Regional Resource Assessment Laboratory (Kamoshita Laboratory)

In the vast state of Queensland in Australia, sorghum and barley are grown under rainfed conditions, but management and technological development were needed to cope with changes in precipitation and fertility. In Asia, rice is grown in many countries to suit the monsoon climate, and a variety of ecosystems can be found, but water scarcity is often a major problem under rainfed conditions. Rice cultivation is also expanding into Africa and the Americas, where water management and technology development for water scarcity are also important issues!

＊Development and adoption of Latin American Low-input Rice Production System through Genetic Improvement and Advanced Field-Management Technologies (2014-19; www.jst.go.jp/global/kadai/h2505_colombia.html)
Rice is dry-direct seeded without puddling by making contour levee (called ”taipa”) in Colombia, which uses a lot of irrigation water and synthetic fertilizers. We study to develop water-saving and nitrogen use-efficient rice cultivation techniques by agronomic and breeding approaches.

Pyramiding lines of multiple root QTLs have been evaluated for their trait expression under different water environments in Colombia.

＊Ecophysiological and genetic studies on drought response index (DRI) among cereal crops (Kaken 2011-2014)
To clarify physio-morphological characters and genetic architectures of adapted genotypes under water limiting environments, rice and other cereal crops are evaluated for their drought response index (DRI), in terms of its eco-physiological and genetic basis. DRI had been studied as a selection index in conventional breeding programs for pearl millet and rainfed lowland rice. DRI is a synthetic index of putative drought resistance traits which are not explained by yield potential or phenology. This project clarified eco-physiological and genetic basis for DRI among rice. For many developing countries which may not afford to introduce biotechnology soon, DRI can be used more effectively for crop improvement in drought-prone agricultural areas within the framework of conventional breeding.

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Examples of research outputs

Evaluation of rice breeding lines containing root QTLs under different water management environments. Deshmukh V, Kamoshita A, Amézquita N, Espinosa N, Ogawa S, Kitomi Y, Uga Y. (2024). Plant Root 18:22-34. doi:10.3117/plantroot.18.22. ​

Ecophysiology of drill-seeded rice under reduced nitrogen fertilizer and reduced irrigation during El Niño in Central Colombia. Deshmukh V, Kamoshita A, Lopez-Galvis L, Pineda D. 2021.Plant Production Science, 24, 418-432.​
Genetic analysis of root vascular traits in a population from two temperate japonica rice ecotypes. Nguyen HAT, Kamoshita A, Ramalingam P, Y P. 2022. Plant Production Science, 25, 320–336.
Association between root growth angle and root length density of a near-isogenic line of IR64 rice with DEEPER ROOTING 1 under different levels of soil compaction. Ramalingam P, Kamoshita A, Deshmukh V, Yaginuma S, Uga Y. 2017. Plant Production Science, 20, 162-175.