How future climatic uncertainty and biotic stressors might influence the sustainability of African vegetable production

The study was conducted to determine whether likely global climatic uncertainty in the future will pose substantive risk to small-scale vegetable producers in Africa, and to consider whether climate change threatens the development and sustainability of improved vegetable horticultural systems in Africa. Annual average air temperature and rainfall totals were assessed over the period 1975-2014 or, where possible, for rainfall for longer periods approaching 100 years; the trends in these data sets were determined through linear regression techniques. Predictions of the likely values of annual average air temperatures in the next 25, 50, 75 and 100 years were made. Considerable variability in trends is reported ranging from extremely fast warming in Tunis, Tunisia contrasting with slight cooling in Bamako, Mali. Annual variability in rainfall was substantive but there were no long-term trends of consequence, even when considered over the last 100 years. Consequently, the sustainability of vegetable production will be threatened mostly by changes in pest (e.g., weeds, insects, fungi, bacteria and viruses) damage to crops in small-scale production systems. A call is made for national governments to give these issues enhanced priority in the distribution of future research and capacity-building resources, as most of these production stressors are under-researched and evident solutions to such problems are not currently available

Food legumes in cropping systems and farmers participatory approaches

Food legumes or pulses are an important component of cropping systems and provide an opportunity to increase food supplies, particularly in the developing world, in a sustainable way, through intensifying and diversifying agricultural systems. Food legumes are more positive crops, in terms of resource conservation, than cereals and a rotation of food legumes with cereals makes cereal production more economic and sustainable. In the developing world legumes is a major source of nutrition for the poor. However, in the past three decades the production of food legumes has-gradually fallen in comparison , with a rapid growth in cereals, and livestock products. Yields of the majority of the legumes have stagnated as they have been relegated to more marginal and unfavorable environments; and no major yield breakthroughs have been apparent . Concurrently, the first generation of Green Revolution Technologies used to increase food production are being reduced in effectiveness and have become unable economically to sustain the present, or desired increased levels in productivity. This is due, in part, to the increasing dominance of monocropping with cereals and the subsequent displacement of legumes. The role of food legumes as a key component of second-generation green revolution technologies is therefore crucial and timely. Large variations in yields are presently experienced which is compounded by intense biotic and abiotic stresses, and an inadequate supporting policy environment. We review the potential role of legumes in cropping systems in developing countries and make little effort to distinguish between cool and warm-season pulses as trends in supply and demand have been similar and most factors influence both types of pulses. Recent examples of diversification of cereal based cropping system emphasizing farmer participatory approaches are discussed

Crystallographic Study Of The Phosphoethanolamine Transferase EptC required For Polymyxin Resistance And Motility In Campylobacter jejuni

The foodborne enteric pathogen Campylobacter jejuni decorates a variety of its cell-surface structures with phosphoethanolamine (pEtN). Modifying lipid A with pEtN promotes cationic antimicrobial peptide resistance, whereas post-translationally modifying the flagellar rod protein FlgG with pEtN promotes flagellar assembly and motility, which are processes that are important for intestinal colonization. EptC, the pEtN transferase required for all known pEtN cell-surface modifications in C. jejuni, is a predicted inner-membrane metalloenzyme with a five-helix N-terminal transmembrane domain followed by a soluble sulfatase-like catalytic domain in the periplasm. The atomic structure of the catalytic domain of EptC (cEptC) was crystallized and solved to a resolution of 2.40 angstrom. cEptC adopts the alpha/beta/alpha fold of the sulfatase protein family and harbors a zinc-binding site. A phosphorylated Thr266 residue was observed that was hypothesized to mimic a covalent pEtN-enzyme intermediate. The requirement for Thr266 as well as the nearby residues Asn308, Ser309, His358 and His440 was ascertained via in vivo activity assays on mutant strains. The results establish a basis for the design of pEtN transferase inhibitors.National Institutes of Health (grants AI064184, AI076322, GM106112Army Research Office (grantW911NF-12-1-0390)College of Natural SciencesOffice of the Executive Vice President and ProvostInstitute for Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Texas at AustinUS DOE DE-AC02-06CH11357National Institute of General Medical SciencesHoward Hughes Medical InstituteOffice of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the US Department of Energy DE-AC02-05CH11231Maria Person and the Proteomics Facility at the University of Texas at Austin ES007784 (CRED) and RP110782 (CPRIT)Molecular Bioscience

Research Quality at ICRISAT: Separating the grain from the chaff

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is one of the agriculture research centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which is an informal association of over 50 members that supports a network of 15 international research centers in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. The CGIAR aims, through its support to the Centers, to contribute to promoting sustainable agriculture for food security in developing countries. Because the Centers constitute the core of the CGIAR, the effectiveness of ICRISAT and other Centers is crucial to the continued success of the CGIAR as a system. The CGIAR has established a tradition of external reviews to provide a mechanism of transparency and accountability to the members and other stakeholders of the CGIAR. The monitoring of quality of science is important to ensure that the Centers are producing transparent and quality research outputs that align with the agenda of the CGIAR. External Program Reviews (EPR) provide a measure of central oversight and serve as an essential component of the CGIAR’s accountability system. It complements the Center Commissioned External Reviews (CCERs) by providing a CGIARcommissioned comprehensive external assessment of the Center’s program and management, especially its relevance and quality of research and future directions. These reviews assess the mission, priorities and strategies, relevance and quality of science, effectiveness and efficiency of research leadership and program management and accomplishments and impact

The effects of particulate and ozone pollution on mortality in Moscow, Russia

The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate how acute mortality responds to changes in particulate and ozone (O3) pollution levels, (2) to identify vulnerable population groups by age and cause of death, and (3) to address the problem of interaction between the effects of O3 and particulate pollution. Time-series of daily mortality counts, air pollution, and air temperature were obtained for the city of Moscow during a 3-year period (2003–2005). To estimate the pollution-mortality relationships, we used a log-linear model that controlled for potential confounding by daily air temperature and longer term trends. The effects of 10 μg/m3 increases in daily average measures of particulate matter ≤10 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10) and O3 were, respectively, (1) a 0.33% [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.09–0.57] and 1.09% (95% CI 0.71–1.47) increase in all-cause non-accidental mortality in Moscow; (2) a 0.66% (0.30–1.02) and 1.61% (1.01–2.21) increase in mortality from ischemic heart disease; (3) a 0.48% (0.02–0.94) and 1.28% (0.54–2.02) increase in mortality from cerebrovascular diseases. In the age group >75 years, mortality increments were consistently higher, typically by factor of 1.2 – 1.5, depending upon the cause of death. PM10-mortality relationships were significantly modified by O3 levels. On the days with O3 concentrations above the 90th percentile, PM10 risk for all-cause mortality was threefold greater and PM10 risk for cerebrovascular disease mortality was fourfold greater than the unadjusted risk estimate

Integrating genetics and natural resource management for technology targeting and greater impact of agricultural research in the semi-arid tropics

Good management of natural resources is the key to good agriculture. This is true everywhere - and particularly in the semi-arid tropics, where over-exploitation of fragile or inherently vulnerable agro-ecosystems is leading to land and soil degradation, productivity decline, and increasing hunger and poverty. Modern crop varieties offer high yields, but the larger share of this potential yield can only be realized with good crop management. The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), working over a vast and diverse mandate area, has learned one key lesson: that technologies and interventions must be matched not only to the crop or livestock enterprise and the biophysical environment, but also with the market and investment environment, including input supply systems and policy. Various Natural Resource Management (NRM) technologies have been developed over the years, but widespread adoption has been limited for various reasons: technical, socio-economic and institutional. To change this, ICRISAT hypothesizes that 'A research approach, founded on the need to integrate a broad consideration of technical, socio-economic and institutional issues into the generation of agricultural innovations will result in a higher level of adoption and more sustainable and diverse impacts in the rainfed systems of the semi-arid tropics.' Traditionally, crop improvement and NRM were seen as distinct but complementary disciplines. ICRISAT is deliberately blurring these boundaries to create the new paradigm of IGNRM or Integrated Genetic and Natural Resource Management. Improved varieties and improved resource management are two sides of the same coin. Most farming problems require integrated solutions, with genetic, management-related and socio-economic components. In essence, plant breeders and NRM scientists must integrate their work with that of private and public sector change agents to develop flexible cropping systems that can respond to rapid changes in market opportunities and climatic conditions. The systems approach looks at various components of the rural economy - traditional food grains, new potential cash crops, livestock and fodder production, as well as socio-economic factors such as alternative sources of employment and income. Crucially the IGNRM approach is participatory, with farmers closely involved in technology development, testing and dissemination. ICRISAT has begun to use the IGNRM approach to catalyse technology uptake and substantially improve food security and incomes in smallholder farm communities at several locations in India, Mali, Niger, Vietnam, China, Thailand and Zimbabwe

Diversifying diets: using indigenous vegetables to improve profitability, nutrition and health in Africa

The picture of malnutrition in Africa is quite depressing: 20–25 per cent of the population’s nutrient intake falls below minimum dietary requirements, 25–30 per cent of children under five years of age are underweight, 33–45 per cent suffer from vitamin A deficiency (VAD), while a further 30–50 per cent are stunted. There is more than 25 per cent goitre prevalence among 6–11 year olds, 13–20 per cent have low birth weights, and infant mortality rates stand at an unacceptable 5.5–13.5 per cent (Kean et al., 1999). Even more alarming is an 18 per cent rise in the number of malnourished children projected by 2020 (IFPRI, 2001). Imbalanced diets lead to nutrient deficiencies. Efforts to combat micronutrient deficiencies through biofortification of staple crops or by diet supplementation with vitamins or minerals are relatively expensive and can target only a few nutritional factors. Indigenous vegetables are rich in provitamin A and vitamin C, several mineral micronutrients, other micronutrients and nutraceuticals (Yang and Keding, 2009). Diversifying diets with indigenous vegetables is a sustainable way to supply a range of nutrients to the body and combat malnutrition and associated health problems, particularly for poor households. The relative increased costs of crop diversification would be one-off and minor in relation to the ongoing costs of supplementation through drug treatment or through artificial food additives

Ecoregional research in Africa: learning lessons from IITA's Benchmark Area Approach

Ecoregional research has the potential to help address some of the huge challenges facing agriculture in developing countries by developing technologies that work under different agro-ecological conditions, and the processes by which these technologies can be adapted to work in other areas with similar conditions. The CGIAR system has been developing ecoregional research as a new paradigm for over a decade. In this paper we evaluate one of the most ambitious of these initiatives called the Benchmark Area Approach (BAA) pioneered by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. We evaluate the BAA against nine good practice criteria for ecoregional research, finding that the approach is delivering, or has the potential to deliver, on all nine. Many of the lessons learnt from this evaluation will be relevant to current and future attempts to undertake co-ordinated multi-locational research for developmen

Dealing with diversity in scientific outputs: implications for international research evaluation

This paper examines the changing role and broadening goals of international agricultural research centers (lARCs), focusing on their evaluation mechanisms and priority setting processes. The case of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is used to identify the relative importance of outputs. It was found that, for lARCs, a wider range of credit items should be used in evaluating the institutional and individual performance. A decentralized process using nested institutional and project logframes would powerfully help to identify milestones for institutional and individual evaluatio