Multipurpose utilization, including as rope, pulp, and filtration media, is what makes kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) special. This experiment was conducted to select elite pedigrees with high biomass production through backcrosses. The agronomic performance, fuel characteristics, and histological analysis of the elite lines were investigated at the BC₁F₂ generation in comparison with the Control. Significant differences were observed in 12 evaluations of variety and pedigrees. Five plants, including the two Controls (Jangdae and Hongma300) and three pedigrees, showed a large difference in the number of flowering days from July 5 to September 30. The plant height of BC100-10 (447 cm) was the highest among the genotypes. Regarding branch number, BC100-15 showed the best performance with 29 branches. Stem dry weight was found to be the lowest in Jangdea at 792 g, whereas BC100-17 showed the highest dry weight. Hongma did not set seeds owing to late flowering. However, with 34 g/plant on average, three elite lines had more seeds than Jangdae (16 g/plant), which are vulnerable to decay owing to viviparous germination. In the fuel characteristics analysis, the heating value of the three elite lines ranged from 4,510 to 4,930 kcal/kg, which was much higher than that of the two Controls (4,320 kcal/kg). The ash content analysis indicated the lowest value at 3.2% for the line BC100-10, which was similar to Korea’s 3^rd-grade. Based on the histological analysis of the stem, the pedigrees were close to Hongma. Taken together, these three elite lines would be useful as genetic resources for high biomass production.

A new interspecific hybrid cultivar, Wongam, was developed as a high-yield licorice from a Glycyrrhiza glabra×G. uralensis (G. korshinski Grig.) cross by the herbal crop team at the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, Rural Development Administration, Korea. The plant type is erect, and the leaf shape is oval. It has well-developed vascular bundles compared to G. uralensis as a control species. The dried root weight of ‘Wongam’ was 54.6 g per plant, and 22.7 g per plant in the control species G. uralensis. In addition, the average yield of ‘Wongam’ was 359 kg/10a, which was 127% higher than that of G. uralensis. It exhibits resistance to brown spot disease, as well as a to lodging. The glycyrrhizin and liquiritigenin content of ‘Wongam’ are 3.96% and 0.8%, respectively, which meets the Korean Pharmacopoeia Standards. This cultivar can widely adapt to most cultivation zones found in Korea, except for the Gangwon-do Province region (Registration No. 196).

The ‘Jangwon’ chestnut (Castanea crenata Siebold & Zucc.) was released from Korean native chestnut trees by the Korea Forest Research Institute (KFRI) to develop cultivars with desirable nut characteristics such as high sweetness and easy peeling in 2010. This cultivar was first selected from a natural population in 2001, and the preliminary trials for evaluation were carried out from 2007 to 2009. The harvest time of ‘Jangwon’ was the second week of September and the total yield of an 8-year-old tree was 3.9 kg. Also, ‘Jangwon’ was a suitable cultivar for making roasted peeled products because its soluble solid content was 17.5%, kernel hardness was 9.6 kg·cm², and pellicle removability was 98.6%, which were much higher than those of the control cultivar, Arima. Furthermore, this cultivar is suitable as a pollinator for the improvement of pellicle removability of other chestnut trees.

In this study, we investigated the fruit and vine characteristics of hypo- and hyper-tetraploid grapes from which a chromosome was added or deleted. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of developing seedless grapes by utilizing the characteristics of hypo- and hyper-tetraploid grapes. Both the hypo- and hyper-tetraploid grapes showed stable vine growth characteristics unlike other aneuploid plants, which displayed abnormal leaf morphology and unstable vine growth patterns, indicating that hypo- and hyper-tetraploid grapes can be used for commercial purpose. The hypo-tetraploid grapes produced 100% seedless fruits, with large berries ranging from 8.5 to 10.5 g, when the grapes were applied with 100 ppm gibberillic acid during their full bloom period. Although the fruits of the hyper-tetraploid grape were larger than those of the hypo-tetraploid grapes, it produced a lower percentage of seedless fruits. We conclude that the characteristics of hypo-tetraploid grapes may be exploited to develop seedless grapes with large berries.