Distribution of relief seed and fertilizer in Zimbabwe: Lessons from the 2003/04 season

Drought and flood relief programs distributing free seed and fertilizer are common in southern Africa, but little is known about their efficacy. This study summarizes the impacts of input relief programs in Zimbabwe, based on data from surveys conducted in 2004, following two consecutive drought years. The analysis reveals substantial opportunities for improving these programs. First, targeting of beneficiary households must be improved. There was little difference between recipients and nonrecipients in terms of household characteristics, composition, poverty level etc. Many households received inputs from more than one NGO. Targeting can be improved through better sharing of information, and by using simpler selection criteria (eg, ownership of livestock) to identify beneficiaries. Contrary to common perceptions, farm communities tend to be reasonably successful at maintaining seed stocks even after multiple years of drought. Correspondingly, the delivery of free seed did not contribute to an increase in planted area. If seed is provided, more emphasis is needed on quality control and proper labeling. Also contrary to common perceptions, distribution of small quantities of fertilizer offered substantially higher returns than distribution of seed. The application of as little as 10 kg of nitrogen per hectare contributed substantially to food security in drought-prone regions. This study also compared three alternative input distribution methods: direct handouts of seed and fertilizer, seed fairs, and the use of vouchers redeemable at retail shops. While direct handouts are logistically the easiest method (and the most widely used), voucher-based programs linked with retail shops potentially offer the greatest development impacts

Stakeholder-driven transformative adaptation is needed for climate-smart nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa - author correction

oai:repository.rothamsted.ac.uk:99048Improving nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa under increasing climate risks and population growth requires a strong and contextualized evidence base. Yet, to date, few studies have assessed climate-smart agriculture and nutrition security simultaneously. Here we use an integrated assessment framework (iFEED) to explore stakeholder-driven scenarios of food system transformation towards climate-smart nutrition security in Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. iFEED translates climate–food–emissions modelling into policy-relevant information using model output implication statements. Results show that diversifying agricultural production towards more micronutrient-rich foods is necessary to achieve an adequate population-level nutrient supply by mid-century. Agricultural areas must expand unless unprecedented rapid yield improvements are achieved. While these transformations are challenging to accomplish and often associated with increased greenhouse gas emissions, the alternative for a nutrition-secure future is to rely increasingly on imports, which would outsource emissions and be economically and politically challenging given the large import increases required

Validazione di Piani di Disaster Recovery mediante Simulatore

Contribution published online at: http://www.mimos.it/nuovo/contenuto_view.asp?check=10

Stakeholder-driven transformative adaptation is needed for climate-smart nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa

Improving nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa under increasing climate risks and population growth requires a strong and contextualised evidence base. Yet, to date, few studies have assessed climate-smart agriculture and nutrition security simultaneously. Here we use an integrated assessment framework (iFEED) to explore stakeholder-driven scenarios of food system transformation towards climate-smart nutrition security in Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. iFEED translates climate-food-emissions modelling into policy-relevant information using model output implication statements. Results show that diversifying agricultural production towards more micronutrient-rich foods is necessary to achieve an adequate population-level nutrient supply by mid-century. Agricultural areas must expand unless unprecedented rapid yield improvements are achieved. Whilst these transformations are challenging to accomplish and often associated with increased greenhouse gas emissions, the alternative for a nutrition-secure future is to rely increasingly on imports, which would outsource emissions and be economically and politically challenging given the large import increases required

Approaches in biotechnological applications of natural polymers

Natural polymers, such as gums and mucilage, are biocompatible, cheap, easily available and non-toxic materials of native origin. These polymers are increasingly preferred over synthetic materials for industrial applications due to their intrinsic properties, as well as they are considered alternative sources of raw materials since they present characteristics of sustainability, biodegradability and biosafety. As definition, gums and mucilages are polysaccharides or complex carbohydrates consisting of one or more monosaccharides or their derivatives linked in bewildering variety of linkages and structures. Natural gums are considered polysaccharides naturally occurring in varieties of plant seeds and exudates, tree or shrub exudates, seaweed extracts, fungi, bacteria, and animal sources. Water-soluble gums, also known as hydrocolloids, are considered exudates and are pathological products; therefore, they do not form a part of cell wall. On the other hand, mucilages are part of cell and physiological products. It is important to highlight that gums represent the largest amounts of polymer materials derived from plants. Gums have enormously large and broad applications in both food and non-food industries, being commonly used as thickening, binding, emulsifying, suspending, stabilizing agents and matrices for drug release in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In the food industry, their gelling properties and the ability to mold edible films and coatings are extensively studied. The use of gums depends on the intrinsic properties that they provide, often at costs below those of synthetic polymers. For upgrading the value of gums, they are being processed into various forms, including the most recent nanomaterials, for various biotechnological applications. Thus, the main natural polymers including galactomannans, cellulose, chitin, agar, carrageenan, alginate, cashew gum, pectin and starch, in addition to the current researches about them are reviewed in this article.. }To the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfíico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for fellowships (LCBBC and MGCC) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nvíel Superior (CAPES) (PBSA). This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) (JAT)

Scholars Journal of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences Effects of foliar fertilisers containing magnesium, copper and zinc on yield and quality of mature tea

Abstract: Tea production in Zimbabwe has been steadily declining over years mainly due to soil acidification which leads to poor solubility and availability of plant nutrients. There is therefore need to supplement soil nutrients with foliar fertilizers to improve on quantity and quality of tea. In order to address this, an experiment was conducted at Southdown estate, Chipinge, Zimbabwe, to assess the effect of foliar fertilizers containing copper, magnesium and zinc on yield and quality of tea (Benjani variety).The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with 3 replications. The treatments were; no foliar fertilizer application (control), 1% copper sulphate, 1.25kgzinc oxide, 1.25kg magnesium oxide and a combination of 1.25kgmagnesium oxide +1.25kgzinc oxide and 1% copper sulphate.Application of zinc oxide resulted in the highest tea shoot yield which was 70% higher than that of the foliar fertilizer that contained copper sulphate which recorded the least tea shoot weight. However magnesium oxide did not have a significant effect on yield of tea. Zinc oxide also resulted in the highest tea shoot densityof 25.75shoots/m 2 which was 27% more than that of copper sulphate which recorded the least shoot density. Tea quality parameters (brightness, briskness, colour of liquor, strength of liquor and milk take) were affected significantly (P<0.05) by the different foliar fertilizers. 1% copper sulphate gave the highest scores for most quality parameters followed by zinc oxide and then magnesium oxide whilst no foliar fertilizer application (control) gave the lowest total score. It can be concluded that application of 1% copper sulphate is only ideal when aiming on improving quality of tea but it results in yield reduction of tea. It is recommended that farmers usezinc oxide as foliar fertilizer to improve both yield and quality of tea

Genetic gains in early maturing maize hybrids developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Southern Africa during 2000–2018

Genetic gain estimation in a breeding program provides an opportunity to monitor breeding efficiency and genetic progress over a specific period. The present study was conducted to (i) assess the genetic gains in grain yield of the early maturing maize hybrids developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Southern African breeding program during the period 2000–2018 and (ii) identify key agronomic traits contributing to the yield gains under various management conditions. Seventy-two early maturing hybrids developed by CIMMYT and three commercial checks were assessed under stress and non-stress conditions across 68 environments in seven eastern and southern African countries through the regional on-station trials. Genetic gain was estimated as the slope of the regression of grain yield and other traits against the year of first testing of the hybrid in the regional trial. The results showed highly significant (p< 0.01) annual grain yield gains of 118, 63, 46, and 61 kg ha−1 year−1 under optimum, low N, managed drought, and random stress conditions, respectively. The gains in grain yield realized in this study under both stress and non-stress conditions were associated with improvements in certain agronomic traits and resistance to major maize diseases. The findings of this study clearly demonstrate the significant progress made in developing productive and multiple stress-tolerant maize hybrids together with other desirable agronomic attributes in CIMMYT’s hybrid breeding program