Cassava

In L.A., food uses determine the demand for cassava, especially in rural areas, because of problems in marketing this highly perishable crop. Production is stagnant due apparently to the lack of growth in demand. A significant growth market for cassava products is needed; e.g., the alcohol program in Brazil. Outside of Brazil, market growth will come in the animal feed sector but to exploit these markets competitively, increasing technology will be required. (CIAT)En America Latina, la utilizacion de los alimentos determina la demanda de yuca, especialmente en las areas rurales, debido a los problemas en el mercadeo de este cultivo altamente perecedero. La produccion se ha estancado debido a la falta de crecimiento de la demanda. Se necesita un significante crecimiento del mercado para los productos de yuca, p. ej., el programa de alcohol de Brasil. Fuera de este pais, este crecimiento provendra del sector de alimentacion para animales, pero se requerira un incremento en la tecnologia para explotarlo competitivamente. (CIAT

Methodology in the cassava on-farm trials: An interim evaluation

The different methodological stages of cassava on-farm trials and their relationships regarding the objectives and functions of the Cassava Program at the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) are outlined. Site selection, farm trial design and analysis, and some illustrative results are included. Trials are currently focussed on: (1) comprehension of the factors determining yields in traditional cassava production systems; (2) determination of the changes in the systems necessary to support the higher yield plateau of the hybrid var.; and (3) determination of the changes necessary to adapt these systems to the requirements of new industrial markets. The need for clear objectives in this type of program is emphasized. On the other hand, the design of methodology will depend on the particular stage of development of the research program and the particular characteristics of the crop or cropping system. From these initial trials it was concluded that yield and quality variation was much greater between farms than between treatments, thus orientating methodology towards working with substantial variation in the yield estimates. On-farm trialswill eventually evolve as a tool for ex-ante evaluation of integrated cassava production and market development projects. Tables on the types of variables used and the results obtained in trials carried out in Colombia are included. (CIAT

Potencial futuro e investigacion necesaria para el incremento de la yuca

The possibilities of underdeveloped countries to satisfy their needs for food and to improve the standard of Eving through cassava production are analyzed. The following aspects are studied: potential cassava production (current and potential situation), general research policies and areas (var. development, pest control, agronomic practices, and multiple cropping), transfer of technology, utilization of cassava in human and animal nutrition and in the production of alcohol. Tables are included on potential yields, production costs, and price-elasticity, and income in Indonesia. (CIAT)Se analizan las posibilidades de los paises subdesarrollados para satisfacer sus necesidades de alimentacion y mejorar el nivel de vida con base en la produccion de yuca. Se contemplan los siguientes aspectos: produccion potencial de la yuca (situacion actual y potencial), politica general de la investigacion y sus areas (desarrollo var., manejo de plagas, practicas agronomicas y cultivos multiples), transferencia de tecnologia, utilizacion de la yuca en la alimentacion humana, animal y en la produccion de alcohol. Se incluyen cuadros de rendimiento potencial, costos de produccion, y de elasticidad precio e ingreso en Indonesia. (CIAT

Estudios sobre adaptacion y mejoramiento del frijol Phaseolus lunatus

Research on lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus) was conducted regarding adaptation, resistance to common bacterial blight (Xanthomonas phaseoli), resistance to leafhoppers (Empoasca kraemeri), and cyanide concn. in lima bean seed. In adaptation studies 36 climbing lima bean lines were selected from the CIAT collection on the basis of yield and freedom from diseases and planted with 6 climbing P. vulgaris lines at 5 different sites in Colombia. Av. yield of lines in all 5 sites was 2640 kg/ha. Palmira was the site with highest yields, averaging 4734 kg/ha and Monteria had the lowest yields, averaging 1646 kg/ha. Max. yield (Palmira, line G 25105) was 6121 kg/ha. Adaptation indices were calculated to compare sites and classify accession behavior. In the bacterial blight study, 189 lines were evaluated for response to inoculation in the screenhouse; 89 percent were classified as tolerant. A resistant and a susceptible line were chosen for crossing. When evaluating F2 plants a continuous segregation was found, suggesting a genetic control of a quantitative nature as in P. vulgaris. Analysis of the results was complicated due to th

"Back-to-Front" Indole Synthesis using Silver(I) Catalysis : Unexpected C-3 Pyrrole Activation Mode Supported by DFT

An efficient silver(I)-catalyzed method is reported for the synthesis of substituted indoles, most notably 5-hydroxy-derivatives, via π-acidic alkyne activation. Most methods for the preparation of indoles involve annulation of a benzene precursor, but the method reported herein is unusual in that pyrrole precursors are used. Density Functional Theory (DFT) studies suggest that these reactions proceed via initial activation of the pyrrole C-3 position before undergoing subsequent rearrangement, contradicting the conventional wisdom that pyrroles are more nucleophilic through C-2

Smart investments in sustainable food production: revisiting mixed crop-livestock systems

Farmers in mixed crop-livestock systems produce about half of the world’s food. In small holdings around the world, livestock are reared mostly on grass, browse, and nonfood biomass from maize, millet, rice, and sorghum crops and in their turn supply manure and traction for future crops. Animals act as insurance against hard times and supply farmers with a source of regular income from sales of milk, eggs, and other products. Thus, faced with population growth and climate change, small-holder farmers should be the first target for policies to intensify production by carefully managed inputs of fertilizer, water, and feed to minimize waste and environmental impact, supported by improved access to markets, new varieties, and technologies

Pangolins in global camera trap data: Implications for ecological monitoring

Despite being heavily exploited, pangolins (Pholidota: Manidae) have been subject to limited research, resulting in a lack of reliable population estimates and standardised survey methods for the eight extant species. Camera trapping represents a unique opportunity for broad-scale collaborative species monitoring due to its largely non-discriminatory nature, which creates considerable volumes of data on a relatively wide range of species. This has the potential to shed light on the ecology of rare, cryptic and understudied taxa, with implications for conservation decision-making. We undertook a global analysis of available pangolin data from camera trapping studies across their range in Africa and Asia. Our aims were (1) to assess the utility of existing camera trapping efforts as a method for monitoring pangolin populations, and (2) to gain insights into the distribution and ecology of pangolins. We analysed data collated from 103 camera trap surveys undertaken across 22 countries that fell within the range of seven of the eight pangolin species, which yielded more than half a million trap nights and 888 pangolin encounters. We ran occupancy analyses on three species (Sunda pangolin Manis javanica, white-bellied pangolin Phataginus tricuspis and giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea). Detection probabilities varied with forest cover and levels of human influence for P. tricuspis, but were low (<0.05) for all species. Occupancy was associated with distance from rivers for M. javanica and S. gigantea, elevation for P. tricuspis and S. gigantea, forest cover for P. tricuspis and protected area status for M. javanica and P. tricuspis. We conclude that camera traps are suitable for the detection of pangolins and large-scale assessment of their distributions. However, the trapping effort required to monitor populations at any given study site using existing methods appears prohibitively high. This may change in the future should anticipated technological and methodological advances in camera trapping facilitate greater sampling efforts and/or higher probabilities of detection. In particular, targeted camera placement for pangolins is likely to make pangolin monitoring more feasible with moderate sampling efforts