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The article focuses on changes in the sweet cherry buds of cultivars Burlat and Regina during different dormancy phases. It explores the growth of buds in terms of length and diameter, as well as carbohydrate changes across paradormancy, endodormancy, and ecodormancy, important stages for survival during winter.

Pod shattering is an undesirable process leading to loss of harvestable yields. In the present study, we sought to undertake the first comprehensive phenotyping in 254 bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) genotypes for pod shattering including various mechanistic aspects as well as assess natural variation in the germplasm set for 16 seed physical traits including shattering score. There was substantial variability in 16 pod physical traits in the material. Significant diversity of the material in respect of pod traits was indicated by the broad range and coefficient of variation (CV) values. Using Random Impact Assessment (RIA), we found substantial variability in pod shattering score in common bean genotypes indicating significant diversity. Shattering score had a mean value of 6.098 with a range of 1.07 to 9.13. Highest shattering score was recorded in WB-6, WB-20-247, and N-7 while the lowest value for shattering score was recorded in WB-1129 and WB-216. Shattering score was negatively correlated with pod thickness (r = -0.698) followed by ventral/dorsal length ratio (r = -0.468) and positively correlated with breadth/thickness ratio (r = 0.599) and string % (r = 0.590). The principal component analysis (PCA) concentrated 86.91% variability in the first five principal components, and the first two PCs accounted for 55.62% of the total variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three out of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MGDs); Eradication of poverty and hunger, reduction in child mortality and improving maternal health can be well addressed through food fortification initiatives. Half of the world population, particularly India relies on rice as the main food source being its main source of dietary energy. Since rice does not contain essentials vitamins like β-carotene, therefore Indian population that is totally dependent on rice are at high risk of developing vitamin A deficiency. In India the burden of Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) amounts to an annual loss of 2.3 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Jammu and Kashmir stands fifth after Mizoram, Goa, Assam, Manipur and West Bengal in having the highest VAD cases in the age group of 10-14 years. The prevalence of biochemical VAD among under-five years children in India is 62%, which is among the highest in the world and accounts for 330000 deaths in India alone (WHO, 2009). Combating VAD among an estimated 12 million preschool children, it is claimed that government programs to provide vitamin A supplements to the affected children are expensive and complicated. And it is asserted that conventional, non-GM methods of introducing or enhancing β-carotene in other staple crops have been unsuccessful. Failure of Golden rice 1 and 2 in circumventing VAD is due to less amount of available pro-vitamin A. Assuming a β-carotene to vitamin A conversion rate of 1:1, 200 grams of "Golden Rice" per day will provide enough vitamin A. Contrarily some researchers work with a conversion rate of 2:1, which implies a daily intake of 500 grams of rice to attain the FAO/ WHO figure of 400μg for children between the ages of 1 and 3, thus no agreement on the amount of vitamin A that "Golden Rice 2" can in principle provide. So there is a need for the development of third generation Golden rice which produces even higher amount of β-carotene through Gene Amplification Technology (GAT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]