Identification of quantitative trait loci associated with iron deficiency chlorosis resistance in groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea )

Iron deficiency chlorosis is an important abiotic stress affecting groundnut production worldwide in calcareous and alkaline soils with a pH of 7.5–8.5. To identify genomic regions controlling iron deficiency chlorosis resistance in groundnut, the recombinant inbred line population from the cross TAG 24 × ICGV 86031 was evaluated for associated traits like visual chlorosis rating and SPAD chlorophyll meter reading across three crop growth stages for two consecutive years. Thirty-two QTLs were identified for visual chlorosis rating (3.9%–31.8% phenotypic variance explained [PVE]) and SPAD chlorophyll meter reading [3.8%–11% PVE] across three stages over 2 years. This is the first report of identification of QTLs for iron deficiency chlorosis resistance- associated traits in groundnut. Three major QTLs (>10% PVE) were identified at severe stage, while majority of other QTLs were having small effects. Interestingly, two major QTLs for visual chlorosis rating at 60 days (2013) and 90 days (2014) were located at same position on LG AhXIII. The identified QTLs/markers after validation across diverse genetic material could be used in genomics-assisted breeding

The politics of evidence: methodologies for understanding the global land rush

Since the most recent ‘land rush’ precipitated by the convergent ‘crises’ of fuel, feed and food in 2007-08, the debate on the consequences of land investments has been massively heightened, with widespread media coverage, policy commentary and civil society engagement. The ‘land rush’ of recent years has been accompanied by a ‘literature rush’, with a fast-growing body of reports, articles, tables and books with varied purposes, metrics and methods. ‘Land grabbing’ is now a hot political topic around the world, discussed amongst the highest circles. This is why getting the facts right is really important, and having effective methodologies is crucial. Several global initiatives have set out to aggregate information on land deals, and to describe their scale, character and distribution. All have contributed to building a better picture of the phenomenon, but all have struggled with methodology. This JPS Forum identifies a profound uncertainty about what it is that is being counted, questions methods used to collate and aggregate ‘land grabs’, and calls for a second phase of land grab research which abandons the aim of deriving total numbers of hectares in favour of more specific, grounded and transparent methods.ESR

The Organization of Agricultural Research in Western Developed Countries

This paper reviews agricultural research structural and organization changes in western developed countries, examines new financing prospects for agricultural research, and provides some tentative conclusions about which organizations are best positioned to provide services for the 21st century. Giventhat these countries faces many similar economic, political, scientific, andagroclimatic factors and fiscal issues, we canexpect a similar set of similar new developments thathave potentially important and widespread long-run implications. After three common developments are outlined, principles ofimpure public good financing are applied leading to the following agricultural science policy recommendations (i) new political jurisdictions should be formed to finance research, e.g., new alliances across countries and subregions within large countries, (ii) intellecmal property rights should be strengthened to increase the total amount and share oftotal (public and private) agricultural research that is privately financed and conducted, i.e., the private sector should find it profitable to undertake a large share ofapplied research but not be expected to finance public sector agriculmral research, (iii) the public sector should redirect its research efforts increasingly to areas that are socially worthwhile but not privately undertaken, e.g.,in the basic and pretechnology areas, on envkonmental, resources, food safety and human nutrition, and policy. Finally, large countries that have developed asystem ofshared public and private financmg and performance and decentralized public support ofagricultural research seem best position for meeting the needs ofthe 21st centur

Rubber agroforestry in Thailand provides some biodiversity benefits without reducing yields

Monocultural rubber plantations have replaced tropical forest, causing biodiversity loss. While protecting intact or semi‐intact biodiverse forest is paramount, improving biodiversity value within the 11.4 million hectares of existing rubber plantations could offer important conservation benefits, if yields are also maintained. Some farmers practice agroforestry with high‐yielding clonal rubber varieties to increase and diversify incomes. Here, we ask whether such rubber agroforestry improves biodiversity value or affects rubber yields relative to monoculture. We surveyed birds, fruit‐feeding butterflies and reptiles in 25 monocultural and 39 agroforest smallholder rubber plots in Thailand, the world's biggest rubber producer. Management and vegetation structure data were collected from each plot, and landscape composition around plots was quantified. Rubber yield data were collected for a separate set of 34 monocultural and 47 agroforest rubber plots in the same region. Reported rubber yields did not differ between agroforests and monocultures, meaning adoption of agroforestry in this context should not increase land demand for natural rubber. Butterfly richness was greater in agroforests, where richness increased with greater natural forest extent in the landscape. Bird and reptile richness were similar between agroforests and monocultures, but bird richness increased with the height of herbaceous vegetation inside rubber plots. Species composition of butterflies differed between agroforests and monocultures, and in response to natural forest extent, while bird composition was influenced by herbaceous vegetation height within plots, the density of non‐rubber trees within plots (representing agroforestry complexity) and natural forest extent in the landscape. Reptile composition was influenced by canopy cover and open habitat extent in the landscape. Conservation priority and forest‐dependent birds were not supported within rubber. Synthesis and applications. Rubber agroforestry using clonal varieties provides modest biodiversity benefits relative to monocultures, without compromising yields. Agroforests may also generate ecosystem service and livelihood benefits. Management of monocultural rubber production to increase inter‐row vegetation height and complexity may further benefit biodiversity. However, biodiversity losses from encroachment of rubber onto forests will not be offset by rubber agroforestry or rubber plot management. This evidence is important for developing guidelines around biodiversity‐friendly rubber and sustainable supply chains, and for farmers interested in diversifying rubber production

Examining sources of land tenure (in)security. A focus on authority relations, state politics, social dynamics and belonging

This article reviews the current state of literature on the notion of security of tenure of land. This examination is topical as tenure security has become a key objective for land policies and development interventions. While tenure security is widely defined by people’s perceptions, land policies tend to address it through the registration and administration of land rights. The article argues that these practices ignore the complexity of the sources of tenure (in)security. Building on critical development literature of political ecology, social anthropology and political science, these sources are identified as stemming from the politics of land and linked to authority relations, state politics, social dynamics and belonging. The article concludes that their consideration enables us to contextualise perceptions of tenure security and to conceive practices for securing tenure

Yield-scaled mitigation of ammonia emission from N fertilization: the Spanish case

Online supplementary data available from stacks.iop.org/ERL/9/125005/mmedia[EN] Synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizer and field application of livestock manure are the major sources of ammonia (NH3) volatilization. This N loss may decrease crop productivity and subsequent deposition promotes environmental problems associated with soil acidification and eutrophication. Mitigation measures may have associated side effects such as decreased crop productivity (e.g. if N fertilizer application is reduced), or the release of other reactive N compounds (e.g. N2O emissions if manure is incorporated). Here, we present a novel methodology to provide an integrated assessment of the best strategies to abate NH3 from N applications to crops. Using scenario analyses, we assessed the potential of 11 mitigation measures to reduce NH3 volatilization while accounting for their side effects on crop productivity, N use efficiency (NUE) and N surplus (used as an indicator of potential N losses by denitrification/nitrification and NO3 − leaching/run-off). Spain, including its 48 provinces, was selected as a case study as it is the third major producer of agricultural goods in Europe, and also the European country with the highest increase in NH3 emissions from 1990 to 2011. Mitigation scenarios comprised of individual measures and combinations of strategies were evaluated at a country- and regional level. Compared to the reference situation of standard practices for the year 2008, implementation of the most effective region-specific mitigation strategy led to 63% NH3 mitigation at the country level. Implementation of a single strategy for all regions reduced NH3 by 57% at the highest. Strategies that involved combining mitigation measures produced the largest NH3 abatement in all cases, with an 80% reduction in some regions. Among the strategies analyzed, only suppression of urea application combined with manure incorporation and incorporation of N synthetic fertilizers other than urea showed a fully beneficial situation: yieldscaled NH3 emissions were reduced by 82%, N surplus was reduced by 9%, NUE was increased by 19% and yield was around 98% that of the reference situation. This study shows that the adoption of viable measures may provide an opportunity for countries like Spain to meet the international agreements on NH3 mitigation, while maintaining crop yields and increasing NUEThe authors are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Autonomous Community of Madrid for their economic support through the NEREA project (AGL2012-37815- C05-01, AGL2012-37815-C05-04) and GASPORC (AGL2011-30023-C03) projects. We wish to thank the FIRE (Federation Ile de France de Recherche en Environment, CNRS and UPMC) as well as the Agrisost Project (S2009/AGR-1630). Eduardo Aguilera gratefully acknowledges funding by the 895-2011-1020 project (Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council). This paper has been produced within the context of the REMEDIA network (http://redremedia.wordpress.com).Sanz-Cobeña, A.; Lassaletta, L.; Estellés, F.; Del Prado, A.; Guardia Guardia, G.; Abalos, D.; Aguilera, E.... (2014). Yield-scaled mitigation of ammonia emission from N fertilization: the Spanish case. Environmental Research Letters. 9(12):1-12. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/12/125005S11291

A political ecology of REDD+: property rights, militarised protectionism, and carbonised exclusion in Cross River

This paper offers a critical assessment of REDD+ in Nigeria through a political ecology perspective. Focusing on questions of property rights and resource access, it maps the discursive articulations and contestations through which carbon rights are being determined. It also shows how these articulations and contestations are linked to land and forest rights, and how they shape everyday access to the forest. Evidence from the Nigerian case suggests that factors that complicate rights and undermine access to resources for forest communities under REDD+ are immanent to the contested terrain constituted in part by REDD+ proposals, proponents’ discourses and practices geared towards securing the forest for REDD+. Efforts to secure property rights and guarantee the permanence of REDD+ forests align with economic, ecological and ideological aspirations of state and non-state actors to produce a regime of militarised protectionism. I demonstrate how, in addition to its material and symbolic facilitation of the emergent carbon forestry economy, militarised protectionism as a regime of exclusion also constitutes collateral political economies of ‘more-than-carbon’ forest resources (such as timber and non-timber forest products) which perpetuate capital accumulation by the elites. It is this kind of exclusion–accumulation dialectic legitimised by carbon forestry claims that this paper describes as carbonised exclusion. The paper thus furthers debates on the political ecology of REDD+ and other carbon forestry projects, while productively engaging technocentric literature on REDD+ and property rights