One of the most important events in the regulation of plant development is the transition from the vegetative to the reproductive phase. The precise control of this transition, which has a profound effect on grain production in annual temperate cereals such as wheat and barley, is determined mainly by seasonal changes in day length (photoperiod) and by winter-like temperatures (vernalization). Recent molecular and genetic analyses in wheat have revealed the molecular mechanisms underlying flowering responses of wheat to changes in photoperiod and cold temperature. Here, we describe genes related to vernalization, photoperiod, and earliness per se (eps), and the molecular mechanism regulating flowering time through vernalization and photoperiod genes in wheat.

Starch properties of 32 Korean barley cultivars (Hordeum vulgare L.) were evaluated to improve the Korean barley breeding program. The average amylose content of non-waxy barley cultivars was approximately 3.5 times higher than that of waxy barley cultivars. Furthermore, non-waxy barley cultivars showed lower damaged starch content, water retention capacity, swelling volume, swelling power, and peak viscosity than waxy barley cultivars, while they showed bigger average starch granule size and higher final viscosity. Among Korean barley cultivars, the amylose content showed a positive correlation with damaged starch content, water retention capacity, swelling volume and power, and peak viscosity, while showing a negative correlation with pasting temperature and final viscosity. Among non-waxy barley cultivars, the amylose content showed a positive correlation with damaged starch content, but correlation with swelling power, peak viscosity, pasting temperature, and final viscosity was negative. Among waxy barley cultivars, the amylose content showed negative correlation with peak viscosity. There were positive correlations between swelling volume and peak viscosity among Korean barley and waxy barley cultivars. Also, there were positive correlations between swelling power and peak viscosity among Korean barley and non-waxy barley cultivars. Principal Components Analysis revealed that amylose content and peak viscosity are the main factors affecting starch properties of Korean non-waxy barley cultivars, and Korean non-waxy barley cultivars can be classified into two groups with these two factors. Water retention capacity and peak viscosity are the main factors affecting starch properties of waxy barley cultivars and classify them into two groups. The starch properties of Korean barley cultivars demonstrated in this study are useful to improve end-use quality for processed foods using barley. In addition, the continuous qualitative evaluation of barley is very important for the Korean barley breeding program.

Rice tungro disease is a serious threat to rice production in South and Southeast Asian countries. Rice production in these countries has been intensified, often through continuous cultivation of rice. We conducted a screen of the resistance to tungro virus disease in Korean japonica rice. Dongjin, Hwaseong, and Sangju were varieties resistant to Rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV) but susceptible to Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV). RTSV-resistant variety Sangju was crossed with RTSV-susceptible variety Unkwang to conduct a genetic analysis for RTSV resistance originating from Sangju. Evaluation of 201 F2 plants from the cross between Unkwang and Sangju showed that there were 85 plants showing resistance, and that 116 plants were susceptible, indicating a ratio fitting a 7:9 ratio ratio (χ² = 0.54; p = 0.46). Thus, the resistance to RTSV in Sangju might be controlled by two recessive genes. This result indicates that Sangju might serve as a useful genetic source for diversification of RTSV resistance and stabilization of resistance through gene pyramiding.

‘Superhongmi’, a reddish brown rice cultivar, was derived from a cross between CG2-3-5-1-6-1 (Heugjinju/Suwon 425) producing blackish purple rice and ‘Daeribbyeo 1’ producing large white grains. A promising line, SR28721-7-5-2-1-2-1, was obtained using the pedigree breeding method from 2003 to 2015 and designated as ‘KNOU6R’. This variety headed on September 5, and its culm length is 94.7 cm. The panicle length of ‘Superhongmi’ is 19.8 cm. The number of panicles per hill and grain per panicle is 5.4 ea and 154.9 ea, respectively. The fertility ratio of ‘Superhongmi’ is approximately 91.0% and 1000-grain weight (TGW) is approximately 26.8 g, which is similar to that of ‘Superjami’; however, the number of panicles per hill is half of that of ‘Superjami’. The content of taxifolin and total polyphenol extracted from whole grains of ‘Superhongmi’ is 67.7 and 248 mg/100g seed weight, respectively (Registration No. 7365).

‘KM1’, a corn hybrid was developed for seed export to Southeast Asia by the maize breeding team of the National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), RDA in 2016. The hybrid ‘KM1’ was obtained by crossing two inbred lines, ‘KS155’ and ‘15VL060’. After yield trials at Dong Trieu, Vietnam for one year, country adaptability trials were subsequently carried out in three countries (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia) in 2016. ‘KM1’ is a white-yellow and dent-like corn, and the plant adapts to the northern part of Vietnam and northwestern part of Cambodia; and the corn can be used as food and feed. The plant is fast flowering and has strong lodging tolerance and resistance to southern leaf blight and downy mildew. Silking date of ‘KM1’ is 5 days earlier than that of Vietnam’s leading cultivar ‘LVN10’. The grain yield of ‘KM1’ is 879 kg/10a in Vietnam, which is 22% higher than that of LVN10, and 914 kg/10a in Cambodia, which is 5% higher than that of Cambodia’s leading cultivar ‘CP888’. This hybrid requires the implementation of disease control measures because it is susceptible to corn rust. (Registration No. 7507).

‘Hwangdaok’, a new maize F1 hybrid (Zea mays L.), was developed by the maize breeding team at the National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), RDA in 2016. The high-yielding yellow dent hybrid named ‘Hwangdaok’ was obtained by crossing between two inbred lines, ‘KS203’ and ‘KS190’. After advanced yield trial in Suwon in 2012, regional yield trial was subsequently carried out to evaluate the growth and yield of ‘Hwangdaok’ at three different locations from 2014 to 2016. The number of days to silking of ‘Hwangdaok’ is 76. The plant height is 262 cm and ear height ratio is 51%, which are similar to those of ‘Jangdaok’. It has resistance to lodging. The number of ears per 100 plants is 95. The ear length is 21.3 cm and weight of 100 seeds is 34.7 g, similar to those of ‘Jangdaok’. It has moderate resistance to southern leaf blight (Bipolaris maydis) and European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis). The grain yield (10 ton/ha) of ‘Hwangdaok’ is 6% higher than that of ‘Jangdaok’. The seed production rate of ‘Hwangdaok’ is acceptable due to good synchronization of flowering period during crossing between the seed parent, KS203, and the pollen parent, KS190, in Yeongwol. F1 seed yield was 1.68 ton/ha. ‘Hwangdaok’ can be a suitable cultivar to plain areas in Korea. (Variety registration No. 7502).

A mungbean cultivar ‘Areum’ (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) was derived from a cross between ‘Samgang’ and ‘KM9901-3B-15-2-4’ at the Jeollanamdo Agricultural Research and Extension Services (JARES) in 2013. ‘Areum’ has an erect growth habit, lobed leaflet, green hypocotyls, light yellow corolla, and a dull green seed surface. Its stem length is 61 cm, which is 5 cm shorter than that of the control cultivar ‘Owool’. The 1000-seed weight is 51 g, which is 2 g heavier than that of ‘Owool’. Its field resistance to mungbean mottle virus, cercospora leaf spot, and powdery mildew is similar to that of the control cultivar, whereas its field resistance to lodging is marginally weaker. The hard seed rate of ‘Areum’ is 6.81%, which is 2.49% higher than that of ‘Owool’. The sprout yield ratio is 7.09, which is similar to that of the control cultivar. The average yield of ‘Areum’ is 1.79 ton/ha, which is 12% more than that of ‘Owool’. (Cultivar registration number: 5876).

A peanut variety ‘Tamsil’ (Arachis hypogaea ssp. hypogaea L.) was developed at the Department of Southern Area Crop Science, National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), Milyang in 2016. This was developed by crossing ‘Milyang26’ with Virginia-typed short stem and ‘Milyang20’ with Virginia-typed large grain. ‘Tamsil’, which is a Virginia plant type, has 22 branches per plant, and its main stem length is 31 cm. Each pod has two grains with brown testa and long ellipse-shaped large kernel. Its yield characteristics were as follows: pods per plant, 44; 100-seed weight, 111 g; and pod shelling ratio in the regional yield trials, 78%. The seed has 48.5% crude oil and 28.8% protein content. This variety showed resistance to early leaf spot, and it is more resistant to web blotch, stem rot, and lodging than the reference variety. In the regional yield trials for 3 years, ‘Tamsil’ was more productive than the reference variety by 19% with 4.97 MT/ha grain production.

‘Dami’ was released by the potato breeding program at the National Institute of Highland Agriculture (NIHA), National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration. To develop a potato cultivar suitable for spring and summer cropping with good taste, a cross of ‘Daegwan 1-97’ × ‘Daegwan 1-98’ was made in 2005. One of the progenies selected, clone number P05855-18, was validated for key agronomic characteristics required for spring cultivation in Gangneung and summer cultivation in Pyeongchang from 2009 to 2011. Subsequently, P05855-18 was advanced to nationwide field trials and renamed as ‘Daegwan 1-121’. Regional adaptations of ‘Daegwan 1-121’ were tested in Cheongju, Najoo, Gangneung, and Pyeongchang between 2012 and 2014, and finally registered as a potato cultivar, ‘Dami’, based on key agronomic characteristics, including mid-maturity, semi-erect growth habit, and consumer traits including round tuber and very shallow eye-depth. ‘Dami’ has yellow skin and white flesh. The leaves are green, and white flowers bloom abundantly. Physiological tuber disorders, such as malformation, cracks, and internal defects, were less frequently observed than those in ‘Superior’. ‘Dami’ was moderately resistant to potato late blight and viruses. The average tuber yield was approximately 5% higher than that of ‘Sumi’ and the dry matter content was approximately 20.5%. The taste of the boiled whole potato was considered excellent, owing to floury characteristics, and the potato was suitable for table usage (Grant No. 6926).

Tocomi-1’, a rice variety with high tocopherol content and a reddish brown color was developed from ‘Dongan’ by a mutation breeding technique using a 120 Gy gamma ray source at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The heading date of this variety was August 12, which was 2 days later than the original variety ‘Dongan’. The culm and panicle lengths of ‘Tocomi-1’ were 80 cm and 20.3 cm, respectively. The number of tillers per hill was 19.1 and the number of spikelets per panicle was 106.3. The ratio of ripened grain was approximately 87.0% and the weight of 1000 grains was 25.4 g. The pericarp of brown rice was reddish brown in color. The total tocopherol content was 1.65 mg/100g, which was higher than that of the original variety (1.09 mg/100g). In addition, the brown rice of ‘Tocomi-1’ contained 8% more total amino acids. The average yield potential of ‘Tocomi-1’ in grain and brown rice was approximately 6.18 kg/10a and 5.15 kg/10a for 3 years, respectively (Registration No. of Plant Protection Wright: 6813).

The ‘Hangaru’ is a rice variety derived from a cross between ‘Seolgaeng’, which is suitable for making rice wine, and ‘Daeripbyeo1’, which has a heavy grain weight (34.8g) and is suitable for deep fried rice, by the rice breeding team at the National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration, in 2017. The heading date of ‘Hangaru’ was August 18 and was 10 days later than check variety, ‘Hwaseong’, in Suwon. It had a culm length of 79 cm and 102 spikelets per panicle, and showed similar tolerance to ‘Hwaseong’ when exposed to cold stress. ‘Hangaru’ showed medium resistance to blast disease, but susceptibility to bacterial blight, viruses and brown planthoppers. The milled rice of this variety exhibited an opaque and non-glutinous endosperm. The 1,000 grain weight of brown rice was 32.9 g, which was 10.8 g heavier than that of ‘Hwaseong’; the protein content was 7.0% and the amylose content (19.2%) was similar to that of ‘Hwaseong’. The milled rice recovery rate was lower than that of ‘Hwaseong’. However, opaque grain percentage of milled rice was 88.1%. The hardness of the rice grain was soft and the starch granule shape in the endosperm was round, similar to wheat. The average size of rice flour was 71.0 µm and the damaged starch rate was 6.4%. These results showed that this variety could be suitable for dry milling rice flour production. ‘Hangaru’ had a yield of 5.42 MT/ha of milled rice productivity in ordinary cultivation, which was 99% of that of ‘Hwaseong’. ‘Hangaru’ was adaptable to the middle plain area and Mid-west coast of Korea (Registration No. 7270).

‘Asemi1’ is a rice variety derived from a cross between ‘IR71667’, which has a Jinmibyeo background with a long basic vegetative phase, and ‘IR77863’, which has a Shinunbongbyeo background with a high yield and early maturity, by the rice breeding team at NICS, RDA, in 2014. The heading date of ‘Asemi1’ is July 29, 14 days earlier than that of the check variety ‘Hwaseong’. It has a culm length of 84 cm and 110 spikelets per panicle. ‘Asemi1’ is resistant to blast disease, but susceptible to other viruses and planthoppers. The milled rice of this variety exhibits translucent, clear non-glutinous endosperm and a short grain shape. The protein content (7.3%) was higher than that of ‘Hwaseong’, and the amylose content (19.6%) was similar to that of ‘Hwaseong’. The milled rice recovery rate of ‘Asemi1’ was similar to that of ‘Hwaseong’. However, the head rice rate of ‘Asemi1’ was lower than that of ‘Hwaseong’. The milled rice yield of ‘Asemi1’ was 5.92 MT/ha, which was higher than that of ‘Hwaseong’ in ordinary cultivation. ‘Asemi1’ was suitable for adaptation to a wide region of tropical Asia (Registration No. 6809).

A cultivar of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) with sharply large oval and purple leaf, ‘Jahokmaschima’, which has late bolting and a high yield, was developed from a cross between ‘Bulkkoch’ (dark red leaf color and early bolting) and ‘Cheongpung’ (high yield). The cross and selection for advanced lines was conducted by the pedigree method between 2005 and 2011. The advanced lines were evaluated for yield and adaptability at six locations in Korea (Gangwon-do, Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, Jeollabuk-do, Gyeongnam-do, and Jeju-do) for 3 years until 2014. The ‘Jahokmaschima’ lettuce has a gray seed color, and the leaf type of the matured stage is a large oval leaf, leaf no. 67 per plant, and late bolting. In particular, the ‘Jahokmaschima’ has good resistant to tip burn in the growth period. The anthocyanin and vitamin C content of ‘Jahokmaschima’ were lower than those of ‘Tomallin’, at 4.05 mg/100g and 27.7 mg/100g, respectively. The BSL (bitter sesquiterpene lactones; latucin, 8-deoxylactucin, and lactucopicrin) content of ‘Jahokmaschima’ was lower than that of ‘Tomallin’, at 2.120 µg/g DW. Compared with ‘Tomallin’, the marketable yield of ‘Jahokmaschima’ was 1% higher (at 374 g per plant) and particularly improved late in bolting in high temperature cultivation in the field. The shelf-life of ‘Jahokmaschima’ was similar to ‘Tomallin’ at 4ºC. Furthermore, it tasted better, and was crispier and sweeter than ‘Tomallin’. Thus, we recommend that the new cultivar ‘Jahokmaschima’ is suitable for cultivation in spring and fall.

‘Baegilmi’ is an extremely early maturing rice variety that can be harvested within 100 days after transplanting, and also exhibits strong blast resistance and good grain appearance. From a mutant population of ‘Koshihikari’ treated with ethyl methanesulfonate, a promising line, ‘Suweon 559’, was selected through pedigree breeding and yield trials, and subsequently registered as ‘Baegilmi’. According to the 3-year (2012–2014) regional adaptability tests, the average heading date of Baegilmi in ordinary planting was July 14^th, which was 23 and 9 days earlier than that of the check varieties ‘Hwaseong’ and ‘Odae’, respectively. The milled rice yield of ‘Baegilmi’ was 4.53 MT/ha in ordinary planting (83% and 98% of ‘Hwaseong’ and ‘Odae’, respectively). ‘Baegilmi’ had a culm length of 75 cm (10 cm shorter than ‘Hwaseong’), a panicle length of 21 cm (similar to ‘Hwaseong’), and 12 panicles per plant (two fewer than ‘Hwaseong’). The brown rice of ‘Baegilmi’ was slightly more slender than ‘Hwaseong’, with a 1,000 grain weight of 20.6 g and length/width ratio of 1.92. The milled rice of ‘Baegilmi’ was translucent, with a protein content of 8.4% (1.7% higher than ‘Hwaseong’) and an amylose content of 18.6% (similar to ‘Hwaseong’). ‘Baegilmi’ exhibited strong blast resistance, but was susceptible to bacterial blight, viral diseases, and insect pests. The release of ‘Baegilmi’ is expected to provide a useful early-maturing rice variety that can be used in diverse cropping systems in paddy fields (Registration No. 6805).