Introduction
Plantain (Musa paradisiaca AAB Group) is an important crop in sub Saharan Africa where about 70 million people derive their livelihood from it (Vuylsteke, 2001). The main plantain production system in Africa consists of small backyard plots with a few plants (Swennen 1990) and whose expansion and orchards has often been hampered by the scarcity of planting materials (Schill et al., 1997; Nkendah and Akyearpong, 2003). Farmers depend on natural regeneration of plants for the supply of planting materials (suckers) but this is a slow process due to hormone-mediated apical dominance of the mother plant (De langhe 24 et al., 1983; Swennen, 1984;Swennen et al., 1984; Ortiz and Vuylsteke, 1994) which would often produce small numbers (Swennen, 1999; Faturoti et al., 2002). Thus, farmers obtain a few suckers that are essentially used to replace lost or mature and harvested plants on the same plots. Macro-propagation techniques (false and complete decapitation) and whole corm techniques (split corm and excised buds) involve use of whole suckers or relatively large corm pieces for rapid multiplication of healthy planting materials. Traditional planting of plantain does not emphasize pest and disease control measures.Newly planted fields are established for the most part, with untreated suckers from existing fields. Consequently, suckers used for the new orchards are invariably infested with nematodes and other soil borne pests and diseases. Transplanting the contaminated materials facilitates the persistence and spread of nematode and weevil problems and shortens the lifetime of plantain orchards to only one or two cycles of production, beyond which most plants topple, become unproductive or simply die (Coyne et al., 2006a&b; W...
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...itic nematodes in second ratoon of grown plantain from pared and unpared suckers. Applied Tropical Agriculture. Vol. 15, Nos 1&2, pp 1-5.
Swennen, R. 1984. A Physiological Study of Suckering Behavior in Plantain (Musa ). Dessertationes de Agricultura. Faculty of Agriculture, Catholic University of Louvain. 180 pp.
Swennen, R.1990. Plantain cultivation under West African Conditions: A reference Manual. Int. Inst. Trop. Agric., Ibadan , Nigeria. pp. 24
Swennen, R., Wilson, G. F. and De Langhe, E., (1984). Preliminary investigation of the effects of gibberellic acid (GA3) on sucker development in plantain (Musa cv. AAB) under field conditions.Trop. Agr. (Trinidad). 61:253-256
Vuylsteke, D. 2001. Strategies for utilization of genetic variation in plantain improvement. Ph.D.Thesis, Faculty of Agriculture and Applied Biological Sciences, Kalholieke University, Leuven
Brassica rapa is a mustard plant that can be found throughout North America, and is common in areas undergoing extreme change, such as changes in climate. There is an important relationship between the ecological and genetic factors that influence the growth of Brassica rapa (Mitchell-Olds 1996). So, the environmental elements, as well as the genetic information, are essential to the growth rate and survival of Brassica rapa. This plant is capable of reproducing quickly, and the root systems are usually quite small, although some Brassica rapa have developed larger root systems (Mitchell-Olds 1996). This plant is commonly used in experiments because of its ability to germinate rapidly. Brassica rapa is capable of sprouting within a stage of about two weeks, and this trait allows scientists to perform experiments in a short period of time.
Polyculture is associated with, but not exclusively limited to, the movement in organic farming (Pollan 144). The main drawback is the work required to maintain the different species being grown. Each plant requires its own growing conditions, so maintenance becomes labor intensive. However, this method of farming greatly increases the biodiversity of the fields which reduces susceptibility to disease and pests, and creates genetically diverse species. Polyculture is very different from monoculture in more ways than simply growing more than one crop. Monoculture is the attempt to control a crop to maximize yield. Polyculture is the acknowledgement of nature’s control and the attempt to grow successful crops through changing the process of growing plants based on the ecological system around them. The people who grew early potatoes on the Andes grew a wide variety of different potato species so that not all of them were likely to susceptible to the same disease (Pollan 131). Pollan’s discussion of these methods leans heavily toward the idea that even though monoculture is simpler and more profitable, it is an inferior method to polyculture that is mainly still in use to feed the capitalistic machine of the global food
Schumann, Gail L., and Cleora J. D'Arcy. Hungry Planet: Stories of Plant Diseases. St. Paul: American Phytopathological Society, 2012. Print.
This experiment was performed to test two hypotheses concerning the plant hormone gibberellic acid and a mutant rosette shaped phenotype of the plant Brassica rapa. This experiment was done in order to test the effects o gibberellic acid on plants and its effect on rosette shaped complexes. The two hypotheses in this experiment are as follows: Hypothesis number one states that Gibberellic acid allows for stem elongation in plants. Hypothesis number two. The rosette complex in the rosette phenotype plant contains less gibberellic acid naturally and therefore grows shorter.
With plants of the genus Brassica importance in the form of vegetables and oilseeds (Wang and Freeling 2013), the results of this experiment offer a view into their inheritance patterns which can in the long term be replicated for different outcomes. Augustine et al. discuss the importance of these plants’ traits in terms of food production by stating that studying the mutations of Brassica may lead to improvement of crops by expressing mutations that are desirable phenotypic traits (2014). Brassica are an important part of the global food supply and if any plants can be genetically altered by selective fertilization then those steps should be taken to produce larger, more efficient, or shorter cycling plants. This experiment has supported the inheritance of traits according to Mendel by examining the inheritance of anthocyanin in B. rapa.
With the rapid growth of our global population pouring into the next millennium, we will witness an ever-growing hunger rate around the world. That is unless we call for a revolution on the global scale. The Green Revolution which already sprouted in the early part of the century only need to add a bit more momentum and we will see a bright future for the human race, a future without hunger and starvation ¡V hopefully.It is becoming increasingly difficult for the planet to support its overwhelming population. And since the amount of arable land available is becoming scarce, we must seek ways to dramatically improve crop yields of existing cropland.
Throughout The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan, the author argues that the coevolution of plants and humans is seen within the relationship of humans manipulating plants to fulfill their desires. Pollan touches on four main examples where coevolution can be easily seen throughout history and the present. The apple satisfies sweetness, the tulip beauty, marijuana intoxication, and the potato control. As we are benefitting from evolving the plants for our own interest, the plants themselves are benefitting as well. The environmental message of the book surpasses that of coevolution and dives into the technology of genetic engineering
Plant defences are those mechanisms employed by plants in response to herbivory and parasitism. According to Hanley et al. (2007), “the tissues of virtually all terrestrial, freshwater, and marine plants have qualities that to some degree reduce herbivory, including low nitrogen concentration, low moisture content, toxins or digestibility-reducing compounds”. The type of chemical defence may be species specific (Scott 2008). The defences that plants possess may be in the form of chemical production or in the form of physical defences such as thorns or spikes and even through reinforced, rigid leaves. “The compounds that are produced in response to herbivory can either have a direct effect on the attacker itself (e.g. toxins or digestibility reducers), or serve as indirect defenses by attracting the natural enemies of the herbivores” (Bezemer & van Dam 2005). This essay will focus on chemical plant defences and in particular the effects of terpenes, phenolics, nitrogen-based defences as well as allelopathy in plants.
The “Fast Plant” experiment is an observation of a plants growth over the span of twenty-eight days. The objective is to observe how plants grow and use their resources throughout the span of their life. In our lab we observed the Brassica rapa, a herbaceous plant in the mustard family which has a short cycle which makes it a perfect plant to observe in this experiment. Like other plants the Brassica rapa must use the resources in the environment to create energy to complete itʻs life cycle and reproduce. By observing the plant it is easy to see in what organ or function the plant is using itʻs energy and resources and if overtime the resources switch to other part of the plants. By conducting this experiment we are able to observe where and how plants allocate their resources throughout their life by harvesting plants at different points in their life.
The term GM foods or GMO (genetically-modified organisms) is most commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques (Whitman, 2000). These plants have been modified in the laboratory to offer desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content. Also, genetic engineering techniques have been applied to create plants with the exact desired trait very rapidly and accurately. For example, this is done by the geneticist isolating the gene responsible for drought tolerance and inserts it into another plant. The new genetically-modified plant will now have gained drought tolerance as well.
...and to resist disease and pest include but are not limited to: tomatoes, potatoes, papaya, peas, and squash. (NERC 2005)
7. Williams, C.N. 1979. Tree and Field Crops of the Wetter Regions of the Tropics,
Lemaux, P.G. (2006). Introduction to genetic modification. Agricultural Biotechnology in California Series, 8178. Retrieved from http://ucanr.org/freepubs/docs/8178.pdf
Insect pollination as we all know, is the process that enables reproduction and fertilization by the transfer of pollen performed by insects. Insects are some of the oldest pollinators of plants. Pollinating insects date back to 140 million years ago. Since then, due to how effective insect pollinators are, these flowering plants have become the major group of terrestrial vascular plants. Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms, have imperative roles within our ecosystems, both natural and agricultural. For instance, insects provide food, fiber and shelter for wildlife and humankind alike (2007). It is commonly know that in humans, high levels of fruit and vegetable consumption are associated with decreased risk of chronic disease (Calderone 2012). Aside from these important roles, plants have also been considered as a viable option for fuel sources (Calderone 2012). There are around 300,00 species of flowering plants in the world and without pollination, the reproductive process would be very difficult since pollination causes the production of seeds (Calderone 2012). Of the 300,000 plant species worldwide, a little over 3,000 of these plants have been used as a source of food. Close to 300 of these species are grown around the world today and only 12 of these plants make up about 90 percent of the food sources in our world. These 12 include the grains...
Asexual propagation is the process through which reproduction without passage through the seed cycle occurs. The advantages of asexual propagation are that it preserves genetic makeup, propagates seedless plants, disease control, rapid production, the plants are identical, cheaper, faster and easier reducing or avoiding juvenility. The disadvantages of asexual propagation are that it increases disease and insect susceptibility, plants are bulky, and the mother plants could become contaminated. The goal of this experiment was to determine the development of adventitious roots and shoots, and observe these plants over a period of five weeks. Due to auxin being produced in the tip, tip cuttings should root faster than any other cuttings. Auxin is a plant hormone that is responsible for cell elongation and enlargement, root formation, and growth. There are two forms of auxins; phototropism, which is produced in the tip and moves downward on the side away from the light and gravitropism, which is where plant roots grow downward and plant shoots grow upward.(Plant Auxin 201...