Molecular markers are DNA sequences that can be used to detect genetic variations associated with economically important traits in agriculture, so that they can be used by plant breeders as selection tools, increasing the efficiency of the traditional process, since the genotype of morphologically similar individuals excluding the influence of the environment. Molecular markers have been identified as a useful tool in the selection of superior genotypes; they have been used extensively in gene mapping, both for qualitative and quantitative traits and are also useful, to identify economically important traits in the breeding population and their subsequent manipulation in a short time. Plant breeding through marker assisted selection (MAS) has enormous potential to improve the efficiency of conventional methods. Agricultural biotechnology allows establishing an approximation between the p...

In order to evaluate and determine the average time necessary to achieve the total degradation of refrigerant oils, an experiment was carried out under greenhouse conditions using as substrate a soil of the oxisol order, with pH = 4.24 (extremely acidic), with high concentration exchangeable aluminum (Al + 3) = 1.44 cmol * Kg-1 of soil, and sandy loam texture (Fa), in addition to organic fertilizer in doses of 20,000 kg * ha-1. Considering the acidity condition of the soil, agricultural lime (CaCO3) was used in doses of 2,144 kg of carbonate per hectare. The experiment was designed in factorial 4 x 3, with 4 treatments and 3 repetitions. The treatments were evaluated in flowerpots or containers where approximately 0.06 m3 of the mixture was placed (soil + waste + amendments), the waste or oil was added in doses, equivalent to 10 L * m-2. The monitoring was carried out at 15, 30 and 45 da...

The article explores the use of convolutional neural networks, specifically ResNet-50, to detect weevils in corn kernels. Weevils are a major pest of stored maize and can cause significant yield and quality losses. The study found that the ResNet-50 model was able to distinguish with high precision between weevil-infested corn kernels and healthy kernels, achieving values ​​of 0.9464 for precision, 0.9310 for sensitivity, 0.9630 for specificity, 0.9469 for quality index, 0.9470 for the area under the curve (AUC) and 0.9474 for the F-score. The model was able to recognize nine out of ten weevil-free corn kernels using a minimal number of training samples. These results demonstrate the efficiency of the model in the accurate detection of weevil infestation in maize grains. The model's ability to accurately identify weevil-affected grains is critical to taking rapid action to control th...

This study evaluated the predatory capacity of Orius insidiosus on the mealybug Puto barberi on the campus of the University of Guayaquil, due to the presence of serious phytosanitary problems caused by this insect. Specimens of Orius insidiosus were collected for three months from a nursery at the Vinces Support Center, Los Ríos province, while mealybugs were obtained from ornamental plants (Ixora coccinea) in the green areas of the Ciudadela Universitaria. Trials were established using ½ liter plastic containers with sweet potato cuttings as refuge for O. insidiosus and Ixora coccinea cuttings for the mealybugs; to later introduce the predatory insects. Predation was evaluated at 24, 48 and 72 h. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences between treatments (p-value=0.65). However, it was observed that the percentage of predation accumulated by O. insidiosus (♀) was 31....