The ARS scientists have already showed that ryegrass' chemical resistance is controlled by only one or two genes. Studying how resistance developed has been difficult because researchers have lacked populations of resistant and susceptible plants that were otherwise identical. Researchers can now make comparisons using the new lines. ARS scientists developed them from selections from Gulf and Marshall ryegrass varieties. Aflatoxin doesn't affect cotton quality or fiber safety.
Researchers hope to uncover contributing factors behind A. flavus outbreaks, such as wind.
ARS scientists grew a high-nitrogen forage soybean variety to a height of about 5 feet. Then they cut or flattened the plants to form a mulch to cover the soil before planting broccoli seedlings. The thick thatch keeps down weeds and holds moisture while enriching the soil with organic matter and protecting it from erosion. Under this new system, more broccoli could be grown in the mid-Atlantic states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina where soils are highly erodible and the terrain is sharply sloped. In California, where about 88 percent of U.S. broccoli is grown, the crop is directly seeded in bare soil and requires two to three chemical treatments to kill weeds, the major cause of broccoli crop losses.