but their use in SCC is critical due to their higher water demand and specific surface area (SSA) compared to cement. Empirical method of SCC design was adopted considering the physical properties of both CC and RHA. The influence of partially substituting cement at 20 vol-% with binary and ternary blends of CC and RHA were investigated. The fresh properties of SCC were investigated using a variety of tests. The time dependent workability was monitored by plunger method and flow resistance determined based on the rheological measurements of SCC. The evolution of the hydrate phases of the binder in SCC was determined by thermogravimetric analysis, while the durability was evaluated by rapid chloride migration test. Cement partial replacement with 20 vol-% CC has no significant effect on SCC fresh, time dependent, compressive strength and durability properties. 20 vol-% RHA on the other hand requires higher dosage of SP to achieve self-compactability and increased the viscosity of SCC. Its workability retention is only up to 30 min after mixing and exhibited higher flow resistance. It consumes more CH and improves compressive strength and chloride resistance of SCC. The ternary blending with CC and RHA yielded better fresh SCC properties compared to the binary blend with RHA, while an improved chloride penetration resistance could be achieved compared to binary CC blend.

Grain shape and chalkiness are important appearance quality traits of rice, which also affect the yield and milling quality. In this study, 190 F2 families derived from the cross between Hua 5178S and Hua 611 were sequenced to construct a genetic linkage map. Combined with F2 and F2:3 generations grain shape and chalkiness phenotype, a total of 15 QTL were detected. There are 8 grain shape QTL distributed on chromosomes 2, 5, 6, 8, and 10; 7 chalkiness QTL distributed on chromosomes 2, 3, and 6. A QTL cluster affecting multiple chalkiness traits was found on chromosome 6, qWBR6.1, qWCR6 and qCR6 were selected for genetic effect verification. It was found that qWBR6.1, qWCR6 and qCR6 explained 13% and 24%, and 29% of the phenotypic variations respectively, and qWCR6 and qCR6 were co-mapped. This study laid a foundation for further cloning of rice appearance quality genes.

Soil is a crucial component for plant growth, as it provides water, nutrients, and mechanical support. Various factors, such as crop cultivation, microflora, nutrient addition, and water availability, significantly affect soil properties. Maintaining soil health is important, and one approach is the introduction of native organisms with multifaceted activities. In this study, the effects of four native microbes (Trichoderma asperellum strain TAIK 1, Bacillus cabrialesii strain BIK3, Pseudomonas putida strain PIK1, and Pseudomonas otitidis strain POPS1) and their consortia on soil health, plant growth, and the incidence of stem rot disease caused by Sclerotium oryzae in rice are evaluated. Upon bioagent treatment of soil through seed treatment or soil application, variations in chemical properties of the soil were observed, viz., pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Organic Carbon (OC), available Soil Nitrogen (SN), Soil Phosphorus (SP), Soil Potassium (SK), and soil enzymes (urease, acid and alkaline phosphatase, dehydrogenase), compared to untreated soils. The treated seeds with the consortia of four native bioagents resulted in a significant increase in plant height (39.16%), number of panicles (30.29%), and average grain yield (41.36%) over control plants. Under controlled conditions, the bioagents-treated plants showed a 69.37% reduction in stem rot disease. The findings of this study indicate a positive correlation between soil properties and plant growth as well as a highly negative association with stem rot disease severity. The results suggest that using native bioagents as a management strategy can control stem rot disease and enhance crop productivity while reducing reliance on chemical interventions. These findings provide valuable insights for the development of sustainable agricultural practices that promote soil health, plant growth, and disease management.

Weeds that infest crops are a primary factor limiting agricultural productivity world-wide. Weedy rice, also called red rice, has experienced independent evolutionary events through gene flow from wild rice relatives and de-domestication from cultivated rice. Each evolutionary event supplied/equipped weedy rice with competitive abilities that allowed it to thrive with cultivated rice and severely reduce yields in rice fields. Under-standing how competitiveness evolves is important not only for noxious agricultural weed management but also for the transfer of weedy rice traits to cultivated rice. Molec-ular studies of weedy rice using simple sequence repeat (SSR), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and whole genome sequence have shown great genetic variations in weedy rice population globally. These variations are evident both at whole genome and at single allele level, including Sh4 (shattering), Hd1 (heading and flower-ing), and Rc (pericarp pigmentation). The goal of this review is to describe the genetic diversity of current weedy rice germplasm and the significance of weedy rice germplasm as a novel source of disease resistance. Understanding these variations, es-pecially at an allelic level, is also crucial as individual locus that control important traits can be of great target to rice breeders.

The transcriptomic analysis of the dehydration rate of mature rice seeds was conducted to explore candidate genes related to the dehydration rate and provide a theoretical basis for breeding and utilization. In this study, we selected Baghlani Nangarhar, an extremely fast dehydration material, and Saturn, a slow dehydration material, based on the results of the previous studies of screening of 165 germplasm materials for dehydration rate phenotypes. Fast dehydration experiment on these two types of seeds was conducted. Four comparative groups were set up under control and dehydration conditions. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were quantified by transcriptome sequencing and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). GO and KEGG analyses were carried out. The results showed that in Baghlani Nangarhar, 53 DEGs were screened, of which 33 were up-regulated and 20 were down-regulated. Similarly, in Saturn, 25 DEGs were screened, of which 19 were up-regulated and 6 down-regulated. The results of the GO analysis showed that the sites of action of the differentially expressed genes enriched in the fast dehydration modes were concentrated in the cytoplasm, internal components of the membrane and nucleosomes. They play regulatory roles in catalysis, binding, translocation, transcription, protein folding, degradation and replication. They are involved in adaptive responses to adverse external environments such as reactive oxygen species and high temperature. The KEGG analysis showed that the main metabolic pathways enriched are protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, amino acid biosynthesis, and oxidative phosphorylation. The key differentially expressed genes and the most important metabolic pathways in the rapidly and slowly dehydrated materials obtained in this study were protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum and oxidative phosphorylation metabolism, which are presumed to have important regulatory roles in stress/defense, energy metabolism, protein synthesis/folding, and signal transduction during dehydration and drying of mature seeds. The results of this study could potentially provide a valuable reference for further research on the genes and metabolic pathways related to the dehydration rate of mature rice seeds and provide theoretical guidance for the selection and breeding of new rice germplasm that can be rapidly dehydrated at the mature stage.

Rice farming households having limited capital do various combinations of the capital to get diversified livelihoods in continuing their lives. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of the household capital of rice farmers on livelihood diversification in Indramayu District. Survey method with data sources from 214 rice farming households taken by proportional simple random sampling technique. Data analysis used the partial least square method. The results found that the household capital of rice farmers has a positive and significant effect on the livelihood diversification. Government policy recommendations were determined in order of priority are physical capital with the help of agricultural tools and machinery, natural capital by anticipating climate change, financial capital by increasing support for capital sources, social capital by social networks, and human capital by improving farming skills.

Global warming has led to the increase in chalky grains of rice, which has also caused the deteriorations of physicochemical and cooking qualities of rice grains. These chalky rice grains are characterized by high α-amylase activity, high protease activity, and low apparent amylose contents, low degree of hardness and stickiness of boiled rice than those of the whole rice grains. In the present paper, we evaluated 14 Japonica unpolished rice grains harvested in Japan in 2021, and these samples (original grains) were divided to two groups (whole grain group and chalky grain one). We found that the chalky rice grains showed higher values of xylanase activity than those of the whole rice grains, while cellulase activity were lower than that of whole rice grains. Using rice grains blended with 30 % of chalky grains as material, we compared sugar and mineral contents and textural properties of the boiled rice grains soaked and boiled in the ordinary water or in the hard water, such as Evian or Contrex. It was shown that the hard water is useful for the prevention of the texture deterioration of the boiled rice grains due to the inhibition of the reduction of endogenous hydrolytic enzymes, such as amylase, proteinase, and xylanase. Furthermore, we found that hard water is useful for the increase of calcium and magnesium intake through the meal with the boiled rice grains soaked and cooked using hard water.

This paper systematically identifies the constructs and indicators to measure Sri Lankan rice farmers’ Sustainable Agriculture potential (SAP) in the regions of Mahaweli Block H in Anuradhapura district, a dominant rice cultivation district in the country. Insights from Rural Livelihood Assessment Framework helped identify the primary constructs of SAP: The constructs of farmers’ SAP are derived as Human, Social, Financial, Physical, and Natural capitals. The principles of Sustainable Agriculture discussed in modern literature and the various research studies carried out in this domain are insightful to derive an exhaustive list of indicators that might adequately explain the constructs of SAP. The researcher adopted a quantitative descriptive approach, developed a comprehensive set of indicators (130), pre-tested them, and conducted a pilot survey with 64 samples. The measurement model analysis techniques in PLS-SEM helped shorten the Questionnaire with the most productive questions (87). This short-listed Questionnaire was again surveyed in a larger sample space, 386, to attest to their validity further. The study found five constructs and 87 productive questions that can explain farmers’ SAP, and the researcher believes that these compositions of SAP and the indicators will be helpful for future researchers.

The widely conserved RACK1 protein is a WD-40 type scaffold protein that regulates diverse environmental stress signal transduction pathways. Arabidopsis RACK1A has been reported to interact with various proteins in salt stress and Light-Harvesting Complex (LHC) pathways. However, the mechanism of how RACK1 contributes to the photosystem and chlorophyll metabolism in stress conditions remains elusive. Using T-DNA-mediated activation tagging transgenic rice (Oryza sativa L.) lines, we show that leaves from rice RACK1B gene (OsRACK1B) gain-of-function (RACK1B-OX) plants exhibit the stay-green phenotype under salinity stress. In contrast, leaves from down-regulated OsRACK1B (RACK1B-UX) plants display an accelerated yellowing. qRT-PCR analysis revealed that several genes encoding chlorophyll catabolic enzymes (CCEs) are differentially expressed in both RACK1B-OX and RACK1B-UX rice plants. In addition to CCEs, STAY-GREEN (SGR) is a key component that forms the SGR-CCE complex in senescing chloroplasts, which causes LHCII complex instability. Transcript and protein profiling revealed a significant upregulation of OsSGR in RACK1B-UX plants than that in RACK1B-OX rice plants during salt treatment. The results imply that senescence-associated transcription factors (TFs) are altered in accordance with altered OsRACK1B expression, indicating a transcriptional reprogramming by OsRACK1B and a novel regulatory mechanism involving the OsRACK1B-OsSGR-TFs complex. Our findings suggest that ectopic expression of OsRACK1B negatively regulates chlorophyll degradation, leads to the steady level of LHC-II isoform Lhcb1, an essential prerequisite for the state transition of photosynthesis for adaptation, and delays salinity-induced senescence. Taken together, these results provide important insights into the molecular mechanisms of salinity-induced senescence, which can be useful in circumventing the effect of salt on photosynthesis and in reducing the yield penalty of important cereal crops, like rice, in global climate change conditions.

High-quality rice (Oryza sativa L.) is increasingly widely planted in China with the improvement of people's living standards and the achievement of rice breeding efforts in recent years. However, the agronomic and physiological performances of high-quality indica rice (HQIR) under different nitrogen(N) application conditions in southern China are little known. Two-year consecutive field experiments were conducted with two HQIR and two ordinary-quality indica rice (OQIR) varieties under moderate and high N application rates, with yield and yield components, biomass, N up-take, and their related traits investigated. We found that grain yields of HQIR were slightly de-creased, but grain yields of OQIR were significantly increased by 6.60%-8.88% under high N rate compared with moderate N rate in both years. Thereby, OQIR produced 8.34%-11.87% and 22.00%-22.50% higher grain yield than HQIR under moderate and high N rates, respectively. The different responses of grain yield to N application rates were mainly due to decreased grain set-ting rate in HQIR and increased spikelets m-2 in OQIR under high N rate. Furthermore, high N rate significantly reduced pre-anthesis AE and improved grain-leaf area ratio, while did not in-crease post-anthesis DM compared with moderate N rate in HQIR, which might result in carbon metabolic deterioration and imbalance of source-sink relationship and subsequently lower supply of carbohydrate to panicle. Our results suggest that a moderate N rate (165 kg N ha-1) is beneficial for HQIR varieties to balance the maximum grain yield and high quality in southern China

This study investigated the effects of three oil production methods on the physicochemical properties of dietary fiber from rice bran flour, and the hypolipidemic effects of the dietary fibers were investigated in vitro and in vivo. The particle size results showed that the organic solvent-impregnated rice bran meal dietary fiber (N-RBDF) had the smallest average particle size and the aqueous enzymatic rice bran meal dietary fiber (E-RBDF) had the narrowest particle size distribution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results demonstrated that all three kinds of rice bran meal dietary fibers (RBDF) were irregularly flaky. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) results revealed that the three RBDFs had similar reactive groups, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicated that all three RBDFs were cellulose type I crystals. The results of thermogravimetric analysis showed that the lignin content of N-RBDF was significantly lower than that of the other two. Among the three kinds of RBDFs, E-RBDF had higher water retention capacity, swelling capacity, oil holding capacity, and adsorption capacity for cholesterol and sodium bile salts. The results of experimental studies in hyperlipidemic rats showed that all three kinds of RBDFs significantly reduced triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and elevated high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in serum of hyperlipidemic rats; they also significantly lowered malondialdehyde (MDA) and elevated total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities in liver of rats. In addition, all three kinds of RBDFs decreased aminotransferase (ALT) and aminotransferase (AST) activity in serum and also improved liver steatosis and reduced atherosclerosis index (AI) in rats with hyperlipidemia. Our study provides a reference for the development and utilization of rice bran meal and the application of rice bran meal dietary fiber in food processing.

Improving the quality of natural water purification is one of the priority areas in the research of scientific communities in the field of ecology. At the same time, the task is to achieve optimal efficiency at a low cost of the technological process. The solution in this case is the use of materials necessary for cleaning, in particular, sorbents from natural raw materials, including agricultural waste. At present, a sufficient number of research results have been published confirming the effectiveness of the sorbent from biochar of various agricultural wastes, as well as from rice straw biochar. This article proposes an innovative method for modifying biochar from rice straw, which allows the use of the material as a sorbent with a disinfecting effect. The method consists in processing biochar in a process activation apparatus (PAP) in a solution of silver nitrate with the release in the form of a carbon nanomaterial with attached metallic silver ions on the surface of biochar particles. Rice straw biochar was mixed in distilled water with silver nitrate AgNO3 and placed in the AAP in a replaceable insert with ferromagnetic particles that have a magnetostrictive effect under the influence of an electromagnetic field. Next, the contact of biochar impregnated with a solution of silver nitrate and ferromagnetic particles was carried out for 2 minutes under electromagnetic influence, after which the treated sample was dried in an oven for 4 hours at t=105ºС, followed by calcination in a muffle furnace at 450ºС for 3 hours. The resulting silver-containing sorbent was subjected to a physicochemical analysis of its properties, photographs of electron microscopy were also obtained, and a bacteriological analysis of the effectiveness of the sorbent on natural water was carried out. According to the results of the analyzes, the silver-containing sorbent is a mesoporous nanomaterial with an average mesopore diameter for desorption of 196 Å, a relative volume of pores with a diameter of up to 900 Å 0.034 cm³/g,, specific surface 7.45 m²/g and a content of metallic silver ions on the surface of the sorbent particles of (Ag) 16.7%, oxygen (O) 54.9%, unexpectedly (С) 13.7%, silicon (Si) 8.1%. Laboratory studies for the bacteriological analysis of natural water consisted in the sorption processing of the selected samples in the carbonization mode, followed by sedimentation after the introduction of the reagent (a mixture of coagulant and flocculant). The analysis was carried out on three indicators - total microbial count (TMC), total coliform bacteria (TCB) and thermotolerant coliform bacteria (TCB). According to the research results, the sorbent showed its disinfecting properties and confirmed its high efficiency (90,48%-100%).

Rice blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae, poses significant threat to rice production. Rice blast susceptibility has been observed in Japanese rice varieties with excellent eating quality. Enhancing blast resistance is essential to ensure minimal use of agricultural chemicals. Two types of blast resistance are observed: true resistance, which is a type of qualitative resistance expressed by a major gene, and field resistance, which is a type of quantitative resistance expressed by multiple micro-acting genes. ‘Resistance collapse’, in which a variety with a true resistance gene becomes diseased by blast fungus races compatible with the resistance gene, has been observed. Varieties carrying blast-resistance genes, such as Pb1 (panicle blast resistance 1), have been developed through DNA marker-assisted selection. In this review, we focus on the Pb1, which expresses strong quantitative resistance to panicle blast and has been widely used in Japan without showing ‘resistance collapse’ for 40 years. Pb1 is an ‘adult plant resistance gene’ that does not exert strong selection pressure on the blast population during the leaf blast stage, thus preventing the selective multiplication of Pb1-compatible blast strains. This epidemiological mechanism prevents ‘resistance collapse’. Interdisciplinary research and breeding are required to sustainably use genes that induce high field resistance.

Tiller angle (TA) is one of the most important agronomic traits which directly affected plant architecture, photosynthetic efficiency, and planting density of rice. Although many quantitative trait loci (QTL) and associated genes for tiller angle have been identified, the detection of QTL for TA still required emphasis. In this study, 238 micro-core germplasm populations were used for genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) of the tiller angle. The frequency distribution of TA was shown to be continuous in 2018 and 2019, five QTL designated as qTA1, qTA2, qTA6, qTA9, qTA12, and two QTL designated as qTA1, qTA1-1 were detected in 2018 and 2019, respectively. These QTL explained phenotypic variation ranged from 5.94% to 12.38%. Among them, qTA2 and qTA6 are new QTL for TA, and only qTA1 was detected repeatedly in two years. 253 germplasm from the 3K Rice Genome Project were used for candidate gene and haplotypes analysis, the candidate gene and haplotypes analyzed showed LOC_Os01g67770, LOC_Os02g35180 and LOC_Os09g38130 were the candidate gene of qTA1, qTA2, and qTA9, respectively. The results of this study provide insight into the genetic improvement of plant architecture in rice.

Rice false smut caused by Ustilaginoidea virens is one of the most devastating diseases on rice worldwide, which results in serious reduction of rice quality and yield. As an airborne fungal disease, early diagnosis of rice false smut, monitoring the epidemics and distribution of its pathogens, is particularly important to management the infection. In this study, a quantitative loop-mediated isothermal amplification (q-LAMP) method for the U. virens detection and quantifying was developed. This method has higher sensitivity and efficiency compared to quantitative real-time PCR (q-PCR) method. The species-specific primer sets UV-2 used was design based on the unique sequence of U. virens ustiloxins biosynthetic gene (NCBI accession number: BR001221.1). The q-LAMP assay was able to detect a concentration of 6.4 spores/mL at an optimal reaction temperature of 63.4℃ within 60 min. Moreover, the q-LAMP assay can even achieve accurate quantitative detection when there were only 9 spores on the tape. A linearized equation for the standard curve, y =-0.2866x + 13.829 (x is the amplification time, the spore number = 100.65y), was established for detection and quantifying of U. virens. In field detection applications, this q-LAMP method is more accurate and faster than traditional observation method. Collectively, this study has established a powerful and simple monitoring tool for U. virens, which provide valuable technical supports for forecast and management of rice false smut, and theoretical basis for precise fungicide application.

Neonicotinoids (NEOs) have become the most widely used insecticides in the world since the mid-1990s. According to Chinese dietary habits, rice and water are usually heated before being consumed, but the information about the alteration through the heat treatment process is very limited. In this study, the parents of NEOs (p-NEOs) accounted for >99% of the total NEOs mass (∑NEOs) in both uncooked (median: 66.8 ng/g) and cooked (median: 41.4 ng/g) rice samples from Guangdong Province, China, while the metabolites of NEOs (m-NEOs) involved in this study accounted for less than 1%. We aimed to reveal the concentration changes of NEOs through heat treatment process, thus, several groups of rice and water samples from Guangdong were cooked and boiled, respectively. Significant (p < 0.05) reductions in acetamiprid, imidacloprid (IMI), thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam (THM) have been observed after the heat treatment of the rice samples. In water samples, the concentrations of THM and dinotefuran decreased significantly (p < 0.05) after the heat treatment. These results indicate the degradation of p-NEOs and m-NEOs during the heat treatment process. However, the concentrations of IMI increased significantly in tap water samples (p < 0.05) after heat treatment process, which might be caused by the potential IMI precursors in those industrial pesticide products. The concentrations of NEOs in rice and water can be shifted by the heat treatment process, so this process should be considered in relevant human exposure studies.

Rice bran (RB) is a promising food ingredient that can improve biological function. In this study, we investigated the effects of RB, both unfermented (RB30) and fermented (RBF30) with five different microorganisms on the neurobehavioral activity in zebrafish larvae. Analytical methods such as UV spectrum and MS scan were performed. Interestingly, niacin content, which is known to improve brain functions such as cognition and emotion, was found to be higher in RBF30 than in RB30. Furthermore, niacin content was highly increased in the RBF30-exposed fish, compared to those in control fish. Therefore, we profiled behavioral patterns and various neurochemistry in zebrafish larvae following supplementation with RBF30 as well as performed calcium imaging on Tg (huC:GAL4-VP16);(UAS:GCaMP7a) zebrafish larvae to determine the correlation of neural activity. RBF30 revealed greater stimulation of locomotor activity without negatively affecting decision-making behavior in zebrafish larvae, as compared to RB30 or niacin. Its behavioral activation is mainly linked with the elevations of neural activity and several neurochemicals such as serotonergic and dopaminergic systems that are implicated in the control of anxiety and stress. Taken together, these results suggest that RBF30 could be a food material that improve the behavioral health by modulating neural activity and brain neurochemistry.

Identifying productive, profitable and less risky cropping systems is important for sustaining farm-based livelihoods in the context of climatic uncertainties and market volatility in many developing nations. Reductionist field crop research identifies the best-bet solutions based on treatment replicates at a single point in time, which may not account for price instability under climatic uncertainties and volatile markets. Keeping this in mind, we estimated productivity, profitability and weather-related risk from eleven different rice-based cropping systems (eight existing and three potential systems) in the coastal region of West Bengal, India. Information on the crop management practices, yield and prices of the component crops of these eleven cropping systems, under ’best,’ ’normal’ and ‘worst’ situations (scenario), were collected through a ques-tionnaire survey on50 farms of Gosaba Block, West Bengal, India. Irrespective of the scenarios, the rice-lathyrus systems, followed by rice-onion and rice-lentil systems recorded the lowest rice-equivalent yields and system yields. However, the highest rice-equivalent yields and system yields were recorded for rice-chilli systems, followed by rice-tomato and rice-potato-green gram systems. Per hectare total paid-out cost (TPC) of rice-tomato systems was higher, followed by rice-chilli, rice-potato-green gram and rice-potato systems. However, irrespective of seasonal conditions (best, normal and worst), rice-chilli systems gave a higher net return followed by rice-tomato and rice-potato-green gram systems. The rice-fallow system recorded the lowest value for both parameters. Under the worst seasonal conditions, the rice-onion system gave a negative net return. Under all the scenarios, the highest B:C ratio was observed for rice-chilli, rice-tomato, rice-potato-green gram and rice-potato systems. The cumulative probability distribution of the rice-tomato system showed first-degree stochastic dominance over other systems and the rice-chilli system showed second-degree stochastic dominance over the rest of the systems. Only the rice-onion system had a small chance (< 1%) of a negative net return, while the rest of the cropping systems were highly likely to get a positive net return. Taking productivity, economics, and risk assessment of different rice-based systems into account, rice-vegetable systems, especially rice-tomato and rice-chilli among the existing systems and rice-potato-green gram system among the potential systems, can be recommended for sustainable intensification in these coastal saline tracts of the region. We also discuss additional socio-economic factors explored by in-depth in-terviews with the farmers, which might influence the adoption and upscaling of these cropping systems in the region.

The article presents the results of the γ-ray and fast neutrons impact on various rice species, in order to obtain mutant forms resistant to salinity (NaCl) and drought factors (sorbite). They are going to be used as initial forms in synthetic selection when creating varieties, adapted to the stressful conditions of, both, soil and climate in the Kazakhstan Aral Sea. The average lethal doses (LD50) of γ-rays and fast neutrons, as well as, the average NaCl and sorbite lethal concentrations were established. A distinct dependence on the effect of ionizing radiation and stress factors on the number of induced resistant mutant forms has been related to the initial rice variety. The largest number of mutant forms was obtained from the local variety Syr Suluy, followed by Leader and Aikerim varieties. Out of all varieties, only 1% of the initially irradiated by γ-rays seeds survived, while after fast neutron irradiation – 4,3%. M1 mutant plants significantly differ from the initial forms in terms of morphological features – plant height, panicle length, and grain size. They are tolerant to lodging, and have short and highly sterile panicles, indicating that they are mutants.

Mitochondrial alternative oxidase 1a (AOX1a) plays an extremely important role in critical node of seed viability. However, the regulatory mechanism is still poorly understood. The study aims to identify regulatory mechanisms by comparing between OsAOX1a-RNAi and wild type (WT) rice seed during artificial aging treatment. Gain weight and P50 significantly decreased in OsAOX1a-RNAi rice seed, indicating that there might be impaired in seed development and storability. Compared to WT seeds in the 100%, 90%, 80%, and 70% germination, respectively, NADH and succinate-dependent O2 consumption, the activity mitochondrial malate dehydro-genase and ATP contents were decreased in OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds in the 100%, 90%, 80%, and 70% germination, respectively, indicating that mitochondrial status in the OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds after imbibition was weaken than the WT. In addition to, the reduced abundance of complex I N and P module subunits might showed that the capacity of mitochondrial electron transfer chain was significantly inhibited in the OsAOX1a-RNAi seed at critical node of seed viability. Above results might indicated that the ATP production was impaired in OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds during ageing. Therefore, we conclude that the activities of mitochondrial metabolism and alternative pathways were severely inhibited in OsAOX1a-RNAi seeds at critical node of viability, which was leading to accelerate the collapse of seed viability. The precise regulatory mechanism of the alternative pathway at the critical node of viability still needs to be further analyzed.

Transplanted rice cultivation has caused groundwater depletion in several regions globally. Direct-seeded rice under aerobic conditions is a water-saving alternative. However, under aerobic conditions, iron in the soil is oxidized from ferrous to ferric, which is not easily available for rice, resulting in iron deficiency induced chlorosis (IDIC) causing significant reduction in yield. Cultivated rice genotypes have limited variations for IDIC tolerance, while wild Oryza germplasm could be a potential source for IDIC tolerance. In this study, 313 Oryza accessions were evaluated for IDIC tolerance at the tillering stage under aerobic conditions and twenty IDIC tolerant lines were identified. The twenty lines showed no signs of chlorosis and had high levels of iron content and SPAD values, while eight cultivated controls exhibited varying degrees of chlorosis symptoms and low levels of SPAD and iron content. To confirm their tolerance, the selected lines were evaluated again in a subsequent year, and they showed comparable levels of tolerance indicating these lines were efficient in iron uptake and utilization resulted maintained high chlorophyll and leaf area index. These accessions may be useful for developing IDIC-tolerant cultivars for aerobic rice cultivation and future study of molecular basis of IDIC tolerance.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a primary energy food for Asian population. One of the most constraints in rice production is soil salinity because of the rice is very susceptible to salt. Meanwhile, many agricultural land in Asia are in the saline area. It is important to identify and develop salt-tolerant rice varieties that can adapt in Asian climate. By combining morphological, physiological, and biochemical assessments for screening the salt tolerant of 116 Asian rice cultivars was able to classify into tolerant, moderate, and sensitive rice cultivars under salinity stress condition, and also for understanding the salt tolerance mechanisms. The rice cultivars which belong to salt-tolerant including Pokkali from India, TCCP 266 from Philippines, IR 45427 also from Philippines, and Namyang 7 from Korea. Whereas, salt-sensitive rice varieties like IR29 from Philippines, IR58 also from Philippines, Daegudo from Korea, and Guweoldo also from Korea. The salt-tolerant varieties showed signs of tolerance, including lower percent reduction of percentage germination, root length, root fresh weight, shoot length, plant biomass, and chlorophyll content. In order to maintain the cellular osmotic balance under saline condition, the salt-tolerant ones exhibited less membrane damage, lower Na/K ratio, high proline and sugar accumulation, lower malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Pokkali from India, TCCP 266 from Philippines, IR 45427 also from Philippines, and Namyang 7 from Korea are recommended as valuable germplasm resource for Asian rice breeding program in saline agricultural area.

The article presents research results of the γ-ray and fast neutrons impact on various rice species, in order to obtain mutant forms resistant to salinity (NaCl) and drought factors (sorbitol. They are going to be used as initial forms in synthetic selection when creating varieties, adapted to the stressful conditions of, both, soil and climate in the Kazakhstan Aral Sea. The average lethal doses (LD50) of γ-rays and fast neutrons, as well as the average NaCl and sorbitol lethal concentrations were established. Such environment is best suited for clear manifestation of the mutagenic effect of ionizing radiation and the resistance of rice plants to salinity and drought. A distinct dependence in the effect of ionizing radiation and stress factors on the number of induced resistant mutant forms has been related to the initial rice sort. The largest number of mutant forms was obtained from the local variety Syr Suluy, followed by Leader and AyKerim varieties. From all varieties, the number of mutants obtained from exposure to γ-rays was 43 pieces out of 4500 grains, and from the impact of fast neutrons - 115 pieces out of 2700 grains. M1 mutant plants significantly differ from the initial forms in terms of morphological features – plant height, panicle length, grain size Most plants are characterized by short growth and even dwarfism (˂80 cm). They are lodging tolerant, have short and highly sterile panicles, indicating that they are mutants and resistant to salinity, drought, or both.

This study aimed to investigate how transplanting date affects the agronomic and grain quality traits of two early maturing rice varieties. The experiment was conducted in the rice research field of Chungnam Agricultural Research and Extension Services, South Korea and rice materials were transplanted at intervals of approximately 15 days from April 16 to July 16 in 2019 and 2020. Results showed that agronomic and grain quality traits varied according to the transplanting date, and earlier transplanting resulted in the longer period of days from transplanting to heading (DTH). The spikelet number m-2 was highly correlated with the milled rice yield (r = 0.963** for Jinbuol, r = 0.909** for Yeoreumi) and it significantly decreased as the transplanting date was delayed, which was leading to lower yield. Environmental factors, the mean temperature during the grain filling stage, had a negative correlation with head rice rate (r2 = 0.825** for Jinbuol, r2 = 0.803** for Yeoreumi), and the number of days from transplanting to heading showed negative correlation with protein content (r2 = 0.777** for Jinbuol, r2 = 0.833** for Yeoreumi). Therefore, increasing the number of days from transplanting to heading date can lead to higher milled rice yield and lower protein content, and avoiding heading dates on July 17 can improve the appearance traits. As a results, it is suggested that early transplanting is advantageous to increase the milled rice yield and grain quality of early maturing rice.

The evaluation of the possibility of obtaining dihaploids by the method of anther culture in vitro to accelerate selection for resistance to prolonged flooding of seeded rice with water was carried out. The object of research is rice hybrids F2 of the Rice Breeding and Seed Production Laboratory of the “Donskoy” ASC, obtained as a result of interbreeding the best economically valuable varieties with samples bearing genes of resistance to prolonged flooding with water. Basic nutrient medium with an optimal composition of nutrition elements and growth hormones stimulating callo- and morphogenesis were used. For the induction of callus formation, 12604 anthers were planted, according to 26 hybrid combinations represented by 68 plants, as a result, 716 neoplasms were obtained, including 586 non–morphogenic callus, 130 regenerating plants. Cultivation of anthers revealed large genotypic differences in the samples. According to the responsiveness to neoplasms, 60% of the panicles showed a positive result, the rest did not give callus. The most responsive to the formation of callus were hybrid combinations: 5009/2 – 84 pcs., 5010/2 – 94 pcs., 4565/3 – 85 pcs., 4641/2 – 69 pcs. They also showed the ability to morphogenesis. Androgenic plants were obtained by 14 hybrid combinations, their share was 1.03% of the total number of inoculated anthers. 30 green regenerative lines from four rice hybrids were obtained, differing in visual morphological assessment: 5009/2 - 5 pcs., 5010/2 – 5 pcs., 4565/3 – 2 pcs., 4641/2 – 18 pcs. The isolated lines are characterized by good responsiveness in the culture of anthers in vitro, carry genes for resistance to prolonged flooding, and can be used in rice breeding programs using DG technologies.

The article presents the results of a morpho-physiological assessment of rice samples by the strength of growth, as well as an assessment of the degree of development of the conducting system of the flag leaves of rice plants. The resistance of varieties to flooding is very relevant in the fight against weeds due to the deep layer of water that weeds cannot overcome. Currently, there are no zoned varieties in Russia that would meet these requirements. Therefore, the problem of creating such rice varieties is urgent, as it will reduce production costs, reduce grain losses during harvesting, improve the quality of the products obtained, and also reduce the pesticide load on the ecosystem. As a result of research, a number of studied samples revealed the potential to quickly lengthen the first leaves, overcome a large layer of water and accumulate vegetative mass. As a result of the evaluation of the conducting system of the flag leaf of rice plants, it was found that in plants with the flood resistance gene Sub1A, which stops growth under water, the conductive beams were smaller in comparison with other fast-growing samples with the AG, Sk genes. Consequently, fast-growing samples have bigger sizes of the conducting system as a resistance mechanism.

Rice varieties such as Mahsuri Mutan and Basmati 370 are categorized as specialty rice with kernel elongation ratio exceeding 1.6 and 2.0, respectively. Ageing treatment in rice could affect the physical and chemical properties of rice such as grain size and shape, quality and taste of the cooked rice. The main objective of this study was to determine the effects of ageing treatment on the physicochemical properties of Mahsuri Mutan, Basmati 370 and MR219 rice varieties. The three rice varieties were subjected to heat treatment at 90ºC using the oven for 3 hours. After the heat treatment, the samples were cooled at room temperature (25ºC) for 1 hour. Physicochemical properties such as alkali digestion value, water uptake ratio (WUR), solids in cooking water (SCW), high kernel elongation (HKE) ratio and amylose contents were determined. Data collected on physicochemical traits and ageing vs non-ageing treatments were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SAS software version 9.4. Phenotypic correlation coefficient indicated that there was a high positive correlation between HKE and water uptake ratio. The ageing treatment also showed significant difference in all the physicochemical traits of the varieties studied. Observation under electron microscope showed that the ageing samples had more cracks on the tissue structure compared to normal rice samples. The hexagon structure in Mahsuri Mutan gave more elongation effect on its kernel. The findings from this study could be useful to breeders in selection and development of new high kernel elongation rice variety.

We used the complete set of convex pentagons enabling filing the plane without any overlaps or gaps (including the Marjorie Rice tiles) as generators of Voronoi tessellations. Shannon entropy of the tessellations was calculated. Some of the basic mosaics are flexible and give rise to a diversity of Voronoi tessellations. The Shannon entropy of these tessellations varied in a broad range. Voronoi tessellation, emerging from the basic pentagonal tiling built from hexagons only, was revealed (the Shannon entropy of this tiling is zero). Decagons and hendecagon did not appear in the studied Voronoi diagrams. The most abundant Voronoi tessellations are built from three different kinds of polygons. The most widespread is the combination of pentagons, hexagons and heptagons. The most abundant polygons are pentagons and hexagons. No Voronoi tiling built only of pentagons was registered. Flexible basic pentagonal mosaics give rise to a diversity of Voronoi tessellations, which are characterized by the same symmetry group; however, the coordination number of the vertices is variable. These Voronoi tessellations may be useful for the interpretation of the iso-symmetrical phase transitions.

Salinity is abiotic stress, which causes adverse environmental conditions for rice cultivation. In particular, local aromatic rice cultivation is heavily influenced by soil salinity stress, which has an impact on global food security. This study aimed to screen local aromatic rice genotypes in a hydroponics experiment using Yoshida solutions to evaluate the effect of increasing NaCl concentrations on the early growth stages of rice seedlings. Genetic diversity along with phylogenetic relationship was assessed using the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Out of 20 RAPD markers, 17 markers produced reproducible polymorphic bands. Individuals of all genotypes shared 88 (89.80%) of the 98 total RAPD elements amplified. The genetic distance-focused similarity index ranged from 0.05 to 0.94. The highest genetic distance (0.94) was discovered between genotypes Nayanmoni and Kalijira Barisal, and the lowest was between Badshabhog and Kataribhog (0.05). In addition, the OPS 3(510bp) and OPA 14(1100bp) markers could be used to identify salt-tolerant genotypes. According to genetic distance, the salt stress tolerant check genotype, Pokkali was genetically related to Chinigura as well as Kalijira Barisal. This study established a simple and consistent method for evaluating variability across various aromatic rice genotypes, which will benefit in genotype selection for breeding salinity stress tolerant aromatic rice varieties in Bangladesh.

Uncertain price movement in staple food commodities puts agrarian economies at risk if not monitored and managed consistently. Hence, an attempt has been made to analyze the price behavior and integration across major wholesale and retail markets for rice and wheat in India. Monthly data (July 2000 to June 2022) on prices viz., wholesale and retail were sourced from the Food and Agriculture Organization and analyzed using growth rate, instability index, seasonal price index, Johansen’s test on cointegration, Granger causality test, and impulse response function. Findings indicated strong evidence of price dynamics in the selected markets in terms of spatial and temporal variation, clear-cut seasonality linking to production, and price divergence between wholesale and retail markets. Johansen’s test indicated a strong integration between wholesale and retail markets exhibiting unidirectional-, bidirectional- and no-causality. Impulse response analysis revealed that the selected wheat and rice markets are efficient in terms of ‘price discovery’ which takes place initially in the wholesale market, and then transmitted to the retail market. The study advocates decision-making information to the producers, traders, and consumers who have a potential interest in getting advantage of the price movement. It is concluded that strengthening market intelligence and reducing the distortion in markets will improve the existing overall performance.

Rice is considered as the most important crop for most of the world population. Utilization of seaweed as bio-stimulant can be an alternative way to enhance rice plant growth and productivity, as well as a strategic move to reduce the use of inorganic fertilizer that is harmful to the environment. Seaweed and its derivative products have been widely used as bio-stimulant in the agricultural industry because of their potential use in increasing plant growth and productivity. Auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinin are some of growth regulators found in seaweed extract, as well as macro and micronutrients required for plant growth and development. Several studies have found that seaweed extract has a variety of favorable effects as a plant growth promoter, including early seed germination and establishment, improved nutritional quality, increased yield and crop performance, and increased tolerance to environmental stress. The purpose of this paper is to give a comprehensive overview of the impacts of several seaweed species on seed germination, crop development and production, enhancement of rice plants (Oryza sativa) nutritional quality and the modes of action of seaweed extract includes the chemical components that might be causing plant physiological changes.

Rojolele is an Indonesian traditional rice variety from Klaten (Central Java) that classified as tropical japonica and low land rice which become a premium rice variety and have higher price in the market due to a delicious taste and a fragrance aroma. The agronomic characteristics of Rojolele are having high plant stature with sturdy stems and upright plant shape, thick and rough leaves, strong and deeper root systems, long panicle length, and long duration of life. Rojolele rice cultivation is facing important challenges from drought, diseases, long duration, and lodging. Thus, breeding Rojolele cultivars with resistance to drought, diseases, lodging, and short duration is the major focus for Rojolele rice improvement. Indonesian farmer have learned to successfully cultivate Rojolele by applying practical skills, leading to increase the rice productivity. Molecular breeding program, including quantitative trait loci (QTL), genome-wide association study (GWAS), genomic selection, and genome editing can be applied to improve Rojolele characteristics. In this review, important agronomic and quality traits, intensification system for irrigation and pest control, mutation breeding, transgenic lines, and also future perspectives for Rojolele research were presented. Rojolele is useful for rice breeding program in order to guarantee the food security to overcome increasing population and climate change.

Drought and high temperature often occur simultaneously will eventually affect rice (Oryza sativa L.) yield and seed quality. The objective of the study was to compare the effects of high temperature (HT) and water limitation (WL) during seed development and maturation on yield component, seed quality, and amylose content in aerobic rice cv. MRIA. Two experiments were conducted concurrently in greenhouse with ⁓35/26℃ subjected to elevated HT and/or WL; 5 days 38/28°C at 10, 15, 29 DAA and/or HT; 7 days at 40/28℃ at 8 and 21 DAA with 12h photoperiod in control environment growth chamber. Both experiments were respectively harvested at physiological maturity of 31 and 35 DAA. Grain yielded from the irrigated plant declined from over 27% to below 18% between 15 and 29 DAA. Combination stresses resulted in greater reduction of grain yield than single stress. Late seed development (29 DAA) had no effect either on yield component or seed quality as well as produce a high concentration in amylase content (16.7%) with greater germination capacity (91%). The non-stress plant harvested at 21 DAA resulted the highest percentage of germinated seeds (97%) whereas the vigour index (VI) was reduced to 70.3% and 58.9% at 8 and 21 DAA respectively. Extended plant stress to 7 consecutive days incurred the highest VI with low concentration of amylose content. There was a linear relationship incurred between seed amylase content with germination capacity and VI, however, there was an inverse relationship (R2 = 0.19) between amylase content with VI from plant treated with (HT and/or WL) for 7 days. The present results confirmed that the avoidance HT and WL during early (10 DAA) and mid (15 DAA) seed development with short duration of stress (5 days) obtained better in yield component, enhanced the seed quality and amylose concentration. The combined HT and WL damaged seeds’ quality were more than each stress alone. Therefore, avoiding HT and WL can be practically applied by farmers by irrigating throughout the rice plant during histodifferentiation to save water usage during seed maturation.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is primary dietary source for half of the global population that comprising both essential nutrients and toxic heavy metal elements for human health. A number of nutrients are required within the diet and generally lacking in human diets, and need to biofortify into the rice grains, such as iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), calcium (Ca), potassium (K), sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P), copper (Cu), iodine (I), selenium (Se), and Sulphur (S). Meanwhile, some elements are toxic to human, including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb) which need to be eliminated from the rice grains. This article reviews the aspects of phenotypic variation of grain elemental concentration in the diverse rice genotypes, relationship of environmental conditions and rice grain elemental accumulation, correlation between rice grain elemental content and others agronomic traits, and also genetic basis of grain elemental concentration in rice. All of these aspects are important to develop rice varieties with a balanced elemental nutrients and lower toxic heavy metal elements. Enhancing the concentration of essential mineral elements and reducing the accumulation of toxic elements in the rice grain are important to improve the rice quality for human health in addressing mineral deficiency and toxicity that could be accomplished by using plant breeding, agronomic, and genetic engineering approaches.

The efficiency of rice cum fish culture study was conducted in different areas of Tangail district with those farmers who cultivate rice and fish together at a time. The study was conducted along 60 farmers of different areas in Ghatail upazilla. The primary data were collected through face-to-face interviews and secondary data were collected through different reputed journals, newspapers, authentic portals and so on. Data collection was carried out during the period from November 2021 to May 2022. Both tabular and functional analyses were performed to achieve the specific objectives of the study. NPV, BCR and IRR method was used to estimate the profitability and a multiple regression model was used to find out the factors motivating farmers' decision on rice cum fish cultivation. SWOT analysis was done to find out the internal and external-positive and negative factors faced by the farmers in rice cum fish cultivation. About 40% of farmers are under the age of 30 and most of them got at least primary education. Agriculture was the main occupation of the respondents and fish cultivation was the secondary. The highest annual income among the sample growers came from the production of rice cum fish culture. The BCR of the production is upbeat and 2.09 which indicates that the cultivation is profitable.

The primary considerations while producing rice (Oryza sativa L.) include improving its nutritional quality and production. To tackle widespread hunger globally, better nutritional, high-yielding rice cultivars need to be developed. The conventional ways are to increase the production of rice and add balanced nutrients in the daily diet to fulfill the need of yield and nutrient quality. This article focuses on nutritional strategies for rice and illustrates the availability of omics technologies. Current advancements providing many methodologies and approaches for exploring genetic resources and for understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in trait formation have been highlighted. Studying the genetic influences of various characteristics has been proven to expedite crop breeding processes. In this perspective, genome-wide association research, genome selection (GS), and QTL mapping are all genetic analysis that helps in increasing the nutritional content of rice. Implementation of several omic techniques are effective approaches to enhance and regulate the nutritional quality of rice cultivars. Advancements in different types of omics including genomics and pangenomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, nutrigenomics, and proteomics are also relevant to rice development initiatives. This review article compiles genes, locus, mutants and all omic approaches for rice enhancement. This knowledge will be very useful for now and for the future regarding rice studies.