Alien plant species: environmental risks in agricultural and agro-forest landscapes under climate change

Alien plant species have been essential for farming and agro-forestry systems and for their supply of food, fiber, tannins, resins or wood from antiquity to the present. They also contributed to supporting functions and regulating services (water, soil, biodiversity) and to the design of landscapes with high cultural and scenic value. Some of those species were intentionally introduced, others arrived accidentally, and a small proportion escaped, naturalized and became invasive in natural ecosystems—these are known as invasive alien species (IAS). Here, invasive means that these species have some significant negative impact, either by spreading from human-controlled environments (e.g. fields, gardens) to natural ecosystems, where they can cause problems to native species, or to other production systems or urban areas, impacting on agricultural, forestry activities or human health. Socio-environmental impacts associated with plant invasions have been increasingly recognized worldwide and are expected to increase considerably under changing climate or land use. Early detection tools are key to anticipate IAS and to prevent and control their impacts. In this chapter, we focus on crop and non-crop alien plant species for which there is evidence or prediction of invasive behaviour and impacts. We provide insights on their history, patterns, risks, early detection, forecasting and management under climate change. Specifically, we start by providing a general overview on the history of alien plant species in agricultural and agroforestry systems worldwide. Then, we assess patterns, risks and impacts resulting from alien plants originally cultivated and that became invasive outside cultivation areas. Afterwards, we provide several considerations for managing the spread of invasive plant species in the landscape. Finally, we discuss challenges of alien plant invasions for agricultural and agroforest systems, in the light of climate change.Joana R. Vicente was supported by POPH/FSE and FCT (Post-Doc grant SFRH/BPD/84044/2012). Ana Sofia Vaz was supported by FSE/MEC and FCT (Ph.D. grant PD/ BD/52600/2014). Ana Isabel Queiroz supported by FCT—the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [UID/HIS/04209/2013 and IF/00222/2013/CP1166/CT0001]. This work received financial support from the European Union (FEDER funds POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006821) and National Funds (FCT/MEC, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Ministério da Educação e Ciência) under the Partnership Agreement PT2020 UID/BIA/50027/201

Molecular detection of fungi in paprika, chili powder and black pepper

Paprika powder, chili powder, and black pepper are among the most frequently used spices in the world. The Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions were identified by high sequence similarity with the ITS regions of many microscopic fungi, especially representatives of the phylum Ascomycota, from 18 different spice samples that were examined. However, supplied quality certificates indicated that 10 of the 18 samples had no contamination present and were safe for human consumption. The various genera of fungi that were identified from the spices are considered to be a food safety concern as they are able to produce mycotoxins. Qualitative detection was supplemented by positive detection of viable fungal DNA using qPCR for the genera Aspergillus/Penicillium in two paprika powder and black pepper samples. These results concurred with the control analysis using axenic cultures. The described methods can be used for routine testing of spices to provide safe spices and other products to consumers.O

Geopolitics of the Himalayan rivers: essays on water law, securitisation, and hydro-hegemony

The thesis examines the geopolitics of transboundary water resources in Himalayan South Asia using the case studies of the Mahakali and Koshi basins. In particular, it uses case-in studies of the Pancheshwar and SaptaKoshi-SunKoshi multipurpose projects to be built jointly by India and Nepal. The research questions are: how does regional geopolitics intersect with the governance of transboundary rivers in Himalayan South Asia in the context of increasing water scarcity, and what role does international water law play in assisting weaker riparians in contesting hydro-hegemony and fostering collaboration over transboundary rivers. Based on empirical data, this thesis demonstrates how the Indian hydrocracy securitises the governance of transboundary rivers and locates the role of international water law in the negotiations between India and Nepal. This research exposes the frailty of international water law in assisting weaker riparians in countering hydro-hegemony. It also maps the perspectives of Indian hydrocracy using the Q methodology

Optimizing Plant Water Use Efficiency for a Sustainable Environment

The rising shortage of water resources in crop-producing regions worldwide and the need for irrigation optimisation call for sustainable water savings. The allocation of irrigation water will be an ever-increasing source of pressure because of vast agricultural demands under changing climatic conditions. Consequently, irrigation has to be closely linked with water-use efficiency with the aim of boosting productivity and improving food quality, singularly in those regions where problems of water shortages or collection and delivery are widespread. The present Special Issue (SI) showcases 19 original contributions, addressing water-use efficiency in the context of sustainable irrigation management to meet water scarcity conditions. These papers cover a wide range of subjects including (i) interaction mineral nutrition and irrigation in horticultural crops, (ii) sustainable irrigation in woody fruit crops, (iii) medicinal plants, (iv) industrial crops, and (v) other topics devoted to remote sensing techniques and crop water requirements, genotypes for drought tolerance, and agricultural management. The studies were carried out in both field and laboratory surveys, with modelling studies also being conducted, and a wide range of geographic regions are also covered. The collection of these manuscripts presented in this SI updates on and provides a relevant contribution for efficient saving water resources

Political Ecology of Water Governance in South Asia: A Case Study of the Koshi River Communities

Nepalese communities around the Koshi River, a transboundary river between Nepal and India, are facing unprecedented water-related problems. They face scarcity of water in dry seasons and recurrent flood disasters during monsoons. One of the main reasons behind these problems is the governance of the river via the Koshi River Agreement (1954, revised in 1966) between Nepal and India. This thesis analyses the political ecology of water governance in South Asia. Specifically, it examines how the Koshi River Governance contributes to environmental injustice for the riverine communities. It uses an actor-oriented political ecology framework, integrating the concepts of governance, theory of access and environmental justice, to understand various dimensions of injustice. Using the mixed methods research, it explores how multi-scalar power relationships and access-regulation of resources produce environmental injustice. The thesis argues that environmental injustice for transboundary riverine communities is produced by socio-natural complexes, where multi-scalar power relationships play a critical role. It demonstrates that the hydro-hegemony, not only at the international scale but also the internal hydro-hegemony at the national scale, influence governance of resources to a large extent. Results show that the governance provided the powerful with even more power for regulating the access of the communities to resources, creating uneven environmental injustice and coping capabilities. Highlighting the need for enhancing environmental justice, this thesis proposes an alternative governance framework by considering various roles, rules and relationships among actors with differential powers across multiple scales and places. The thesis has produced the evidence-based local knowledge and advanced the evidence, narratives, insights and the discourse on political ecology

World Hunger: Extent, Causes, and Cures

A.E. Res. 82-1

New strategies to study and control plant diseases and their application to Kiwifruit Decline

openIn 2012, leaf scorches, wilting, sudden defoliation and dieback symptoms were observed for the first time on several kiwifruit plants in orchards located in Veneto (Northeast of Italy). Diseased plants were also characterised by a heavily compromised root system with none or very few feeding roots, rotting tissues on smaller roots and lack of cohesion between the external cylinder and the core. In relation to these symptoms the new disease was named Kiwifruit Decline (KD). KD rapidly spread in all the most important Italian growing areas and probably up to date is the most concerning phyto-pathological issue for kiwifruit growers. With the main aim to determine KD aetiology and to identify the epidemiological pattern of this disease outbreaks, canonical strategies and new technologies were integrated in an interdisciplinary approach. The work started with the definition of a conceptual framework on the symptoms observed in the field and with the reconstruction of the history of the disease based on the farmers’ experiences. These evidences were used as first-hand source of information and integrated with the experiences gathered by other Italian research groups to hypothesize the etiological causes most probably involved in the disease. From this analysis waterlogging and soil-borne pathogens emerged as the two most probable factors involved in the disease, although their role in the disease was still unknown. Therefore, the following step was the setup of a canonical experimental trial, where the effect of the two most probable etiological causes were compared under controlled conditions. The trial gave unequivocal results clearly stating the necessary interaction between waterlogging and soil borne pathogens to incite the disease. Furthermore, axenic isolation starting from plants that became diseased during this trial, allowed to have a first insight on soil-borne microorganisms potentially involved in the disease, suggesting that one or more pathogens (most probably Oomycetes) might be involved in the disease. Given these results a pathogenicity test was set up and confirmed that Phytopythium vexans was able to induce KD symptoms in both canopy and roots of kiwifruit plants. Once the role of a biotic factor was demonstrated, the studies moved back to the field focusing mostly on remote sensing technologies able to infer the physiological traits of the plants. Thermal and multispectral imagery acquired over a diseased field and classified with unsupervised clustering algorithms allowed to efficiently distinguish asymptomatic from symptomatic plants and to predict, one year in advance, the disease outbreak. Since the involvement of one or more potential soil-borne pathogens was proposed, a metabarcoding study was performed to have a first insight on fungal and oomycete communities associated with KD. Interestingly, Phytopythium vexans not only was found with a low relative abundance within diseased samples, but it was also recorded in healthy samples suggesting that the asymptomatic state of the plants is most probably linked to the environmental conditions averse to the development of the pathogens. Metabarcoding analysis also suggested Phytophthora sojae and Ilyonectria macrodidyma as new potential pathogen candidates. Results from this thesis provided several breakthroughs regarding the KD syndrome and defined the starting point for future studies. Indeed, not only the disease is now clearly associated to a combination of waterlogging conditions and soil-borne pathogens, but also a standardized protocol was setup to reproduce the disease. Moreover, new tools for in-field early disease detection are proposed and the first overview of fungal and oomycete community associated to KD is given for both root endosphere and rhizosphere compartments.Dottorato di ricerca in Scienze e biotecnologie agrarieopenSavian, Francesc

USCID fourth international conference

Presented at the Role of irrigation and drainage in a sustainable future: USCID fourth international conference on irrigation and drainage on October 3-6, 2007 in Sacramento, California.Includes bibliographical references.The two-layer model of Shuttlerworth and Wallace (SW) was evaluated to estimate actual evapotranspiration (ETa) above a drip-irrigated Merlot vineyard, located in the Talca Valley, Region del Maule, Chile (35° 25' LS; 71° 32' LW ; 136m above the sea level). An automatic weather system was installed in the center of the vineyard to measure climatic variables (air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed) and energy balance components (solar radiation, net radiation, latent heat flux, sensible heat flux, and soil heat flux) during November and December 2006. Values of ETa estimated by the SW model were tested with latent heat flux measurements obtained from an eddy-covariance system on a 30 minute time interval. Results indicated that SW model was able to predict ETa with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.44 mm d-1 and mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.36 mm d-1. Furthermore, SW model predicted latent heat flux with RMSE and MAE of 32 W m-2 and 19W m-1, respectively

USCID Fourth international conference on irrigation and drainage

Presented at the Role of irrigation and drainage in a sustainable future: USCID fourth international conference on irrigation and drainage on October 3-6, 2007 in Sacramento, California.Includes bibliographical references.Integrated regional water management -- Change of irrigation water quantity according to farm mechanization and land consolidation in Korea -- Local stakeholders participation for small scale water resources management in Bangladesh -- Water user participation in Egypt -- The man swimming against the stream knows the strength of it -- Roles and issues of Water Users' Associations for Sustainable Irrigation and Drainage in the Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan in Central Asia -- Chartered Water User Associations of Afghanistan -- Updated procedures for calculating state-wide consumptive use in Idaho -- Measuring and estimating open water evaporation in Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico -- Evapotranspiration of deficit irrigated sorghum and winter wheat -- Evaluation of a two-layer model to estimate actual evapotranspiration for vineyards -- Estimating pecan water use through remote sensing in Lower Rio Grande -- Estimating crop water use from remotely sensed NDVI, crop models, and reference ET -- Alfalfa production using saline drainage water -- Performance evaluation of subsurface drainage system under unsteady state flow conditions in coastal saline soils of Andhrapradesh, India -- Management strategies for the reuse of wastewater in Jordan -- Providing recycled water for crop irrigation and other uses in Gilroy, California -- Oakdale Irrigation District Water Resources Plan -- Use of information technology to support integrated water resources management implementation -- Decision-support systems for efficient irrigation in the Middle Rio Grande -- Salt management -- Ghazi Barotha Project on Indus River in Pakistan -- Field tests of OSIRI -- Water requirements, irrigation evaluation and efficiency in Tenerife's crops (Canary Islands, Spain) -- Using wireless technology to reduce water use in rice production -- Variability of crop coefficients in space and time -- Assessing the implementation of integrated water management approach in closed basins -- New strategies of donors in the irrigation sector of Africa -- Holistic perspective for investments in agricultural drainage in Egypt -- Mapping system and services for canal operation techniques -- An open channel network modernization with automated structures -- Canal control alternatives in the irrigation district 'Sector BXII del Bajo Guadalquivir,' Spain -- Hydrodynamic behavior of a canal network under simultaneous supply and demand based operations -- Simulation on the effect of microtopography spatial variability on basin irrigation performance -- Drip irrigation as a sustainable practice under saline shallow ground water conditions -- Water retention, compaction and bean yield in different soil managements under a center pivot system -- Precision mechanical move irrigation for smallholding farmers -- Wild flood to graded border irrigation for water and energy conservation in the Klamath basin -- A method describing precise water application intensity under a CPIS from a limited number of measurements -- An irrigation sustainability assessment framework for reporting across the environmental-economic-social spectrum -- Planning for future irrigation landscapes -- One size does not fit all -- Water information networks -- Improving water use efficiency -- Irrigation system modernization in the Middle Rio Grande Valley -- Relationship of operation stability and automatic operation control methods of open canal -- Responsive strategies of agricultural water sector in Taiwan -- Effect of network water distribution schedule and different on-farm water management practices on sugarbeet water use efficiency -- Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) considerations for irrigation -- Accuracy of radar water level measurements -- Transition submergence and hysteresis effects in three-foot Cutthroat flumes -- Practical irrigation flow measurement and control -- Linear anionic PAM as a canal water seepage reducing technology -- In-situ non-destructive monitoring of water flow in damaged agricultural pipeline by AE -- Reoptimizing global irrigation systems to restore floodplain ecosystems and human livelihoods -- Water management technologies for sustainable agriculture in Kenya -- Impacts of changing rice irrigation practices on the shallow aquifer of Nasunogahara basin, Japan -- Drought protection from an in-lieu groundwater banking program -- Development of agricultural drought evaluation system in Korea -- Bean yield and root development in different soil managements under a center pivot system -- Can frost damage impact water demand for crop production in the future? -- Real time water delivery management and planning in irrigation and drainage networks -- Growth response of palm trees to the frequency of irrigation by bubblers in Khuzestan, Iran -- Application of Backpropagation Neural Network to estimate evapotranspiration for ChiaNan irrigated area, Taiwan -- Increasing water and fertilizer use efficiency through rain gun sprinkler irrigation in sugar cane agriculture