Cereal such as wheat, rice, corn, maize, oats, sorghum, millets, triticale, and rye make up the base of human and animal foods and feeds, respectively. Many of these species contribute significantly to the sustainability of agricultural production systems in Brazil, generating jobs and boosting the country's economy. Collectively, these cultures add up to 19 millions of cultivated hectares and 47 million tons of produced grains, which is almost half of the country's total grain production. Howev

Status: Completed     Start date: Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2009

Yuca ( Manihot esculenta) represents one of the main food products of the Northern region. Indigenous peoples have left to the Northern peoples this heritage of many alternatives to the processing of this root, which can generate up to 300 products according to sources. In addition to having great socio-economic importance to the region, it is estimated that the yuca has its origin and diversification center in the Amazon. Thusly, knowing the existing variability in material collected thr ...

Status: Completed     Start date: Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2010

In the last century, the wide use of Guzerá breed in crossbreeding led to the expressive reduction of their effective population size, to worrying numbers. Due to its adaptation to diverse environmental conditions, its potential for dual-purpose production (i.e. meat and milk), and its risk of extinction, in 1991, this breed was included by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) in the list of genetic resources to be preserved. In view of this, and due to the demand for br ...

Status: Completed     Start date: Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2008

Despite the growth in the production and productivity rates of dairy farming in Brazil, the globalization of the economy, the fluctuations in domestic and foreign food prices, the changing feeding habits of the population, with the growing interest in functional foods as well as foods from agroecological or organic production systems, coupled with the strong demand for genetically improved and adapted animals, are relevant factors that have challenged research and development agencies in proposi

Status: Completed     Start date: Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2008

Molecular genetics is an additional tool which provides information for the detection and exploitation of genes or chromosomal regions with large influence on economic traits. This comes from the development of dense maps of linkage disequilibrium among genetic markers for many livestock species. Although each type of genetic marker has advantages and disadvantages, the only polymorphisms with enough density to meet important requirements for gene mapping are the Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms

Status: Completed     Start date: Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2013

The technology for gene editing based on the CRISPR / Cas9 system (Clustered Regularly-Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats associated to Cas9 endonuclease) consists of an endonuclease (Cas9) guided by RNA (guide RNA - sgRNA), which is capable of editing the genome with accuracy. This system enables the inactivation of genes through cleavage followed by repairing the strands by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) leading to the knockout of the expression, which results extremely useful to prevent

Status: Completed     Start date: Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2018

The program of genetic improvement of the cupuaçu tree ( Theobroma grandiflorum) needs to tend to the demand of new cultivares, especially of those resistant to the Monilophthora perniciosa fungus, the agent responsible for causing the deformity known as witch's broom disease, and also to increase as much as possible the genetic base of planting material. This project aims to develop new technologies which promote the quick multiplication of selected cultivares, as well as to early select ...

Status: Completed     Start date: Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2009

The Red Sindhi breed is an important genetic resource to be preserved and used in tropical conditions. Some studies have shown small effective population size and high coefficient of inbreeding. These aspects show increased risks of loss of genetic diversity, impairing possible genetic gains to be achieved with selection, and even increasing the risk of future extinction of the breed. The following partner institutions worked on the project: Embrapa Dairy Cattle, Embrapa Tropical Semi-Arid, Emep

Status: Completed     Start date: Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2012

Pastures assume a prominent position in the Brazilian agricultural scenario, covering about three quarters of the cultivated area nationwide. In addition to the physical aspect, pastures are the main feeding source for the Brazilian herd. Pastures account for almost 90% of the beef consumed in Brazil and for most of the 21 billion liters of milk produced annually in the country. It is estimated today that in Brazil grasses of the genus Brachiaria are cultivated in approximately 84 millio

Status: Completed     Start date: Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2008

Pasture as an exclusive feeding source accounts for almost 90% of the beef consumed in Brazil and for most of the nearly 35 billion liters of milk produced annually in the country. It is estimated today that, in Brazil, grasses of the genus Brachiaria are cultivated in approximately 84 million hectares. In Brazil, the most cultivated species of Brachiaria are B. decumbens, B. brizantha, B. humidicola and B. ruziziensis. With the increasing agricult ...

Status: Completed     Start date: Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 GMT-03:00 2008