Maximizing yield is very important when developing new cultivars. However, yield must usually be improved jointly with other key traits, which can prove challenging when they are unfavorably correlated. Genomic predictions can facilitate the selection of promising lines among the progeny of crosses, but it may also help in selecting crosses that are more likely to produce improved lines by predicting progeny performance for the various key traits considered jointly. To assess whether genomic predictions of cross performance could help breeders simultaneously improve multiple traits, yield and maturity were predicted for 60,000 soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] crosses. These predictions were then compared with the persistence of 101 biparental crosses throughout the selection process measured as the success in advancing progeny lines through to registration and commercialization. All but 2 of the 22 superior crosses retained by breeders had been predicted to display above-average mean yield within different maturity windows. At the opposite end of the spectrum, 96.2% of all crosses predicted to produce progeny with a below-average mean yield within a specific maturity window were eliminated during selection. Our results therefore suggest that by making crosses predicted to produce progeny meeting target requirements for multiple key traits, breeders could either achieve the same genetic gains with fewer resources or invest the same resources on a more promising set of crosses and thereby achieve greater gains.

This study examined the effects of moringa leaf extract (MLE) and poultry manure (PM) on the growth parameters of sweet maize. The experiment was a Randomized Complete Block Design involving nine treatments: control (no extract), 3% MLE, 6% MLE, 9% MLE, 3% MLE + 15 t/ha–1 PM, 6% MLE + 15 t/ha–1 PM, 9% MLE + 15 t/ha–1 PM, 15 t/ha–1 PM, and 30 t/ha–1 PM. Data on growth parameters including plant height, number of leaves per plant, stem girth, and leaf area were collected and analyzed. The results of the study show that there were significant differences (P = 0.05) among the treatments because plots that received 30 t/ha–1 PM performed best on plant height (193.6 and 152.8 cm) number of leaves (13.1 and 10.2), stem girth (3.75 and 3.22 cm), and leaf area (584.9 and 402.9 cm2) in both early and late season. This was followed by plots that received 9% MLE and 15 t/ha–1 PM, with values of 189.0 and 152.2 cm; 12.5 and 10.0; 3.58 3.15 cm; and 546.2 and 392.2 cm2, respectively. The study concluded that 30 t/ha–1 PM can be used to yield effective growth parameters in sweet maize and is hereby recommended to extension workers for dissemination to farmers.

The coronavirus pandemic had disrupted almost all businesses in various sectors, one of which is the plantation sector. Smallholder rubber plantations in Riau Province, Indonesia have faced the very tough challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. Efforts that could be made were marketing rubber products by implementing market-based strategies, namely market strategy, marketing mix strategy, customer value and marketing performance. This study aimed to analyze the effects of market strategy, marketing mix strategy, and customer value on marketing performance in smallholder rubber plantations in Riau Province during the Covid-19 pandemic. Data collection was carried out using 45 respondents as heads of smallholder rubber plantation farmer groups in Riau Province. Data analysis used structural equation modeling-partial least square (SEM-PLS). The results show that market strategy and marketing mix strategy had a significant direct effect on customer value. Customer value had a significant direct effect on the marketing performance of smallholder rubber plantation farmer groups in Riau, while the market and marketing mix strategies had an indirect effect.

In this research, the repellent activity of five Lamiaceae essential oils, Agastache rugosa, Elsholtzia blanda, Elsholtzia ciliata, Elsholtzia penduliflora, and Plectranthus ovatus, was evaluated against sweet potato weevil, Cylas formicarius using a two-choice test between the essential oil-treated filter paper and the control. E. blanda and A. rugosa essential oils have some sweet potato weevil attractant properties at low dose (<47.16 nl/cm2),while N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET), P. ovatus, E. penduliflora, and E.ciliata essential oils have repellent properties at doses ranging from 15.72 nl/cm2 to 196.49 nl/cm2. The effect of type of essential oil and their dose were interactively associated with repellent efficacy. There was a increase in repellent efficacy as the dose increased for all essential oils. The repellent activities of P. ovatus essential oil and E. penduliflora were higher than the others, and the repellent effects of E. ciliata essential oil and DEET were more dose-dependent than others, indicating that at low dose, P. ovatus and E. penduliflora essential oils have stronger repellent efficacy, but at higher dose DEET and E. ciliata have greater effects. Our findings clearly demonstrate that P. ovatus, E. penduliflora, and E. ciliata essential oils are candidate materials for future investigation as repellent compounds against sweet potato weevil control.

This study aims to test the model adoption of farmer card innovation by farmers. Data were collected through the use of the survey technique. The respondents were obtained through cluster sampling from six districts that included the greatest numbers of farmer card users in central Java. Data analysis was done through the SEM technique. As a result, from the five variables included, reconstruction and merging of the independent variables were then carried out so that three important antecedent variables appeared regarding influencing the adoption of farmer cards, namely leadership, facility conditions, and the role of government mediated by perceptions of card technology. The application of farmer cards produced such a farmer database, accuracy improvement, and government service to farmers. Future research needs to be directed toward carrying out development research related to increasing the capacity of information technology regarding farmer cards; hence it will bring better welfare to farmers. No previous research has explained how small farmers adopt information technology provided by the government. Many events have transpired, but these dynamics have not been revealed in previous research. This research resulted in an adoption model that enriches the previous Rogers’ innovation adoption theory, especially how leadership factors play an important role in the adoption of information technology innovations.

Minor fruits are a potential source of antinutrients, but there is no complete primary data source in the Bangladeshi context. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to acquire documentation for a database of the composition of selected minor fruits. The total phenolic (TPH), vitamin C, total carotene, and ß-carotene contents and antioxidant activity of selected minor fruits were determined by 1,1-diphenyl-2picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging and reducing power assays (RPA). Phenolic compounds were assessed using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a photodiode array detector and autosampler. Results revealed that minor fruits contain different phytochemicals, particularly TPH, ascorbic acid, total flavonoid (TF), ß-carotene, total carotenoid (TC), and total anthocyanin content (TAC); values ranged, respectively, 0.23-176.50 mg GAE/g, 16.67-664.92 mg/100 g, 2.26-150.02 mg QE/100 g, 1.41-6897.57 µg/100 g, 1.26-98.24 mg/100 g and 1.15-47.46 mg/100 g. In the parameters antioxidant activity, total antioxidant capacity, DPPH, reducing power capacity (RPC), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), metal chelating capacity (MCC), nitric oxide (NO), and free radical scavenging activity, IC50 ranged 0.01-278.24 µg of ascorbic acid/mg of extract, 39.70-250.00%, 3.21-634.00%, 0.02-1817.88 µM Fe2SO4/100g, 22.29-210.43%, 0.02-70.50%, and 4.98-856.70 µg/g, respectively. Among the identified and quantified phenolic acids, leading examples were gallic acid (279.06 mg/100 g), vanilic acid (43.77 mg/100 g), Þ-courmaric acid (178.96 mg/100 g), ferulic acid (20.44 mg/100 g), and lutein (91.13 µg/100 g) in aonla, day fruit, elephant apple, and bilimbi. Moreover, all selected minor fruits are rich sources of bioactive, biochemical, and antioxidant compounds with potential for use in therapeutic applications.