Conservation Agriculture and Scale of Appropriate Agricultural Mechanization in Smallholder Systems

This manual has focused on the need to amplify and accelerate adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) practices that enable productivity increases on a sustainable basis. The development of the training manual on ‘Conservation Agriculture and Scale Appropriate Agricultural Mechanization in Smallholder Systems’ is an outcome of the series of advanced training programs on Conservation Agriculture over past one decade. The objectives of this training manual are; (1) To foster capacity building of researchers, extension workers, farmers and machinery manufacturers to promote CA in Asia and Africa; and (2) To raise the awareness of policy planners and decision makers to develop a strategic plan for the development of CA and agricultural mechanization in the developing world. There are several initiatives in South Asia and Africa to promote CA practices as environment-friendly and alternative to conventional agriculture. However, little has been done to document the CA practices or even lessons learnt from these initiatives. Farmers today still lack access to information on CA practices. This is a comprehensive manual that explains in a step by step easy to follow manner on how to implement CA by smallholders in Asia and Africa. It explains what CA is, and why it is important, how to use CA principles in the field and highlights the issues and challenges that researchers, farmers, machinery manufacturers and service providers may encounter when they adopt and adapt CA practices. This manual aims to be a valuable reference and is intended for use by researchers, agricultural extension officers/workers, farmers, machinery manufacturers and service providers to promote CA in Asia and Africa for increasing productivity and reducing poverty. It is written in clear, easy-to-understand language, and is illustrated with numerous figures and tables. It is not intended to cover the subject of conservation agriculture comprehensively but to provide an overview of the principles and practices. Indeed, as the training draws from many distinct disciplines, it is unlikely that any one person will have the necessary technical skills to cover the complete course content. Manual also focuses on two crucial aspects: the provision of farm mechanization services as a viable business opportunity for entrepreneurs, and the essential criteria of raising productivity in an environmentally sensitive and responsible way. This manual is also designed to serve as source of information for custom hire service providers – whether already in the business or intending to start their own hire service business – with skills and competencies in both the technical and the management aspects of the small-scale mechanization business. CA to reach smallholder farmers needed the publication of simplified technical manual. This manual contains useful technical information on CA practices that offer practical answers to questions normally asked by farmers of what, why, how

Thermal Tolerance of the Coffee Berry Borer Hypothenemus hampei: Predictions of Climate Change Impact on a Tropical Insect Pest

Coffee is predicted to be severely affected by climate change. We determined the thermal tolerance of the coffee berry borer , Hypothenemus hampei, the most devastating pest of coffee worldwide, and make inferences on the possible effects of climate change using climatic data from Colombia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. For this, the effect of eight temperature regimes (15, 20, 23, 25, 27, 30, 33 and 35°C) on the bionomics of H. hampei was studied. Successful egg to adult development occurred between 20–30°C. Using linear regression and a modified Logan model, the lower and upper thresholds for development were estimated at 14.9 and 32°C, respectively. In Kenya and Colombia, the number of pest generations per year was considerably and positively correlated with the warming tolerance. Analysing 32 years of climatic data from Jimma (Ethiopia) revealed that before 1984 it was too cold for H. hampei to complete even one generation per year, but thereafter, because of rising temperatures in the area, 1–2 generations per year/coffee season could be completed. Calculated data on warming tolerance and thermal safety margins of H. hampei for the three East African locations showed considerably high variability compared to the Colombian site. The model indicates that for every 1°C rise in thermal optimum (Topt.), the maximum intrinsic rate of increase (rmax) will increase by an average of 8.5%. The effects of climate change on the further range of H. hampei distribution and possible adaption strategies are discussed. Abstracts in Spanish and French are provided as supplementary material Abstract S1 and Abstract S2

A novel approach for the generation of genetically modified mammary epithelial cell cultures yields new insights into TGF-beta signaling in the mammary gland

Abstract Introduction Molecular dissection of the signaling pathways that underlie complex biological responses in the mammary epithelium is limited by the difficulty of propagating large numbers of mouse mammary epithelial cells, and by the inability of ribonucleic acid interference-based knockdown approaches to fully ablate gene function. Here we describe a method for the generation of conditionally immortalized mammary epithelial cells with defined genetic defects, and we show how such cells can be used to investigate complex signal transduction processes using the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ)/Smad pathway as an example. Methods We intercrossed the previously described H-2Kb-tsA58 transgenic mouse (Immortomouse), which expresses a temperature-sensitive mutant of the simian virus-40 large T-antigen (tsTAg), with mice of differing Smad genotypes. Conditionally immortalized mammary epithelial cell cultures were derived from the virgin mammary glands of offspring of these crosses and were used to assess the Smad dependency of different biological responses to TGFβ. Results IMECs could be propagated indefinitely at permissive temperatures and had a stable epithelial phenotype, resembling primary mammary epithelial cells with respect to several criteria, including responsiveness to TGFβ. Using this panel of cells, we demonstrated that Smad3, but not Smad2, is necessary for TGFβ-induced apoptotic, growth inhibitory and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition responses, whereas either Smad2 or Smad3 can support TGFβ-induced invasion as long as a threshold level of total Smad is exceeded. Conclusions The present work demonstrates the practicality and utility of generating conditionally immortalized mammary epithelial cell lines from genetically modified Immortomice for detailed investigation of complex signaling pathways in the mammary epithelium.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78285/1/bcr2728.xmlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78285/2/bcr2728.pdfPeer Reviewe

Prospect and potential of Burkholderia sp. against Phytophthora capsici Leonian: a causative agent for foot rot disease of black pepper

Foot rot disease is a very destructive disease in black pepper in Malaysia. It is caused by Phytophthora capsici Leonian, which is a soilborne pathogenic protist (phylum, Oomycota) that infects aerial and subterranean structures of many host plants. This pathogen is a polycyclic, such that multiple cycles of infection and inoculum production occur in a single growing season. It is more prevalent in the tropics because of the favourable environmental conditions. The utilization of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) as a biological control agent has been successfully implemented in controlling many plant pathogens. Many studies on the exploration of beneficial organisms have been carried out such as Pseudomonas fluorescens, which is one of the best examples used for the control of Fusarium wilt in tomato. Similarly, P. fluorescens is found to be an effective biocontrol agent against the foot rot disease in black pepper. Nowadays there is tremendous novel increase in the species of Burkholderia with either mutualistic or antagonistic interactions in the environment. Burkholderia sp. is an indigenous PGPR capable of producing a large number of commercially important hydrolytic enzymes and bioactive substances that promote plant growth and health; are eco-friendly, biodegradable and specific in their actions; and have a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity in keeping down the population of phytopathogens, thus playing a great role in promoting sustainable agriculture today. Hence, in this book chapter, the potential applications of Burkholderia sp. to control foot rot disease of black pepper in Malaysia, their control mechanisms, plant growth promotion, commercial potentials and the future prospects as indigenous PGPR were discussed in relation to sustainable agriculture

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Pod yield and phosphorus-use efficiency in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) as influenced by citric acid and its delivery methods under a semi-arid agro-ecosystemA field experiment was conducted during 2009–11 at Junagadh, Gujarat to find out the effect of citric acid (CA)and its delivery methods on yield, nutrient uptake and use efficiencies of phosphorus in groundnut (Arachishypogaea L.). Results (mean of three years) revealed that application of citric acid at 2 kg along with farmyard ma-nure (FYM) at 2 t/ha recorded significantly higher pod yield (2.61 t/ha), harvest index (36%) and net returns(38,283/ha), which were 28.6, 22.0 and 44.5% higher respectively, over FYM at 2 t/ha without citric acid. Soilavailable P content (18 kg P/ha) significantly increased with citric acid at 6 kg along with single super phosphate(SSP) at 250 kg/ha over control. Citric acid at 4 and 6 kg along with SSP at 250 kg/ha significantly increased Pcontent in pod and haulm, respectively. P uptake significantly increased with citric acid at 4 kg/ha. Application ofcitric acid at 2 kg along with FYM 2 t/ha (17.2 kg P), citric acid at 4 kg along with SSP 250 kg/ha (17.2 kg P) andcitric acid at 4 kg along with FYM 1 t/ha (8.6 kg P) recorded higher agronomic efficiency (19.5%), recovery effi-ciency (10.8%) and P harvest index (69%) respectively, over control plots. Application of higher levels of citric aciddecreased yield, P uptake and P-use efficiencies. Thus, application of 2 kg citric acid along with FYM at 2 t/hafound appropriate in enhancing groundnut yield and net returns under semi-arid agro-ecosystem.Not Availabl

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Biomass production, carbon sequestration potential and productivity of different peanut (Arachis hypogaea)-based cropping systems and their effect on soil carbon dynamicsA field experiment was conducted during 2011-12 and 2012-13 at Junagadh (Gujarat) with fourteen treatment combinations comprising cropping systems, tillage, crop residues incorporation and green manuring with three replications. Results revealed that maximum biomass production (30.05 t/ha) and carbon sequestration potential (12.63 t/ha) were recorded under peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)+pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]-Sesbania cropping system. On the other hand, maximum peanut-pod equivalent yield (3.64 t/ha) was obtained under peanutwheat (ZT)-Sesbania which was significantly higher by 102.2 per cent compared to sole peanut. The inorganic soil carbon was significantly altered in peanut-based cropping systems whereas soil organic carbon (SOC) was found non-significant both in plough and sub-soil layers. The highest labile soil carbon was recorded under peanut-wheat (ZT)-Sesbania cropping system (0.77 g/kg) under plough soil layer. On the other hand, the highest non-labile soil carbon was found in peanut-wheat (ZT) (7.07 to 8.03 g/kg) with and without plant residues incorporation at both soil depths (i.e. plough and sub-soil layers). The inorganic carbon increased appreciably (3 to 57%) with increase in soil depth. In contrary, values of organic, labile and non-labile soil carbons, showed declining trend with the increase in soil depth under these cropping systems. In general, the highest values of all soil carbon fractions were observed in peanut-wheat (ZT) at all the soil depths except 15-30 cm for inorganic carbon. The highest MBC (441 mg/kg), SOC stock (17.3 t/ha) and CMI (188.8) were registered under peanut-wheat (ZT)-Sesbania while MQ was higher in peanut-wheat (CT) (4.90%).Not Availabl

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