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Luffa cylindrica (L.) Roem. is an important cucurbit crop that assures food security and dietary diversity among the poor communities. In the present study, seeds of 42 genotypes of Luffa cylindrica were evaluated for their potential use as oil seed crop. Seed moisture, oil and protein content and fatty acids profile were estimated along with total phenol and sugar content. Significant differences were observed among the various genotypes where oil content ranged from 15.4–29.8% and protein 19.9–30.8%. Total phenol content was high 6.43–12.84 mg/100 g, which bodes well for the sponge gourd seeds’ ability to act as antioxidants. Significant correlation were found between important constituents studied like protein and oil, palmitic acid, stearic acid and oleic acid. Total unsaturated fatty acids were in higher amount comparable to saturated fatty acids signifying the good quality of Luffa seed oil. Our research revealed that the NDSG-1, Pusa Sneha, DSG-95, DSG-98, DSG-108, and DSG-26 genotypes were very nutritious due to their high levels of protein, oleic acid, and oil output. Additionally, selection of traits having considerable correlation will be beneficial and help in improved varietal development for usage as an alternative oilseed crop. Our research sheds light on the nutritional value of sponge gourd seeds and suggests using them as a potential source for oil and protein, particularly in underdeveloped countries.

Genetic diversity is inevitable in making any crop improvement program successful. DNA fingerprinting technology to assess the genetic relationship among the selected genotypes for identification and cataloging of different species and cultivars of roses is a promising tool for Rosa genomes. The inter-simple sequence repeats markers (ISSRs) were used to investigate the genetic diversity among twenty-one diverse Rosa genotypes belonging to two different species, Rosa hybrida and R. damascena, and three distinct groups of rose varieties, namely Hybrid Tea, Floribunda, and Damask roses. Twenty-four ISSR primers yielded a total of 280 scorable amplified fragments from 250-1800 bp in length, from which 244 were polymorphic, resulting in an average of 86.4% polymorphism. UPGMA cluster analysis based on Jaccard’s pairwise similarity coefficient values ranged from 0.264 to 0.818, clearly distinguished different species and genotypes, grouping them into three distinct clusters. The results confirmed a high degree of variation in the rose germplasm studied highlighting the potential of improvement in roses for the ornamental and perfume industry.

Tropic will be the epicentre for food production as population will sore from 7 billion to 10 billion by the end of century. It is imperative to explore the potential of different food production system in tropics. In 2006-07 FiBL started the ‘Long-term Farming Systems Comparison in the Tropics (SysCom) Program’ in collaboration with local partners in three tropical countries to produce scientifically sound data on the agronomic, ecological and socio-economic performance of organic and conventional production systems over a long-term. The program comprises of a network of four long-term experiments (LTEs) in Kenya, India and Bolivia, in concert with participatory on-farm research (POR) aimed at developing locally adapted sustainable technologies. Our research in the tropics shows that organic agriculture and agroforestry systems have large potential to contribute to sustainable development especially in the field of soil fertility and biodiversity conservation while productivity and profitability are usually equal. Yet, for full exploitation of the benefits of organic agriculture major efforts are needed to tackle agronomic/ technological challenges (lack of input, pest management), capacity development for farmers (technical know how) and institutional/governance challenges (markets, agri-business).

The SysCom Program compares different agricultural production systems (primarily organic and conventional) in three tropical countries (Kenya, India, and Bolivia). This report aims to provide a synthesis of the findings of 12 years of research in the three countries in a way that is easily comprehensible by specialists and non-specialist alike. It focuses on productivity, profitability, soil fertility, and other aspects of system performance such as product quality, biodiversity, resource use efficiency, and agroecosystem resilience. The report is divided into eight main sections: The first section, conclusions, addresses the findings with regards to the question, “What is the contribution of organic agriculture to sustainable development?”. This section is dedicated to the readers who are only interested in a short comprehensive overview of the results. The second section, the introduction, explains the program’s background and objectives. The following sections present the main findings on productivity, profitability, soil fertility, and other aspects of system performance. These sections start with a summary of the key findings, which are then explained in more detail on the concrete research results. They are designed for readers interested in an in-depth understanding of the facts behind inferences as well as the methodology. At the end of each subsection, references to the relevant scientific publications are provided for further reading. Technical jargon has been kept to a minimum and wherever possible explanations are provided in footnotes. The seventh section includes policy recommendations and offers sound advice for policy development. Finally, the annexes provide more information about the SysCom program, including the programs’ phases, a detailed description of the different sites and the local contexts, as well as SysCom’s capacity building and dissemination efforts.

At presesnt, about 33 million ha of cotton are grown worldwide, which gives about 82 million tons of seed cotton (FAO 2021) only 0,5 % is the share of organic cotton.

Introduction of Bt-cotton and its fast adoption in India posed a major threat to availability of non-GM cotton seed for organic production. With the continuous growth of the organic market it is important to maintain non-GM germplasm, to enlarge the offer of organic cultivars with a better performance that meet the demand of the market, and to rebuild the seed sovereignty of organic smallholder cotton farmers. This study aims to examine relative yield performance and fibre length of commercially cultivated American Gossypium hirsutum (HV) and Desi cotton G. arboreum (AV) varieties in comparison with the advance (F6-F8) HV and AV lines developed under Seeding the Green Future (SGF) program at different sites. Analysis revealed wide range in seed cotton yield across different locations in both, heavy and light soils resulting from the unpredictable weather conditions, an extended period of drought during sowing followed by flash flooding during the 2018-19 cotton-growing season. However, both advance (F6-F8) HV and AV lines gave promising results and were at par with the performance of commercial HV and AV cultivars. Analysis of data on fibre quality revealed encouraging results with mean fibre length of >28 mm observed in Bandapari and Akola, especially with advance (F6-F8) AV lines, which is minimum industrial standard. While desi cotton G. arboretum has inherent ability to adapt under adverse climatic condition and is well known for tolerance to sucking pests and drought if coupled with such important quality parameter can help in securing the availability of non-GM seed. This is of special importance as desi cotton does not cross-pollinate with Bt-cotton and shows clearly distinguished leaf morphology. In the current scenario, where the integrity of Indian organic cotton under the spotlight due to GM contamination, there is a need to reorient research efforts to ensure that the existing wealth of genetic diversity of traditional Desi cotton can be capitalized in organic production and industrial processing.

Participatory breeding for Securing Organic Cotton and Genetic Diversity

The manual introduces trainers to the concepts and methodologies of Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB), and explains the important steps and techniques for implementing PPB and training programs in cotton.

Outline • Strategies and Approaches of organic plant breeding • Breeding for mixed cropping systems: pea & barley • Breeding for the holobiont: exploring relation of pea microbiom and tolerance towards soil fatigue

Activities and challenges of the project Seeding the Green Future on participatory organic cotton breeding.

Overview on the project Seeding the Green Future Phase 2

Regional WorkshopSouth Asia - Organic cotton Challenges survey - Organic Cotton Strategy for South Asia: keeping the lead, FiBL - Pakistan as emerging player fo rorganic cotton, SIA Foundation

Heute stammt 80 Prozent der globalen Baumwolle aus gentechnisch veränderten Sorten (GVO). Der biologische Anbau ist deshalb stark rückläufig, da fast kein GVO-freies Saatgut mehr erhältlich ist. Da Indien der wichtigste Produzent für Bio-Baumwolle ist, unterstützt das FiBL deshalb indische Bauern, GVO-freie Sorten zu erhalten und zu verbessern.

Pflanzenzüchtung für den Biolandbau: Herausforderungen, Warum braucht es eine spezielle Biozüchtung?, Ziele, neue Konzepte

Challenges organic cotton in India

Langzeitvergleich von biologischen und konventionellen Anbausystemen in der Baumwollfruchtfolge.

Partizipative Bio-Baumwollzüchtung mit Bäuerinnen und Bauern in Indien.

BackgroundWorldwide, India is the most important country for organic cotton production with 67% market share. In India, organic cotton production is challenged by 95% genetically modified (GM) cotton cultivation.Public breeding and seed multiplication were neglected and local non-GM seeds supply were eroded. With the continuous growth of the organic market it is important to maintain non-GM germplasm, to enlarge the offer of organic cultivars with a better performance that meet the demand of the market, and to rebuild the seed sovereignty of organic smallholder cotton farmers. Participatory breeding of Gossypiumhirsutumand traditionalG. arboreumcotton offers a great opportunity for developing locally adapted cultivars for increasing genetic diversity.

Challenges organic cotton in India, cultivated cotton in India, presentation of the project "Seeding the Green Future".

Due to fast spread of genetically modified (GM) Bt-cotton, organic farmers in India were suddenly exposed to a severe shortage of non-GM seed threatening the organic cotton production. Therefore, organic cotton grower organisations got engaged in decentralized participatory cotton breeding to develop their own locally adapted cultivars and to reintroduce the traditional more robust Desi cotton species. By engaging and training advisors and farmers using participatory methods, they became researchers and breeders. The close collaboration with the textile industry ensures that the market demand is also met. Training of male and female farmers in cultivar selection and seed propagation made them independent from global seed companies. Participatory breeding is an important tool to get prepared for future challenges like climate change and at the same time strengthens the relationship along the value chain. The project can serve as a successful model for other organisations and crops.

India is the largest producer of ‘organic cotton’, as it contributes about three quarters (74%) to the global organic cotton production. The Nimar valley of Madhya Pradesh in central India is important region for organic cotton production. In general, cotton yields are low and variable in the Nimar valley and often do not reach the attainable levels on several farms of the region. With a steeply increasing demand for organic fibre, it is important to safeguard and increase the production of organic cotton in a sustainable manner. The precise understanding of social and biophysical motivations of different farmers for following their respective farming practices is of high importance for sustainable future of organic cotton in central India. The study of the facts related to adoption of organic cotton production systems in the Nimar valley is particularly valuable for policy makers, smallholder farmers and sourcing organizations.

Forty years of research in the DOK trial resulted in more than 120 peer-reviewed publications investigating effects of farming systems on a wide range of scientific disciplines within agronomic and environmental research. It is the oldest still existing system comparison trial comparing organic and conventional agricultural practice worldwide. The field trial has been subject to applied and fundamental research but the presentation of findings from the DOK trial is beyond the scope of this chapter. Instead, we give detailed insights into the history of implementation of the DOK trial and show how the evolution of agricultural practices influenced the management practices applied in the experiment. From a scientific point of view, changing experimental treatments in the course of an experiment is a challenging task. Yet, following a system approach and the development of organic and conventional farming necessitate a periodical reevaluation of practices implemented within the treatments to mirror changes in large-scale farming. To reflect on these developments and to present in-depth insight on the history of management of the DOK trial, we review and discuss changes implemented in management practice during the course of the last 40 years.