Grain Legumes Production, Consumption and Trade Trends in Developing Countries -An Assessment and Synthesis, Socioeconomics Discussion Paper Series Number 3

Over the years, legumes are increasingly recognized for their nutritional significance and for enhancing the soil fertility yet research in legumes has always lagged behind when compared to cereals. This situation is gradually changing so as to invest more in pulses research for meeting the growing demand for them all over the world. This paper analyses the historical trends in production, consumption and trade. Mostly it has been found that production has not been able to meet demand due to the secondary treatment of pulses in developing economies. Only the marginal rainfed areas are demarcated for pulse production leading to high variability in yields and producer prices, and the inter-regional differences in farm-gate prices reflect the uneven distribution of pulse production and demand–supply mismatch. Developed countries with their enormous resources, have expanded production of food legumes in the case of fababean, chickpea, lentils and soybean and lead in the export of these crops. Developing countries have yet to keep pace with them at least to be able to meet current demand if not future deman

Grain Legumes Production, Consumption and Trade Trends in Developing Countries; Working Paper Series No. 60

Grain legumes play an important nutritional role in the diet of millions of people in the developing countries and are thus sometimes referred to as the poor man’s meat. Since legumes are vital sources of protein, calcium, iron, phosphorus and other minerals, they form a significant part of the diet of vegetarians since the other food items they consume don’t contain much protein (Latham, 1997). Legumes are multipurpose crops and are consumed either directly as food or in various processed forms or as feed in many farming systems (Gowda et al., 1997). The legume crops are often grown as rotation crops with cereals because of their role in nitrogen fixation. However, over the past few decades, the yields and production of legume crops have been stagnant in the developing countries. Agricultural research and development efforts in many of these countries have concentrated on increasing cereal yields and production and lowering crop losses in order to achieve food security. Due to the diverse roles played by grain legume crops in farming systems and nutritional security, the research on legume crops will have significant impacts on nutritional security and soil fertility, especially in the developing countries..

Impact of watershed projects in India: Application of various approaches and methods

Governments in developing countries like India actively pursue various forms of policy instruments like the implementation of development programs to achieve desired economic growth. The objective of such development programs is to transform a set of resources into desired results for upscaling. This is particularly so for the policies designed to alleviate rural poverty and foster economic growth in the agricultural sector of developing economies. For achieving these goals, understanding the nature, objectives, and scope of the development program and the responsiveness of target groups is imperative for all those engaged in developmental work including staff and policy makers.............

Digital integration to enhance market efficiency and inclusion of smallholder farmers: a proposed model for fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain

High-value agriculture in India is witnessing a transformation, specifically in fresh fruits and vegetables (FFV). Supply chain stakeholders, mainly small and marginal farmers, receive a very minimal share in consumer rupee due to market uncertainty, high post-harvest losses, information asymmetry, lack of processing facilities and the erratic demand-supply situation. The current study draws from an extensive review to propose a competitive, inclusive, sustainable and scalable supply chain model of primary processing centers connecting farmers directly and efficiently with consumers. The proposed model will connect producers with the rest of the supply chain and streamline the supply chain process to reduce post-harvest losses as much as possible. The integration of a market information system will ensure transparency to help in better decision-making, reduced intermediaries and information asymmetry for producers, as well as the systematic disposal of the produce. The model will increase the efficiency of the FFV supply chain and has practical implications for agribusiness management and policymakers in relation to FFV supply chain development in India

Bioeconomic modeling of farm household decisions for ex-ante impact assessment of integrated watershed development programs in semi-arid India

The increasing population and urbanization have serious implications for sustainable development in less-favoured areas of developing countries. In an attempt to sustain the long-term productivity of natural resources and to meet the food and non-food demands of growing population in the semi-arid tropics, the Indian government invests and promotes integrated watershed development programs. A comprehensive tool to assess the impacts of watershed development programs on both social well-being and sustainability of natural resource is currently lacking. In this study, we develop a watershed level bioeconomic model to assess the ex-ante impacts of key technological and policy interventions on the socioeconomic well-being of rural households and the natural resource base. These interventions are simulated using data from a watershed community in the semi-arid tropics of India. The model captures the interaction between economic decisions and biophysical processes and using a constrained optimization of household decision model. The interventions assessed are productivity-enhancing technologies of dryland crops and increased in irrigable area through water conservation technologies. The results show that productivity-enhancing technologies of dryland crops increase household incomes and also provided incentives for conserving soil moisture and fertility. The increase in irrigable area enables cultivation of high-value crops which increase the household income but also lead to an increase in soil erosion and nutrient mining. The results clearly indicate the necessity for prioritizing and sequencing technologies based on potential effects and trade-offs on household income and conservation of natural resources

Potential benefits of drought and heat tolerance in groundnut for adaptation to climate change in India and West Africa

Climate change is projected to intensify drought and heat stress in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) crop in rainfed regions. This will require developing high yielding groundnut cultivars that are both drought and heat tolerant. The crop growth simulation model for groundnut (CROPGRO-Groundnut model) was used to quantify the potential benefits of incorporating drought and heat tolerance and yield-enhancing traits into the commonly grown cultivar types at two sites each in India (Anantapur and Junagadh) and West Africa (Samanko, Mali and Sadore, Niger). Increasing crop maturity by 10 % increased yields up to 14 % at Anantapur, 19 % at Samanko and sustained the yields at Sadore. However at Junagadh, the current maturity of the cultivar holds well under future climate. Increasing yield potential of the crop by increasing leaf photosynthesis rate, partitioning to pods and seed-filling duration each by 10 % increased pod yield by 9 to 14 % over the baseline yields across the four sites. Under current climates of Anantapur, Junagadh and Sadore, the yield gains were larger by incorporating drought tolerance than heat tolerance. Under climate change the yield gains from incorporating both drought and heat tolerance increased to 13 % at Anantapur, 12 % at Junagadh and 31 % at Sadore. At the Samanko site, the yield gains from drought or heat tolerance were negligible. It is concluded that different combination of traits will be needed to increase and sustain the productivity of groundnut under climate change at the target sites and the CROPGRO-Groundnut model can be used for evaluating such trait

Assessing the rural food environment for advancing sustainable healthy diets: Insights from India

World agricultural production has seen significant growth in the past four decades, yet malnutrition remains a persistent problem, particularly in the global south and more so in the rural areas. Need for a holistic approach to food systems is becoming crucial in designing policies that support the transition to sustainable and healthy diets. The present study is aimed to understand the rural food environment in the Telangana state in southern India by analyzing the combination of external and personal factors affecting food choices, attitudes, and consumption behavior. We developed a scoring-based methodology to assess the external and personal domains and dimensions to understand the food environment. The results showed that rural households favored carbohydrate-rich food groups obtained mostly from their own production or subsidized sources. On the other hand, protein and micronutrient-rich food groups were neglected due to affordability and preference for taste, cultural factors, and the limitations of external food environment. The findings of this study provide a deeper understanding of the food environment in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) conext. By highlighting the interplay between agriculture, food environments, and nutrition outcomes, this study contributes to the ongoing effort to address the global malnutrition crisis and support the development of healthier and more sustainable food systems. These findings can be useful to guide policy actions towards achieving food security and nutrition in the rural regions where food environments are under rapid transitions in the LMICs

Sex Steroids Induce Membrane Stress Responses and Virulence Properties in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Estrogen, a major female sex steroid hormone, has been shown to promote the selection of mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the airways of patients with chronic respiratory diseases, including cystic fibrosis. This results in long-term persistence, poorer clinical outcomes, and limited therapeutic options. In this study, we demonstrate that at physiological concentrations, sex steroids, including testosterone and estriol, induce membrane stress responses in P. aeruginosa This is characterized by increased virulence and consequent inflammation and release of proinflammatory outer membrane vesicles promoting in vivo persistence of the bacteria. The steroid-induced P. aeruginosa response correlates with the molecular polarity of the hormones and membrane fluidic properties of the bacteria. This novel mechanism of interaction between sex steroids and P. aeruginosa explicates the reported increased disease severity observed in females with cystic fibrosis and provides evidence for the therapeutic potential of the modulation of sex steroids to achieve better clinical outcomes in patients with hormone-responsive strains.IMPORTANCE Molecular mechanisms by which sex steroids interact with P. aeruginosa to modulate its virulence have yet to be reported. Our work provides the first characterization of a steroid-induced membrane stress mechanism promoting P. aeruginosa virulence, which includes the release of proinflammatory outer membrane vesicles, resulting in inflammation, host tissue damage, and reduced bacterial clearance. We further demonstrate that at nanomolar (physiological) concentrations, male and female sex steroids promote virulence in clinical strains of P. aeruginosa based on their dynamic membrane fluidic properties. This work provides, for the first-time, mechanistic insight to better understand and predict the P. aeruginosa related response to sex steroids and explain the interindividual patient variability observed in respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis that are complicated by gender differences and chronic P. aeruginosa infection

Integrated Assessments of the Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture: An Overview of AgMIP Regional Research in South Asia

South Asia encompasses a wide and highly varied geographic region, and includes climate zones ranging from the mountainous Himalayan territory to the tropical lowland and coastal zones along alluvial floodplains. The region’s climate is dominated by a monsoonal circulation that heralds the arrival of seasonal rainfall, upon which much of the regional agriculture relies (Mall et al., 2006). The spatial and temporal distribution of this rainfall is, however, not uniform over the region. Northern South Asia, central India, and the west coast receive much of their rainfall during the southwest monsoon season, between June and September. These rains partly result from the moisture transport accompanying the monsoonal winds, which move in the southwesterly direction from the equatorial Indian Ocean. Regions further south, such as south/southeast India and Sri Lanka, may receive rains both from the southwest monsoon, and also during the northeast monsoon season between October and December (with northeasterly monsoonal wind flow and moisture flux), which results in a bi- or multi-modal rainfall distribution. In addition, rainfall across South Asia displays a large amount of intraseasonal and interannual variability (Fig. 1). Interannual variability is influenced by many drivers, both natural (e.g., El Ni˜no Southern Oscillation; ENSO) and man-made (e.g., rising temperatures due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations), and it is challenging to obtaining accurate time-series of annual rainfall, even amongst various observed data products, which display inconsistencies amongst themselves (exemplified in Fig. 1). These climatic and rainfall variations can further complicate South Asia’s agricultural and water management

TDP43 Autoregulation Gives Rise to Dominant Negative Isoforms That are Tightly Controlled by Transcriptional and Post-translational Mechanisms

The nuclear RNA-binding protein TDP43 is integrally involved in the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Previous studies uncovered N-terminal TDP43 isoforms that are predominantly cytosolic in localization, prone to aggregation, and enriched in susceptible spinal motor neurons. In healthy cells, however, these shortened (s)TDP43 isoforms are difficult to detect in comparison to full-length (fl)TDP43, raising questions regarding their origin and selective regulation. Here, we show that sTDP43 is created as a by-product of TDP43 autoregulation and cleared by nonsense-mediated RNA decay (NMD). sTDP43-encoding transcripts that escape NMD are rapidly degraded post-translationally via the proteasome and macroautophagy. Circumventing these regulatory mechanisms by overexpressing sTDP43 results in neurodegeneration via N-terminal oligomerization and impairment of flTDP43 splicing activity, in addition to RNA-binding-dependent gain-of-function toxicity. Collectively, these studies highlight endogenous mechanisms that tightly regulate sTDP43 expression and underscore the consequences of aberrant sTDP43 accumulation in disease