Genebank managers conduct viability tests on stored seeds so they can replace lots that have viability near a critical threshold, such as 50 or 85 % germination. Currently, these tests are typically scheduled at uniform intervals; testing every 5 years is common. A manager needs to balance the cost of an additional test against the possibility of losing a seed lot due to late retesting. We deve...

PURPOSE Diagnosis of a colovesical fistula is often challenging, and usually involves numerous invasive and expensive tests and procedures. The poppy seed test stands out as an exception to this rule. We evaluated the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of various established diagnostic tests used to evaluate a suspected colovesical fistula. MATERIALS AND METHODS We identified 20 prospectively en...

Seed size and toughness affect seed predators, and size-dependent investment in mechanical defence could affect relationships between seed size and predation. We tested how seed toughness and mechanical defence traits (tissue density and protective tissue content) are related to seed size among tropical forest species. Absolute toughness increased with seed size. However, smaller seeds had high...

The present study was based on primary data collected from 100 farmers in Gulbarga district of Karnataka, India, during the agricultural year 2013-2014. Study shows that average land holding size of pigeonpea seed farmers was higher in comparison to grain farmers and district average. The study illustrates a ratio of 32 : 68 towards fixed and variable costs in pigeonpea certified seed productio...

Chitosan was modified with sodium hydroxide and polymerized in water with plant growth regulators, microfertilizer and other additives to give a novel environmentally friendly seed coating agent for rice. The results showed the seed coating agent has obvious biological effect through the germination test, bacteriostasis test, toxicological security test and field experiment. Compared with the t...

The sustainability of seed extraction from natural populations has been questioned recently. Increased recruitment failure under intense seed harvesting suggests that seed extraction intensifies source limitation. Nevertheless, areas where more seeds are collected tend to also have more intense hunting of seed-dispersing animals. We studied whether such hunting, by limiting disperser activity, ...

Germinant sowing is operational for tree nurseries in South Africa. The technique reduces seed costs for eucalypts and pines. Filled cell percentage is usually near 98%. Seed efficiency at many North American container nurseries can be improved by adopting either germinant sowing or single sowing technology. Tree Planters' Notes xx(x):xx; 199x. INTRODUCTION Managers at most container nurseries ...

In plants, genes may disperse through both pollen and seeds. Here we provide a first theoretical study of the mechanisms and consequences of the joint evolution of pollen and seed dispersal. We focus on hermaphroditic self-compatible species distributed in structured populations, assuming island dispersal of pollen and seeds among small patches of plants within large populations. Three traits a...

The free distribution of seeds and tools is the standard approach to agricultural recovery. The predominance of this approach is partly attributable to the: (1) perception that farmer seed quality is poor, (2) insistence on seed certification, (3) promotion of researcher varieties, (4) misdiagnosis of unavailability, (5) difficulty accessing farmer seed, and (6) support for the commercial seed ...