Maize New Research Areas For Maize Breeding Introduction Role of Biotechnology in Maize Improvement Wild Varieties Tissue Culture

Introduction Important areas where genetics and cytogenetics can aid in the improvement of maize are as follows Mobile elements in maize populations and their implications in breeding Evidence is accumulating for the presence of active mobile elements in maize breeding populations that are selected for quantitative traits, such as yield, oil or protein content. Elements such as Ubiquitous (Uq) were found to be pervasive in several elite US maize populations. The presence of active transposable elements can drive a limitless source of variability in the populations that can be effectively utilized by a breeder. It is, therefore, imperative to examine native maize germplasm for the presence of active transposable elements and analyse their role in breeding programmes. Top Role Of Biotechnology In Maize Improvement With the advent of modern molecular techniques, spectacular advances are being made in chromosomal location of important qualitative and quantitative traits in maize, construction of refined molecular linkage maps using detailed DNA alalysis, understanding species relationships through the analysis of mitochondrial and chloroplast polymorphism, and finally in genetic transformations. Nevertheless, success in terms of varietal development with major emphasis on yield improvement is yet to come. For example, Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) technology has many potential applications in maize breeding. Maize has a high degree of polymorphism, that is probably unmatched by any other higher plant examined thus far. RFLP linkage map now available in maize consists of a few hundred loci that cover all the ten chromosomes and has been correlated with conventional linkage and physical maps. Some workers have demonstrated that RFLP technology in Loci (QTL) mapping , but the practical gains from such findings at the field level are yet to be witnessed. However, RFLP markers are also efficiently utilized in strain identification and in measuring genetic diversity . An important deterrent to take up RFLP approach to solve breeding problems in developing countries like India is the high cost involved. It is, therefore, imperative that RFLP technology be used judiciously in providing meaningful solutions to problems that are of paramount importance. Top Role Of Wild Relatives In Maize Improvement It is essential to consider the role of related species Zea diploperennis Z. mexicana Z. Perennis Z. Luxurians and genera, like Tripsacum, Coix, Chinoachne, Polytoca, Scleroachne and Trilobachne in further improvement of maize as these species not only harbour priceless genes that confer resistance to important abiotic and biotic stress, but also possess potentially useful agronomic traits. Top Application Of Tissue Culture In Maize Improvement Rapid advances have been made in the field of cell and tissue culture techniques in maize ever since the first source in regeneration of plants from maize tissue in 1975. With several public institution and private industries showing an increased interest in the in vitro techniques, the scope of application to maize genetics and breeding is bound to expand. Most of the cultivated techniques, however, were standardized in countries like USA on standard inbred lines such as A 188, B 73, Mo 17, and Black Mexican Sweet Corn. India does not yet have a fact good information on the genetics of regeneration. Unfortunately, these inbred lines having problems of adaptation to the Indian conditions. Also, inbred lines, which perform under field conditions, may not respond well to culture conditions and vice versa. Very limited efforts are so far made to systematically screen the important Indian maize populations and inbred lines for their callusing and regeneration abilities. Maize improvement through genetic engineering is amenable only when suitable tissue culture technique is developed, and the subsequent growth and appropriate expression of the transgenics in mature can be made routine. Top

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The key services offered by Ikisan are:

System study, design and development of IT enabled solutions and services for the agri sector.

Execution of rural IT enabled projects on BOT/BOOT/Turnkey basis.

Development, Customization and Deployment of Ikisan's IPR protected software applications.

Providing support services and best management practices for augmenting the marketing development efforts of the groups agricultural input companies (NFCL and NACL).

Development and Dissemination of best practice and information though a unique multi lingual knowledge website for the agri sector.

Some of the key customers/partners that benefit significantly from our work include are Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, State Agricultural Marketing Boards, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Tamil Nadu, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Motorola Mobility (GOOGLE) etc.

As highlighted earlier Ikisan provides significant support to the market development and marketing efforts of NFCL and NACL by providing best practices and information across the agricultural input value chain - weather, soil, seeds, fertilizers, water, pesticides, output prices etc. that have enabled the companies to develop deep customer relationships and in turn enable them to grow above market growth rates. Recently example in fertilizers includes the development of Customized Fertilizer Grades (for NFCL across India that are crop and location specific have not only reduced the current consumption of fertilizers of farmers but have significantly enhanced crop yields and farmer incomes) that are expected to add significant revenues to the company.

Currently, agriculture value chain is driven by technical expertise. However, there is a lack of adequate Management knowledge and skills amongst the professionals. Therefore, Ikisan and XLRI, Jamshedpur have jointly developed an Agri Business Management Program for Agri-professionals and students. Ikisan provides the domain expertise while XLRI provides pedagogy. This program is a combination of virtual learning and campus based module at XLRI, Jamshedpur. This program has been highly appreciated.

Intellectual Property Rights for many software applications such as Field Manager, Vyapar, Mandi, Quick Solutions Systems, Management Time Table, Agri Information System and Agrecommerz belong to Ikisan. A significant recent development in this area is the introduction of Weather Based Crop Insurance. This entails setting up of Automatic Weather Stations, which provide dynamic village-level data essential for settlement of weather based insurance claims.