Tuesday 31 July 2012

Insecticide resistance selection, monitoring, and detection in China: from mechanisms to management

CESD Seminar

By Liu Zewen
Professor, insect neuro-pharmacology
Nanjing Agricultural University
China

1315-1415 H, Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Room A, D.L. Umali Building, IRRI

Major and consistent drought grain yield QTLs for marker-assisted breeding in rice

PBGB Division Seminar

By Prashant Vikram
Visiting research fellow
Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology Division
IRRI
1400 H, Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Room A, D.L. Umali Building, IRRI

Friday 20 July 2012

Can agriculture feed and fuel the world? A role for plant biotechnology

PBGB Division Seminar

By Trevor Stevenson 
Molecular biologist 
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
 

1400 H, Wednesday, 25 July 2012 
Room A, D.L. Umali Building, IRRI

Guidance and technology: An assessment of project intervention and promoted technologies

SSD Seminar

By Justin McKinley 
Intern
Social Sciences Division (SSD), IRRI
 

1530-1630 H, Wednesday, 18 July 2012 
SSD Conference Room, Drilon Hall, IRRI 

Genetic mechanisms of salinity tolerance at reproductive stage in rice

PBGB Division Seminar

By Reza Mohammadi 
Ph.D. scholar 
Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology (PBGB) Division, IRRI

1400 H, Wednesday, 18 July 2012 

Room A, D.L. Umali Building, IRRI

Neighborhood effects, social behavior, and behavioral game experiments

SSD Seminar

A. Neighborhood effects and social behavior: The case of irrigated and rainfed rice farmers in Bohol, Philippines
By Taku Tsusaka 

Postdoctoral fellow 
Social Sciences Division (SSD)
 

B. Preliminary study on behavioral game experiments
By James Randall 

Simon Fraser University, Canada 
Intern, Social Sciences Division (SSD)

1530-1630 H, Wednesday, 11 July 2012 

SSD Conference Room, Drilon Hall, IRRI 
 

Plants and global change: the ubiquity of plasticity

PBGB Division Seminar

By Adrienne B. Nicotra 
Future fellow/associate professor
Division of Evolution, Ecology, and Genetics 

Research School of Biology
Australian National University, Canberra, Australia


1500 H, Wednesday, 4 July 2012 

Room A, D.L. Umali Auditorium, IRRI

Rice races against rising temperatures

IRRI Seminar

By S.V. Krishna Jagadish
Scientist, plant physiology, IRRI
 

1315-1415 H, Thursday, 28 June 2012
Havener Auditorium, IRRI



Time of anthesis in response to environmental conditions in rice (Oryza sativa)

CESD Seminar


By Cécile Julia
Engineer in plant breeding; Ph.D. student in rice ecophysiology, CIRAD-AGAP, Montpellier, France Ph.D. research scholar, Crop Physiology Unit
Crop and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD), IRRI

1315-1415 H, Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Room A, D.L. Umali Auditorium, IRRI

Abstract:

Thermal stress and in particular heat during anthesis causes sterility in rice inflorescences. Rice spikelets open in the morning and close a few hours later. Genotypic variation in the time of day of anthesis is considered an escape mechanism from thermal stress, but little is known on its dependency on environmental conditions. 

One traditional, cold-tolerant rice cultivar and three improved tropical rice cultivars were grown in the field in four different climatic environments under flooded conditions to study the environmental response of time of day of anthesis. The time of day when the first spikelets opened, a maximum of spikelets were open and the last spikelets closed was observed daily on a population basis (2m² plots replicated 3 times).

Within the same environment, genotypic differences in time of anthesis and duration of anthesis were small. Across all genotypes and environments, the differences were broader and 80% of the variation of the time of maximum anthesis could be explained with the mean minimum air temperature (Tmin) during the 7 days preceding any given anthesis event. Linear, multiple regression models determined for each cultivar using Tmin and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) observations from the three tropical environments explained 94% of variation of time of anthesis onset and end. Low Tmin thereby delayed and low VPD advanced anthesis processes.

Under the assumption that panicle temperature during anthesis is indeed a major determinant of spikelet fertility in rice, it is concluded that the sensitivity of time of day of anthesis to air temperature and humidity is an effective eco-physiological adaptation of the rice crop.

Patterns of varietal adoption and economics of rice production in Asia

SSD Seminar

By Huaiyu Wang 
Postdoctoral fellow
Social Sciences Division (SSD), IRRI
 

1330-1430 H, Friday, 22 June 2012
SSD Conference Room, Drilon Hall, IRRI

Managing rice diseases in a changing rice production scenario

IRRI Seminar


By Casiana Vera Cruz
Senior scientist, plant pathology 
Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology (PBGB) Division, IRRI
 

1315-1415 H, Thursday, 21 June 2012
Havener Auditorium, IRRI

View seminar on Ustream (54:55)


Thursday 19 July 2012

Root traits behind major-effect drought-yield QTLs in rice

IRRI Seminar

By Amelia Henry
Scientist, drought physiology
Crop and Environmental Sciences Division, IRRI

1315-1415 H (UTC + 8), Thursday, 14 June 2012
Havener Auditorium, IRRI

Abstract:
Rice root growth encompasses a remarkable genetic diversity in terms of growth patterns, architecture, and environmental adaptations. Root/drought research at IRRI has been ongoing since the 1970s, with a long-term focus on root growth at depth and large nodal root diameter as drought resistance traits. After direct selection for yield during the past decade that is now approaching impact at the farm level, we are seeing that root traits are indeed involved in improved yield under drought. Surprisingly, traits other than deep root growth and large diameter nodal roots have been observed. This presentation will summarize the progress we have made in identifying root traits behind major-effect drought-yield QTLs in genotypes developed at IRRI.