Upload 962 files to main/part_2

main/part_2/0000688071.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"dba72cc40c585fd93b49cd219124ddaa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/41a2390e-d0c4-4d4a-a096-d3642461dbb0/content","id":"-318534380"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1a4999ad-973f-4068-9274-70e0272eb801","content":"La sembradora ML-2020 es capaz de trabajar bajo condiciones de sistemas convencionales como sistemas sustentables como agricultura de conservación. La máquina es compacta y ligera pensada para trabajar con tractores de baja potencia. Se incorpora un bastidor de perfile tubular rectangular (PTR), de 4\" x 4\" de 1.5 metros de largo con una torre enganche 3 puntos seccionado. Sobre la barra se monta las tolvas para la aplicación de fertilizante. Cada tolva de fertilizante cuenta con dos caídas y un sistema de dosificación de rodillo acanalado. Se incorporó una tolva para semillas grandes con un sistema mecánico de plato horizontal con una variedad de platos dosificadores para diferentes tipos de cultivos. Se rediseño el sistema de tracción acortándolo para reducir la separación del bastidor al suelo y dar una mayor precisión a la caída de la semilla. La máquina cuenta con dos abresurcos tipo cincel que apoyan a la colocación de semillas a una mayor profundidad de siembra y dos cortadores para el manejo de rastrojos. Perfil del disco cortador liso Diámetro de la rueda de tracción 0.57 mEn la imagen 1 se pueden identificar los principales componentes de la sembradora fertilizadora de 2 surcos modelo ML-2020.Imagen 1. Principales componentes de la sembradora ML-2020. A. Enganche de tres puntos; B. Barra porta-herramienta; C. Tren de siembra: 1) Rueda de tracción, 2) Abresurco tipo cincel, 3) Disco cortador liso, 4) Tolva de semilla, 5) Tolva de fertilizante.La sembradora fertilizadora ML-2020 cuenta con un enganche de 3 puntos seccionado que brinda la flexibilidad de poder mover las conexiones laterales si es que el implemento agrícola requiere de mover un tren de siembra en la barra porta-herramienta la cual consta de una barra PTR de 4\" x 4\" por 2 m de largo. La conexión del enganche de 3 puntos al tractor de 4 ruedas se realiza por medio de los dos brazos hidráulicos laterales del tractor y su brazo central. Para su conexión es recomendable primero identificar el brazo fijo y el brazo móvil del tractor. El orden recomendado de enganche es: primero conectar el brazo fijo del tractor, después el brazo central ya que este nos permite alejar o acercar el implemento agrícola y por último el brazo móvil.El control de profundidad en la sembradora fertilizadora ML-2020 se realiza por medio de la manipulación de la altura de los cuerpos de trabajo en específico el abresurco tipo cincel. Los cuerpos de trabajo cuentan con barrenos que permiten ajustarlos y regular la hondura de trabajo para la colocación de los insumos como semilla y fertilizante dentro del suelo. Además, los cuerpos de trabajo no están soldados al bastidor del tren de siembra por lo cual tiene la flexibilidad en su acomodo lateral.La sembradora cuenta con una tolva de semilla grande con un sistema de dosificación de plato horizontal que cuenta con una variedad de platos dosificadores para diferentes cultivos. La selección del plato debe realizarse con mucha atención ya que de esto dependerá la precisión del trabajo del sistema de dosificación. La semilla para utilizar debe ser homogénea ya que la variación en forma y tamaño puede provocar una deficiente calidad en la siembra a causa de fallas o daño por quiebre dentro del sistema dosificador. Además, la sembradora ML-2020 cuenta con un sistema de trasmisión que da movimiento a los sistemas de dosificación de la máquina. Empotrado al sistema de trasmisión encontramos catarinas que permiten modificar la dosificación de semillas a colocar en una hectárea manipulando la combinación entre ellas.Imagen 4. A. Tolva de semilla grande con sistema de dosificación de plato horizontal. 1) Tolva, 2) Concha, 3) Plato dosificador, 4) Base; B. Tren de siembra. 1) Rueda tracción, 2) Catarinas para manipulación de densidad de siembra.Para la distribución de fertilizantes granulados la sembradora ML-2020 cuenta con una tolva de doble salida con sistema de dosificación de rodillo acanalado de doble propósito. Se dice de doble propósito porque permite también la distribución de semillas pequeñas como el trigo, cebada y avena. Este sistema consta de dos partes, una parte lisa y una parte acanalada. Manipulamos el desplazamiento de dosificador de rodillo acanalado sobre el área de descarga de la buchaca por medio de una manivela que se encuentra en la parte lateral de la tolva.Imagen 5. A. Tolva de fertilizante con sistema de dosificación de rodillo acanalado de doble proposito: 1) Tolva, 2) Buchaca, 3) Manivela; B. Vista interior de buchaca: 1) Rodillo acanalado, 2) Rodillo liso, 3) Ceja reguladora.▪ Se debe limpiar toda semilla de la tolva, del distribuidor, tubos y abresurcos ▪ Se quitan todas las suciedades y restos que existan en el interior y exterior de la sembradora ��� Tras la limpieza general de la máquina deben revisarse los elementos dosificadores y estados de los cuerpos de trabajo además de abrazaderas y tornillos de amarre ▪ En el bastidor hay que verificar que no existan deformaciones o desgastes generados entre los componentes, y que todos los elementos se mantengan en la posición correcta ▪ Si hay desperfectos o desgastes en algún elemento se deben de cambiar en caso de ser necesario ▪ Se engrasarán los elementos móviles tales como rodamientos ▪ La máquina debe guardarse tapada y protegida de la intemperie"}

main/part_2/0001360157.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1d747dda4429c379bf21dfbecef0d852","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/60d489eb-53da-4ace-968a-25f29642e1d0/retrieve","id":"1708458951"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"daaa2674-7459-414d-a2c9-3cf098236d6f","content":"1. Comparacion de dos metodos -de laboratorio y uno •de campo paia m~dir resistencia a las heladas 38 2o. Estimados de las habilidades combinatorias gen~ral y espe~!fica y de heredabilidad para resistencia a las heladas 47 V. CONCLUSIONES 55 VI. RECOMENDACIONES 57 VII. RESUMENCUADRO AlS. Resultado de No. de plantulas resi~ tentes a -3°C, -4°C y -5°C de.diez g~upcs de familias F 1 's (Da~os ori-g1na.les)CUADRO Al9. Indiee de fertilidad y germinaci5n de semillas •~e las cruzas entie clo nes con diferente nivel de resisten cia a las heladas Si se pud~era lograr cult~ vares capaces de .. sobrevivir a tempetaturas de -2°C a -5°C por varias horas, se minimizar!a notabiemente la~p~rdidas y~ a su vez ello permitir!n am~liar las posjbilidades de cultivo en ~reas ~gs altas.La.here~cia de ia resistencia no est~ clararnente determinada, debido prin~ipalmente a la carericia de t~cnicas adecuadas par~,detectar 1a resistencia,• las cuales permitan una mayor eficiencia durante la s~lecci5n.Estirnaci5n personaL.~I FAO 1972FAO -1974 Ln infornaci5n disponible accrca del rnecanismo heredita rio es muy variable.Aleunos autores sostienen que es un ca r5cter dominante ~i2ntras que otrcs lo calific2n como recesi vo.Tambi~n e~iste divergencia'de oniniones en cuanto al nG rnero de factores que lo controlan 9 siendo para unos monoggn! cay para otros es polig€nico.Tambi~n se ha indicAdo la uresencia de genes complementarieso epistaticosoTodas las investigacion~s anteriores acerca del conocimiento del mecanismo gen~tico. que gobierna este car5cter, se ban ~isto conplicadas por el tiuo de herencin tetras5rnicn.Fn el ~ermoplas~a del Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) 1 existe numeroso material que nerece ser evRluado en forma sis ten~tica~ por resistencia a las heladas~ dentro de aquel m~terial se encuentran las especies diploides cultivadas 1 que son rnuy importantes p0r el ~ipo de herencia dis6mica que los caracteriza, 10 cual puerle simplificar la interpreteci5n de los resultados ~n las profenies segreian~e~, adern~s que res-ponder£an a la sele~ci5n m6s r~pidamente que las tetraploides, pues, desde el punto de vista g~n~tico podr!an ser m~s f~ciles de estudiar su coroportamiento frente• a la resistencia a las heladas.El presente ~~tudio fue disefiado con el objeto de:1.-Eva1uar la resistencia a temperaturas bajas tle varios clones y especies de papa c~ltivadas de la colecci5n CIP.2.-Comparar la ef~ciencia de dos mgtodos de labnratori6 y uno de carnpo para Fedir resistencia a las heladas.3~-Hall~r estimados de las habilidades combinatorias gene ral y espec!fica y •de heredabilidad para la resistencia a temperatu;as b~jas~ sometiendb a -3°C, -4°C y -5°C -1a proge~ie hfbrida proveniente de cruzas 8ntre clones diploides s~l~c~ionados con diferente nivel de resisten cia.•.El conocimiento del mecanisno de resistencia de las plantas R temperaturas bajas es muy ~omplej6, pe~o ~ :p2sarC.2 la compleji<lad 9 los diferentes estudios y la comprension <le sus fases fisiol5gicas, ban conducido a pro~ramas de mejoramiento en_ algunos cultiv0s hort!colas y frutales, segGn lo manifiesta STUSHNOFF (1972).1. ~esist~ncia a heladas Aproximadamente desdc hace 40 afios se viene realizandonumerosas investigaciones para tratar de c0nocer cuales son los mecanisTios de resistencia el frfo en varias especies de papa tanto silvestres come cultivados~ pero hasta el prese~ te los mecanismns de defensa y la forma cono las temperaturas bajas afectan a las cglulas en las plantas no est §n bien establecidas, debido a que_rnuchos factores influyen en el dafia del follaje, tales como: tiempo de exposici5n~ velo cida<l de congelaci5n y descongelaci5n de las tejidos, nutri-ci5n mineral, temperatura de aclimataci5ri, fotoper!odo y su interacci5n con la temperatura, humedad del sualo~ agua de reserva de la planta, edad y estado de desarrollo de la plan ta, niveles re~uladores•de crecimiento, frecuencia estoma tal, espesor de la cutrcula~ infecci5n vi~6tica~ segGn lomanifiestan ALVARADO {1972)i MASTE~BROEK (1956); LI et al 1~ (19i;:,7); HUDSON (1961( ) y RICEARDSON ~al (1972)).vesti~a<lores se tiene:1.1. Potenci~l nsm6ticoAnteiiormente se supon!a .que ~urante el congelaniento las celulas sufr{an ruptura Q~ SUS p~redes debido al mayor volumen que ocupa el hielo dentro de las c~lulas.Pero se ha cornprohado que es improbable la formaci5n de hielo en condiciones naturales, pues µara que se produzca el congelamiento del jugo •protoplasm&tico se requiere de temperaturns rrny bajas 9 otros nu tores dai-i evi:::lcnci<.s de que el cong.ela \"\" miento e~pieza eri los espacios intercelulnrcs donde el , agua Normalcente las membranas permanecen en estado flui do pero con temperaturas bajas y dependiendo sabre to~o de su composici5n qi!mica~ ~stas p~eden carnbiar a un estado rn5s s5lido la cual resultar!a en una reducci6n de la permeabili-da<l de la membrnna, permitiendo de esta manera la entradA -~e aguR y posterior conpelamiento intercelula~,BURKE (1974).En muchos organismcs que est5n crecien<lo normalmente en temperaturas bajas, lris membranas est5n conpuestas ~e ... Tambi~n se ha encontrarlo quc el contenidn de azGcar y potRsio influyen en el grado de resistencia al f rfc, LEVITT (1956}~ ~HRISTIANSEN (1977.Las altas dosis ~e nitr5geno y f6sforo aurnentan elvigor y desarrollo ~e la planta pero la predisponen de un ma yor da~o por con~elarniento.debi~o a que las paredes celulares se vuelven merios permeables al agua, WEISER (1965).BURTON (1966)~ tAMbi~n reporta que los tub~rcuios se congelan dependiendo de la cantidad de solutes disueltos en las c5lulas.In~ica que el congelaMiento ccurre cuando las te~peraturas os~ilan entre -1°C a -2.2°C.No es to11Rvra bien cnnocirln hasta que punto las conrliciones ambientnlcs pueden inducir tolerancia al fr!o en plantas .de papa.Sin emb~r~o hay al~unas evid~ncias, ~or ejemnlo.en plantas de la zona templzda la inducci6n de resis tencia al fr!o est5 asoci~da con una interacci5n entre el fo toperro6o y temDeraturas bajas.Tambi5n se ha.~~rt8ializarlo que durante una helada en cnn~iciones de tr5picoj el descenso <le temperatura se debe principalrnente a la p~rdida de cnergfa ca15rica, por el equi lihrio t6rrnico quc se produce durante la noche.Los factores que favorecen la p~rdida <le ca-15rica son las siguientes_:Se ha comrrobaao oue las hela~~s ocurren cuando la humerlad <lel suelo es baja.No asr cuando la huNeda~ es alta, puesto que permite almacenar n5s energra cal6rica haciendo que en la noche la p~r<lida de esta energ!a por el equilibrio t~rmico sea insignificante,ALVARADO (1972).       b.Medida inadecuada de las interacciones genotipo-menio amhiente .MULLIN y LAUER (1966) hallaron que tanto la HCG y BCE influ1an en el rendimiento en papa.La HCG para un tetraploide esta compuesto de los estima 2 dos de l/36aD y ciertas interacciones aditiva y <lominancia~ tambign como 1/4a1 portantes en ]'lapas tetrap~~•;luyenclo en el peso de tu-I b~rculoi.ROWE (1969). MENDOZA (1976), en un estudio para determinar la HCG y  Extracci5n de plantas y calificac~5n del.da no ocasionado por la baja temperatura a -3°C durante tres horas consecutivas.~I Se usaron estos cambios de temneratura drasticos debido a que la c~mara frfa no dispon~a de un programador para hacer un descenso gradual.Tambien.se acondiciono ven-tilaci5n den~ro de la cabina para permitir una mayor unif ormidad d$ las temperaturas requeridas. Se dispuso de un tanque con una soluci5n de 50% de H 2 o y 50% de alcohol et1lico para evitar el congelamiento.De cada clon en estudio (30 -45 d1as de edad) se recolectaron dos fo1-Ldos-: de la pa rte a ~:deal, los cua les £ueron primeramente aclimatados a 0°C en tubas de ensayo colocados en la soluci5n H 2 0-alcohol, luego contirtu5 con el descenso gradual de la temperatura hasta -3°C 5 -4°C 5 -5°C.Cuando la temperatura del aparato reg~str5 -l.5°C~ los folio los .fueron rociados con escarcha (cristales de hielo seco)con la finalidad de evitar que se produzca el superenfria mi~nto.Una vez alcanzadas las tempcraturas requeridas, estos foliolos fueron transferidos a una bandeja humeda, la•cual se coloco en una camara a 0°C durante 12 horas, siguie~ do la t~~nica nueva desarrollada por el doctor Paul Chen, Univ. de Minnesota Saint Paul (no publicada).Al final deesta ~xposici5n se efectu5 la cnlif icaci5n del daiio en los foliolos en forroa visual y utilizand.o la sigui~-nte escala:Los foliolos con calificaci5n de dafio del 0 al 3 se consideraron resistentes y susceptibles del 4 al 5.Con esta nueva tecnica se elimino el agitado d~ los foliolos y la lectura de electrolitos lixiviados, locual hace posiblc evaluar alrededor de 100 muestras por d!a en contraste con s51~ 30 muestras/dta ~fectuadas con la -t~£ nica abterior.El CIP estg utilizando esta t~cnica en el programa. de mejorani::;nto para resistencia a las-heladas.Diez tub~rculos de cada clon seleccionado con resis tencia a -3°C, -4°C y -5°C (con lecturas de dano eel 0 al 3) y que fueron probados tanto en CF • -• como en el BTB fueron sembrados en dos localida~es en el Departamento de Jun!n, P~ ru, por ser considerados como buenos sitios para la ocurrencia de heladas-. Resistentes a -3°C = Baja resistencia (B)Clones con lecturas de daiio 4.,. x.l:;.x.. ,..l>.x Tambien se hizo ~nalisis combin8do de las tr2s temperaturas.Donde: La media poblacional.Efecto del ij-esimo nivel de resistencia, resultante de la cruza delos niveles de resistencia i-esimo.Efecto de aptitud combinatoria gene ral del nivel de resistencia i-esi~ mo (j-esimo).Efecto de la aptitud combinatoriaespeci'.fica.Efecto del k=esimo bloque.Ef ecto del error experimental asociado con ijk-esima observaci6n.(Para hallar los estimados de cada uno de los parSmetros TOMA 1975, utiliz6   Y ..• :_t..;._.i_~;._,,J._• --------\"-p(p+l) bp(p+l) 1 l: y gi = k=l l j=l ijk + yiikJ 1.J i = 1 g nivel de resistencia= Resistencia del ij-esimo genotipo en k-esimo bloque y en la 1-esima temperatura.= Media general.= El efecto del ij-esimo nivel de resistencia resul~ tante de la cruza de los niveles de. resistencia i-esimo y j-esimo.g. (g.~) = l.J Efecto de habilidad combinatoria general del nivel de•resistencia i-esimo (j-esimo) s ..--~-= Efecto de la habilidad combinatoria espec1fica.Ef ec to de la -•es ima repe ti cion en la 1-es ima tempera tu ra.x• 1 = Efecto de la i-esima temperatura.SC SC = Efecto de la interacci5n del i-esimo nivel ~e resistencia, el j-esimo nivel de resistencia y la 1-esima temperatura.Efecto aleatorio del error experimental.La suma de cuadrados se obtuvo de la siguiente forma~ \\. 2 l:,,-J.,;.. rs r. ( I: r. x•2 \\ (p-1)(.!?,-l)) (Las expresiones a y a incluyen las efectos aditivos y no   Tambien se observo un com portamiento similar con la helada de -7°C (Usibamba), aunque con porcentajes muy bajos (Fig. 3).    ademas~ indican que las celulas de especies resistentes tie nen la capacidad de retener mas agua despues de una helada que las espec~~~ •scisc~ptibl~s.A -4°C y -5°C las d~ferencias nd son ~uy notorias en todas l~s especies~indicatido qtie ia ~ficiencia de los dos metodos dependen principalmerlte d~ ia temperatuta.Por otra parte no se encontro correlacion entre ias iectu ras de dano a las heladas, exhibida por las plantas en los dif erentes metodos de laboratorio y el de campo (Cuadros 6 y 7), sugiriendo que cada metodo causa efectos diferentesen cada clon analizado. La falta-de correlacion podria deberse principalmente a la edad y estado de desarrollo delcultivo en que fueron evaluados luego de la exposicion a b~ jas temperaturas; as1 en el laboratorio, el grado de resistencia se evaluo con plantas de 30-45 d!as de edad~ mientras que en el campo fue con plantas de 60-80 d1as de edad. Ade mas, el descenso de temperaturas ocurridas en el campo -2°C y -7°C en comparacion a -3°C~ -4°C y -5°C en laboratorio puede dar lugar a variacion en la precision de la resistencia en ambos metodos La alta significacion para temperaturas se ref leja nota blemente en el porcentaje de plantulas resistentes, pue~amedida que la temperatura es mas baja este porcentaje disminuye en todos los grupos de familias (Fig. 3).  El grupo de familias F 1 's• con estimado mgs alto para HCGf u e e 1 de n iv e 1 de res is.ten c i a \"Baj a 11 y par a H CE f u er on 1 os grupos de familias F 1  Es necesario aclarar que tanto par~ 1~ e~alua~i5n de~ ren dimiento y la veri-ficacicfo. de-res.istencia no se utilizaron disefios estadlsticos~por no ser considerad9s dentro de los objetivos para el presente esttidio •... Fr!a come en el ~tifi-0• de Temperaturas Bajas, presentanun comportamiento similar bajo condiciones de •unri helada natural de -2°C.4~-Existen diferencias gen~ticas para la resistencia_a las 1.-El m€todo de laboratorio a recomendarse para determinar res is t e n•c i a-a 1 as he 1 ad as en c 1 ones de --p a pa e 1 a c ama r a Fr1a.2.-Se recomienda la utilizacion de clones de las especies S. ajanhuJ..JLi.. y S. x c.uJc..tilobum en un Progrania de-Mejoramiento, debido a que estos prese~taron los niveles m&saltos y estables de resist~ncia a heiadas~ Las diferentes pruebas se realizaron en los laboratorios y campos experimentales del Centro Internacional de la Papa (Lima y Huancayo respectivamente).Para evaluar la resistencia a heladas se emplearon dos m~todos de laboratorio: cgmara Fr!a (CF) y el Baiio de Temp~. raturas Bajas (BTB). Tambien se hicieron siembras en el campo en dos localidades diferentes del Departamepto de Ju-n{n (P~rG), Usibamba a 3625 m.s.n.m;, y La Victoria a 3312 m.s.n.m., para tratar de comparar las pruebas de laboratorio con hel~das naturales.Con los datos obtenidos mediante las pruebas a -3°C 9 -4°C y -5°C, tanto de los progenitores co~o de la progenie, se efectu5 una estimaci5n de heredabilidad y de las habilidades com.binatorias general (HCG) y espec:Lfica (HCE). La metodolog!~ empleada para este estudio incluy6: Los grupos de familias Fi's de \"Baja\" resistencia presentaron mejor comportamiento en HCG y, los grupos de familias F 1 ns \"Alta x Baja n y \"Alta x Susceptible\" presentaron mejor comportamiento en HCE.V I I I.The main objetives of the present study were the following:a)To evaluate the frost resistanceat temperatures of -3°C~  The data obtained after testing the parental materials as well as their offspring, at temperatures of -3°C, -4°Cand -5°C were used to estimate heretability and.general specific combining abilities for frost resistance.The_~ollowing methods were used in these tests:among the ten Fi family groups.  .,, sp.,_, Fam. cs-2 = rsI/a) H = (2.3026) (13) (3 (2.33)-6.90J a = 3 temperaturas = 3.73, (GL = 2)si hay homogeneidad de varianciaso CUADRO Al3.Caiculo de coeficientes de correlacion (r) entre medias Vs. variancias de cada temperatura de prueba.Familias n F, 's .I.Produccion de semilla botanica y porcentaje de gerninaci6n de los diferent~s cruzamientos en estudio.    No. No. Rd to.Rclto.\"'P'eC..i ...        "}

main/part_2/0004049408.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5af36f09ed6a7daac5bdb15f8cda6c30","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bb61c5c5-1652-46d3-a12a-0fb3861e92c7/retrieve","id":"-954626838"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"59c54c52-944b-4f95-806d-655353720114","content":"Theme 1: Importance of the potato crop Theme 2: Understanding the crop cycle of potato Theme 3: Land selection and crop rotationThe potato crop comes from the highlands of South America.The crop is currently the third food crop in the world, after wheat and rice.Potato produces more calories per unit of area and time than any other crop grown in cool climates.Potato is an important food and cash crop in Nigeria. The income generated from potato enables smallholder farmers to improve their living conditions. -Duration depends on the variety.-Protection against diseases like late blight is very important at this stage.-Short stage coinciding with the flowering stage and the end of leaf growth.-Make sure proper hilling has been done and continue to protect against pests and diseases.-Tubers become bigger and leaves turn yellow and later die.-Chemical applications (fungicides and insecticides) must stop at 3 weeks before harvest.-No more crop growth.-Tuber skins harden. Soil should be deep, well drained and loose for proper development of tubers.Select a site where potato has not been grown for at least the last 2 seasons.Plan a 3-seasons rotation scheme, alternating potato with a season of beans/soybean/peas followed by a season of maize/wheat. Avoid planting maize before potato in fields with a history of infestation by nematodes or low soil fertility.Potatoes should not follow potatoes or other crops of the same family (eggplant, pepper, tomato, tobacco) as they may carry potato diseases.Theme 4: Land preparation Prepare soil early in the season, at least two weeks before planting, when the soil is still partially dry to prevent soil compaction.Prepare land until the ground becomes soft, free from clods, to a depth of at least 30 cm.Ploughing can be done using a hoe, motocultivator or animal-or tractor-drawn plough plough.In case of risk of erosion or poor drainage, ridging should be carried out.Ideally, fertilizer rates should be based soil analysis results and field history. This is called site-specific fertilizer management.Mineral fertilizers should be applied in two applications, at planting and at first weeding and hilling.In the absence of a site-specific fertilizer recommendation, apply NPK 20:10:10 or NPK 15:15:15 divided in two applications. In practical terms, apply 1 water or soda bottle cap of NPK 20:10:10 or NPK 15:15:15 at planting per two seed tubers. Apply 1 more cap of Urea at first weeding and hilling up per two plants.In addition to mineral fertilizer, apply up to 2 handfuls of well-decomposed manure or compost for each seed tuber at planting (equivalent to 200-300 kg of manure or compost per acre).At planting, apply the manure or compost first, then add the fertilizers, and cover with 5-10 cm of soil. Then place the seed potato.After emergence, apply fertilizers in a hole at 10-15 cm of the plant base.Fertilization with high amounts of N depresses tuber growth and yield and should be avoided.If the soil is acidic (below pH 5.5), apply 1.5 to 2t/ha of lime during land preparation.12 Ø : 30 mm Ø : 40 mm Ø :Theme 6: Planting techniquesUse certified or good quality seed from known seed producers. Do not use small seeds from the market, they are full of diseases.Ensure the seed tubers are well sprouted with strong, green and short (1-2 cm) sprouts and avoid old tubers with long sprouts.Plant seed tubers of the same size category in one area.Planting can be done in furrows or holes. Planting on ridges can be done in fields with steep slope, high rainfall, and/or poor drainage.Prepare furrows or rows of holes at a spacing of 70-80 cm. But if your variety produces a lot of leaves and/or the slope is steep, go up to 90 cm.Within rows, use a plant spacing of 25 cm when seed tubers are small, 30 cm when seed tubers are medium sized, and 35 cm when they are large.On a sloping terrain, furrows or seed holes should run across the slope.After planting, tubers should be covered by enough soil (10-15 cm). Uncovered holes or furrows should always be avoided.Theme 8: IrrigationIrrigation is one of the best adaptation strategies to climate change.Potato needs between 500 and 800 mm of water per season to grow optimally.Potato water needs are most critical at tuber initiation.It is possible to grow potatoes during the dry season in Nigeria (November to April) if farmers invest in irrigation systems.Irrigation by gravity whenever possible is a reliable and cost-effective method.Water flowing through the field should be avoided when bacterial wilt is present to avoid spread.In areas with steep slope and high rainfall, planting an intercrop in a potato field can reduce soil erosion through increasing soil cover.In hot areas, intercropping prevents the soil from drying and keeps the soil at a lower temperature which is good for tuber development.Intercrops can also help to reduce pests and diseases by providing a barrier between potato plants or trapping insects.Intercropping with high nitrogen-fixing legumes such as cowpea improves soil fertility and is recommended on soils with low soil fertility and when low rates of nitrogen fertilizer are used.It is important to protect potatoes against pests and diseases because they reduce tuber quality and yield (losses of 100% are possible).Diseases can break out when there is a favorable interaction between the disease causal agent (also called the pathogen), host plants and the environment (the DISEASE TRIANGLE).The development of a disease is stimulated when the pathogen is present, the host plant is vulnerable, and the environmental conditions favor the spread and development of the pathogen.Two factors are extremely important for fighting potato pests and diseases: use of high quality seeds, and crop rotation.Late blight damages the leaves, stems and tubers. Infected leaves or stems have grey/brown/black spots as if they were burned. Symptoms also include white fluffy strands at the underside of the leaves. Late blight spreads through wind, water, soil and infected tubers and plant material. Wet conditions are favorable for late blight.Plant clean seeds of less susceptible varieties to avoid late blight in the field.Collect and burn potato foliage after harvest to sanitize the field.A wider plant spacing reduces humidity in the field which can help to reduce late blight.Use contact fungicides (e.g. Mancozeb) to prevent infection and systemic fungicides (e.g. Ridomil) to treat infection:-Spray a contact fungicide right after plant emergence when the plants are around 10 cm tall.-Spray a systemic fungicide 40-45 days after planting only if there is a lot of rain and a lot of late blight in the area.-For subsequent sprays, use contact fungicides at 2-weeks interval, except when disease symptoms are visible in the field. In that case, use a systemic fungicide. Once disease symptoms have disappeared, return to spraying with a contact fungicide. Systemic fungicides should not be used more than twice in a season because of high cost and harm to the environment. When using fungicides, always use the dosage that is recommended by the manufacturer. Contact fungicides (such as Mancozeb) should be applied at least 6 hours before it rains to avoid the fungicides to be washed away. Systemic fungicides (such as Ridomil) should be applied at least 3 hours before it rains. The leaves need to be dry before spraying (no dew on the leaves).Bacterial wilt causes partial to complete wilting of a plant even if there is enough water in the soil. When an infected tuber is cut in half, black or brown rings can be seen.The disease can spread via infected seed, water, roots, soil, farming tools, livestock and people.It also affects other crops from the same family such as chili, tomato, tobacco, and eggplant, as well as several weed species.There is no commercial chemical for controlling bacterial wilt.Plant clean seeds of less susceptible varieties in fields free from bacterial wilt.Rotate potato crops with other crops not belonging to the potato family, such as legumes and cereals.Uproot and destroy wilting plants together with soil around roots. Do not use compost with plant material from potato or crops from the same family.Clean and/or disinfect farm tools with fire or Jik before and after use.Theme 13: Control of soft rot (or blackleg)Soft rot, also known as blackleg, alters tuber tissue into liquid or soft rot and causes black lesions at the base of the stem.Infected tubers rot either in field or in storage and produce a bad smell.Manage this disease by applying the same control measures recommended for bacterial wilt (clean seeds, rotation, uprooting of diseased plants and disinfecting farm tools)."}

main/part_2/0009160751.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2b32b91a280c8dd06dbaaa83344e8c6a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4a7a3935-9f78-4b5a-ab3c-09b62c31bcee/retrieve","id":"-1149894728"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1ab3a25e-f3d5-4675-bc08-2c2ad9acf71f","content":"The four definitions of empowerment fail to capture something important in the way empowerment can be experienced. The concept of 'power through' aims to define this analytically distinct dimension of power. The paper presents a suggestion, and the supporting evidence, of a new element to be added to the well-established four elements of empowerment. So the innovation brings a new dimension to the empowerment discourse."}

main/part_2/0045501992.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7991f114cc65fbc1d834b9dcbea52ad7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/40bf813c-af53-481c-9a06-f880c29db5b0/retrieve","id":"892208620"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ca76c034-b96e-4170-9507-53532b9d8e3b","content":"(1) What would the innovation system or approach have to look like in order for CIAT to effectively address the needs of the rural poor, particularly women? (2) What are the organizational implications of instituting such a process of innovation within CIAT?The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Systemwide PRGA was launched in 1997 with two major objectives:(1) To assess and develop methodologies and organizational innovations for gender-sensitive participatory research approaches. (2) To systematize and mainstream what is being learned worldwide from the integration of gender-sensitive participatory research (PR&GA) with Plant Breeding (PB), and crop and natural resource management (NRM) research.The mainstreaming objective specifically refers to efforts to establish client-oriented, gender-sensitive research approaches as credible research methods on the same footing as other scientific research. In designing its strategy for mainstreaming PR&GA approaches, the program developed a set of criteria that would guide the program's actions and enable tracking of progress (see Box 1).Examining the achievements of the program 1 in the context of these mainstreaming criteria shows mixed results. On the one hand, analysis of surveys and impact case studies confirm that PR&GA approaches are effective for applied research. They enable new, more appropriate technologies to emerge or existing ones to be adapted to local conditions. They accelerate the uptake of relevant technologies. Effective partnerships between researchers and farmers are established. These results in themselves are good news. On the other hand, much of the effectiveness of PR&GA approaches to address client demands, particularly those of poor rural women, is critically constrained by an organizational structure predicated on a supply-driven, \"pipeline\" system of innovation.The PRGA conducted several studies with the CGIAR centers. The results of these case studies highlight three interrelated problems that perpetuate the supply-driven, \"pipeline\" system, and hamper the mainstreaming of PR&GA approaches:(1) Fragmented investment in, and application of, PR&GA approaches across the Consultative Group (CG) System 2 leads to the repeated testing of proven approaches under different names, and a slow learning curve in the use of PR&GA approaches. Thus, collectively, International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs) do not evolve beyond a researcher-led type of participation.1. For a comprehensive account of the accomplishments of the PRGA, refer to the Synthesis Document, PRGA (2002). See also Farnworth and Jiggins (2003), Johnson et al. (2000), and Lilja and Erenstein (2002). 2. A total of US$26 million, devoted to PR&GA approaches, is spread among 144 projects over 16 Centers, which raises the question of whether the CGIAR is getting full value for its investment.(2) End-users, such as women, tend to be brought into the participatory research process at a relatively late stage to evaluate technologies that have already been developed and are ready for dissemination. The likelihood of these technologies matching farmers' priorities is small. (3) New methods and practices resulting from farmers' feedback to projects are not being sustained beyond the life of the project because they are institutionalized in the research organizations implementing the projects. Rather, PR&GA approaches remain isolated from and often contradict the dominant paradigm of innovation.A linear model of innovation. Hence, even though there is considerable adoption of gender-sensitive participatory approaches within the CG system, they are integrated into the research process only to a limited extent. This curtails how far their positive impacts can be scaled up.Program on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis (PRGA) mainstreaming criteria• Wide acceptance of gender-sensitive participatory research (PR&GA)   approaches by donors, International Agricultural Research Center (IARC) management, and scientists as valid for achieving scientific research goals (e.g., soil analysis and gender analysis have equivalent legitimacy and validity as research tools).• PR&GA approaches used scientifically in a discriminating fashion for improving research in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) system-not for advocacy or the sake of appearances.• PR&GA approaches assigned sufficient resources at the system level to enable IARCs to apply the approaches and methods when needed to solve priority research problems, to learn from one another's experience, and to conduct strategic research for developing new applications and cuttingedge methodologies.• PR&GA approaches applied to increase gender-equitable stakeholder and client participation in relevant research processes and decisions so that feedback to research, research efficiency, and effectiveness is improved; technology appropriate to different stakeholders is developed; and adoption rates increase among the Consultative Group's priority client groups, such as poor rural women.• PR&GA approaches used by IARCs to develop and promote collaborative research partnerships that incorporate gender-sensitive stakeholder and client participation, and contribute to empowering poor rural women to access new opportunities through technological innovation.• PR&GA approaches used to encourage gender-equitable stakeholder and client representation in CGIAR external and internal reviews, impact assessment, and consultations for strategic planning.An organizational structure predicated on a pipeline approach to innovation severely constrains the efficacy of gender-sensitive participatory approaches by limiting their use to a \"functional\" application. This limitation is largely due to an organizational structure that implicitly supports a hierarchical relationship between researcher and end-users of technologies. Such a model of innovation has been described as one in which \"knowledge flows through a 'pipeline', which has basic activity at one end and knowledge embodied as useful products at the other\" (Clark, 1994). Hence, when participatory approaches are employed in the context of an organizational structure predicated upon such a model of innovation, it does not change the fundamental nature of the relationship between researcher and end-user. As the broader arrows in Figure 1 demonstrate, information flows predominantly from researchers to extension agents and to farmers. (public sector)Figure 1. Participatory approaches and a \"pipeline\" model of innovation. The width of the arrows denotes the major flows of information (adapted from Gauchan et al., 2000).Central to such a linear process of knowledge production and dissemination is the implicit hierarchy inherent to the system. The hierarchy embedded in an organization's approach to innovation is reflected and reinforced by a top-down structure and an organizational culture in which members conform to a hierarchical division of labor that is recreated by complementary mechanisms of rewards and incentives.Limitations to the pipeline approach to innovation. The pipeline approach to innovation has proved effective, particularly in ensuring the success of the Green Revolution. Those CG Centers that were closely associated with its success have demonstrated that such an approach is effective under the following conditions:• When there is a large, uniform demand for a particular technology; • User preferences are well defined; • Quality control is not a problem; • Experiment results on station can be replicated on farm; and • Enforcement is easy (e.g., use more fertilizer).However, several challenges question the continued efficacy of such an approach to innovation. For one, the diverse environments in which research is conducted ensure a high number of end-users whose preferences are poorly defined. Moreover, under such conditions, enforcement of research requirements becomes a problem, as does quality control.Other compelling factors would suggest that the process of innovation move away from a pipeline to a demand-driven, interactive model. For instance, the number of women living in absolute poverty globally rose by 50% in the last 2 decades (in contrast to 30% for men). This statistic becomes all the more alarming because poverty and gender are so intimately linked: It has been shown that an increase in women's income and education has a positive effect on nutrition, child survival, and birth rates. The potential for food security and higher incomes that could result from improving women farmers' access to resources, technology, and information is as great or greater than the gains expected from breeding \"super plants\". Yet global agricultural research and development (R&D) systems are failing to tackle poverty alleviation head on by responding to the demand of rural women for innovations that increase income under their control, relieve drudgery, and generate access to high-value products and new markets (Kaaria and Ashby, 2000).Generated by global trends, pressure is increasing for change on innovation practices. Influences on organizations involved in agriculture and NRM research are coming from many sources, for example, globalization, international and local migration, changes in information technology, the World Trade Organization, and the advocacy of influential civil society groups, such as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). All these influences have a bearing on the decision making of the many actors in technology innovation systems, particularly through funding decisions and the accountability demands that they generate (Gauchan et al., 2000;Biggs, 2002).Clearly, critical pressure is on those involved in agricultural R&D to address the needs of the rural poor in a more effective manner that takes into account the diversity and demands of the rural poor, particularly women.Prompted by such a need, the World Bank has catalyzed a restructuring of the R&D systems of many national agricultural research systems (NARS) to reflect a demand-driven approach to innovation (e.g., Chile). However, what is being ignored in such structural transformation is that change is first required in the culture of the organizations. Hence, the end result is a \"demand-driven\" initiative in a \"pipeline\"-type setting. What is clearly needed for a transformation in innovation approaches is the prerequisite institutional change combined with transformation in the practice and culture of the research organization.Although there is a general paucity of empirical research and experience of such transformations in public sector research organizations, there is a set of theoretical and structural principles for a demand-driven approach to innovation.The first of these is that an \"interactive\" demand-driven approach to innovation is based on the notion that useful knowledge is generated by close collaboration and interactive links between researchers and endusers. This implies a continuous process of negotiation among stakeholders and researchers in order to find compromises between what the different stakeholders want, and what is technically feasible. Table 1 contrasts the \"pipeline\" with the \"interactive\" innovation approach.In structural terms, change from a pipeline to an interactive mode of innovation will require several organizational changes in R&D systems, and several hypotheses exist about what these changes might be. For example, some organizational change literature emphasizes the need for new configurations of knowledge and skills (Rothwell, 1992;Gibbons et al., 1994;Pretty and Chambers, 1994), such as interdisciplinary teams with maximum sharing of information across disciplines. This is based on the notion that an organization's capacity to innovate depends on its ability to respond to problems by assembling relevant people, by building trans-disciplinary teams, and by reconfiguring them into new teams as the questions evolve. The notion of a \"team\" is based on much more than a group coming together, but on how its members are managed so as to make their interaction meaningful. One way suggested for this is through the development of \"metaperspectives\" (Hursh et al., 1983;Brekelbaum, 1985).Other authors (e.g., Gunderson et al., 1995) hypothesize that public sector R&D organizations need to develop policies and internal mechanisms that incorporate feedback from the innovative practices of its members. A different emphasis is that policy changes need to be accompanied by transformations in organizational culture (Gunderson et al., 1995;Leurs, 1996). A survey of the literature allows some hypotheses to be made about the key elements or \"good practices\" that are most likely to characterize an interactive approach to innovation, outlined in Box 2. Gender-sensitive participatory approaches are an integral component to a demand-driven approach to innovation. They are based on a process of discovery, through the formulation of questions and the search for information to address them, in which the end-users of the research are actively engaged. Such involvement means that instead of having research done on their behalf, the subjects take part in designing and implementing the research process, in interpreting the information generated by the research, and in deciding how to use the results.The power of participatory research is realized when it is used in a process of innovation, which has the goal of producing change for theHypothesized best practices of an \"interactive\" model of innovation (See also Douthwaite et al. [2001] for discussion on \"best practices\" in farming systems research and integrated natural resource management.)• Engagement with priority client groups in planning, priority setting for research, and technology design.• Devolution of adaptive research and development to farmers and other resource users in decentralized contexts.• A culture of organizational learning that rewards institutions and professionals that are more accountable for the relevance and quality of their contributions to priority client groups (Kloppenburg, 1991;Pimbert and Pretty, 1995;Chambers, 1997;Posey, 1999;Groot and Maarleveld, 2000).• Collaborative working environments where staff members are rewarded to work effectively in groups that are problem oriented and demand driven (Argyris and Schön, 1978;Senge, 1990;Garvin, 1993;Watkins and Marsick, 1993;Bessant and Caffyn, 1997).• Participatory monitoring and evaluations that involve client groups in providing regular feedback, review, and adjustment of plans, and refinement of the environmental and social knowledge that frames their interventions (Rugh, 1986;Davies, 1995;Fowler et al., 1995;Bekalo, 1997;Estrella and Gaventa, 1997;Bandre, 1998;Guijt, 1998;Mosse et al., 1998).• Critical reflection, particularly of the underlying assumptions, and a willingness to challenge and change them. This process of critical reflection focuses not only on operational procedures and rules, but also on more fundamental assumptions about gender, the dynamics of organizational change, the construction of knowledge related to people-environment interactions, the role of individual attitudes and behaviors on embracing and learning from error, and methodological issues (Habermas, 1987;Freire, 1993;Dilworth, 1996;Freire, 1998).benefit of the participants. This process begins with the participatory diagnosis of problems or opportunities for innovation that enables the subjects to analyze and understand the problem or the need to be addressed, and continues through the process of participation in discovering, designing, testing, adapting, and adopting innovations.Why do participatory research? Researchers have become interested in it for two main reasons. One is that it promises to make their research more effective and more efficient. Agricultural technologies developed using participatory methodologies have proven to take less time to develop (from conception to adaptation and adoption), and to have higher and faster adoption rates than those developed in the more favorable conditions and the isolation of research stations. Having been developed by the people who need them and expect to use them, innovations produced by participatory research are rapidly disseminated to other people with similar needs and opportunities, with whom the participants in the research want to share their results. This motivation is often referred to as \"functional participation\".The other allure of participatory research is that the process itself is a catalyst for change. It can strengthen the capacity of farmers to conduct more of their own research and to effect demand on the formal research system according to their needs and priorities. It also can create a sense of efficacy and self-worth, a respect for the value of combining expert knowledge and lay experience, skills for facilitating participation, and confidence that the power to catalyze innovation and change is within reach. This is often referred to as \"empowering participation\" (see Sanginga et al., 2002).The concept of an \"organizational culture\". The methodology is informed by the view of an organization as \"culture\". This moves away from the notion of an organization that is typically represented through an organigram. This popular organizational image with its linear, compartmentalizing, and dividing functions, and denoting a hierarchy that gives status and authority to those at the \"top\" over work and effort of those at the bottom, gives a semblance of rationality and logic and deters challenge. Drawing from the Weber (1967) model of a bureaucracy, this model is considered a rational way of organizing and controlling joint endeavors, and conforms closely to a \"pipeline\" approach to innovation. Increasingly, the view of an organization as a complex set of relationships with its own \"culture\" is emerging in the organizational development literature (e.g., see Alvesson, 1993;Brown, 1995;Schultz, 1995), as well as in popular discourse. As an author on organizational culture (Handy, 1989) notes:\"Organizations used to be perceived as gigantic pieces of engineering, with largely interchangeable human parts. We talked of their structures and their systems, of inputs and outputs, of control devices, and of managing them as if the whole was one large factory. Today, the language is not that of engineering but of politics, with talk of cultures and networks, of teams and coalitions, of influence or power rather than control, of leadership not management. It is as if we had suddenly woken up to the fact that organizations were made up of people, after all, not just 'hands' or roles' occupants.\"This suggests a notion of an organization removed from traditional models based on the Weberian concept and replaced with more human, inclusive, and less punishing forms that facilitate both organizational and individual performance, and allow for learning and growth. Accordingly, organizational culture can be conceived in many different ways: As societal or national culture, as corporate culture, and as a homogenous or heterogeneous organizational culture (Wilson, 2001). Subcultures can be identified within the boundaries of an organization, and may be based on or across departments, or on occupations or other interest groups, for instance within the managerial group. The effect of gender on organizational culture is the topic of numerous studies of organizational researchers that have shown how organizational norms and values that are gendered affect organizational outcomes (e.g., Martin, 1992;Mills and Tancred, 1992;Itzin and Newman, 1995;Alvesson and Billing, 1997;Wilson, 2001). Similarities can also be seen across organizations (Turner and Hulme, 1997). Some features of organizational culture include the use of symbols to convey meaning, the rites and rituals of organizational life, the use of specialized language within particular concerns, socialization and norms, the moral code transmitted by the organization, and attempts to manipulate culture (Wilson, 2001). Such a view of an organization is more consistent with a demand-driven approach to innovation.The model of an organization employed in this study attempts to draw together structural elements that are usually represented in the traditional organigram, as well as the more \"hidden\" aspects of an organization that play a decisive function in terms of how its members, by those in leadership, and by other stakeholders develop and manage policies, decisions, incentives, and the values, attitudes, and image. This framework will be employed for two purposes:(1) As a tool to analyze and assess opportunities and constraints for organizational development; and (2) As a tool for developing action plans.The proposed framework includes three dimensions of an organization:(1) At the first level is the technical dimension. This is the most visible and tangible aspect of the organization and can be accessed through printed publications, policy statements, public relations manuals, and the like. The technical dimension is the public face of the organization, and this is what is usually represented in the organigram. It includes three elements: The policy or mandate, the tasks and responsibilities, and the human resources or expertise of an organization.(2) Second is the political dimension of an organization. This is less tangible and is also referred to as the socio-political dimension. It represents those aspects of an organization that are more \"hidden\" from both public scrutiny and some internal members. The \"hidden\" nature of this dimension suggests that it is a more \"fuzzy\" and subjective arena in which decisions are made, policies are formulated, and individual members negotiate \"spaces\" in which to maneuver and innovate.(3) Third is the cultural dimension, which is the non-tangible aspect of an organization. It represents those often unquestioned, but embedded, organizational elements that influence the norms and values underlying the running of the organization; the way work relations between staff and outsiders are organized; and the way members feel and think about their work environment and about other members. This dimension is comprised of three elements: Organizational culture, cooperation, and attitudes.Taken together, the three dimensions and the nine elements are contained in a framework, where they cannot be viewed as separate and distinct aspects of an organization, but rather as an axis of meaning that runs across and down the elements (Box 3).An initial survey was conducted to assess the total number of projects in CIAT that were involved in using gender-sensitive participatory approaches. This was followed by a request to each project to give a brief description of the project and what type of participatory and gender analysis (GA) tools were being used. Next came a questionnaire survey, based on the nine elements of the organizational framework, which was sent to 30 people to elicit individual responses to the three dimensions of the organization (CIAT).Interviews were also conducted with 27 individual members. They ranged from senior management to project leaders and scientists in CIAT. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with the aim of assessing the organizational culture of CIAT that included such factors as its history, its social relations, the values and attitudes of organizational members regarding gender-sensitive participatory approaches in particular, and the role of social sciences in the organization.Finally, extensive secondary sources were employed to become familiar with the extensive literature on organizational development, models, and approaches to innovation, and CIAT's record of research.Organizational framework (Groverman and Gurung [2001], adapted from Tichy [1982]) underlying these which a staff member arrangements.identifies with the dominant culture of the organization.The analytical narrative is based on two major questions that link closely to the principles contained in the \"best practices\" of a demand-driven approach to innovation.(1) What type of critical mass of PR&GA expertise exists within CIAT?(2) What is the nature of \"organizational adaptability\" in terms of new approaches to innovation?These questions have been addressed in the context of the following elements contained in the organizational framework: Expertise in PR&GA approaches, policy, organizational culture, attitudes, room to maneuver and innovate, and reward and incentives (Box 3).Engaging with end-users: A diversity of practices. This refers to the extent projects employ PR&GA; the quality and level of capacity for their differentiated use by those using such approaches; access to alliances and partnerships for new information by interested members; and organizational policy regarding such approaches (Figure 2). Slightly more than 58 projects in CIAT are involved in the use of participatory approaches for R&D, excluding the systemwide PRGA. This number constitutes about 34% of the total number of projects within CIAT.The experiences in participatory approaches range from their use in extension, for the effective dissemination of technologies, to developing the capacity of end-users (farmers) to better enable them to participate in the R&D process. Based upon their own descriptions of project activities, the projects and their participatory experiences can be classified into seven categories of participation:(1) For extension, (2) To elicit local knowledge, (3) To develop capacity of end-users, (4) For extension and capacity development, (5) For extension, integrating local knowledge, (6) For extension, capacity development, and integrating local knowledge, and (7) For capacity development using local knowledge.All these categories employ a number of approaches to engage with end-users. They include a wide range of approaches from the more conventional on-farm trials and evaluations to the more innovative approaches, such as participatory plant breeding (PPB), participatory varietal selections (PVS), farmer field schools (FFSs), Committees for Local Agricultural Research (CIALs, the Spanish acronym), and a variety of other methods that are designed to engage more meaningfully with end-users.By far the largest number of cases of projects using participatory approaches falls into this category. In sum, 34 projects claim to be using participatory approaches for activities that can generally be termed as \"extension\". The term covers a wide range of activities: Technology transfer, on-farm trials, evaluations, FFS, PPB, and PVS.Within the larger category of \"extension\", projects can be further divided into several subcategories. For instance, 26 projects use participatory approaches for technology development, but are not necessarily involved in development of end-users' capacity to participate in the R&D process as such. Technology development may occur through either formal or informal feedback mechanisms, such as on-farm trials, evaluations, and PVS, and be disseminated through either FFS or more conventional approaches.The absence of capacity development of end-users to participate in the R&D process does not imply an absence of decision-making ability, however. For instance, the Populational Rice Breeding Program works on demand generated by farmers. In the Technology Transfer for Cassava Disease Project, working in the North Coast of Colombia, farmers were instrumental in seeking support by identifying and presenting problems of root rot in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) to the project. Additionally, in another case, farmers obtained additional funds to supplement funds already granted by the Ministry of Agriculture to seek support from the project on Integrated management of moko in plantain (Musa × paradisiacal L.). These are examples of end-users' active involvement in decision-making processes that influences the outcome and direction of the research.A smaller number of projects falls into this category. Only two research projects are working exclusively on integrating local knowledge with scientific practice. The Participatory Mapping Project, working collaboratively with a local NGO, seeks to compare \"expert\" and \"local\" knowledge to create a common spatial language to improve communication between communities and institutions. Two other projects-one on soils, which seeks to understand local knowledge of soils and soil management at the landscape level, and another on the mapping of resources and nutrient flows in the watershed-seek similarly to understand local knowledge for integration with scientific practice. The level of farmer participation in terms of decision making varies in these projects. In the former project, farmers are involved in the decisionmaking process in a meaningful way, but less so in the latter.Participation for capacity development. The various projects are conducting a wide range of capacity development activities, including PPB, PVS, building research committees, local organizational capacity, manuals, tools, and networking.Fifteen projects fall into this category. Developing the capacity of endusers is strongly emphasized in several ways. For instance, a farmer breeding workshop was conducted with the aim of exploring the feasibility and methods for complementing farmer-experts' knowledge and skills to enhance and conserve biodiversity. This was part of a larger initiative in PPB to enhance the capacity of women and small-scale farmers in Africa and Latin America. Another project on participatory development for lowcost, simplified rustic tissue culture for cassava works with farmers to conduct in-vitro seed multiplication and set up artisan tissue laboratories so that they can perform their own multiplication. Similarly, the Artisanal Seed Production Project works with NGOs in Honduras and Nicaragua to train local communities in seed production. Also in this category, CIAT conducted a workshop for 25 participants to train them in rainfall measurement techniques, and improving the capacity of local communities to participate in a larger network.Enhancing and developing local organizational capacity is another important area for capacity development. Using a combination of CIAL methodologies and variations that have sprung from its basic approach, the Hillsides initiative works in several areas of Latin America to develop the organizational and research capacity of local people, particularly youth.Perhaps the most significant work in the capacity development of endusers has been that of CIAT's Participatory Research in Agriculture (IPRA). The primary focus has been the development of CIALs, which have mushroomed throughout Latin America. Exploration is underway also to expand an adapted version of this methodology to Africa and Asia. In IPRA, five projects are involved presently in capacity development for research and developing networks for farmer groups. Research capacity development focuses on sustaining existing CIALs. It also includes enabling integrated pest management (IPM) programs to include farmers as partners in research and learning. In terms of establishing networking capabilities, it brings groups from Central America to Colombia to visit CIALs to identify and extract lessons so that these can be extrapolated and adapted to conditions in Central America. One project in this category is involved in utilizing local knowledge-the project on crop-livestock decision support to understand farmer decision making, developing scenarios with farmers for evaluating alternative options and implications of changing management practices at farm levels.Two projects are involved in this category. The project working with indigenous people on cassava integrated women's preferences for cassava (starch content over yields) in the project design, while developing local organizational capacity through training to sustain activities beyond the life of the project. The Beyond Agricultural Productivity to Poverty Alleviation Project has attempted to integrate farmer experimentation, planning, and market identification in a development initiative.Eight projects fall into this category that attempt to develop the capacity of end-users by building on local knowledge and cognitive categories for decision making. In the initiative on rural agro-enterprises, in collaboration with beneficiaries, a number of tools and methods were developed. They focus on interest group formation, market opportunity identification, participatory planning to identify possibilities for value addition in the production-supply chain, and to facilitate multistakeholder decision making amongst farmers, NGOs, and governmental organizations. Finally, the initiative on agro-enterprise development also has adopted the CIAL methodology for postharvest technologies.Tools and methods for the community-based management of genetic resources in hillsides landscapes also are being developed through working with farmers and a local NGO to use in a mapping project.In order to sustain the diversity of experience for participatory approaches within CIAT, the quantity and quality of human resources available must be assessed. This includes an assessment of training opportunities, and the capacity development needs of those members already involved in the use of participatory approaches. In addition to human resources, it is also pertinent to assess the organizational policy regarding gender-sensitive participatory approaches. Have such approaches been integrated into the organization's policy, or do they evolve as practice among some projects only? Finally, it is important to the assessment to understand who in the organization is responsible for managing, developing, and disseminating information related to gender-sensitive participatory approaches. Are they confined to projects, or is there a larger organizational awareness supported by information flows among and between the various projects?In terms of expertise, the review is mixed. Responding to a survey questionnaire distributed among 35 professional staff members of CIAT, most felt that they were not fully trained in the use of gender-sensitive participatory approaches. Many also expressed the opinion that there was insufficient capacity within their particular projects to deal effectively with the full range of participatory approaches (functional to empowering). The response of one member is typical: \"There is a lack of true social science background and backstopping by those providing support in participatory research approaches\".Although many of the projects describe the involvement of women in some of their activities, there was little or no GA conducted in a systematic manner. As a result, the report only refers to participatory approaches.Almost paradoxically, despite the numerous projects engaged in the use of participatory approaches, most respondents said that new staff selection in projects with a participatory component did not require them to possess or demonstrate experience in the use of such methods. In a few cases only, experience in participatory approaches was a precondition for selection into the project.Response was also mixed on how new staff members to a project with a participatory component were familiarized into the use of such approaches. Most agreed that a new member of the project was \"on his/ her own\" in terms of developing capacity to use participatory approaches. This usually involved learning from manuals, where available, or \"learning by doing\" in the field. But no formal training was given in most cases. Most staff members in the projects were not adequately trained or updated on new knowledge with regard to participatory approaches.Most respondents felt there was an acute need for a \"service\" function to be provided by IPRA or PRGA. Some thought of these two programs interchangeably and made no attempt to understand their relative differences. Moreover, many felt rather strongly about the absence of support from IPRA and the PRGA, and a common refrain was \"We need the assistance of specific projects dealing with the issue\". From IPRA, the expectations were in the form of capacity development for gendersensitive participatory approaches and timely dissemination of information regarding new developments in the field. However, there was little discussion about the structural adjustments that would be required for IPRA to provide more \"services\" and play a \"supportive\" role, while also functioning like any other project with research commitments and funding contingencies.No official organizational policy exists in CIAT for the use of gendersensitive participatory approaches. Their use in CIAT can be attributed largely to a combination of events that include interest by some proponents from within and donor support from outside. However, the question of whether an official policy for the use of such approaches would contribute to overall efficacy and performance remains a divided issue among members who responded to the survey. Some argued that a high percentage of demand-driven activities already exists, although the exact nature of this process as it relates to the best practices outlined earlier is unclear. In another case, the project had to justify its use of participatory approaches against the donor's ambivalence for such.Many argued that a policy for PR&GA approaches was irrelevant and may actually prove too constrictive, and provide an inflexible research environment. The statement of one respondent perhaps typifies the general consensus on the need for a policy on PR&GA approaches: \"There is no specific policy for participatory approaches\", there is nevertheless \"explicit agreement that participatory research approaches should be incorporated in every aspect of the program\". However, in the absence of a policy, the question that emerges and remains unanswered is: What are the processes by which accountability of research to end-users in ensured? Moreover, given the nature of the divergent assumptions of participatory approaches that exist among organizational members, this question has critical implications for the sustained introduction of demand-driven approaches to innovation.Finally, in relation to the noted absence of the use of GA in the projects, clearly a more extensive study needs to be conducted to assess whether this absence is related to a lack of capacity amongst researchers and projects to conduct GA in a systematic manner, or whether the problem lies in gendered workplace practices, such as the inequitable representation between men and women in the organization and its hierarchy.Functional to empowering approaches to participation. The great number of projects using participatory approaches suggests an important organizational environment for the development of a demand-driven approach to innovation. However, this critical mass of experience must be assessed in the concept of two important concepts of participation, separate but interlinked, which are at the heart of a discussion on a demand-driven approach to innovation-functional/empowering.Various responses were given to this question. A large majority felt that participatory approaches were highly effective in the transfer of technologies and an important conduit for understanding the needs of the end-users. Many of these responses came from those involved in research on commodities. In a similar vein, some acknowledged that farmers and other end-users could provide important information that could be utilized in R&D. Hence, the knowledge generated from the management of natural resources and crops, and the cognitive categories of decision-making processes, was viewed as an important resource that needed to be understood, elicited, and integrated with scientific practice (e.g., modeling, soils).The general response of those in this category was that participatory approaches were an efficient means to involve end-users in the adoption of technologies. Moreover, to the extent that they were useful tools to achieve this end, such approaches should not be viewed as a \"religion\": The use of the term \"religion\" was alluding to some members in the organization who had become \"messianic\" proponents of participatory approaches.In contrast are those members who, while recognizing the \"functional\" efficacy of participatory approaches to speedier adoptions by end-users, also recognized their use as a means to involve end-users in more \"meaningful ways\". More specifically, this involvement referred to enabling end-users to participate in the decisions, and hence catalyze change, both in the R&D activities and in their own capacity to organize and sustain change. These were achieved primarily through developing the capacity of farmers and other end-users in more upstream research (e.g., PPB in cassava), involvement of farmers in their own research (CIALs), and capacity development for local organizational capacity.This refers to the autonomy, allowance for innovation, and encouragement given to those who aim to learn and increase their capabilities within the boundaries of the work environment.CIAT has a reward and incentive system that recognizes achievement by its staff in several categories. Of particular interest to the analysis is the Outstanding Research Publication Award (ORPA). The selection criteria for a publication are generally based on: Newness and originality of its content, scientific content, and the prestige of the publishing journal. However, no publication regarding participatory methods, impacts, or learning and change has ever appeared in this award category. Moreover, no publication with social science content has been awarded this recognition. In the years 1990-2001, the winners of this award have comprised publications from the biophysical sciences.The chairman of the selection committee put forward several reasons for this. First, there were few publications with social science content. Second, most social science publications in CIAT have appeared as conference documents, and few have appeared in review journals. The implications of this are several. First, there is a need to question why social scientists publish so infrequently in review journals. And, if this is the case, why do social scientists not publish? Finally, is the poor publication record by social sciences indicative of the role they are expected to play within the larger CGIAR system?This refers to how the organization responds to complex problems. The nature of the response is intimately linked to how R&D systems are organized and managed, whether there is emphasis on multi-or trans-disciplinary teams, and whether reward and incentive structures are consistent with innovative methods (e.g., demand-led PR&GA approaches).Experimenting with models of innovation. Drawing upon two events in the historical record provides critical insight into the organizational potential that exists for a move to a demand-driven approach to innovation within CIAT. These events refer to how CIAT responded to the challenge of institutional change to become more consistent with recognition of the need to focus research beyond the discrete commodity to more complex environmental concerns. The compelling need for institutional transformation was as much a concern for the CGIAR system as it was for CIAT, coming as it did from considerable donor pressure.Recognizing the limitations of the \"pipeline\" type approach to innovation, particularly when confronted with complex environmental (as opposed to commodity) concerns, considerable pressure was placed on the CGIAR system to make institutional transformations that were more consistent with the complex and larger problems confronting the rural poor. The donors sought to complement this new policy by ( 1) setting new research objectives for IARCs and (2) catalyzing structural change to the CG system as a whole. CIAT's response to these thematic, structural changes and approaches to innovation, provides a useful context in which to assess organizational adaptability.In a major study, Reece (1998) proposes that CIAT responded in two ways to the challenge for institutional transformation: (1) through formal authority, and (2) experiential learning.Formal authority. This refers to the changes instituted by the then Director General of CIAT (and supported by the donors), which is encompassed in the 1991 Strategic Plan. Reece argues that, while the plan indicated that changes in methods of working were a precondition of meeting the environment-related concerns expressed by donors, the reforms that it outlined did not act directly upon the professional practice of the center's staff, nor upon the style of innovation that this produced. Instead, they concentrated upon structural change at the level of the center. New programs with new objectives were added, while new goals were set for all four of the existing programs. Although these reforms were undertaken at the level of the overall center, they did result in some changes within its components (the programs).Moreover, in terms of the extent to which such changes represented a move away from a pipeline approach to innovation is also ambiguous. First, the commodity programs responded to the reforms by revising their objectives and went on to develop an impressive range of research projects related to the management of renewal natural resources. This approach had both achievements and limitations: The focus remained on the crop, rather than the ecosystem within which the crop was grown. The objective was to manage the surroundings of the crop so that the germplasm developed could achieve its full potential by productivity-oriented research. Crop yield was still assumed to be the primary objective. A result of these assumptions was that research projects based upon them tended to be at the scale of the plot, rather than that of the landscape of even the individual farm.Thus, the new emphasis on NRM did not result in a material change in the model of innovation. Rather, programs pursued new objectives in a manner consistent with their earlier approach to innovation. In particular, the exclusion of rural people from their systems of interest meant that these stakeholders had little or no scope to take part in negotiating the definitions of the research questions to be addressed, and hence the design of the innovations that resulted from this process. This relative \"isolation\" from stakeholders was rooted in the CGIAR's conventional wisdom, which held that scientists could work most effectively when they were protected from \"political\" pressures, and free to get on with the job of developing valuable new technologies. Underlying this view was the assumption that \"new technology is the key leading factor in the process of desired social change\" (Anderson et al., 1991;p. 31).Experiential learning. By contrast, the work of the Hillsides Program represented a different approach to the challenge of institutional transformation through a different approach to innovation. In terms of accomplishing organizational change within CIAT, the leadership of the program was aware that certain institutional prerequisites needed to be addressed. The team believed that organizational evolution would occur when scientists went through a process of learning and instituted such learning to processes of change in other projects within CIAT. This process of information sharing and collective learning are key elements of the demand-driven model of innovation.The Hillsides Program's strategy for reforming CIAT depended upon the learning process that collaboration with the Inter Program Project (IPP) would provide for the scientists involved. The IPP strategy was to involve staff from different parts of CIAT in an effective \"demand-driven\" approach to innovation, and it was expected that it would catalyze widespread questioning of the assumptions linked to the pipeline approach to innovation. In turn, this learning process depended upon the quality of staff's interactions with the members of different groups, people whose viewpoint would call into question assumptions held by the scientists.The Hillsides Program was strongly influenced, and to some extent frustrated, by CIAT's center-level characteristics and policies. The capacity of the program to modify its organizational environment was limited.The most obvious contradiction concerned the applicability of the program's research to other contexts. As a member of the CGIAR, CIAT was mandated to produce technologies with a broad agro-ecological application. These were expected to take the form of generic knowledge that could be used by the national programs of member countries in their own, more location-specific, technology development activities. The Hillsides Program was instead conducting research in the context of application, building local-level institutions within a particular watershed. Hence, one criticism was that it was too location specific. This prompted the program leadership to justify its work in terms of the opportunities that it would offer for developing a \"strategic understanding of how to intervene in a hillside agro-ecosystem (CIAT, 1993; section 1.3) so that it could be applied elsewhere. In effect, its justification had forced it to justify one important aspect of the demand-driven model of innovation in terms of the pipeline model.Moreover, implementation of this approach was further hampered by organizational characteristics. The organizational policy that all programs should work in collaboration with external bodies proved inappropriate, even though partnerships is a key element of a demand-driven model of innovation. Why? Because it obliged the program to work in close collaboration with a range of partners, many of whom neither understood nor shared the objectives that the program had envisioned. As a result, the objectives of the program changed between conception and execution.One critical aspect for the success of such an approach is that it is predicated on certain organizational characteristics (incentives to share ideas between disciplines, the manner in which specialists define their roles, the availability of facilitation skills to manage this kind of interaction effectively). However, CIAT as a whole did not satisfy this condition. Hence, this experience suggests that effective implementation of change in style of innovation practiced by an organization requires a wide range of changes at different levels of the organization. Change that is possible at a project level requires support at the highest level if it is to be sustained at the level of the organization.Several lessons emerge from this study; they have been outlined in a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis.The introduction of a demand-driven process can be built upon several positive aspects.Many members within the organization for gender-sensitive participatory approaches are also extensively committed and experienced. These experiences range from function to empowering approaches to PR&GA approaches. Many of these members expressed keen interest in enhancing their capacities to develop expertise in PR&GA approaches as well as \"support\" from other projects or members with more experience or disciplinary training in their application CIAT.A key prerequisite condition for any organizational transformation is the support from key members in the leadership. The commitment from senior members in the management that include those in research and administration, as well as the Director General, provides a positive organizational environment for introducing the mainstreaming of demand-driven approaches to innovation.Institutional context for change. Additionally, the establishment of the Institute for Rural Innovation is another positive development in that it provides a structural/institutional context upon which a demand-driven approach to innovation can be built.Absence of gender analysis. The notable absence of a GA component in the most projects raises two important questions: (1) does this result from a lack of capacity for GA; and/or (2) does this speak to the gender practices in the workplace, that is, the unequal numbers between men and women, particularly in the professional category? This is a topic that the Gender and Diversity Committee in CIAT needs to address in its forthcoming study and its proposed activities.Leadership alone is not a sufficient condition for change. One major lesson that emerged from CIAT's experimentation with approaches to innovation is that formal authority, although an important element to change, is not a sufficient condition for change. Structural changes need to be complemented with changes in the \"culture\" of the organization. Cultural change is a slow process that requires continual efforts by change agents from within who can \"champion\" through personal commitment and skills in influencing behavioral changes amongst colleagues. Such agents of change themselves require organizational structures that reward their efforts and provide them with legitimate authority and decisionmaking roles.Absence of a forum. Among the numerous strategies for affecting cultural change, one critical factor is perhaps the establishment of a \"formal\" process of exchange and debate, where differing views and strategies for reaching the poor can be shared. While it can be argued that such information flows already exist informally through \"parking lot\" or \"dining room\" exchanges, it nevertheless is important that a more \"formal\" process be initiated to legitimate the discussions and their content. Such a forum would go a long way in addressing some of the differing views and entrenched opinions of members that flow from the \"divergent assumptions\" regarding gender-sensitive participatory approaches.The absence is notable of explicit criteria to reward those individuals or groups that are involved in the practice of innovative processes for learning and change in the existing award structure of CIAT. One important lesson that emerges from CIAT's experimentation with alternative approaches to innovation (the \"experiential learning\" of the Hillsides Program) was the absence of rewards and incentives for its members. Although \"donor support\" for individual projects involved in conducting innovative approaches may be considered a form of incentive, and an important one at that, it does not preclude the importance of organizational incentives. Internally generated incentives for a (disciplinary) diversity of innovative practices have critical implications for the culture of the organization.The commitment from CIAT's leadership (Management, Board, Project Leaders/Managers and the Director General) for mainstreaming gendersensitive participatory approaches to enable a demand-driven approach to innovation provides a potentially supportive organizational environment.Moreover, the establishment of the Institute for Rural Innovation provides an institutional context for mainstreaming demand-driven approaches.Finally, it needs to be emphasized that, although a generally supportive organizational environment exists for mainstreaming demand-driven approaches to innovation, a concrete plan of action needs to be developed to address the following threats. Diversity of \"unquestioned\" assumptions of the role and function regarding gender-sensitive participatory approaches, particularly as such assumptions are embedded in some aspects of the \"organizational culture\". These can be potentially disruptive to a cohesive organizational culture and could be further exacerbated in the absence of a forum for discussion. Strategies for organizational transformation need a combination of formal authority and experiential learning. Institutional transformation will need to be further complemented through prerequisite changes in other aspects of the organization, namely policy, reward and incentive, and team approaches. Finally, the absence of a more explicit policy structure/mechanism for generating accountability to end-users (poor farmers, and particularly women) needs to be addressed. Accountability to donors does not ensure that research practice will necessarily be client oriented."}

main/part_2/0065189302.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f47e80fdf9025cb54843d0f4aee2d0ac","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4f39a037-4dc8-4d11-9894-a32921bdd4d4/retrieve","id":"-53899127"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"2632c3cc-7a00-4ce9-b527-820c6cd71f74","content":"ldl>t v] tLdf kfgLsf] ax' pkof] u kfgLsf] ax' pkof] u k| 0ffnLsf] k| of] u k| 0ffnLsf] k| of] uldl>t v] tL ! df kfgLsf] ax' pkof] u k| 0ffnL -d' ;_ sf] k| of] u kl/roM ax' pkof] u kfgL k| 0ffnLdf Pp6} kfgLsf] ;| f] tnfO{ k| efjsf/L tyf plrt Joj:yfkgaf6 vfg] kfgL, 3/fo;L k| of] u tyf l;F rfOdf k| of] u ug{ ] ul/G5 . o;n] ls;fgx¿sf] kfgL;DaGwL ljleGg cfjZostf k\" /f ug{ of] hgfa4 tl/sfn] kfgLsf] ;+ sng, e08f/0f, k' gMk| of] u, ljt/0f / k' ge{ /0f ug] { sfo{ nfO{ ;d] 6] sf] x' G5 . dWokxf8L If] qsf] ldl>t v] tL k| 0ffnLdf ;' wf/ Nofpg ax' pkof] u kfgL k| 0ffnL (Multi-use Water System: MUS) Pp6f gjkl/jt{ lgo k| ljlwsf] ¿kdf b] vf k/] sf] 5 . o; k| ljlwnfO{ g] kfndf d' ; klg eGg] ul/G5 . of] hgfa4 tl/sfn] lgdf{ 0f ul/Pdf, o; k| 0ffnLn] kfgLsf ljleGg cfjZostfx¿nfO{ k| efjsf/L ¿kdf k\" /f ub{ 5 .ldl>t v] tL k| 0ffnLdf d' ;sf kmfObfx¿M ldl>t v] tLdf ufO{ a:t' sf] cfxfn, df5fkfng / l;F rfO nufotsf cfjZostfx¿df kfgLsf] kx' F r k| bfg ul/ k| fKt x' g] k| ltkmndf o;n] ;' wf/ NofpF 5 . o;n] ls;fgx¿nfO{ kfgLsf ;| f] tsf] k| efjsf/L / clwstd pkof] u ;' lglZrt x' g] u/L of] hgf agfpg / Joj:yfkg ug{ ;xof] u ub{ 5 . kfgLsf] 3/fo;L / l;F rfO cfjZostf b' j} nfO{ PsLs[ t u/L lbuf] v] tLsf] cEof; / kfgLsf] ;| f] t Joj:yfkgnfO{ o;n] k| j4{ g ub{ 5 . v] / uPsf] kfgL h:t} efG5faf6 lg:sg] kfgL / jiff{ sf] kfgLnfO{ ;+ sng u/L ax' pkof] u kfgL k| 0ffnLdf PsLs [ t ug{ ;lsG5 . n3' l;F rfO k| ljlwx¿, h:t} M yf]     "}

main/part_2/0067360072.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"de58db9bf838615bcf9949b5e1d4e39e","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/9622ef78-b1a2-4bf9-90d2-7c8ac155a2b7/retrieve","id":"169617467"},"keywords":["Alberto Monteblanco","Senior Accountant Treasury Unit Lenny Guazzotti","Treasury Assistant 2 Milagros Patiño","Treasurer Sonnia Solari","Chief Cashier"],"sieverID":"dfe5ac38-9909-46de-bfea-db55b06a4d9f","content":"Economists and development experts agree that one of the best ways to promote rural development in sub-Saharan Africa is for farm enterprises to tap into local and international markets. For African farmers to take advantage of market opportunities, however, they will need to produce higher quality products that are delivered on time and in sufficient quantity. To link farmers and markets, PRAPACE encourages participatory research involving community-based organizations, the private sector, and national research and development programs.A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 0 2 FUELING GROWTH, HEALTH, AND PROSPERITYAlthough in many ways 2002 was a year of struggle for the International Potato Center, it was also one of revitalization. Decreases in funding forced us to make difficult choices involving staff reduction and program restriction, which were offset by a drive to heighten efficiencies and build up fundraising efforts. The result, for which all of CIP staff deserves great credit, was positive. We reached the end of the year with a much smaller deficit than we had anticipated (see A shared effort to sustain impact, page 85) and were able to rebuild our reserves to a level that we could feel comfortable with. All of this set the stage for a balanced budget for 2003 and a period of solid reconstruction.Management Review (EPMR), conducted in early 2002, acknowledged the Center's \"significant achievements\" and signaled the2 0 0 2 strengths that have contributed to these, as well as areas that required improvement. The CGIAR interim Science Council (iSC) endorsed the EPMR's findings with a call for greater support to CIP \"as the key supplier of international public good research for roots and tubers.\"One of the key responses to the EPMR recommendations was the decision to embark upon a CIP Vision exercise (see A new CIP Vision, page 55). For this exercise, which will culminate in 2003, we are using the roadmapping approach introduced to CIP by David MacKenzie. Throughout the six years he served on our Board of Trustees, David was a tremendous source of guidance, inspiration, and encouragement for the Center, and his unexpected illness and death in the course of the year signified a great loss to the CIP community. His keen insight, nonetheless, continues to guide us.At CIP, we are convinced that roots and tubers are the foods of the future. In an era when these crops are clearly growing in importance as sources of food, nutrition, and improved livelihoods, especially in the countries we serve, we are committed to working effectively to realize their enormous potential in fueling growth, health, and prosperity. They are tremendously adaptable, demonstrate high production efficiency, provide flexibility for responding to health concerns, are versatile as income generators, and, perhaps most important, have a potential for improvement in productivity that is nowhere near being exhausted.In 2002 we also confirmed the importance of our work in the areas of natural resource management and urban agriculture. CIP participated actively in the CGIAR systemwide process of identifying high priority Challenge Programs, in particular through the formulation of two proposals centered on efforts led by us: the Global Mountain Program and the Strategic Initiative for Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture. Although these two initiatives were not chosen within the first group of Challenge Programs to be launched, the iSC, donors, and other stakeholders insisted that we sustain and strengthen them to guarantee an 8Director General enhanced response to the real and actual global challenges they address. As we did so, CIP scientists continued to explore ways of contributing to the Challenge Programs that have gone forward: Biofortified Crops for Improved Human Nutrition, principally with the work of the Vitamin A for Africa (VITAA) partnership to combat vitamin A deficiency; Water and Food, with our growing capabilities in natural resource management and development of modeling tools; and Unlocking Genetic Diversity in Crops for the Resource Poor, an effort that has been at the heart of CIP's research since the Center's founding.In addition, despite the increased demands on our staff, CIP made steady progress in research on many other fronts. This included outstanding advances, for instance, in bacterial wilt research involving rapid screening for resistance traits and improvements in integrated disease management. More than 20 years of investment in breeding for virus resistance also bore fruit with the incorporation of resistance to two major potato viruses-PVX and PVY-into our premier late-blight-resistant populations as well as other promising breeding lines. You will read about many other Center achievements in the pages that follow.As CIP moves forward into 2003, we are concentrating on rebuilding our capabilities in Asia and Africa, some of which have been lost through downsizing, others through natural attrition. The Vision exercise will help us to target the areas of extreme need within those regions where CIP's contribution can make a distinct difference. As always, we thank the donors who have stood by us in 2002, especially those who provide the core funds that are the pillars of our research program, and we look forward to continuing to work with them for a promising-and fruitful-2003.PRESERVING THE CORE, STIMULATING PROGRESS This Annual Report provides an opportunity to reflect on the process in which CIP finds itself immersed: the creation of a new Vision for the Center. We see food security, human and environmental health, and adequate livelihoods as fundamental rights of all people, and our aim is to contribute to their fulfillment as effectively as possible. To do so, we must be selective. The Vision exercise will help us to focus our work and increase our impact on the interrelated challenges we face. Recognition of our core competencies-the pillars of our success-will help us to pinpoint the areas where we can make the biggest difference. At the same time, the analysis of emerging needs and opportunities in the light of these competencies will allow us to identify where we need renewed impetus.In the following pages, you will read about activities that have been at the foundation of our research agenda from the outset, and also about areas where we are making new headway. Our work in conservation and breeding has paved the way for advances in combating important diseases such as late blight, contributing both to the development of new potato varieties with durable resistance and to the protection of biodiversity in this crop's center of origin (Late blight research zeros in on a moving target, page 35). More than 30 years of experience in participatory, integrated crop management has facilitated the application of new ways of dealing with emerging pest problems (Global cooperation needed to combat leafminer fly, page 21). And in Africa, two decades of cooperative networking has creating a crucial support system for VITAA (Vitamin A for Africa), a food-based approach to combating vitamin A deficiency that is offering hope to millions (Neighbors helping neighbors, page 11). Meanwhile, CIP researchers are developing innovative modeling tools for systems analysis that support sound decision making on technological change and resource investment (New modeling tools simplify decision making in complex mountain ecosystems, page 27). In Asia, a fortified regional approach promises to help us realize the enormous potential of root and tuber crops for responding to urgent food and income needs (Scientists prepare for new era of CIP-China cooperation, page 45).We are pleased to share these accomplishments with you on behalf of all of our many stakeholders: the donors, researchers, agents of change, policy makers, and farmers throughout the world who we labor side by side with to make it all work, and to make it work for all. \"This is the kind of good-news story that you don't hear much about in the media,\" says PRAPACE Coordinator Berga Lemaga, \"but it's not all that unusual either. In Africa, when problems arise neighbors try to help neighbors.\" Today, Rwanda produces nearly three times as many potatoes as it did 20 years ago, including large numbers of improved, CIP-derived varieties that have a broader genetic background than the potatoes grown in most industrialized countries.In Rwanda, as in much of eastern and southern Africa, potato is a basic food security crop and a major income generator for the poor. In 2001, per capita potato production equaled that of some of Europe's largest potato producing countries. German farmers, for example, produced about 11 million tons, while Rwanda-with one tenth of the population and less than 1 percent of the land-produced nearly 1 million tons.Originally established as a potato research network, PRAPACE now covers sweetpotato as • In Burundi, government agriculturalists set rehabilitation of the country's national potato seed program as priority for the period 2002-2004. Burundi's goal is to produce 10,000 tons of high quality tubers by the end of 2004 using CIP/PRAPACE-released varieties.• In support of that effort, government and private sector laboratories are producing large quantities of \"basic seed,\" a product that is virtually pest-and disease-free. Basic seed, the highest quality seed, is normally provided in small quantities to top seed producers to produce seed for the market.• In Ethiopia, the national potato program-a PRAPACE affiliate-established its first modern tissue culture laboratory. The new lab, which is multiplying four potato varieties for the Ethiopian highlands, has the capacity to produce up to 1 million ultra-high quality plants per year.• To jump start potato breeding and development efforts in Sudan and Tanzania PRAPACE, in cooperation with CIP, provided researchers in those countries with a series of new breeding lines that have proven successful elsewhere in the region. The objective is to develop varieties that are well suited to local conditions in the shortest possible time and at limited expense.• A partnership established with the Uganda-based House of Quality Spices has opened up new opportunities for local farmers to export potato and sweetpotato flour to Europe. The company also plans to produce snack foods for sale to neighboring countries including Rwanda, where its products received high marks from the nation's President, Paul Kagame, after he performed a taste test.• A Rwandan company, Potato Enterprises, recently announced that it would commence commercial chipping operations in 2003 using CIP potato varieties released through PRAPACE. The firm's long-term strategy calls for the manufacture of nearly 5,000 tons of chipped potatoes during its first year of operations, with a ten-year goal of 15,000 tons. Seventy-five percent of its output is slated for export.• More than 20 Kenyan companies are currently involved in production of frozen potatoes and snack foods for the domestic market. One food processor, Mugumo Family Farms, produces 1.2 tons of processed products per week, mainly for the hotel and airline industries. Farmers who sell their potatoes to Mugumo receive twice the going price for their products.• Researchers working for the commercial feed companies UGACHICK and NUVITA in Uganda are conducting studies to determine the feasibility of using sweetpotato as a principal ingredient in commercial animal feeds. If successful, their products will be sold in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Processors are attracted to sweetpotato because of the productive potential of improved varieties and because of their early maturity, which helps farmers produce up to three crops per year. Many of the new varieties are also high in beta-carotene, an important ingredient in poultry feed.• As Ugandan sweetpotato production reaches record levels, Maganjo Millers in Kampala has agreed to purchase all of the orange-fleshed sweetpotato produced by farmers in Uganda's Soroti and Kumi districts. The agreement is expected to remove a marketing bottleneck that has limited the crop's potential.• Western Kenyan community-based organizations in three districts are involved in producing and marketing weaning foods that contain orange-fleshed sweetpotato. The NGO Appropriate Rural Development Agricultural Program, for example, works with local processors to supply charity homes and midwives with a product, attractively packaged in 1 kg packets, that they use to improve the health of their clients.  The progress made in managing the problem was encouraging, but by the mid-1990s the pest was spreading rapidly to other areas. Leafminers had become a problem in Southeast Asia, for example, and were already a major pest in the highlands of Indonesia where they attacked potato and vegetable crops.In each of the locations where it was found, the pest had become increasingly difficult to control with insecticides, and there were indications that the natural enemy complex had been disrupted. It was agreed that basic studies on the population dynamics of the pest and its natural enemies would be needed to make informed recommendations for an integrated management scheme.In 1997, CIP scientists initiated the first in a series of population dynamics studies. By collecting basic information about the pest and \"The natural tendency is to say that leafminer is a problem, so let's do something about it. Until you have a basic understanding of how the insect relates to the environment and to the farmers' production system, however, it's unlikely that you're going to make progress towards sustainable management.\"Working with funds provided by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, CIP scientists studied the leafminer and its natural enemies in close collaboration with local farm groups, national research institutes, and a variety of nongovernmental organizations. The trials, which are on-going, continue to provide important new information on the biology and ecology of the pest and its natural enemies. One key finding has been that in potato plots where no insecticides were applied over three cropping cycles, leafminer populations gradually decreased, along with damage to the crop. The studies also showed that parasitoid species emerging from leafminer pupae had become more diverse, increasing the chances of controlling the pest without insecticides.In North Sumatra, where the pest was previously abundant, the studies showed that the insects had all but disappeared. Moreover, when farmers who had stopped potato production resumed growing the crop, the leafminer's natural enemies that had reestablished themselves continued to suppress the pest. Equally encouraging was the fact that participating farmers began to recognize the negative link between pesticides and leafminer infestation.\"We've also learned from the studies that the best way to tackle leafminer fly is globally and collaboratively,\" Anderson adds. The problem is simply too big, too widespread, and too important for any one organization to handle it on its own. The environmental health of mountain and hillside areas has a direct impact on the availability and safety of human drinking water, on our food supplies, and, increasingly, on political stability, says Hugo Li Pun, CIP's Deputy Director General for Corporate Development. In an address to a special session of the United Nations General Assembly at the launching of the International Year of the Mountains, Li Pun, an expert on highland agriculture, noted that the importance of mountain ecosystems was first highlighted at the Earth Summit in 1992. The major issues addressed there were summarized in Chapter 13 of Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.\"The Rio Summit generated the political will to undo hundreds of years of mismanagement and neglect. Ironically, at the time, we didn't really have the tools to act,\" he says. Since then, researchers have armed themselves with new hi-tech gear, including computer models that can accurately analyze the health of mountain ecosystems and help governments and local communities make more informed decisions about managing natural resources. Some of the biggest improvements since Rio have been in the area of information and computers, Li Pun notes. E-mail and the worldwide web, combined with the development of computer simulation models, have created opportunities to exchange information and exciting new ways to solve problems.Researchers are also better able to judge the potential of new technologies before they commit resources to them. For example, last year CIP social scientists, working in tandem with GIS specialists and crop scientists in Africa, used satellite imagery and newly installed geographic information software to calculate the potential of new crop varieties to alleviate malnutrition in the East African highlands. \"In the past, it might have taken years to gather that kind of information, if it could have been done at all,\" Li Pun says. work showed us that our priorities ought to be in maintaining the integrity of our water supplies.\"Water is an important and sometimes controversial issue in the Himalayas. What happens on the Tibetan Plateau directly affects the health of three of the world's major river systems-the Yangtze, the Mekong, and the Brahmaputra.\"Our analysis showed that Tibet's farming systems are not designed to take advantage of our water resources in a way that benefits local people or our neighbors,\" Ji says. The country's strong focus on maximizing agricultural output is literally spending down its water resources and diminishing the quality of the supply for people downstream. Efforts to maximize the number of animals that farmers produce, she says, have led to overgrazing and soil compaction, which in turn increases run off and erosion.Ji notes that if policy makers would encourage animal producers to operate only in those areas that are best suited to the task, and then factor into the analysis water-related revenues over time, the policy environment would likely change, as would Tibet's priorities for agricultural research. \"We thought that if we developed tools that could help policy makers make better predictions we could increase the impact of traditional crop and animal research and in the process save development agencies a great deal of money.That's why we got into modeling: to build tools to help people who make difficult decisions,\" Quiroz says.CIP's Deputy Director General for Research, Pamela Anderson, is emphatic about the need for \"We're working in a lot of areas now, but we're probably best known for our tradeoff analysis work in Ecuador,\" says Quiroz (see Tradeoff modeling helps make critical connections, page 32). \"Before that particular study was released two years ago, most people thought that the pesticides used on potatoes had their greatest impact on the environment. Tradeoff modeling showed, however, that human health is also affected, so that pesticide policies in the Andes  Antle believes that there are substantial connections between crop productivity, the health of farm households, and soil and water degradation. Until now, however, each of these topics has been treated by separate scientific disciplines and diverse government agencies  Working from new data sets and reports of increasing late blight damage in highland areas of the Andes, CIP pathologists believe that the emergence of previously unknown forms of the late blight disease-and its appearance in areas previously unaffected-could have significant consequences for ancient potato varieties and the farmers who grow them. Their concern is focused on the Lake Titicaca region and surrounding areas. This region is thought to be the potato's genetic center of origin, a theory borne out by the significant diversity of potatoes found there.\"What we are seeing is the convergence of two mating types, one moving south from Colombia and Ecuador, and the other coming up through Bolivia from Brazil,\" says CIP pathologist and late blight project leader Greg Forbes. \"Our fear is that farmers in the high Andes-the people who have served as the traditional custodians of potato biodiversity-may lose native varieties that have been grown for many centuries, and thereby their means of survival.\" Local consumers hold these potatoes in high esteem. Not only are their varied tastes, textures, and colors a source of culinary diversity, native potatoes are also important in traditional culture and are often used in ceremonies or as gifts.Maria Scurrah, a CIP adjunct scientist who has spent years working with farmers in the high Andes, can testify that this is no longer just a theoretical problem. \"Late blight is encroaching on areas that were rarely affected by it in the past. Essentially, the pathogen is moving up the mountainside, showing up in places where farmers have hardly ever encountered it.\"\"Traditional varieties are not going to disappear because of late blight,\" says CIP potato breeder Juan Landeo, \"but it's likely that they will be under greater pressure than in the past.\" Landeo bred one of Peru's most popular and widely grown potatoes, known as Canchan. Depended on for years as a late-blight-resistant variety, Canchan's ability to withstand the disease has, in recent years, broken down. To help farmers cope, Landeo has developed a new series of blight-resistant potatoes, suitable for production under extreme highland conditions.The new \"populations\", now ready for selection and release, were derived from materials of the andigena subspecies collection held in CIP's genetic resources complex in Lima. The genebank safeguards about 85 percent of all known native potato varieties, including 15,000 farmer-selected andigena potatoes collected in nine countries during the 1970s and 1980s.The CIP genebank collections, which also include sweetpotato and other Andean roots and tubers, are protected under an agreement with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization that charges the Center with conserving genetic resources so as to make them available equitably and without restriction. CIP uses these materials, for instance, to help preserve the diversity of native varieties in the Andes through restoration programs (see Next steps for Chayabamba, page 43).Bred over a 12-year period using conventional plant breeding techniques, the new andigena plant types carry multiple late blight resistance genes, which should help them compete against many forms of the disease. Most native Andean varieties belong to the subspecies andigena, but generally lack such resistance. For this reason, the search for the resistance traits incorporated in the new varieties involved a long and careful process of screening and selection. The new materials have some added advantages: they produce higher yields than conventional varieties in less time, a characteristic that should reduce their exposure to the disease in farmers' fields, while offering most of the eating and market characteristics valued by highland farmers.\"What we've tried to do is breed a highland-type potato that has most of the qualities that will make it acceptable to processors and allow it to compete in urban markets,\" Landeo says. It is Landeo's hope that these new andigena potatoes, now being distributed in the Andes through farmer field schools, will eventually enable people in Africa and Asia to enjoy the special taste and texture of native Andean potatoes. Because of their unique features, they are much better prepared to adapt to areas outside of their Andean home than their native relatives. The situation is even more complex in the potato-  Meanwhile, Chinese researchers are alarmed by a reduction in the effectiveness of the popular fungicide metalaxyl, which is used throughout China as a primary defense against the disease. This situation, combined with the breakdown in resistance, means that farmers may soon be forced to turn to so-called contact fungicides, which adversely affect soil flora and fauna and can be hazardous to health. Contact fungicides also must be used more frequently than metalaxyl. The fact that China is committed to protecting the environment and reducing adverse effects associated with the use of agrochemicals makes this a highly unattractive scenario.Derived from reports posted by the Global Initiative on Late Blight (GILB), which maintains a website with reports from researchers in 78 countries. For more information please visit http://www.cipotato.org/gilbAlthough he has no training in agriculture, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is said to be obsessed with potatoes, spending weeks at a time providing guidance to his nation's farmers.According to reports broadcast by CNN, Kim is convinced that improved potato varieties will one day solve his country's food problems. In fact, he is so certain of the importance that potatoes will play in feeding his country that he once opened a restricted facility to international inspection in exchange for technical assistance that would aid Korea's potato farmers.Korea has increased more than four-fold since 1995, mainly through area expansion, and potatoes now rank third in importance after rice and maize. Today, North Korea produces potatoes on nearly 200,000 hectares with yields that average 9 tons per hectare. In neighboring China yields are, on average, 40 percent higher. China is the world's largest producer of root and tuber crops. Sweetpotato farmers are now planting an estimated 330,000 hectares of virus-free sweetpotato annually in Shandong Province alone, according to recent reports. With the endorsement of our Board of Trustees, CIP launched a vision and strategic planning exercise in October 2002.We recognized that our past priority-setting exercises had been primarily internal in nature. In order to open up the process and make it more participatory, we created a CIP vision plenary comprising CIP's Board of Trustees and staff, as well as representatives from our key stakeholders: donors, international organizations, advanced research organizations, regional research networks and organizations, national research systems, and nongovernmental organizations.In October and November 2002, we conducted the first plenary consultation. The broad objectives were: to explain the process we were using for the visioning exercise; to agree upon the boundaries for the exercise; and, within the agreed boundaries, to generate a \"map\" of CIP's specific development challenges.We proposed the Millennium Development Targets, which contribute to eight broad Development Goals, as the starting point for setting the boundaries for CIP's vision exercise. These 18 Development Targets-ratified in the year 2000 by 192 countries after several years of meetings and discussions-affirm, in quantitative terms, what the international development community within which we operate expects to accomplish in the decades to come. The vision plenary accepted the Millennium Development Targets as the general boundaries for the vision exercise. Within those boundaries, it selected eight development challenges to which the Center could make significant contributions (see CIP's development challenges, page 95).CIP's Vision Statement, which will be published in 2003, will spell out our potential contribution to these challenges, forming the basis for our strategic research and implementation plan. An exercise on impact targeting and assessment, a needs and opportunities evaluation, and a realignment analysis will help us to answer the questions of where we should be working, what we should be doing, and how we realign to get there. These are also scheduled for 2003. The CGIAR priorities and strategy exercise being led by the Science Council will provide critical input during this process, allowing us to ensure that our new vision and strategy will continue to contribute to and support the overall vision and strategy of the CGIAR system. The following section illustrates some of the ways of working that have been hallmarks of CIP's past success and will surely contribute to the accomplishment of our challenges-and the fulfillment of our vision-in the years ahead. The FBF approach provided the first decisive • In Uganda, schools and universities are major markets for sweetpotato roots and vines. One periurban farmer, Ruth Musoke, sells more than one ton of fresh roots to primary schools each week. Her net profit over a 16-week season is US$1,000, far above the annual per capita income in Uganda, which according to the World Bank is just US$310.• In Kampala, commercial farmer Kakoza Mubirigi earns more than US$3,000 during Uganda's four-to five-month sweetpotato production season. Because of his success he was dubbed \"Mr Sweetpotato\" by residents of Nabyewanga, his home village. But Mubirigi was not content with simply supplying schools with orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes. He has used his earnings to build a modern boarding school, the Bwaise Parents' School, which is now home to over 600 students.varieties, provided more than 800,000 sweetpotato vine cuttings as planting material for distribution to refugees in war-torn parts of northern Uganda.The nature of CIP partnerships is likewise The Senior Family Fund is not only CIP's newest donor, it is also the Center's smallest. In 2002 the Fund, a small New England philanthropy, provided CIP's Vitamin A for Africa program (VITAA) with two grants totaling US$3,000, about 0.001 percent of the Center's budget.\"You can't always judge a donor's importance against the dollar amount of a contribution,\" says Hubert Zandstra, CIP's Director General and a former donor representative of Canada's International Development Research Center (IDRC). In 2002, the Senior family financed two field days in Uganda, including events in two war-torn provinces that are bringing improved sweetpotato planting materials to hundreds of refugee families.\"The amounts are small, but the money is being used in ways that support our collaborators and provide them with greater latitude to operate,\" Zandstra says. \"The NGOs and community organizations that have received the Fund's support have expressed not only a feeling of gratitude, but also a sense of encouragement from the fact that people overseas are aware of the situation in rural Uganda and are willing to help.\" Zandstra adds that contributions from private investors are likely to play an increasingly significant role at CIP in the years ahead. He notes that the CIP Board of Trustees recently approved a US$32 million fundraising initiative for genetic conservation that will, in part, target smaller donors. Producing high quality potato seed is an exacting process. Only the best farmers can do it and even then it can be an extremely arduous job. Over the past two years, CIP researchers have worked with government and private voluntary agencies to introduce improved sweetpotatoes to the newly independent nation of East Timor. Working with funds from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under the Seeds of Life project, CIP scientists provided local agencies with a small but select group of promising lines, a number of which out-produced the best local variety and received high marks from consumers.In East Timor, as in much of Oceania, sweetpotato is an important food security crop. In the future, however, it will likely also prove to be a major contributor to improved human health. Although accurate figures are not available, vitamin A deficiency is one of East Timor's most challenging public health problems, affecting the eyesight and immune systems of thousands of children under the age of five. Researchers believe that this deficiency can be addressed through the regular consumption of small amounts of orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes, which are high in beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, which the body uses to sustain the immune system. To help resolve the problem, plans are being made to introduce a series of locally adapted, orangefleshed sweetpotatoes early in 2003.CIP scientists are building on a lesson learned in Mozambique, where orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes were introduced as part of a disaster relief effort to assist families who had lost all of their sweetpotato planting materials to flooding. Mozambique is now a full member of the VITAA partnership (see page 63) and over 120,000 families have benefited from the introduction of the new materials.objective is to compress two or three production cycles into the time normally used to produce just one seed crop.In the case of Afghanistan, the key to the shuttle system is planting in the Jalalabad area in the southeast part of the country where potato can be grown in the mild winter season, and then taking the harvested seed to the highlands around the city of Bamiyan for spring replanting. \"This is not a short-term effort,\" says El-Beltagy. \"It is an example of innovative planning that will contribute to peace and security. I am confident that once a functioning seed production system is in place, Afghanistan's potato farmers will begin to see even bigger benefits in the form of better varieties, improved methods for controlling diseases and pests, and better harvesting and storage practices.\" \"The aim of the Future Harvest Consortium,\" he notes, \"is to bring to bear the best that science has to offer in ways that will reduce poverty in rural Afghanistan, benefit consumers, and contribute to environmental well-being.\"In an effort to reinvigorate the production of sweetpotato in Peru's Cañete Valley, CIP and a local research institution set out to find replacements for two of the valley's most popular sweetpotato varieties, whose yields had dropped drastically following the El Niño weather phenomenon in 1997. Unusual temperatures and rainfall caused by El Niño led to an outbreak of harmful pests and diseases; this in turn provoked a steep decline in the productivity of the traditional sweetpotato varieties that had dominated the valley, namely Jonathan and Milagrosa.Sweetpotatoes are an important source of food and income for farmers in Cañete Valley. The crop also helps sustain the area's milk production, another important revenue-generating activity, as the vines are fed to dairy cows.After years of testing and recombining material from the genebank collections held by CIP and the Peruvian Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agraria (INIA), scientists came up with INA-100 and Huambachero. These new varieties greatly resemble Jonathan and Milagrosa in terms of color, appearance, and taste. But more importantly, they produce higher yields than their counterparts and have good commercial and culinary characteristics. CIP scientists continue to search for and agriculture is a major source of food and income for them. Though the main crops in Kampala, which boasts a hilly and fertile terrain, are sweetpotato and plantain, most of the farming systems are based on complex interactions between multiple crops and livestock.The economic sustainability of these agricultural activities, however, is under serious threat because of diminishing land availability, scarcity of quality seed, increasing presence of pests, and the use of inappropriate farming methods, among other things. In light of these concerns, SIUPA is spearheading efforts to determine the hazards and increase the benefits of urban agriculture in the Kampala area. At the forefront of these efforts is a health impact assessment study, which forms part of a three-year research project conducted jointly with the University of Toronto.In Kampala, there is concern that health hazards develop better adapted and higher yielding varieties that can resist the pests and diseases present in Cañete Valley, the country's largest sweetpotato-producing area. The most recently developed breeding line, 199062, is expected to gradually replace INA-100 because of its superior level of resistance to nematodes. In addition to 199062, several other breeding lines are in CIP's breeding pipeline for Cañete Valley.Improving the livelihood of urban families through the development and dissemination of better farming techniques is the underlying objective of a number of projects being implemented in Kampala, Uganda through the CIP-coordinated Strategic Initiative for Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (SIUPA). Food insecurity continues to threaten large numbers of low-income households in and around Kampala, and may result from food being grown in unhealthy areas. As in many cities, the land available for agricultural activities has diminished tremendously, forcing many Kampala farmers, especially poor households, to seek other options for producing food and livestock feed. Crops are grown in polluted swamps and on lands previously used as dump sites or contaminated by other urban practices, while grass for animal feed is cut from the roadside or unused land. Officers of the Kampala City Council participate actively in the SIUPA research teams. The health impact study will help them to accurately assess risks associated with these urban farming practices, and to develop appropriate plans and by-laws to ensure that farmers' families and city residents eat better and more safely. SIUPA partners are also working to improve production systems through technical interventions and to identify better market opportunities for farmers.In the long run, SIUPA hopes to use and adapt posing a threat to human health. Although extensive safety testing conducted by universities, regulatory agencies, and the private sector over the last decade has demonstrated that antibiotic resistance genes currently in use in plant transformation do not pose new or additional threats to human health, these concerns persist. CIP biologists, recognizing that such concerns were limiting the use of plant transformation technology to solve urgent food problems in developing countries, began to search for options. After years of research and development, they came up with two highly effective breakthroughs.The first system involves the use of a plant gene, originally isolated at a laboratory in Belgium, which confers resistance to toxic compounds. The main advantage of this system is that antibiotic resistance is no longer involved, hence the perceived threat to human health is reduced. the knowledge gained in Kampala to develop similar programs in other countries.Molecular biologists at CIP have developed two systems for producing transgenic potatoes that are free of controversial antibiotic resistance genes. These genes are used as \"selectable markers,\" which are key to the efficient production of transgenic plants with valuable properties ranging from pest and disease resistance to herbicide tolerance and increased robustness to permit cultivation on marginal or degraded lands.Antibiotic resistance genes have been widely used as markers in plant transformation, and many of today's cultivated transgenic crops contain such genes. There is widespread concern among consumers, however, that infectious bacteria could become more resistant to these antibiotics, Regeneration of transgenic plants with this gene, however, occurs at a lower frequency than with antibiotic resistance genes. New support from the Rockefeller Foundation will give a significant impulse to this research, helping to overcome this drawback.An equally important innovation, developed at CIP's Applied Biotechnology Laboratory, allows scientists to remove antibiotic resistance genes from transgenic potato plants using a heat-inducible self-excision system, which makes the gene \"jump\" out of thegenome and disappear completely. This method is currently being used by CIP in generating transgenic virus-resistant potato and sweetpotato varieties.These systems are complementary and are expected to provide genetically improved varieties that will be more readily accepted by consumers who seek freedom from antibiotic resistance genes in their food.2001 has concerned a number of Peruvian farming, cultural, and environmental organizations. The companies-which obtained patents on key components of the maca plant as well as on related processes, but not on the plant itself-allege to have found the best method to extract maca's active ingredients.The basic argument for opposing the patents is that they claim ownership of products and processes that have been known for centuries by the Andean people. The group challenging the patents is actively seeking evidence to support this claim. The patents not only deny prior existence of knowledge, but perhaps more importantly, they potentially exclude from the market other maca products of similar composition by creating restrictions on the sale or use of maca and its derivatives.Given its wide experience in biodiversityIn an ongoing effort to increase the benefits of Andean plant genetic resources for the populations that have developed these resources over time, CIP was invited to participate in a coalition of Peruvian organizations to study, and to challenge if necessary, the patents of two US companies that claim maca-based processes and products. Maca, a plant of the mustard family, was probably first domesticated in Peru's highlands between 1300 and 2000 years ago. Andean people have grown it for centuries as a food and medicinal plant. Local people claim it boosts physical and mental capacities and enhances fertility, which is naturally reduced at high altitudes.Although Peruvian and international companies have marketed the root and its derivatives since 1995 as a nutritional supplement-which they have exported to Japan, Europe, and the USAthe granting of patents to two US companies in conservation, genebank management, and utilization of Andean root and tuber crops, CIP's role in the broad-based group, led by Peru's Consumer Defense Institute, is to research, compile, and evaluate published technical information and analytical procedures that could be used in demonstrating prior knowledge, both traditional and contemporary, regarding the patents.Currently no national or international regulations monitor the production of maca. Moreover, international law does not yet NPTII ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE GENE recognize the legal validity of indigenous knowledge, so there is no forum to legally protest the patents. Only the World Trade Organization provides a legal framework for challenging trade issues.Through efforts similar to these, CIP will continue to contribute to-and influencenational and regional deliberations on access to and benefit sharing of genetic resources. and pathogen attacks and nutritional disorders continue to have a devastating effect on the crop, significantly reducing its yield. Recognizing that the correct diagnosis of disorders can lead to better corrective management-and therefore improve yields and reduce economic and environmental costs-in January 2001 the team set out to develop a computerized diagnostic system for sweetpotatoes.After two years of research and development, the scientists from CIP, the Centre for Pest Information Technology and Transfer (Australia), the University of Queensland (Australia), and the PhilRootcrops Center (Philippines) produced a diagnostic key that assists in identifying observed disorders and provides recommendations on appropriate management response. The project involved,Under the coordination of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, a multiinstitutional team of scientists recently developed a comprehensive interactive tool that aims to improve the diagnosis and management of sweetpotato disorders. Scientists anticipate that the knowledge farmers and researchers gain from this tool-a multimedia product to be distributed as a CD-ROM and via the Internetwill result in better sweetpotato crops. (See http:/ /www.cpitt.uq.edu.au/software/sweetpotato/)Sweetpotato is an important source of food and income for farmers in developing countries, which account for 98 percent of the crop's global production. It is not only a staple crop for the poor, but is also rapidly becoming an important source of raw material for animal feed, starch, and industrial products. Despite its high versatility and adaptability, however, insect among other things: collecting and structuring existing information, images, and other relevant material; constructing and field testing the diagnostic key; and evaluating its usefulness. CIP's role was to provide expertise on insect and disease disorders, and to coordinate field tests.As an added value, this project is expected to help in evaluating the usefulness of multimedia diagnostic keys as training and decision-support tools, and the potential for developing diagnostic keys for other crops. Nutriplús, a \"just-add-water\" powder concentrate comprised of sweetpotato, rice, corn, barley malt, animal protein, vegetable oil, and vitamins and minerals. Two daily portions of the productformulated according to the Ministry of Health standards for nutrition of children from six months of age to three years old-cover close to 30 percent of the daily recommended dose of calories and proteins and 60 percent to 100 percent of the daily recommended dose of vitamins and minerals.Unlike other baby food supplements, which contain added sugar, Nutriplús is sweetened naturally by the yellow-or orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes contained in the formula. This makes the mix even more effective, as these colored sweetpotatoes are rich in beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A.Nutriplús is expected to serve as a substitute for similar products used in government programs that reach areas of extreme poverty to combat infant malnutrition. \"Nutriplús's easy-to-package instant powder and locally available ingredients will make it highly competitive with the products usually offered through these government programs, as well as with similar imported baby food sold in local supermarkets,\" Espinola explains.Studies suggest that 25,000 to 1 million children from 6 to 36 months of age living in Peru's poorest areas could benefit from this product. An added bonus of Nutriplús is the increased demand it is expected to create for local agricultural products, particularly sweetpotato, Espinola asserts. \"Aside from breast feeding, many mothers have limited knowledge on how to properly nourish their infants,\" explains Nelly Espinola, CIP nutritionist. \"Not only do they feed them too little and not frequently enough, but they feed them diluted pottages that are low in nutrients and minerals.\"To confront this problem, a group of scientists from CIP and the Peruvian Instituto de Investigación Nutricional (IIN) began to search for an infant nutritional supplement that was easy to prepare, affordable, and that contained the proper balance of necessary nutrients. They came up with To cope with this situation, CIP took action on various fronts. We participated in the formulation of various Challenge Program proposals while continuing to seek support for the systemwide and ecoregional initiatives that CIP convenes or participates in. We stepped up fundraising efforts.We embarked on a stringent program to heighten efficiencies and underwent a painful downsizing process to reduce our budget deficit. Thanks to these efforts, we were able to rebuild reserves and produce a balanced budget for 2003. We thank all CIP staff for their tremendous dedication and decisiveness and their active participation in securing these achievements.Over the years, CIP has placed emphasis on documenting the impact of its work. A series of case studies has been conducted, on the diffusion of new varieties (in six countries), the implementation of2 0 0 2 integrated pest management strategies (in four countries), and seed systems (in five countries). The composite net grand benefits from these investments alone are estimated at over US$155 million per year. These results are only partial and do not reflect the benefits accrued from many important areas, for instance in human resources development. CIP has trained more than 5,000 scientists and professionals involved in research and development in various parts of the world.It is also important to note that it took more than 15 years of dedicated research to prepare the ground for this impact charted, mainly supported by unrestricted funding generously provided by our investors. CIP technologies did not begin to show impact until 1987, although the upward trend has continued steadily since 1993 (see Annual net benefit from investments in CIP between 1971 and2001, page 91).Unrestricted support to international centers is critical for long-term research whose payoff requires sustained efforts, such as the collection, characterization, and conservation of genetic resources. CIP holds in trust a world collection of over 20,000 accessions of potatoes, sweetpotatoes, and Andean roots and tubers. Some impact can be readily appreciated from these efforts, for example through the CIP program that has restored more than 2,000 potato accessions to 21 native communities in Peru to replace crops lost to climatic change, terrorism, and other disruptions. But there is also great promise for benefits in the longer term, for instance through the identification of genes that can help cope with the effects of climate change.At CIP we believe that impact is the result of a collective effort by investors, scientists, development agents, farmers, and support staff, and that all of us deserve to be proud of it. Patient and systematic research and training does pay off for the poor in developing countries.CIP thanks the investors who have contributed with unrestricted and restricted funding over the years, as well as our partners in research. Without their strong commitment to research for development, their sustained support, and their efforts to diffuse and promote new technologies, these accomplishments would not have been possible.  The International Potato Center is grateful for the generous support of all its donors, particularly those who contribute with unrestricted donations. The funding received enables CIP to out high quality research and training designed to contribute to reducing poverty and achieving food security on a sustained basis in the poorest countries of the world.CIP's revenues in 2002 were lower than in 2001, which shows a continuing general trend of decreasing funding to agricultural research. CIP is actively seeking new partners and additional sources of funding to maintain operations at a sustainable and stable level. This will enable us to make a solid contribution in the years to come to our goal: food security, healthy environments, and less poverty through research, training, information, and technical assistance on potato, sweetpotato, Andean root and tuber crops, natural resources, and mountain ecologies.    Root and tuber crops are among the world's most important food crops, with a great potential to improve food security, eradicate starvation, and alleviate poverty in resource-poor countries. For many farmers, these crops are not only their food staple but also their principal source of cash income, because of the growing demand for tubers in the cities. Root and tuber crops are commonly grown in production systems where biotic factors such as weeds, nematodes, pests, and diseases limit yields and quality, reducing farmer income. In the developing world, insect pests pose a serious constraint to potato and sweetpotato production and hence to the capacity of farmers to secure a livelihood; losses in the field and in storage can easily reach 50 percent of total yield. Besides the economic losses, current farmer control practices rely on the use of highly toxic pesticides applied with little or no protective equipment, causing substantial damage to the health of people and the environment. And the use of chemical pesticides is increasing rapidly, particularly where farmers are intensifying production methods in order to sell in urban markets, and where the crops are expanding into agro-ecological regions and planting seasons outside their traditional range. To achieve its goal of increasing farmer income and food security by This project generates information for scientists, research administrators, policy makers, and donors for decision making on technology design, resource allocation, policy formulation, and investment options related to potato and sweetpotato improvement and utilization. Some of the specific objectives are to: quantify the agronomic, economic, social, and environmental effects of improved potato and sweetpotato technologies; document the rate of return and the effect on poverty of CIP's research; assess the level and adequacy of investment in potato and sweetpotato crop improvement in developing countries; assemble and maintain price and production databases for priority setting; evaluate the effects of potato price instability on diverse groups in society; assist in improving domestic potato and sweetpotato marketing and international potato trade benefiting developing countries; and participate in generating the most informative commodity projections with specialized institutions.The strategic initiative on urban and peri-urban agriculture (SIUPA) was launched by the CGIAR in late 1999 in response to growing urban populations and urban poverty and the increased dependence of city dwellers on farming. CIP is the convening center for the initiative. SIUPA's goals are to contribute to increased food security, improved nutritional status, and higher incomes for urban and peri-urban farmers while mitigating negative environmental and health impacts; and to establish the perception of urban and periurban agriculture as a positive, productive, and essential component of sustainable cities. SIUPA has established a set of research activities in regional sites collectively known as Urban Harvest. CIP is one of several Future Harvest centers implementing research activities with other international and national agencies in such fields as sustainable agroprocessing and livestock enterprises, quality aspects of vegetable production systems, and the contribution of urban agriculture to human nutrition.The global initiative on late blight (GILB) was convened by CIP in 1996 in response to the escalating agricultural crisis brought about by the evolution of more aggressive and fungicide-resistant forms of the potato late blight pathogen, Phytophthora infestans. GILB stimulates collaborative and complementary research and technology transfer among developing and developed countries by improving communications among researchers and institutions. GILB has established regional and thematic linkage groups to encourage people to work together and to identify additional opportunities for collaboration. To assist these groups, GILB has sponsored meetings and developed world wide web pages for each group. To facilitate access to information, a global late blight information system, with numerous resources and links, has been established online at the GILB web address. A newsletter is distributed three times a year to GILB members in 79 countries. GILB sponsored international conferences in 1999 and 2002. GILB is managed by a steering committee representing different regions of the world where late blight is important.CONDESAN is an open and dynamic consortium of diverse organizations, each one contributing its knowledge and expertise on research and/or rural development, that works on the interlocking issues of sustainable natural resource management, increasing rural incomes, and social equity. The objective is to strengthen local capacity to understand natural resource management and to develop environmentally sound production systems and policies that can enhance life in the Andes. Focusing mainly on poor farmer groups of the highlands, CONDESAN concentrates its fieldwork at seven benchmark sites that broadly represent the major ecological zones. Cross-sectional and common themes, however, are promoted for the entire region. InfoAndina, the electronic information system, is a key component of the Consortium's team-building strategy.Through coordination and facilitation activities by a small coordination unit, the project aims to create effective and strong linkages between research and rural development partners.• The topics covered by CIP's training curriculum respond directly to the Center's main research areas centered on the production and use of CIP's mandate crops and the conservation and management of natural resources. There is a growing demand for training on natural resource management in mountain areas and on conservation of root and tuber genetic material.CIP leads training sessions and workshops, organizes and sponsors international conferences, and develops training materials. Full names of external sponsors can be found in the list of CIP's partners (pages 100-103).CIP was forced to reduce its staff in 2002, as one of the measures to meet shortfalls in funding. As the members of the CIP community met with the demands of accommodating responsibilities and adjusting strategies to handle this downsizing, they also responded ably to the challenge of redoubling efforts in fundraising, thereby helping to achieve a more stable, financially secure base on which we can now move forward. All staff are thanked for their help in rising to this most difficult of challenges.CIP's staff is comprised of a diverse group of highly qualified individuals with varied backgrounds and nationalities. This diversity is integrated into a coordinated effort to achieve a common goal: alleviate poverty and increase food security while protecting the earth's natural resource base. Each and every one of CIP's more than 400 employees worldwide, from scientists to clerical staff to field workers, contributes to this mission in the various functions they perform, and all form an essential part of CIP's working team. Because of space, we are not able to list all names in this Annual Report; nevertheless, we do recognize and greatly appreciate the efforts of all our staff."}

main/part_2/0071397492.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5ad9ee381bd90fb257fb10cbeb03e979","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/6f1b9435-d98f-477c-ba12-db23924b0dcd/content","id":"-810586394"},"keywords":["Jean-Marcel Ribaut","Generation Challenge Programme","Mexico multi-environment trials","augmented experimental designs","genotype × environment interaction","quantitative trait loci (QTL)"],"sieverID":"4f79af8f-bb21-4cca-8ab9-37b1e2be1392","content":"Crop breeding programs using conventional approaches, as well as new biotechnological tools, rely heavily on data resulting from the evaluation of genotypes in different environmental conditions (agronomic practices, locations, and years). Statistical methods used for designing field and laboratory trials and for analyzing the data originating from those trials need to be accurate and efficient. The statistical analysis of multi-environment trails (MET) is useful for assessing genotype × environment interaction (GEI), mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs), and studying QTL × environment interaction (QEI). Large populations are required for scientific study of QEI, and for determining the association between molecular markers and quantitative trait variability. Therefore, appropriate control of local variability through efficient experimental design is of key importance. In this chapter we present and explain several classes of augmented designs useful for achieving control of variability and assessing genotype effects in a practical and efficient manner. A popular procedure for unreplicated designs is the one known as \"systematically spaced checks.\" Augmented designs contain \"c\" check or standard treatments replicated \"r \" times, and \"n\" new treatments or genotypes included once (usually) in the experiment.Conventional breeding will continue to make significant contributions to efforts to maintain the rate of crop improvement for food production and nutrition in order to meet the increase in human population growth. However, biotechnological methods, such as linkage analysis for detecting quantitative trait loci (QTLs), marker-assisted selection (MAS), association mapping, genomic selection, etc., will also be required. It is of paramount importance that the statistical methods used for designing field and laboratory trials and for analysing the data originating from those trials be accurate and efficient.Crop breeding programs using conventional approaches, as well as new biotechnological tools, rely heavily on data resulting from the evaluation of genotypes in different environmental conditions (agronomic practices, locations, and years). The incidence of genotype-by-environment interaction (GEI) is a consequence of QTL-by-environment interaction (QEI) and marker effect-byenvironment interaction, and this affects conventional breeding as well as MAS and genomic selection breeding strategies. The series of field trials known as multi-environment trials (METs) are vital for: (i) studying the incidence of GEI and assessing the stability of quantitative traits; (ii) mapping QTL and QEI; and (iii) finding associations among molecular markers and quantitative trait variation based on linkage disequilibrium analysis. To detect and quantify the presence of QEI is of vital importance for understanding the genetic architecture of quantitative traits.All biotechnological methods are based on molecular marker data and phenotypic data. Phenotypic data are vitally important for assessment of the within-environment error structure for each of the trials that will be used later in the MET analysis. The MET statistical analysis is useful for assessing GEI, mapping QTLs, and studying QEI. Large populations are required for scientific study of QEI, and for determining the association between molecular markers and quantitative trait variability. Therefore, appropriate control of local variability through efficient experimental design is of key importance.Spatial variability in the field is a universal phenomenon that affects the detection of differences among treatments in agricultural experiments by inflating the estimated experimental error variance. Researchers wishing to conduct field trials are faced with this dilemma. They tackle the problem by using an appropriate statistical design and layout for the experiment, and by using suitable methods for statistical analysis. A priori control of local variability in each testing environment is usually determined from the experimental design used to accommodate the genotypes to the experimental units. However, a posteriori control of the residual effect based on a model that provides a good fit to the data can effectively complement the control of local variability provided by the experimental design (see e.g., Federer, 2003a). Recently, efficient experimental designs (both unreplicated and replicated) have been developed, assuming that observations are not independent in that contiguous plots in the field may be spatially correlated (Martin et al., 2004;Cullis et al., 2006).Commonly, field trials used for linkage analyses or association mapping analyses are of 200 or more genotypes in size. These may consist of individuals from segregating F 2 and F 3 populations, recombined inbred lines (RILs), accessions from a genebank, advanced breeding cultivars, or individuals from any segregating population. Usually, QTL mapping is done on large numbers (500 or more) in as many locations or conditions as possible, for estimating QEI and examining the stable or unstable part of the chromosome that influences the trait under study. Thus, seed availability and land and labor costs are crucial factors to be considered when establishing METs for QTL and QEI analyses, and association mapping.The class of augmented designs is especially useful for achieving control of variability and assessing genotype effects in a practical and efficient manner. In the early stages of a breeding program, a plant breeder is faced with evaluating the performance of large numbers of genotypes. Frequently, the seed supply is limited, but even if it is not, the large number of genotypes can necessitate using a single experimental unit per genotype.A popular procedure for unreplicated designs is the one known as \"systematically spaced checks.\" In this procedure, a standard check genotype is systematically spaced every certain number of experimental units. Several statistical procedures have been devised over the years to compare the yield of a new genotype with the standard variety. This procedure can require an inordinate amount of space, labor, and other resources devoted to check plots of a single standard genotype. Yates (1936) has shown that the number of check plots should be of the order of the square root of the number of (new genotype) test plots. In conducting METs, Sprague and Federer (1951) have shown that a cost-efficient procedure for maximizing genetic advancement involves using two replicates at each location for single crosses of maize, three replicates for top crosses, and four replicates for double crosses.A third class of procedure used in the screening of genotypes for yield and other characteristics is that of \"augmented experimental designs.\" These designs contain c check or standard treatments replicated r times, and n new treatments or genotypes included once (usually) in the experiment. Some of the c checks could be promising new genotypes (treatments) in the final stages of testing. Any standard experimental design may be used for the check treatments and then the block sizes or the number of rows and columns are increased to accommodate the new treatments. This class of design has several desirable qualities, including the following:1. The number of checks can be any kind and number c. 2. The number of new entries can be any number n. 3. The new treatments can be considered as random or as fixed effects. 4. Survivors in the final stages of screening may be used as checks along with some standard checks. The dual use of these genotypes as checks and as their final evaluation is an efficient use of resources. 5. Some of the designs in this class allow for screening when other factors are present, thereby revealing genotype-by-factor interactions.6. Non-contenders can be discarded prior to harvest, since they do not affect computation of blocking effects and variances.Various augmented experimental designs are discussed in the following sections. These are augmented block (Federer, 1956(Federer, , 1961)), augmented row-column (Federer and Raghavarao, 1975;Federer et al., 1975), augmented resolvable row-column (Federer, 2002), augmented split plot (Federer, 2005b), and augmented split block (Federer, 2005a).When the field layout is in a row-column formation, either for the entire experiment or within each complete block, an experimental design can be developed that controls variability in two directions for any number of genotypes and replicates. The rowcolumn experimental designs have two block components, i.e., blocks in rows and blocks in columns. When the entire experiment is laid out in a row-column arrangement, the \"latinised\" designs assure that entries do not occur more than once in a row or a column of the experiment. Also, neighbor restricted designs restrict randomization of entries in such a way that certain groups of entries do not occur together, so that genotypic interference due to different maturity or plant height can be avoided.Analysis of designed, spatially laid out experiments needs to take account of the design restrictions encountered. The actual spatial variation that occurs during the course of conducting field experiments may not be taken into account in the experimental design or in the standard statistical analysis selected before the experiment was conducted. Hence, to achieve appropriate statistical analysis for the data obtained from the experiment, it is necessary to determine the type and nature of the spatial variation present in the experiment. This often means selecting from a family of plausible statistical analyses. Federer (2003a) presented a number of methods useful for \"exploratory model selection,\" to account for the variation that is present in the results of an experiment rather than what the variation pattern was expected to be. He used various forms of trend analysis on a variety of examples to determine the model that explained the variation present in each experiment. Several publications have been written using various forms of trend analysis for a variety of situations (Wolfinger et al., 1997;Federer, 2002Federer, , 2003a,b;,b;Federer and Wolfinger, 2003).Augmented block experimental designs fall into two categories, complete blocks and incomplete blocks for the check genotypes or treatments. A randomized complete block design (RCBD), with r replicates or blocks, is used for the c check genotypes to start the construction of an augmented randomized block. Then, the r blocks are expanded to include the c checks plus n/r new genotypes in each block. If n is not a multiple of r, then fewer or more new genotypes would appear in some of the blocks. The c checks and n/r new genotypes are randomly allotted to the experimental units (plots) in each block. Genotype numbers are randomly assigned to the new genotypes, but this is not necessary in the early stages of screening since each new genotype is a random event in itself.To illustrate an augmented RCBD, let c = 3 checks, r = 4 blocks, and n = 13 new genotypes. A plan is:A partitioning of the degrees of freedom in an analysis of variance (ANOVA) table for this design is:Total 25Correction for mean 1Block, B 3Genotype 15Check 2 New 12Check versus new 1In the first stage of screening, there may be a very large number of new genotypes with n of 8,000, 30,000, or even over 100,000. In these cases, the block size may become larger than is considered necessary to retain relative homogeneity within each block. The class of experimental designs known as an \"incomplete block design\" (ICBD) can then be used. The incomplete blocks of an ICBD may be in complete blocks, resolvable, or they may not. An appropriate ICBD for c checks, r replicates of the checks, incomplete blocks of size k, s incomplete blocks within a complete block, and b incomplete blocks is selected for the check genotypes. Then the b incomplete block sizes are increased to include n/b new genotypes in each incomplete block. To illustrate, let c = 15 checks arranged in r = 5 replicates and b = rs = 25 incomplete blocks of size k = 3. Let n = 300 new genotypes, and then n/b = 300/25 = 12. By enlarging the 25 incomplete blocks from k = 3 to k = 15 to accommodate 3 + 12 = 15 experimental units, the 300 new genotypes can be put into these 25 incomplete blocks. The 12 new genotypes and the three checks are randomly allotted to the 15 experimental units in each of the 25 incomplete blocks. The blocks of genotypes are randomly allotted to the incomplete blocks in the field layout. The 15 check genotypes may, for example, be two standard genotypes and 13 promising and surviving new genotypes from previous screening cycles.A randomized form of an ICBD may be obtained from a software toolkit such as Gendex (2009). Using the parameters k = c + n/b = 15, v = c + n/r = 75, and r = 5, a randomized form of an ICBD is obtained. Then the n/r numbers for v that appear in an incomplete block are replaced by genotype numbers to accommodate the n = 300 new genotypes, but retaining k of the check treatments in each incomplete block according to the plan for checks only.A partitioning of the degrees of freedom in an ANOVA table for the above example is: When the new genotypes are unreplicated, they do not contribute to the estimation of the block and error variances and the estimation of the block effects (Federer and Raghavarao, 1975). Only the replicated check treatments do this. Computer codes for analysing the results from augmented block designs have been given by Wolfinger et al. (1997) andFederer (2003a).A typical QTL experiment in maize consists of F 2 plants obtained from the cross of two maize inbred lines referred to as parent 1 (P 1 ) and parent 2 (P 2 ). Subsequently, the F 2 plants can be selfed to produce, say, 900 independent F 5 lines. These 900 new entries (RILs) will be genotyped with molecular markers and genetic data, and the respective phenotypic data will be used for QTL and QEI mapping. These lines may be crossed to an inbred tester from an opposite heterotic group to obtain testcross seeds. The check entries may include the parents P 1 and P 2 , the F 1 from the cross P 1 × P 2 and two other checks (check 1 and check 2 ) the breeder wishes to include. One possible augmented complete block design (CBD) may consist of 20 blocks of size 45 augmented by P 1 , P 2 , F 1 , and check 1 and check 2 . Thus, the block size comprises a total of 50 entries (45 new entries comprising testcross F 5 lines and five other entries that will be repeated in every block). The same or a different group of test lines in the incomplete block can be used in all the sites where the experiment is planted, but with different randomization of the incomplete blocks. In this case, the augmented RCBD has c = 5 checks (P 1 , P 2 , F 1 check 1 and check 2 ), r = 20 blocks, and n = 900 new genotypes. A possible plan is: The distribution of the repeated checks in the field should avoid, as much as possible, appearance of the same replicated check more than once in the same row or column. This latinised augmented CBD may help to reduce bias due to unexpected soil trends running across columns or rows.A partitioning of the degrees of freedom in an ANOVA table for this design in each site is: This example supposes that 200 diverse bread wheat accessions from a genebank are to be used for an association mapping study. The accessions will be used to examine the possible relationship between various phenotypic traits (such as grain yield, resistance to leaf and yellow rust, bread making quality, protein content, etc.) and the molecular markers located along the seven chromosomes of the three genomes of wheat (A, B, and D). Ten sites with contrasting environmental conditions would be used to allow good discrimination of the 200 accessions. Differential environmental conditions must be used in order to obtain a good discrimination for resistance to different potential rust pathogens as well as for the other traits.It The ANOVA table of the combined analysis across ten environments is: A randomization plan would be obtained for the Latin square and then the 11 entries in each row-column intersection would be randomly allotted to the 11 experimental units in each intersection. The new genotypes are randomly assigned to the numbers 1-250. A partitioning of the degrees of freedom in an ANOVA table is: An alternative row-column plan would be to set up a 25 row by 15 column rectangle as shown below.If the variation in rows and in columns can be explained by linear, quadratic, and perhaps cubic tends and their interactions, then two checks would have been sufficient to obtain row and column solutions to adjust the new treatments, and 325 new treatments could have been included. An equal number of rows and columns results in the minimum number of check genotypes. For example, using a 20 × 20 square, 40 plots could be allocated to two check genotypes and 360 to new genotypes. There still would be more than 20 degrees of freedom associated with the error mean square. Another scenario supposes that one standard check genotype and four promising new genotypes in the final stage of evaluation are used. Utilizing new genotypes in their final stage of testing allows dual use of the results and efficient experimentation, eliminating the inclusion of too many check plots.A randomization plan would involve randomly allocating the rows and columns in the above plan to the rows and columns in the experimental area, randomly assigning the letters A-E to the checks, and randomly allotting the numbers 1-250 to the new genotypes. A partitioning of the degrees of freedom in an ANOVA  Federer et al. (1975) discuss a number of other arrangements including one used by Dr. A. Mangelsdorf. The Mangelsdorf design has a nice balanced property and was used for METs.The first plan given above within this section is rowcolumn-check connected in that solutions are obtainable for all effects. The plan immediately above is row-check connected and column-check connected but is not row-column-check connected. This means that functions of the column effects, such as linear, quadratic, cubic, etc., regressions are used in the analysis of such designs. In order to have a plan that is row-column-check connected, two of the transversals of the square or rectangle need to be adjacent to each other, a feature that an experimenter may consider as undesirable. Computer codes illustrating this type of analysis are given by Federer (2003b), Federer and Wolfinger (2003), and Wolfinger et al. (1997).Experimental designs such as a lattice square or a lattice rectangle may be used to construct augmented lattice square and augmented lattice rectangle plans (Federer, 2002(Federer, , 2003b)). For such plans, row blocking and column blocking are included in each complete block, thus making the design resolvable. Since the proportion of experimental units in relation to the number of checks is less in an augmented lattice square, this is the plan that will be illustrated. There are k × k experimental units in each complete block, and 2k, 3k, etc., check genotypes may be used. To construct such a plan, a lattice square plan is obtained first for v = k 2 treatments. The complete blocks where treatments 1 to k and k + 1 to 2k appear together in a row or in a column are deleted. For 2k check genotypes, treatments 2k + 1, 2k + 2, . . ., k 2 are deleted in each of the r blocks. The rk (k -2) new treatments are inserted into the deleted treatment spaces of the lattice square. To illustrate, with k = 7 and r = 7, a plan would be as shown at the bottom of the page. The symbol × indicates where one of the rk (k -2) = 245 new genotypes would be entered. Row linear and quadratic effects and column linear and quadratic effects can be estimated (Federer, 2002). Checks 1-7 appear once with checks 8-14 in rows and in columns, but do not appear with each other. The diagonal elements need not be adjacent, as illustrated below.A partitioning of the degrees of freedom in an ANOVA is:Total 343Correction for the mean 1Genotype 258Check 13New 244Check versus new 1Check × block 78Row linear within block 7Column linear within block 7Row linear × column linear within block 7Row quadratic within block 7Column quadratic within block 7Row quadratic × column quadratic within block 7Row cubic within block 7Column cubic within block 7To screen 30,000 new genotypes, k would be 33 and k = r = 33 replicates would be required. As stated earlier, the 2k = 66 checks could consist of two standard checks plus 64 new genotypes in their final stage of testing.As an alternative design in this class, the checks could be in a lattice square experimental design. Then, each of the row-column intersections within each complete block could be enlarged to include the desired number of new genotypes.In order to compare the effect of environments and management procedures on new genotypes, the class of augmented split plot experimental designs has been proposed by Federer (2005b). The effects of factors such as tillage, fertilizers, insecticides, irrigation, planting density, date of planting, etc on new genotypes could be assessed. The effect of the date of planting is often confused with site-to-site effects. The new genotypes to be assessed may appear in split plot treatments or in whole plot treatments. New genotypes can be tested for several factors at a time by using split split plot, split split split plot, etc augmented designs. These designs allow for genotype-by-factor interactions and GEI, and are useful, especially in the final stages of screening genotypes. A schematic plan of a design is shown below for four whole plots, such as tillage practices, three checks (20, 21, and 22), and 19 new genotypes such as the 7 or 8 split plot treatments, and r = 4 blocks or replicates of check genotypes.There are seven split plot treatments in Block 4 and eight in the other three blocks. The checks are given the highest numbers because SAS software subtracts the highest numbered effect from all the others for the estimated effects, and gives a standard error of a difference between an estimated effect of a genotype and the highest numbered one, rather than a standard error of an effect as indicated. It is usually more desirable to compare all new genotypes with a check, rather than compare all entries with a new genotype. The usual randomization procedure for a split plot experimental design would be used.Replicate 2 Replicate 3 Replicate 4Replicate 5 Replicate 6 Replicate 7 Codes for analysing data for this design and others in this class are given by Federer (2005b). In the early stages of a plant breeding program, expected genetic gains may be increased by screening a large number of genotypes in contrast to having more precise comparisons of a fewer number of genotypes. This makes it necessary to evaluate many entries where there may not be sufficient seed to replicate each. For this reason Federer proposed augmented designs where a set of check entries are replicated an equal (or unequal) number of times in a specified field design and an additional set of new test entries are included in the experiment only once. In this review we show different type of augmented complete and ICBD for the check treatments with the test entries being added or \"augmented\" to the blocks. This approach provides a very efficient means of screening test entries and has a considerable amount of flexibility. Augmented ICBD might be preferred over augmented CBD when the number of repeated checks is large. When soil variability runs in two directions augmented row-column designs should be a good alternative, and when the experiment is \"latinized\" so that entries do not occur more than once in a row or column, then the efficiency of increasing precision increases. The augmented incomplete block or/and the row-column designs can be used for association mapping and/or genomic selection where a large number of entries (usually more than 1000) are needed but cannot be planted in all possible environments. The advantages of using these augmented designs is when the soil heterogeneity increases due to limiting factors as low water, and nitrogen availability in the field.There are many variations of split plot and split block experimental designs. Federer and King (2007) discuss several of these variations as well as combinations of the designs. Experimenters may find some of these variations suitable for augmenting with new genotypes that will fit the conditions for their experiment. Such designs as given in the last two sections above allow the experimenter to obtain interactions of new genotypes with a variety of factors. Instead of a single factor, a factorial combination of several factors could be used. For example, instead of date only, a factorial arrangement of date, fertilizer level, and insecticide could be used. Considerable flexibility is possible through the use of augmented experimental designs.When it is advisable to use an augmented design, it may be used at several sites. For example, the Manglesdorf design presented by Federer et al. (1975) was used at several sites in Brazil. Methods for combining results over sites have been described by Federer et al. (2001), and they even allow for different designs at the different sites."}

main/part_2/0108330064.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5a034a1deefbecf7cd8966af8fbbc9a5","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/459f4dad-0065-44a4-b80a-85166cf8feb1/content","id":"-671754754"},"keywords":["Climate change adaptation","Climate smart agricultural practices","Crop diversification","Minimum tillage","Site-specific nutrient management","Stress-tolerant seed varieties"],"sieverID":"7622cb4a-44bd-4999-9030-b37cbd839837","content":"Purpose -The adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs) is important for sustaining Indian agriculture in the face of climate change. Despite considerable effort by both national and international agricultural organizations to promote CSAPs in India, adoption of these practices is low. This study aims to examine the elements that affect the likelihood and intensity of adoption of multiple CSAPs in Bihar, India.Design/methodology/approach -The probability and intensity of adoption of CSAPs are analyzed using multivariate and ordered probit models, respectively.Findings -The results show significant correlations between multiple CSAPs, indicating that their adoptions are interrelated, providing opportunities to exploit the complementarities. The results confirm that both the probability and intensity of adoption of CSAPs are affected by numerous factors, such as demographic characteristics, farm plot features, access to market, socio-economics, climate risks, access to extension services and training. Farmers who perceive high temperature as the major climate risk factor are more likely to adopt crop diversification and minimum tillage. Farmers are less likely to adopt site-specific nutrient management if faced with short winters; however, they are more likely to adopt minimum tillage inAgricultural production in India has increased considerably since the Green Revolution (GR) because of the adoption of high-yielding varieties, chemical fertilizer, pesticides, irrigation and mechanization. Sustaining the gains of the GR is becoming increasingly difficult because of negative environmental externalities, such as groundwater depletion, soil fertility degradation and chemical runoff (Pingali, 2012;Singh, 2000) resulting from resource-intensive agriculture. Increasing climatic variabilities exert further pressure on the sustainability of the existing production system. Recently, climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs) have been accepted as methods to address challenges because of climate change in Indian agriculture. National and international research organizations, donors and policymakers have been expending considerable resources to develop and promote these practices to increase agricultural productivity to feed the growing population and improve farmers' resilience to climate change. National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture, National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture, Cereal System Initiatives in South Asia, Sustainable and Resilient Farming System Intensification and the CGIAR research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) are some of these initiatives. Recent studies showed that most of the CSAPs have clear economic (Aryal et al., 2015;Erenstein et al., 2008;Khatri-Chhetri et al., 2016;Sapkota et al., 2015) and climate change adaptation benefits (Aryal et al., 2016;Sapkota et al., 2015). Despite the benefits of CSAPs and the considerable efforts by several organizations to promote them, the rate of their adoption by Indian farmers is still very low. Therefore, understanding the CSAPs adoption behavior of farm households is crucial to fine-tuning their design and promotion to drive adoption. This study assesses the factors that determine the probability and intensity of adoption of CSAPs in Bihar, India using cross-sectional data collected in the second half of 2013. The CSAPs considered in this study include site-specific nutrient management (SSNM), crop diversification (CD), minimum tillage (MT) and stress-resistant improved seed (IS) varieties.In Bihar, almost 90 per cent of the population resides in the rural areas and nearly 80 per cent of them are employed in agriculture. The Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of Bihar cover one of the most productive agricultural areas in India, thus increasing agricultural production in this region is crucial for ensuring national food security (Government of Bihar, 2012). However, agriculture in this region is now increasingly affected by climate variability and climate risks. Northern Bihar is generally a highly flood-prone area, whereas southern Bihar is highly drought-prone (Government of Bihar, 2012). Along with a flat topography, the concentration of rainfall between July and September (about 80 per cent of the total annual rainfall) is the major cause of flooding in northern Bihar. Nearly 74 per cent of the total geographical area of Bihar is IJCCSM 10,3 flood prone and this constitutes about 17 per cent of the total flood-prone areas of India. However, Bihar also suffers from severe droughts when the summer monsoon lessens causing to less-than-normal rainfall. As Bihar lies at the crossroads of the wet eastern coastal regions and the relatively dry continental region of the western plain, regional variations in rainfall distribution and rainfall variability is much higher. Although the average annual rainfall in Bihar is 1,200 mm, there are considerable variations across the northern and southern areas. Generally, the eastern and northern areas receive 2,000 mm rainfall, whereas it is less than 1,000 mm in the western and south-western parts, making them highly vulnerable to drought. Therefore, vagaries of rainfall, recurrent floods and droughts occur in the same season at the same place, severally affecting agriculture. Among the districts in the IGP, the districts in Bihar are found to be highly vulnerable to climate change (Sehgal et al., 2013). Therefore, attaining sustainable agriculture and reducing the vulnerability of agriculture to climate change through the use of CSAPs is a pre-requisite in this region (Aggarwal et al., 2013;Aryal et al., 2014;Sehgal et al., 2013).CSAP addresses the intertwined challenges of sustainable farming, food security, and issues of changes in climate (FAO, 2013). The term CSAP encompasses farming practices that sustainably increase productivity, enhance resilience/adaptation, reduce greenhouse gasses (GHG) and help achieve national food security and development goals (FAO, 2013(FAO, , 2010)). Technically, any agricultural practices can be considered CSAP as long as they improve productivity or resource-use efficiency, reduce a community's exposure or vulnerability to climate change, reduce GHG emissions and increase carbon sequestration (Neufeldt et al., 2013). For example, the use of highyielding and stress-tolerant seed varieties/breeds, and the adoption of improved management practices stabilize and increase farm production even under adverse production conditions. Increased farm production and income enhance farmers' ability to cope with extreme weather events. Similarly, agricultural practices, such as MT, proper management of crop residues and precision NM, enhance sequestration of atmospheric carbon into agro-ecosystems and increase resource-use efficiency, thereby reducing GHG emissions without compromising yield.Previous studies examine CSAPs' adoption in terms of a single technology/practice and typically fail to account for technology complementarity and substitution possibilities. However, farmers can adopt technologies as complements and substitutes that addresses their multitude of constraints such as moisture stress, low soil fertility, declining groundwater table, terminal heat stress and low crop productivity. If some portfolios of CSAPs are substitutes, agricultural policy needs to concentrate on making these combinations of CSAPs available to farmers. Conversely, if some portfolios of CSAP are complements, it is vital to find ways of offering these as packages because their partial adoption will not achieve the desired productivity or environmental outcomes. Technology adoption decisions can be path dependent: the choice of technologies adopted most recently by farmers may depend on their earlier technology choice. Complementarities among technologies increase income and reduce crop failure substantially, which further stimulates the adoption of multiple technologies (Kassie et al., 2015(Kassie et al., , 2013;;Teklewold et al., 2013;Yu et al., 2012). Recent empirical studies in Africa demonstrate that the joint adoption of these technologies (MT, CDs and ISs) significantly increases net income and reduces production risk compared to the individual adoption of these technologies (Kassie et al., 2015;Teklewold et al., 2013), thus suggesting complementary effects. Therefore, analysis of technology adoption without proper controlling for technology inter-dependence could either underestimate or overestimate the influences of various factors on the decision to adopt (Wu and Babcock, 1998). Applying multivariate and ordered probit (OP) models, this paper provides some insights on the long-standing discussions on whether farmers adopt CSAPs in a piecemeal or in a composite way. The multivariate and OP models acknowledge the possibility of correlations between adoption decisions across different CSAPs.The remainder of the paper is outlined as follows: Section 2 deals with the econometrics model and estimation strategies used in the paper. Section 3 provides a brief overview of the study area, data and the variables used in the analysis. Section 4 presents the results and discussion while the last section concludes the study.This study used a multivariate probit (MVP) model to assess the factors affecting the likelihood of adopting multiple CSAPs and an OP model for estimating the level of adoption of CSAPs.A technology adoption decision is influenced by multiple factors. An individual farmer may need to adopt a mix of CSAPs to address a multitude of climate risks and agricultural production constraints. Given that many CSAPs are not mutually exclusive, the decision to adopt one of the CSAPs may influence the decision to adopt other CSAPs. Hence, attempting univariate modeling would exclude useful economic information about interdependent and simultaneous adoption decisions (Kassie et al., 2013) therefore, we applied an MVP model.MVP models, unlike univariate probit models, allow for potential correlation among the unobserved disturbances in the adoption equations and the relationships between the adoptions of different CSAPs. This means the model considers the possible complementarities (positive correlation) and substitutability (negative correlation) between the CSAPs. Estimation without considering trade-off and synergies of technology adoption leads to biased and inefficient estimates of the determinants of adoption (Greene, 2003). Such biases may lead to situations where researchers may observe the lack of adoption because of poor returns as complementary practices are not adopted. However, one may fail to account for this impact because the univariate models do not adequately correct for these complementarities. For example, many farmers who use MT may also use SSNM; yet, unless researchers analyze this effect, they will not be able to understand the factors that enhance the uptake of SSNM by the farm household.Theoretically, a specific CSAP is more likely to be adopted if the utility from its adoption is greater compared to its non-adoption. Assume a i th farm household (i = 1,2,. . ..,N) confronting a choice on whether to adopt the j th CSAPs (where j represents the choice of SSNM (L), MT (M), CD (D) and stress-resistant IS variety (S)) on its farm plot (p = 1,. . ..,P). Let U 0 and U j denote the benefits to the farm household from the adoption of conventional agricultural practices and CSAPs, respectively. A farm household chooses to adopt the j th CSAPs on its farm plot p if the net benefit ðy * ipj Þ from the adoption of other available technologies is higheri.e. B * ipj ¼ U * j À U 0 > 0. In this case, the net benefit of the adoption of the CSAPs is a latent variable (i.e. y * ipj ), which is determined by the observed household, farm plot and location information (X ip ) and the error term (« ip ) as follows:IJCCSM 10,3Authors can present equation (1) in terms of the indicator function. In the current study, the unobserved preferences in equation (1) transform into the observed binary outcome equation for each CSAP choice as follows:In the MVP model, with the prospect of adopting multiple CSAPs, the error terms jointly follow a multivariate normal distribution with zero conditional mean and variance normalized to unity, i.e. u L ; u M ; u D ; u S ð Þ ! MVN 0; X ð Þand the covariance matrix (X) is given by:where r refers to the correlation between error termsif error terms correlation shown in the off-diagonal elements of the variance-covariance matrix become non-zero, then equation ( 2) becomes an MVP model. A pooled MVP model is consistent if the unobserved heterogeneities (ability, motivation, land quality,etc.) are not correlated with observed covariates. The data used in this study afford us a panel structure arising from repeated plot observations per household which authors exploited to estimate equation ( 2) with the Mundlak approach to control for unobserved heterogeneities (Mundlak, 1978). Mundlak's approach involves including the mean of plot-varying explanatory variables as additional covariates in the regression model. Many studies (Teklewold et al., 2013;Kassie et al., 2013) have applied this approach using cross-sectional multiple plot observations.To analyze the factors determining the intensity of CSAP adoption, the authors applied an OP model. In this case, the dependent variable can take values 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4, depending upon whether a farmer has not used any CSAPs or used at least one, or two or three or four. This is done because the MVP model specified above cannot differentiate how many CSAPs are used by the farmers. When farmers adopt multiple CSAPs, it is difficult to define a cutoff point between adopters and non-adopters, while examining the intensity of CSAP adoption by farmers (Wollni et al., 2010). In our study area, some farmers adopt some CSAPs on part of their land; thus, using a fraction of its area under CSAP as a variable to measure the intensity of adoption (as is often done in other studies) is difficult. To overcome this problem, the authors used the number of CSAPs adopted by farmers as a dependent variable measuring the intensity of adoption and applied an OP model (D 'Souza et al., 1993;Teklewold et al., 2013). Poisson regression could have been used assuming that number of CSAPs adopted as a count variable; however, it assumes the equal probability of adoption of each alternative CSAP. In our case, this is not a valid assumption because the likelihood of adopting the first CSAP might differ from the probability of adopting the second and so on. This happens mainly because of the exposure of farmers to information about CSAPs. As the authors have data on the farm plot level, this gives us a possibility to also use both pooled and random effect models and Mundlak's (1978) approach by including the mean of plot varying covariates that help to capture the correlation between observed covariates and unobserved heterogeneity (Teklewold et al., 2013).Multiple factors influence farmers' decisions to adopt agricultural technologies (Birthal et al., 2015;Doss, 2003;Kassie et al., 2010). Hence, it is essential to control for a number of factors in estimating the MVP model. However, when the authors add a number of explanatory/ independent variables to the MVP model, the authors may risk the problem of multicollinearity and the need for a large sample size. The authors applied a condition index to test for the possible multicollinearity (Belsley, 1991;Belsley et al., 2005). The simple decision rule is that if the value of the condition index is below 30, it indicates that there is no severe problem of multicollinearity. Moreover, estimators are projected based on the asymptotic theory and thus, it necessitates a sufficiently large sample size. The number of observations ought to be higher than 1.5k (k þ 1), where k refers to the total number of variables used in the MVP model (Behera et al., 2015;Jöreskog and Sörbom, 1993). If the number of observations is less than an obligatory number, the asymptotic variancecovariance matrix is unlikely to be positive definite. This is exhibited in biased inference caused by poor estimates of parameter variance-covariance.The data for this study were collected in 2013 from 641 farm households residing in 12 villages of Vaishali district of Bihar state, India (Table I and Figure 1). A multi-stage sampling method was applied to select the sample households in the study. In the first stage, study villages within the district were chosen using a stratified random sampling method. In the second stage, a census of around 75 per cent of households in the village was taken to collect basic information, such as main occupation, crops grown, operational land holdings and age and gender of the household head. Finally, based on the information gathered in the village census, the sample households were randomly selected from each village. The authors collected information that includes household characteristics, farm plot characteristics, access to credit, extension services, market characteristics and information on training received, adoption of CSAPs (including MT), CD and stress-resistant IS varieties.Vaishali district lies in the Eastern IGP. It has a sub-humid tropical climate with average annual rainfall of about 1150 mm, 80 per cent of which is received between July and September. Although rice and wheat are the major crops, maize is emerging as an alternative crop in this area. The average size of land holdings in Vaishali district is 0.51 ha. Land fragmentation is a critical issue in Vaishali with an average farm plot size of 0.12 ha.The descriptive statistics and explanation of the variables (both dependent and explanatory) employed in the study are presented in Table II.3.1.1 Dependent/explained variables. CD (legume integration in crop rotations and intercropping) is one of the CSAPs under study. About 20 per cent of the total farm-plots under study follow CD. Such practices help farmers to diversify to reduce risk and increase productivity and income through improving soil fertility, controlling for pests and weed infestation (Bradshaw et al., 2004;Liebman and Dyck, 1993;Lin, 2011;Shiferaw et al., 2012;Teklewold et al., 2013;Kassie et al., 2015).The adoption of improved technologies, such as improved and stress-tolerant varieties, boosts farmers' adaptive and resilience capacities. Farmers mainly use drought-tolerant varieties of rice such as Swarna Sub 1, and in some cases were found to have used submergence-tolerant varieties. In addition to increasing income through improving productivity, stress-tolerant varieties can stabilize productivity through minimizing the effects of climate change and variability (Sarkar et al., 2006).MT, which refers to either reduced tillage or zero tillage with residue retention, is another CSAP under study. It entails minimum soil disturbance and allowing crop residue or stubble to remain on the plot with the accompanying benefits of better soil aeration, carbon sequestration, improved soil fertility and an increased water-holding capacity of soil (Lal, 2004(Lal, , 1997;;Sapkota et al., 2015). It can cope with water-stress situations by conserving SSNM contributes to the management of nutrients needed for crops, thereby improving resource-use efficiency and lowering GHG emissions from agriculture (Sapkota et al., 2014). About 18 per cent of the total farm-plots received SSNM.The dependent variable, total CSAPs, refers to the number of CSAPs used by the farmers in the same plot in 2012. This number ranges from 0 to 4 in our case.3.1.2 Independent/explanatory variables. The authors specified the model based on past theoretical frameworks and empirical adoption literature (Aryal et al., 2014, Aryal andHolden, 2011;Erenstein and Farooq, 2009;Feder and Umali, 1993;Kassam et al., 2009;Kassie et al., 2013Kassie et al., , 2010Kassie et al., , 2015;;Pender and Kerr, 1998;Teklewold et al., 2013). Description of the explanatory variables and hypothesis about their effects on the dependent variable(s) are discussed below.3.1.2.1 Household characteristics. A household's socio-economic and demographic characteristics consist of the main attributes of the head of the household, such as education, literacy status, age and gender, family size, spouse's literacy status and migration status. Household characteristics generally stimulate technology adoption decisions under market imperfection and institutional failure (de Janvry et al., 1991;Holden et al., 2001). Literate household heads have better capability and knowledge to access and absorb new information, and are more likely to have more non-farm income, which in turn influence the decision to adopt new technology (Chander and Thangavelu, 2004). Generally, agricultural technology adoption can be a part of an overall household strategy and thus, the spouse's literacy status might also affect it. The age of the household head is worth examining as older people have more experience with farming systems and often a greater accumulation of physical and social capital; however, they also often have short-term planning horizons, a loss of energy and more risk aversion (Albert and Duffy, 2012). Migration, which refers here to families with at least one member currently living elsewhere, reduces household labor endowment and increases access to alternative income sources. Therefore, it is assumed that migration enables the adoption of new labor-saving technologies.3.1.2.2 Farmland characteristics. Farm plot features (farm plot size, tenancy status, soil fertility, soil depth, plot slope, and distance to plot from homestead) are included in the analysis. The soil fertility, soil depth, plot slope, and distance to the plot are provided separately for different parcels (plot by plot). This is crucial to control for the possible impacts of farmland attributes on technology adoption. For instance, distant plots not only require more cost for transporting inputs but are also more difficult to monitor. Thus, farmers may be less keen to embrace new technology on distant plots. Land fragmentation is extremely high and farmers run multiple small plots in Bihar. Small farm plot size can be a limiting factor to mechanization and may make farmers less likely to adopt MT on such plots.3.1.2.3 Economic and social capital. To control for wealth differences among households, the authors included several economic capital variables such as farm size, livestock ownership, household asset index and labor force available in the household in the analysis. For social capital, the authors used variables such as membership in an organization (e.g. farm cooperatives) or any other farm clubs/input traders/sellers and other groups. The authors used caste as one of the social capitals, signifying variables, as it affects access to public domains in rural communities in South Asia (Aryal andHolden, 2013, 2012). Caste restricts or facilitates a household's participation in some markets and access to information (Yamano et al., 2015). The authors hypothesize that the general caste group is more likely to adopt CSAPs than the backward and scheduled caste groups.3.1.2.4 Markets and institutional services. Access to markets and other institutional services are important variables, as they influence transaction costs. Distance to village markets is used as a proxy for market access, while the distance to extension services is considered a proxy for access to institutional services.3.1.2.5 Source of information and training. Adoption of CSAPs also depends on the access to information and training received. Farmers receive information through multiple sources including farmer-to-farmer communication, extension services, information and communication technology and private traders. As the training on related topics such as soil-water management and MT, also influences the farmers' likelihood of adopting those technologies, the authors controlled for this in the analysis.3.1.2.6 Climate risks. Agriculture faces numerous risks arising from changes in climate. Therefore, farmers embrace new farming practices to adapt to those climate risks. Farmers also stated that heat stress, less rainfall, and a decrease in winter are three leading climate risks experienced during the last five years. These three major climate risks were included in the analysis to investigate the impacts of these shocks on the adoption of CSAPs.Village dummies are included in the regression to control for spatial differences such as rainfall, infrastructure and quality of service delivery.4.1 Determinants of multiple adoptions of CSAP: Multivariate probit model Farmers adopted different CSAPs concurrently; this shows that there is a chance of a correlation between their choices of CSAPs. This is tested using pair-wise correlation coefficients across the residuals of an MVP model. Most of the estimated pair-wise correlation coefficients across the residuals of MVP model are statistically significant (Table III), thereby supporting our hypothesis that the error terms of the multiple decision equations are correlated. The likelihood ratio test [chi2(6) = 78.48; Prob > chi2 = 0.000] also rejected the null hypothesis that the covariance of the error terms across equations are not correlated. This justifies the rationale for using the MVP model and confirms that adoption of multiple CSAPs in Bihar is not mutually exclusive. Practicing CD and MT are significantly and negatively associated (Table III); implying that farmers consider these CSAPs substitutes. Other CSAP combinations such as MT and IS, MT and SSNM and IS IJCCSM 10,3 and SSNM are significantly and positively associated, implying that farmers consider these as complements (i.e. farmers apply them simultaneously).Table IV shows the results of the MVP model estimated using the maximum likelihood method on farm plot-level observations. Although the authors have 2,004 farm plots, the authors used only 1,926 farm plot-level observations because of inconsistencies in the remaining observations. Our estimates show that the model fits the data well as the Wald test [Wald chi2(172) = 1362.16; Prob > chi2 = 0.000)] of the null hypothesis, that all regression coefficients in each equation are jointly equal to zero, is rejected. This shows the relevance of the model to account for the unobserved correlations across decisions to adopt multiple CSAPs.Results show that the explanatory variables affecting decisions to adopt differ substantially across the CSAPs. Unlike other studies, the authors found that male-headed households are less likely to adopt CD and IS. For example, when compared to female-headed households, maleheaded households are 0.42 per cent less likely to adopt CD. Compared to the backward/ scheduled caste group, farmers belonging to the general caste group are more likely to adopt IS and NM; whereas, they are less likely to adopt MT. These results corroborate the findings by Aryal and Holden (2011) and Yamano et al., (2015) that caste position affects farmers' investment decisions. Older household heads are less likely to adopt CD and NM; the former may be because of a higher requirement of labor, while the latter may be attributable to the fact that older household heads are less familiar with this relatively newer technology. Older household heads are more likely to adopt MT and IS; however, the result is significant at the 10 per cent level only. Literacy status of the household head and spouse are an important factor influencing the CSAP adoption decision. Households with a literate household head are more likely to adopt MT, IS and NM while those with literate spouses are less likely to adopt CD but more likely to adopt MT and NM, indicating that they are more likely to choose labor saving CSAPs. Migration is significantly and negatively associated with the likelihood of adopting NM and IS with 5 and 1 per cent levels of significance, respectively, while it is positively associated with the adoption of CD at the 10 per cent level of significance.Several farm land characteristics are found to have influenced the probability of adopting CSAPs. Land tenure affects adoption of CD and MT; owner-cultivated plots are less likely to adopt CD and MT. This result is consistent with earlier studies on technology adoption (i.e. Feder and Umali, 1993;Kassie et al., 2013Kassie et al., , 2010)). In Bihar, tenants need to seek permission from the landlords to grow crops on the rented plots, and thus, CD is less likely in such cases. Another important issue that inhibits mechanization in Bihar is land fragmentation. The authors controlled for this using the area of the farm plots. Our results show that the area of the plot does not affect CD, IS and NM while it affects the adoption of MT significantly and positively. This justifies our hypothesis that larger plots are more likely to receive MT as it requires the operation of machines on the plot which is more difficult on small plots. Farmers are more likely to adopt CD on plots with deep and fertile soil. Contrary to our hypothesis, farmers are less likely to adopt MT and IS on plots with deep soil. Consistent with earlier studies (Feder and Umali, 1993;Kassie et al., 2013Kassie et al., , 2010)), our results show that farmers are less likely to adopt MT and IS on the plots when the soil quality appears to be good (i.e. plots with deep soil depth).The economic and social capital of the farm household affects their decisions to adopt technology. Our results show that farmers of large farms are more likely to adopt all CSAPs under study. For instance, larger farm size is positively associated with the adoption of MT and IS; the coefficients are significant at the 1 per cent level. Households with more livestock ownership have a higher probability of adopting CD, MT, IS and NM. Access to credit has variable effects on technology adoption: it increased the probability of adopting MT and NM while it decreased the probability of CD and IS. Association in village cooperatives and groups is more likely to increase the adoption of CD, MT and NM.Distance to market from the household is negatively and significantly associated with the adoption of MT and NM; however, it has no significant association with other CSAPs. This is plausible because MT requires machines, which are mostly used on a custom hire basis and are available only in the market center in Bihar. Households that are far from extension services are less likely to adopt CD, MT and IS.Farmers obtain information about the technologies and farming practices from different sources such as other farmers, government extension services, information and communication technologies (ICTs) (i.e. information through mobile phones and private traders. The decisions to adopt different technologies are affected by the type of information sources. As per our a priori assumption, the results show that farmer-to-farmer communication is positively related to the adoption of CD (significant at the 1 per cent level). Information from government extension services increases the probability of adopting CD and MT, while it does not affect other CSAP adoptions. This is possible because government extension agents are less informed about the relatively newer CSAPs in Bihar, though addressing the impact of climate change on agriculture is a matter of serious concern. ICTs (especially the use of mobile phones to provide information on agricultural technology and weather information) are becoming a popular method of communication in India (Birthal et al., 2015;Rao, 2007). Use of ICTs is associated positively and significantly with the adoption of CD, MT and IS. Private traders are also an important source of information about CSAPs now. Farmers receiving information from private traders are more likely to adopt MT, IS and NM. This is plausible in Bihar, as the majority of traders are linked to major products such as rice, wheat, and maize; thus, they focus on providing information that expands their businesses. Participation in agricultural training is positively and significantly associated with the likelihood of adopting CSAPs, especially CD, MT, IS and NM.Farmers' choice of CSAPs also depends on their experiences regarding climate risks. Farmers experiencing high temperatures as major climate risks over the past five years are more likely to adopt CD, MT, and IS. Farmers are adopting IS (especially stress-tolerant varieties, such as Swarna sub1) as a result of experiencing climate risks, such as heat stress because of high temperature (Yamano et al., 2015). Another climate risk, decreasing rainfall, is significantly and positively associated with the adoption of IS. Farmers facing short winters are more likely to adopt MT and less likely to adopt NM. One of the main reasons behind this could be the use of the zero tillage (in our case the authors call it MT) wheat production system, in which farmers can plant wheat earlier than they do conventionally and thereby the wheat escapes the terminal heat if the winter is short. (Sapkota et al., 2015).Farmers have adopted multiple CSAPs in the study area; however, the intensity of adoption varies from 1 to 4 CSAPs in the same farm plot by the sampled farm households. The authors estimated the OP model to examine the factors explaining the intensity of CSAPs adoption. As a direct interpretation of the coefficients of an OP model is less informative, the authors calculated marginal effects on each outcome (i.e. level of intensity [ Table V]). The chi 2 statistic for the OP model is statistically significant at less than the 1 per cent level of significance. This indicates that the null hypothesis À that joint test of all slope coefficients equal zero À is rejected.Results show that several factors influence the intensity of CSAP adoption. Gender of the household head, caste, literacy status of household head and migration are the major household characteristics variables affecting the intensity of CSAP adoption. The number of CSAPs adopted is significantly lower among the male-headed households compared to female-headed households. Unlike the adoption decision (as shown in Table IV), the variable \"literate spouse\" is found to have no effect on the intensity of CSAPs used (Table V). This indicates how the same variable can have a differing impact on the decision to adopt CSAPs and the intensity of adoption. Households with at least one migrated member have a significant and positive effect on the number of CSAPs used, with varying marginal probabilities of each outcome.Compared to the decision to adopt CSAPs (Table IV), only three farm land characteristics variables including tenure status, the size of and distance to the plot, are found to have a significant impact on the intensity of CSAP adoption. Owner-cultivated plots have a higher intensity of CSAPs used than rented plots (significant at the 1 per cent level). Larger plots have a positive association with the intensity of adoption, indicating that land fragmentation in Bihar is a constraining factor to CSAP adoption. Plots farther from the homestead received fewer CSAPs compared to plots nearer the homestead. This could be because of the higher transportation and monitoring costs to farmers.Wealthier households (households with higher asset indices) are found to have a higher intensity of adopting CSAPs. Association in groups increases the level of CSAPs used positively and significantly. Credit access has a negative and significant effect on CSAPs used. This is plausible in the study area as credit taken for agricultural purposes is often used for other social purposes. The focus group discussion with the farmers in the study area revealed that in several cases, credit is used to cover marriage, dowry and medical expenses. Access to markets and agricultural extension services are crucial factors to enhance the level of CSAP adoption. Our results show that the variables of increasing distance from markets and extension services have negative and significant effects on the intensity of CSAPs used.Information sources, including \"farmer-to-farmer communication\", \"government extension services\" and \"information and communication technology\" are positively and significantly associated with the level of CSAP adoption. This indicates the importance of farmers' access to these information sources and mobilizing resources to upgrade these facilities (Birthal et al., 2015). Moreover, this indicates that national and international agricultural institutions are effective in enhancing farmers' knowledge about the CSAPs required to address the climate risks in agriculture. Training on soil management and tillage, and CD has a positive and significant effect on the level of CSAPs used.Farmers who faced high temperatures as a major climate risk over the past five years have significantly higher levels of CSAP adoption, opposed to the farmers who faced short winters as the major climate risk over the last five years.   IJCCSM 10,3This study assessed the factors that determine the likelihood and intensity of adoption of CSAPs by the farmers of Bihar, India. Understanding barriers to and enabling conditions for the adoption of CSAPs helps in designing and formulating extension messages and agricultural policies that can accelerate the dissemination of CSAPs. Our results show that farmers adopt these CSAPs as complements and substitutes; however, there is greater scope for promoting complementarities among these CSAPs. Farmers' characteristics including gender, caste, education, social and economic capital, farm land characteristics, access to the market, extension services and training, and major climate risks experienced by the local farmers, are found to be some of the major factors affecting the decision to adopt the technology. Access to markets and extension services is found to have a crucial role in increasing the uptake of CSAPs. Therefore, it is important to focus on policies and plans that improve market access and quality of public extension services. More training on CSAPs for farmers, more government extension staff working at the local level and the use of ICTs to share and promote knowledge of CSAPs are essential. In this case, mainstreaming CSAPs in village-level (local) climate-change adaptation plans and disseminating knowledge of new CSAPs to rural farmers through enhanced extension services is crucial. Another important issue of high concern is the increasing land fragmentation in Bihar and its implications on the adoption of CSAPs. Given that farmers operating larger farms are more likely to adopt CSAPs; it is important to facilitate agricultural land rental markets, mainly because acquiring land through land sale markets is beyond the capacity of the poor farmers. Therefore, agricultural policies should focus on the regulation of agricultural land rental markets in such a way that landlords do not need to compromise their property rights while renting land and, at the same time, efficient small farmers can access land through well-regulated land rental transactions."}

main/part_2/0127765558.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7db99d9abdc14f4d916afb1df58aa063","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c21c828a-1aa8-4961-b923-e7c009d26f4c/retrieve","id":"1679394277"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9831b857-f1cf-4d33-9e6b-3b4503add1f6","content":"In serving this mission, IWMI concentrates on the integration of policies, technologies and management systems to achieve workable solutions to real problems-practical, relevant results in the field of irrigation and water and land resources.The publications in this series cover a wide range of subjects-from computer modeling to experience with water user associations-and vary in content from directly applicable research to more basic studies, on which applied work ultimately depends. Some research reports are narrowly focused, analytical and detailed empirical studies; others are wide-ranging and synthetic overviews of generic problems.Although most of the reports are published by IWMI staff and their collaborators, we welcome contributions from others. Each report is reviewed internally by IWMI's own staff and Fellows, and by external reviewers. The reports are published and distributed both in hard copy and electronically (www.iwmi.org) and where possible all data and analyses will be available as separate downloadable files. Reports may be copied freely and cited with due acknowledgment.This report presents the findings of a study to assess changes to flows into, and downstream of, the Usangu Wetlands, located in the headwaters of the Great Ruaha River, Tanzania. Hydrological data, in conjunction with remote sensing techniques, were used to provide insights into changes that have occurred to the Eastern Wetland. Results indicate that, between 1958 and 2004, inflows to the wetland declined by about 70 percent in the dry season months (July to November) as a consequence of increased human withdrawals, primarily for irrigation. This resulted in a decrease in the dry season area of the wetland of approximately 40 percent (i.e., from 160 km 2 to 93 km 2 ). In the last decade, outflows from the wetland have ceased for extended periods. An environmental flow model indicates that a minimum dry season outflow of approximately 0.6 m 3 s -1 is essential to sustain the basic ecological condition of the river. To maintain this outflow from the wetland, a minimum average dry season inflow of approximately 7 m 3 s -1 (i.e., approximately double current dry season flows) is required. To achieve this, dry season flows in the perennial rivers discharging into the wetland would have to be apportioned so that 20 percent is used for anthropogenic purposes and the remaining 80 percent discharges into the wetland. There is significant potential for improving water use efficiency. However, to ensure minimum downstream flow requirements, consideration should also be given to active water management within the wetland itself.vi 1Wetlands are valuable ecosystems. In addition to supporting immense biodiversity, they play an important role in maintaining environmental quality and sustaining livelihoods. In Africa many millions of people depend on them for livelihood benefits derived from the ecological functions they perform (Denny 1991).Wetland ecosystems are adapted to the prevailing hydrological regime. The spatial and temporal variation in water depth, flow patterns and water quality, as well as the frequency and duration of inundation, are often the most important factors determining the ecological character of a wetland. Hence, these factors also determine the functions of a wetland (Ramsar Convention Secretariat 2004). Human activities that alter natural flow regimes can have major consequences for wetland ecosystems. Impacts on wetlands can be caused by human activities that take place within them, and by activities that take place within the wider catchment. In this regard, agriculture, both through modification of land cover and irrigation abstractions, is the foremost cause of wetland loss and degradation (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). Conversely, changes to wetlands can have significant impacts on ecosystems and people living downstream.The importance of ecological and hydrological functioning of wetlands is recognized (Mitsch and Gosselink 1993;Barbier et al. 1996;Acreman 2000). However, increases in human population, coupled with river regulation and changes in landuse, continue to add to the pressure on wetlands throughout Africa. The International Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971) promotes the sustainable utilization of wetlands within a local context and mandates that adequate water is provided to them to maintain those ecological functions, which in turn benefit people. However, how to determine a wetland's water requirements, particularly in the context of multiple competing needs, is not always clear. Furthermore, there have been relatively few attempts to quantify water allocation for wetlands, globally. This is particularly the case in data sparse regions of the world, such as many places in Africa.Against this background, this report describes a study undertaken to estimate water allocation for the wetlands of the Usangu Plains in Tanzania. These wetlands are located in the floodplain, close to the headwaters of the Great Ruaha River. The Great Ruaha River is a major tributary of the Rufiji River. In terms of the national economy, it is one of the country's most significant waterways, with more than 50 percent of the country's installed hydropower capacity and significant agricultural production (Kadigi et al. 2004). Furthermore, it is the main source of water during the dry season, and as such, is vital for the ecology of the Ruaha National Park. Since 1992/1993, the previously perennial Great Ruaha River has ceased flowing downstream of the wetlands, during the dry season and in the early part of the wet season (i.e., September to January). The drying up of the river has been widely attributed to irrigation abstractions from the rivers flowing into the wetlands (SMUWC 2001a;Lankford et al. 2004).The Usangu Plains are located in the south-west of Tanzania (figure 1). They lie between longitudes 33 The climate is largely controlled by the movement of air-masses associated with the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. The rainfall regime is unimodal with a single rainy season from December to June. However, rainfall is irregular, highly localized and spatially varied, and is strongly correlated with altitude. The mean annual rainfall is up to about 1,600 mm in the mountains and between 500 and 700 mm on the Although previous studies have been carried out in the Usangu Plains (Kikula et al. 1996;SMUWC 2001a), none of these explicitly investigated the water requirements of the wetlands and the maintenance of downstream flows. The current study sought to improve understanding of the hydrology of the Usangu Wetlands and the hydrological implications of increased irrigation abstractions and land-cover changes in the catchment. In addition, an attempt was made to assess the amount of water required to discharge into the wetlands to maintain downstream flows during the dry season. Usangu Plains. The mean annual temperature varies from about 18 0 C at higher altitudes to about 28 0 C in the lower and drier parts of the Usangu Plains. The mean annual potential evapotranspiration is 1,900 mm (SMUWC 2001a).There is a distinct change in vegetation from the highlands to the lowlands. Above 2,000 m amsl, remnant montane humid forest gives way to afro-alpine vegetation and, between 2,000 m amsl and 1,100 m amsl, Miombo woodland dominates (SMUWC 2001a). Below 1,100 m amsl, two broad areas are delineated by different vegetation composition and characteristics: i) the fans; and ii) the Usangu Wetlands. The fans are alluvial deposits spreading from the base of the mountains onto the Usangu Plains. Natural vegetation comprises thorny woodland and wooded grassland. However, the fans are fertile and consequently many agricultural activities are concentrated in this area. As a result, significant areas have been cleared and replaced by cultivation or secondary thorn bush. The vegetation of the lower fans naturally grades into natural bush, which is mixed with open grassland. The Usangu Wetlands, located below the fans, comprise of the Western and Eastern Wetlands, which are divided by higher ground in the centre of the Usangu Plains and joined only by a narrow band of land along the Great Ruaha River at Nyaluhanga (figure 2). The Western Wetland comprises seasonally flooded areas, which are not contiguous but broken into a number of independent wetlands. The Eastern Wetland comprises seasonally flooded grassland and a perennial swamp, known locally as mbuga and ihefu, respectively.The Usangu Plains are drained by the Great Ruaha River, which exits at a point called NG'iriama. At this location, a rock outcrop acts as a natural dam controlling the flow from the Eastern Wetland. Major tributaries to the Great Ruaha River, with confluences on the Usangu Plains, are the Mbarali, Kimani, Chimala and Ndembera (figure 2). These rivers have their sources at high elevations, in the high rainfall areas, and account for 85 percent of the total  2001a). Other smaller rivers include the Umrobo, Mkoji, Lunwa, Mlomboji, Ipatagwa, Mambi, Kioga, Mjenje, Kimbi, Itambo and Mswiswi. Most of these smaller rivers have their sources in lower rainfall areas and are ephemeral. The major water supplier to the Eastern Wetland is the Great Ruaha River, which flows from the Western Wetland through the constriction at Nyaluhanga. The only other significant inflow into the Eastern Wetland is the Ndembera River, which discharges into it from the north-east. Downstream of the Eastern Wetland, the Great Ruaha River flows through the Ruaha National Park, serving as the main source of water for the Park and, ultimately, into the Mtera hydropower reservoir. The long-term (i.e., 1958-2004) mean annual runoff (MAR) for the catchment up to the Msembe Ferry Gauging Station, located 80 km downstream of NG'iriama (figure 1), is 2,442 Mm 3 (i.e., 77.4 m 3 s -1 ).For conservation, the Usangu Wetlands are one of the most valuable freshwater ecosystems in Tanzania. They are home to over 400 different types of bird species and numerous other flora and fauna. Most of the Eastern Wetland lies within the recently gazetted Usangu Game Reserve. Before it was officially declared a game reserve, the Eastern Wetland supported various socioeconomic activities (e.g., fishing, collection of medicinal plants and cattle grazing). It also had a certain degree of cultural importance and, as such, was used as a site for ritual prayers (Kashaigili 2003). In recent decades, in part because of the various benefits derived from the wetlands, many ethnic groups have immigrated to the Usangu Plains from other parts of Tanzania. The groups include pastoralists from Mwanza, Shinyanga and Tabora, as well as farmers and business people from other neighboring regions. Some people have also moved in to the region from outside the country (i.e., from Europe and Asia) (SMUWC 2001a).The higher population and increased human activities in and around the wetlands have resulted in increased water demand. Demand for irrigation water exists in both wet and dry seasons and, with the exception of hydropower generation that takes place a long way downstream, is by far the largest water user (table 1).Over the past 30 years, there has been a rapid expansion in the irrigated area. From 1970 to 2002, the irrigated area increased from approximately 10,000 ha to about 44,000 ha (SMUWC 2001b)-(figure 3; table 2). However, the area varies from year to year depending on the rainfall. Currently in low rainfall years, it may still be as little as 20,000-24,000 ha (SMUWC 2001b).Irrigated agriculture is located on the middle and lower parts of the alluvial fans, primarily on the southern margins of the Usangu Wetlands (figure 2). The irrigation comprises large stateowned (but soon to be privatized) rice farms (covering approximately 6,200 ha), as well as smallholder irrigation, comprising both formal schemes and informal systems (covering approximately 37,000 ha). It is estimated that approximately 30,000 households are involved in irrigation. Water is diverted from both the perennial and seasonal rivers. For some villages, irrigation canals are also the primary source of domestic water. Rain-fed cultivation, some using water harvesting techniques, exists on the upper parts of the fans where rainfall is slightly higher. Dry season irrigation is also concentrated on the upper parts of the fans and largely comprises  Growth of irrigated rice area and water abstraction in selected periods. Changes in population and the area under irrigation in Usangu (1930Usangu ( -2005)).demand, when rice prices are highest. Furthermore, within irrigated areas, large volumes of water continue to be diverted throughout the dry season, even though they are not used for irrigation. Some of this water is used for domestic supply and livestock watering (table 1), but large quantities are simply discharged into nonproductive fields and plots. A lot of this water is evaporated or infiltrates to groundwater. As a result, with the exception of four perennial rivers (Mbarali, Kimani, Ndembera and the Great Ruaha) the rivers cease to flow, and even the perennial rivers have very low flows in most dry seasons. Historically, the Great Ruaha River was perennial with the flow lasting throughout the dry season, in all, but in the exceptionally dry years, such as 1947 and 1954. Flows at the Msembe Ferry at the end of the dry season were typically between 1m 3 s -1 and 3m 3 s -1 (SMUWC 2001b).Since 1993, flows downstream of NG'iriama have ceased in the dry season every year because water levels in the Eastern Wetland have dropped below the crest of the rock outcrop. Table 3 shows the periods of zero flows observed at the Jongomero Camp in the Ruaha National Park.The river even dried up in the dry season of 1997, following high rainfall in the wet season, associated with the El Niño phenomenon.Source: SMUWC (2001b), Hazelwood and Livingstone (1978), Franks et al., 2004, Tanzania National Bureau of statistics -population census The drying up of the Great Ruaha River has resulted in social conflicts between upstream and downstream users. In the dry season, women and children have to spend much of their time searching for water, with some having to walk up to 20 km to locate sources (Kashaigili and Rajabu 2003). The cessation of flow is also having adverse impacts on the fragile ecosystem of the Ruaha National Park. It has caused significant mortality of fish and hippopotami. For example, in the dry season of 2003, 5,000 fishes and 49 hippopotamuses died following the drying up of the river (Ecologist for the Ruaha National Park, personal communication.). It also disrupts the lives of many animals that depend on the river for drinking water, causing changes in their behavior and leading to outbreaks of disease such as Anthrax.In 2002, Tanzania launched a new National Water Policy, which established the environment as the second priority in allocating water, behind basic human needs. As a result of the increased water competition and concerns about the environment of the Usangu Wetlands and the Ruaha National Park, the Government of Tanzania is committed to ensuring that the Great Ruaha River has \"year-round flow by 2010\" (Prime Minister, Mr. Frederick Sumaye, speaking at the Rio+10 preparatory meeting in London). Furthermore, the government is committed to \"integrated comprehensive approaches towards resources planning, development and management so that human activity does not endanger the sustenance of the Great Ruaha ecosystems\" (Guardian newspaper (Tanzanian daily), 8 Nov 2001). This means ensuring enough water to sustain both the wetlands and the river downstream. In addition, the Tanzanian Government has recently become a signatory to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (August 13, 2000) and so is bound to the \"conservation and wise use\" of all wetlands. Although the Usangu Wetlands are not designated a Ramsar site, signing the convention commits the country to a general stewardship of wetlands (Franks et al. 2004).Increasing competition for water resources is adding to the pressure on the wetlands of many developing countries. New approaches are required to determine how available water can be shared between the environment, which is essential if environmental services are to be maintained, and other water users. Periods of zero flow in the Great Ruaha River (1994River ( to 2004)). The Usangu area is subject to a complex set of environmental pressures and associated management problems. There are important gaps in the understanding of the hydrology of the wetland and the consequences of changes in land use that have taken place over time, particularly in relation to the impact of these changes on river flows. Understanding these is vital for improving water resource management in the catchment. This study had two key objectives:• to ascertain the changes in the hydrologic response caused by increased irrigation and changed land use;• to evaluate the discharge into the Eastern Wetland required to maintain specified dry season flows downstream of the NG'iriama outlet.There were four components to the study:• use of satellite images to investigate changes in land cover and the area of the Eastern Wetland over time;• analysis of flow data to quantify changes in the flow regime downstream of the Eastern Wetland;• development of a hydrological model to determine water fluxes and the water budget of the Eastern Wetland;• estimation of desired environmental flows downstream of the wetland.The current study focused primarily on the Eastern Wetland and flows downstream of it in the dry season when, as discussed above, impacts are greatest and the most significant environmental problems occur. The analyses considered three time frames or 'windows ': 1958-1973, 1974-1985 and 1986-2004. These windows correspond approximately to different levels of human intervention in the catchment (Yawson 2003). The pre-1974The pre- (i.e., 1958The pre- -1973) ) window was regarded as a near-natural period with only moderate human interventions. The major interventions during this period were the introduction of irrigated agriculture by people from Baluchistan and the construction of the Mbarali rice farm (3,200 ha) in 1972. At the end of this window, the population in Usangu was approximately 90,000 and the irrigated area was approximately 12,000 ha.The 1974-1985 window was a period characterized by rapid increase in both population and irrigation. At the end of the window, the irrigated area was about 26,000 ha and the population was estimated at 150,000. This represents a 67 percent increase in population and a 117 percent increase in the area under irrigation within a period of 12 years. The post-1985The post- (i.e.,1986The post- -2004) ) window is characterized by increasing water abstraction as a result of continued population growth, increased irrigation and increased pastoral activities. It is also characterized by increased catchment degradation, expanded markets and an increase in the incidence of conflicts over limited water resources (SMUWC 2001a). During this period, the Kapunga rice farm (3,000 ha) was developed. It was irrigated with water from the Great Ruaha River. Other new schemes commissioned in this period include: Kimani (6,000 ha), Madibira (3,000 ha), Majengo (800 ha), Mswiswi (800 ha), Motombaya (800 ha), Ipatagwa (700 ha), Meta Lunwa (1,200 ha) and Chimala (3,000 ha).Analysis of land cover was undertaken using satellite images. Images obtained in different years were used to determine the extent to which the wetlands and neighboring areas have changed over time. Change detection entails finding the type, amount and location of land use changes that have taken place. Various algorithms are available for change detection analysis (e.g., ERDAS 1999). In this study, a post-classification approach was used (Coppin et al. 2004). To ensure accurate detection of land cover change, and reduce effects of seasonal phenological differences (Jensen 1996), analyses were conducted on images from the wet and dry seasons independently (table 4). A hand-held GPS was used to obtain the geographical location of different types of land cover. These were used in conjunction with a base map and color composite image derived from an image obtained on September 7, 2000. Seven distinct land-cover classes were identified: closed woodland (CW); open woodland (OW); vegetated swamp (VS); closed bushland (CB); open bushland (OB); bushed grassland (BG); and cultivated land and bareland (CLB). Cultivated land and bareland were grouped together because they are a sign of direct human modification of land cover. Standard techniques of analysis (i.e., pixel to pixel comparison of multi-temporal images) were conducted to determine changes in land cover between different images (ERDAS 1999). Further details of the change detection methodology undertaken in this study are presented in Kashaigili et al. (2006).Analyses of the images show changes in land cover between the different dates. To illustrate the changes, the percentage area cover of four classes (i.e., VS, CW, OW and CLB) for the dry season in the years 1973, 1984, 1991, 1994 and 2000 are presented in figure 4 and summarized in table 5. It is important to note that VS, CW and OW represent a major portion of the wetlands in the Usangu Plains. Figures 5 and 6 are maps showing the changes in land cover between 1984 and 2000.• there was a steady increase in cultivated area, from 121.2 km 2 to 874.3 km 2 , between 1973 and 2000;• the other land covers do not show such clear trends but fluctuate from year to year (these changes reflect, at least in part, the differences in rainfall between the years);• there is a significant difference in the area of the vegetated swamp between the wet and dry season. Although findings are   Visual inspection of time series of annual and dry season flows in the Great Ruaha River at the Msembe Ferry suggests that there is no significant trend in the annual flows. However, dry season flows have declined (figure 7). To be more rigorous, long-term trends in river flows and rainfall over the Usangu Plains were analyzed using conventional techniques of linear regression. The student t-test (Helsel and Hirsch 1993) was applied to test the significance of the slope of the trend-lines. The rainfall time series was derived by combining data from a number of rain gauges located in the Usangu Plains (table 6). Daily rainfall was calculated as the numeric mean of the rainfall recorded at each gauge. The results indicate that, between 1958 and 2004, there was no statistically significant trend in total annual flows, but there were statistically significant (at the 95% level) declines in both rainfall over the Usangu Plains and the dry season flows at the Msembe Ferry (table 7).Specific data on changes in dry-season irrigation over time are not available. However, there is a clear correlation between the decrease in the average of the dry-season flow at the Msembe Ferry and the increase in total irrigated area within the Usangu Catchment (figure 8). This is to be expected, because though not extensively used for irrigation, it is the continuedA time series of flow data from the Msembe Ferry Gauging Station was used to investigate temporal changes in the flow regime, downstream of the wetland. This station has operated from 1963 to date. The record was extended back to 1958 using data measured at Haussman's Bridge, a flow gauging station, located approximately 50 km upstream of the Msembe Ferry. This station operated between 1958 and 1988. The intervening catchment (ca. 4,200 km 2) is predominantly forest. There are no major abstractions between the two sites, but tributaries contribute to the flow at the Msembe Ferry, particularly in the wet season. Using the period when both stations were operating (i.e., 1963 to 1988), a simple regression relationship was developed between the flows measured at the two stations (SMUWC 2001b):Where: The regression was done separately for the low-flow season and for the high-flow season. In both cases, the constant 'b' was found to be zero. The constant 'A' was determined to be 0.9217 and 1.0046 in the low-flow and high-flow   diversion of water to irrigation areas during the dry season, which is the major factor in reduced inflows to the wetland.Figure 9 shows the mean monthly flow at the Msembe Ferry for each of the three windows. This highlights the fact that there has not been a decrease across the full spectrum of the flow regime. In fact, between 1974 and 1985, overall flows were lower (MAR was 51.6 m 3 s -1 ) than in either of the other two windows (i.e., MAR was 93 m 3 s -1 and 80.5 m 3 s -1 for pre-1974 and post-1985 windows, respectively), but throughout this period, the Great Ruaha River continued to flow in the dry season. Mean monthly flow at the Msembe Ferry (m 3 s -1 ) derived for each of the three time windows with the dry season flows magnified (inset).  Flow duration curves for the Great Ruaha River at the Msembe Ferry. Comparison of minimum flows (m 3 s -1 ) for different durations for each of the time windows. Flow duration curves are cumulative frequency distributions, which show the percent of time that a specified discharge is equaled or exceeded during a period of interest. Hence, for example, Q 95 is the mean daily flow that is exceeded 95 percent of the time. Annual flow duration curves were developed for the three windows using the Galway Flow Forecasting software (NUI 2002). The curves confirm the progressive and significant decline in flows lower than Q 50 (figure 10). Between the pre-1974 and post-1985 windows, Q 95 and Q 90 decreased from 2.84 m 3 s -1 and 3.73 m 3 s -1 to 0.0 m 3 s -1 and 0.02 m 3 s -1, respectively. The nonsignificant trend in annual flows can be attributed to the large inter-annual variability, which tends to mask trends, and the fact that wet season flows, which dominate the annual series, have not changed significantly, despite the fact that absolute volumes diverted in the wet season are much greater than in the dry season.Using the ARIDA software (Fry et al. 2001) the frequency of occurrence of low-flow events was investigated. For each time window, the minimum flow over different durations (i.e., 1day, 10-days, 30-days and 60-days) was determined. The results verify the increasing frequency and extension of low-flow periods between the pre-1974 and post-1985 windows (table 8). Between 1958 and 1973 there was not a single day with zero flow and the return period of a minimum one-day duration flow of 0.84 m 3 s -1 was approximately 30 years.  The model represents the wetland as a reservoir (figure 11) and computes the water budget using the following equation:where: ∆S is change in water stored within the wetland Q in is the total inflow to the wetland, including contributions from groundwater Q out is the total outflow from the wetland at the NG'iriama exit P is rainfall falling directly onto the wetland (a function of wetland surface area)E is evaporation from the wetland (a function of wetland surface area)The model was run on a daily time step, but data were aggregated to months for analysis. A key assumption of the model is that wetland storage, area and outflow are all a function of water level at the outlet (i.e., at the rock sill at NG'iriama). Water elevation-area and water elevation-storage relationships derived during the SMUWC study (SMUWC 2001b) were fitted with power functions to enable the wetland area and the storage to be calculated from water levels at NG'iriama (figure 12).The outflow from the wetland is dependent solely on the water elevation at the NG'iriama outlet. From measured water levels and discharge measurements, a rating equation was developed to convert levels measured at the outlet to discharge (SMUWC 2001b), when water level h > 4.30 m:(3) where: h is the water level measured to a local datum at the outlet. On this scale, the rock sill is at 4.30 m (= 1,009.525 m amsl). For water levels lower than this, there is no flow from the wetland.Measured water levels are available at NG'iriama only for the period October 20, 1998 to October 30, 2002. To extend the water level series, it was assumed that flow at NG'iriama was the same as that at Haussman's Bridge, which is located 30 km downstream of the outlet, as there are no major abstractions or tributary inflows between the two locations. The flowrecord at Haussman's Bridge was extended from 1988 to 2004 using the Ksembe Ferry flow-record and equation 1. The flow at Haussman's Bridge was assumed to equal the flow from the wetland and the NG'iriama rating (equation 3) was applied in reverse to compute the time series of the day duration occurred in all years and zero flow for durations of 60 days and greater were common.The results of the analyses of flow at the Msembe Ferry confirm the progressive decrease in dry season flows in the Great Ruaha River since 1958. They indicate that changes to the hydrological balance have occurred upstream in the Usangu Catchment.  Conceptualization of the Eastern Wetland as a simple reservoir.Source: Own analysis water level at the outlet. Thus, a complete daily water level record was derived for NG'iriama for the period 1958 to 2004. This provided the basis for calculating the wetland storage and area.Rainfall over the wetland was assumed to be the same as the rainfall over the Usangu Plains, derived using data from the rain gauges in table 6. Potential evapotranspiration data derived at the Dodoma meteorological station were used, as the data measured at this station have been found to be representative of evaporation from the Usangu Plains (SMUWC 2001b;Yawson 2003). Evapotranspiration from the wetland surface was assumed to be at potential rates in all months. This is a simplification that makes no allowance for restrictions in evapotranspiration caused by water  + data from daily model for exact date of the \"observed\" area S = SMUWC (2001b) -areal estimates derived from satellite observations, aerial photgraphs and GPS fixing of wetland perimeter L = Landsat images stress. For each simulation time step, the rainfall into, and the evapotranspiration from, the wetland were derived by multiplying by the wetland area.Having used the water level information to compute outflows and evaporation, and taking rainfall over the wetland and the storage within it into account, the inflows were calculated as the unknown term in the water budget (i.e., equation 2).The wetland model was used to simulate hydrological fluxes for the period 1958 to 2004. Wetland areas simulated by the model were compared to \"observed\" estimates derived from Landsat images and from aerial surveys combined with GPS ground measurements of the wetland perimeter (SMUWC 2001b). It is recognized that there may be a considerable amount of error in the \"observed\" areas determined by different methods. Nonetheless, they are at least indicative of the wetland area and so provide a useful check on the model's performance. The results suggest that the model tends to underestimate the wetland area, especially in the wet season, and simulates a lower variability than what occurs in reality (table 9; figure 13). It is possible that the tendency to underestimate the wetland area is a consequence of the assumption that evapotranspiration is always at potential rates, or it may be that the model is overestimating wet season outflow. However, overall, there is reasonable correspondence between observed and simulated values, particularly in the dry season, which was of most concern to the current study. This factor provides a degree of confidence in the model's performance. Figure 14 shows simulated water levels at the NG'iriama outlet, illustrating the decline in levels and increase in periods below the level of the rock sill from the 1990s onwards.Figure 15 presents simulated mean monthly inflow and outflow from the wetland for the 1958-1973 window (i.e., the most natural period). This illustrates the effect of wetland attenuation on flows and indicates that there is approximately a 4-to 6-week lag between inflows to, and outflows from, the wetland.For the 1958 to 1973 window, the average annual influx to the wetland (i.e., rainfall + inflow) was 3,881 Mm 3 . However, there was considerable inter-annual variability. The minimum influx was 1,320 Mm 3 in 1961 and the maximum was 14,424 Mm 3 in 1968 (i.e., an El Niño year). Although rainfall is measured on the Usangu Plains, and a lot of inflow is generated in the highlands, rainfall and inflow are well correlated (figure 16). Rainfall equals 13 percent (i.e., 491 Mm As would be expected, there is high correlation between the simulated maximum area of the wetland each year and the total annual influx of water into the wetland (figure 17).The scatter in points can be attributed to the fact that, in any given year, the maximum areal extent of the wetland will also be partly affected by the temporal distribution of rainfall and flow within the year.The simulated annual water budget of the wetland varies considerably between the three time windows (table 10). These results corroborate the flow analyses, presented above, that the second window was a lot drier than either the first or the third window. During the second window, average annual outflow from the wetland was considerably less than it was in the post-1985 period. However, dry season outflows from the wetland did not cease. This confirms that it is FIGURE 14.Simulated water levels at NG'iriama for the period 1958 to 2004.  not declines in inflow per se, but rather a decrease in inflows during critical periods, which resulted in the cessation of dry season outflows in the post-1985 window.Comparison of the model results for the three windows enables evaluation of temporal changes in the wetland area and water budget. Between the pre-1974 and the post-1985 windows, the average area of the wetland in the wet season has not changed significantly. However, the dry season minimum area (occurring in October) has decreased by about 40 percent from an average of 160km 2 to 93 km 2 (table 11; figure 18) .From the pre-1974 window to the 1974-1985, and then to the post-1985 window, there was a progressive decrease in the average minimum dry season inflows to the Eastern Wetland. Average flow in October decreased from 32.1 Mm 3 to 18.6 Mm 3, and to 9.2 Mm 3 . Similar percentage declines occurred in August and September (table 12; figure 19). Over the entire period, there was a total decrease of approximately 70 percent in the simulated dry season inflows.The average minimum dry season wetland \"storage\", occurring in October, decreased from 58 Mm 3 to 40 Mm 3 to 24 Mm 3 in the pre-1974, 1974-1985 and post-1985 windows (table 13).Overall, this represents a 60 percent decrease in the minimum dry season storage. Simulated wet season outflows from the wetland vary between the time windows. There Relationship between annual maximum wetland area and total annual influx of water (i.e., rainfall + inflow) (Mm 3 ).    Currently, although most were developed for temperate climates, there are more than 200 methods for estimating environmental flows (Tharme 2003). A number of these approaches were considered in an attempt to determine \"desired\" dry season flows downstream of the Eastern Wetland. In the Usangu Catchment, where water is already over-allocated without any consideration of the environmental requirements, it is not reasonable to plan only environmentally favorable allocations. For this reason, the analyses conducted included consideration of current human abstractions as well as routing requirements. A number of alternative allocation scenarios were evaluated. For each of these alternative allocations, the wetland model was used to compute the inflows required to guarantee minimum dry season outflows.The lack of data is often a constraint to the estimating of environmental flows. This is true for the Great Ruaha River, where lack of requisite Comparison of average monthly dry season flows (m 3 s -1 ) for perennial rivers and simulated inflows to the Eastern Wetland (1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003).  and Tharme 1994;King et al. 2000) and the Downstream Response to Imposed Flow Transformations Method (King et al. 2003), are approaches that have been developed and used in southern Africa. However, full application of these methods requires significantly more data on aquatic habitat than were available for the current study. In this study, the ecologist of the Ruaha National Park and the Friends of Ruaha Society (FORS) were consulted to provide estimates, based on expert judgment, of the minimum flow needs in the Ruaha National Park.To compensate for the lack of ecological information, several methods of estimating environmental flows have been developed that are based solely on hydrological indices derived from historical flow data (Tharme 2003).Although it is recognized that a myriad of environmental attributes influence the ecology of aquatic ecosystems (e.g., temperature, water quality and turbidity), the common assumption of these approaches is that flow regime is the primary driving force (Richter et al. 1997). The hydrological index methods include: a) the Tennant (or Montana) method (Tennant 1976); b) the Texas method (King et al. 1999); c) flow duration curve analysis (Pyrce 2004); and d) Range of variability approach (Richter et al. 1996(Richter et al. , 1997)). Most of these methods have been developed in Europe and the USA. However, as noted above, considerable work on environmental flows has also been undertaken in South Africa. This includes the development of what is known as the \"desktop reserve model,\" which is intended to quantify ecological flow requirements in situations when a rapid appraisal is required and data availability is limited (Hughes and Hannart 2003). To date, the model has not been used extensively outside of South Africa. However, because it was developed specifically for conditions experienced in the rivers of South Africa, it was felt to be the most appropriate tool to use in the current study. Results derived from the model were compared with flow duration curve analysis, the method used most commonly elsewhere in the world (Tharme, 2003;Pyrce 2004).Generally, the \"design\" low-flow range of a flow duration curve is in the Q 70 to Q 99 range (Smakhtin 2001). Q 95 and Q 90 are frequently used as indicators of low flow and have been widely used to set minimum environmental flows (Pyrce 2004;Tharme 2003;Smakhtin 2001). From the flow duration curve for the pre-1974 period (i.e., least modified), low-flow percentiles were extracted (figure 10). The Q 95 derived from the flow duration curve is 2.84 m 3 s -1. However, the low-flow analysis (page 14) indicates that, even in the pre-1974 period, flows lower than this occurred every year. Consequently, there is no doubt that the ecology of the river and its surrounds will have adapted to dry season flows lower than 2.84 m 3 s -1. Nonetheless, for purposes of comparison, this value was used in one scenario developed to estimate inflow requirements to the wetland (page 30).The desktop reserve model was developed to provide a method for generating initial, low confidence estimates of ecological flow requirements for rivers in South Africa (Hughes and Münster 2000). The model incorporates the concepts of the building block method (King et al. 2000), which is widely recognized as a scientifically legitimate approach to setting environmental flow requirements (Hughes and Hannart 2003). The approach is based on the fact that, under natural conditions, different parts of the flow regime play different roles in the ecological functioning of a river and, as such, it is necessary to retain fundamental differences between wet season and dry season flows. Hence, the Building Blocks (BBs) are different components of flow, which combined comprise an ecologically acceptable, modified flow regime. The major BBs are low flows (baseflows), small increases in flow (freshes) and larger high flows, required for river channel maintenance (Hughes 2001).BBs differ between \"normal years\" and \"drought years.\" The former are referred to as \"maintenance requirements\" and the latter as \"drought requirements\" (Hughes 2001;Hughes and Hannart 2003). The frequency with which maintenance and drought years occur is defined on the basis of the variability of the natural hydrological regime, which is largely a function of climatic conditions. Hence, maintenance years occur quite frequently (typically 60-70%) in wetter, more reliably flowing rivers, while they occur much less frequently in semi-arid and arid rivers (typically 20% or lower) (Hughes and Hannart 2003). The set of BBs, therefore, includes maintenance low flows, maintenance high flows and drought flows, reflecting the natural variability of the flow. The desktop reserve model provides estimates of these BBs for each month of the year.The major assumption of the desktop reserve model, which emerged from an analysis of comprehensive environmental flow studies conducted in South Africa, is that rivers with more stable flow regimes (i.e., a higher proportion of their flow occurring as baseflow) have relatively higher low-flow requirements in normal years (i.e., \"maintenance low-flow requirements\") than rivers with more variable flow regimes. This assumption is founded on the premise that, in highly variable flow regimes, the biota will have adjusted to a relative scarcity of water, while in more reliably flowing rivers, the biota are more sensitive to reductions in the flow (Hughes and Hannart 2003). The consequence is that, generally, the long-term mean environmental requirement is lower for rivers with more variable flow regimes.In South Africa, rivers are classified in relation to a desired ecological condition, and flow requirements set accordingly. The classification system recognizes that while some rivers are environmentally important, the requirements for socioeconomic development mean that not all rivers can be retained in a near natural state. Thus four possible target \"environmental management classes\" (A-D) are defined. Class A rivers are largely unmodified and natural. Class D rivers are largely modified, with large loss of natural habitat, biota and basic ecosystem functioning (DWAF 1999). Class B and C rivers lie between these extremes. However, it is acknowledged that all resource development must be environmentally sustainable and, as such, even category D rivers should retain some basic ecological functioning. Transitional categories (e.g., A/B and B/C) are also used to increase the range of possible environmental flows. This classification system is used within the desktop reserve model, and flow requirements computed accordingly; the higher the class, the more water is allocated for ecosystem maintenance and greater the flow variability preserved.In the current study, the desktop reserve model was applied to the Great Ruaha River downstream of the Eastern Wetland. The model is based on monthly time step data and, to estimate environmental flow requirements, a naturalized flow series must be entered.2 In this case, monthly flows from the Msembe Ferry for years 1958 to 1973 (i.e., the least modified period) were used as input. To reflect the reality of the importance of water abstractions for local communities, the desired ecological condition of the river was set as C/D. Flow variability plays a major role in determining environmental flow requirements. Within the model, two measures of hydrological variability are used. The first is a representation of long-term variability of wet and dry season flows and, is based on calculating the coefficient of variation (CV) for all monthly flows for each calendar month. The average CVs for the three main months of both the wet and the dry season are then calculated and, the final CV-Index is the sum of these two season's averages (Hughes and Hannart 2003). A limitation of the model is that, in computing CV-Index, the model assumes that the primary dry season months are June to August and wet season months are January to March, as occurs over much of South Africa. Within the model this cannot be altered. However, for the Great Ruaha the key months are February to April and September to November for the wet and dry seasons, respectively. To ensure that the model computed a flow variability index much closer to reality, and since it is dominated by the wet season months, the input time series of flows was shifted by one month (i.e., January became February and so forth). The model output was then corrected to ensure that the results were applied to the appropriate months.The second index is the proportion of the total flow that can be considered to occur as baseflow (i.e., baseflow index [BFI]). Rivers with high BFI are less variable than those with low BFI values. The model computes the BFI from the monthly time series. However, in this study it was possible to calculate the BFI from the daily flows. This gave a BFI of 0.92, which is a high value reflecting both the relatively large size of the catchment to the Msembe Ferry (24,620 km 2 ) and the flow regulation effect of the Eastern Wetland. The two model parameters that determine the BFI using the monthly data were modified (by trial and error) until the model computed BFI closely matched that obtained from the daily data.The model results are presented in table 16. These indicate that, to maintain the river at class C/D, requires an average annual environmental flow allocation of 635.3 Mm 3 (equivalent to 21.6% of MAR). This is the average annual \"maintenance flow\"; the sum of the maintenance low flows (i.e., 15.9 % MAR; 465.4 Mm 3 ) and the maintenance high flows (i.e., 5.8% of MAR; 169.9 Mm 3 ). The drought-low-flows correspond to 10 percent MAR (i.e., 293.3 Mm 3 ).For the period 1986-2004, average annual flows at Msembe were significantly greater than the annual total maintenance flow requirements predicted by the model (i.e., 2,538 Mm 3 and 635.3 Mm 3, respectively). However, average flows in months September to November were   21). This simply confirms the assertions of ecologists that, in recent years, dry season flows have been insufficient to maintain even the basic ecological functioning of the river. In addition to using the hydrological characteristics of the naturalized flow series to compute annual totals and the seasonal distribution of environmental flow requirements, the model also combines maintenance and drought requirements into continuous assurance or frequency curves. This enables a time series of \"historic\" environmental flow requirements to be derived, and also means that assurance levels, or return periods, can be attached to specified environmental flow requirements. Details of the process are provided in Hughes and Munster (2000) and Hughes and Hannart (2003). To do these analyses, the desktop reserve model includes parameters for 21 regionalized assurance curves. The regionalization was based upon the natural flow duration curve characteristics of 1946 quaternary catchments in South Africa.In the current study, the 1958-1973 observed series was used. Initially, the model parameters chosen were those derived for dolomite regions of South Africa as thier monthly flow regimes were most similar to that of the Great Ruaha River at Msembe Ferry. However, these parameters were then modified, through a process of trial and error, until, based on a visual comparison, simulated and observed monthly flow duration curves matched as closely as possible.Figure 22   Comparison between observed mean monthly flows and total maintenance flow requirements (m 3 s -1 ) for the 1986-2004 period, with months August-December magnified (inset).Source: Own analysis  (1958)(1959)(1960)(1961)(1962)(1963)(1964)(1965)(1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971)(1972)(1973).   (Hughes and Hannart, 2003). The accuracy of the model results cannot be substantiated without further study. Given that it is underpinned by empirical equations developed specifically for South Africa, and is, furthermore, only supposed to be a \"low-confidence\" approach, the results must be treated with caution. Nonetheless, in the absence of any specialist knowledge on the relationships between hydrology and the ecological functioning of the river, it was felt to be the most appropriate method for use in the current study. Furthermore, for the dry season, the model results are consistent with the expert opinion that absolute minimum environmental flows should be not less than 0.5 m 3 s -1 .Realizing the need to balance environmental water requirements and livelihoods issues under the prevailing water resource conditions, four possible flow scenarios were formulated. In each case the wetland model was used to compute the inflows to the Eastern Wetland that is required to maintain the specified minimum downstream flows for the period 1999 to 2004.The Q 95 as derived from the flow duration curve is 2.84 m 3 s -1 . The corresponding average dry season inflow required to maintain this outflow was estimated to be 11.6 m 3 s -1 . This is significantly greater than the perennial river flows measured upstream of the off-takes on the Usangu Plains between 1998 and 2003 (table 15). Hence, it is greater than the currently available water resource, and it is completely unrealistic to contemplate achieving this flow.The average dry season inflow needed to maintain downstream environmental flow requirements with a return period of 2 years (table 18) was estimated to be 9.98 m 3 s -1 . This is slightly more than the average dry season flow in the perennial rivers, upstream of the abstractions on the Usangu Plains (table 15), but is slightly lower than the pre-1974 dry season inflows. However, under current conditions it is also unrealistic to contemplate achieving this flow.The average dry season inflow required to maintain downstream environmental flow requirements with a return period of one-year (table 18) was estimated to be 7.68 m 3 s -1 . This is close to the current average dry season inflow in the perennial rivers upstream of the Usangu Plains (table 15). However, allocating this amount of water for environmental needs would leave very little for irrigation and other livelihood support activities.The absolute minimum dry season flow required to maintain conditions (i.e., temperature and dilution requirements) suitable for wildlife in the pools and the river in the Ruaha National Park during the dry season was judged to be 0.5 m 3 s -1 (Ecologist for the Ruaha National Park, personal communication). This is similar to the absolute minimum flow of 0.6 m 3 s -1 derived from the desktop reserve model for October. Average dry season inflows required to maintain outflows of 0.6 m 3 s -1 and 0.5 m 3 s -1 , without consideration of minimum flow requirements in other months, were 7.22 m 3 s -1 and 6.98 m 3 s -1 , respectively.This suggests an absolute minimum dry season inflow of about 7.0 m 3 s -1 . This is approximately 3.25 m 3 s -1 greater than current average dry season inflows (table 15). To maintain this average inflow would require the available dry season surface water resource to be divided in the ratio of 80 percent for the environment (i.e., 7.0 m 3 s -1 ) and 20 percent for anthropogenic water needs (i.e., 1.50 m 3 s -1 ). In absolute terms this would require current dry season abstractions to be reduced from approximately 4.25 m 3 s -1 to about 1.50 m 3 s -1 (i.e., a 65% reduction).The analyses conducted in this study indicate that, to maintain absolute minimum desired flows downstream of the Eastern Wetland (i.e., 0.5 m 3 s -1), would require a 65 percent reduction in the current dry season abstractions from the perennial rivers. Some reduction in abstraction may be possible through improved water use efficiency. Currently demand management is being implemented through a program of gate closure on the large irrigation schemes. By reducing water diversions at the start of the dry season (i.e., June) it was hoped to \"top-up\" the wetland storage sufficiently to ensure the maintenance of dry season flows. However, to date, although it may have improved the situation, it has not prevented zero flow occurring in the Great Ruaha River in the dry season. The current study has shown that with only a 4-to 6-week lag between inflows and outflows, it is the maintenance of flows throughout the dry season, not storage within the wetland per se, which is critical to sustaining the downstream river flows.Increased use of groundwater is another possible approach to reducing surface water abstractions. No detailed survey of groundwater sources has been conducted, but it has been estimated that annual groundwater inflow, combined with inflow from the ephemeral rivers, may be in the range of 29-36 Mm 3 (SMUWC 2001b). It is recommended that careful consideration be given to installing boreholes and wells to provide the required domestic supply in villages. Currently many of the villages rely on water supplied by the irrigation canals and this means that diversions have to be maintained throughout the dry season, even at locations where irrigation is minimal or non-existent. Since much of the water diverted is \"lost\" through seepage and evaporation, significant water saving might be possible if alternative options for domestic supply could be found. Replacing the existing domestic supply with groundwater sources would enable some off-takes to be closed completely in the dry season. However, groundwater distribution, which is likely to be closely associated with permeable deposits and paleo-river channels (SMUWC 2001b), may be very variable and not located close to where the water is needed. Furthermore, since groundwater flows, combined with the surface inflow, may contribute to the maintenance of the wetland during the dry season, the impact of significant dry season groundwater abstraction (e.g., if groundwater was used for irrigation) on low flows is not clear.To ensure an outflow of 0.5 m 3 s -1 , an average dry season inflow to the wetland of 7 m 3 s -1 must be guaranteed. Clearly, there is significant potential for dry season water savings in the Usangu Catchment. However, given the current importance of the river abstractions for dry season livelihood needs (i.e., irrigation, water supply and others), it is very difficult to see how, under existing circumstances, the reductions required to attain these inflows could be achieved. Consequently, it is necessary to consider alternative management scenarios.The difference between the relatively large inflows and small outflows from the wetland is attributable to evapotranspiration from within the Ihefu swamp and the surrounding grassland.Clearly, although many benefits are derived from the wetland, the wetland depletes the water resources of the catchment and, in relation to downstream water requirements, can be considered a \"scarcity enhancer.\" Given the currently limited possibility of significantly reducing dry season abstractions, the only possible trade-off that might be considered is that between the wetland itself and the Ruaha National Park. This trade-off can be expressed in terms of evaporation in the wetland versus uses in the Ruaha National Park and the downstream hydropower dams. Alternatively it could be considered in terms of benefits for fisheries, livestock and biodiversity in the wetland versus wildlife conservation and energy generation. Either way, the trade-off can be expressed as a decision over the size of the permanent wetland as presented in the following statement:Either a larger wetland evaporating all the incoming water or alternatively a smaller permanent wetland evaporating most of the inflow but allowing an exit flow of about 0.5 m 3 s -1 to the Ruaha National Park.In the first instance all ecological benefits of the inflow are attained by the wetland and there is no exit flow. In the second, the ecological benefits of the inflow are shared between the wetland and the Ruaha National Park.Figure 23 is a schematic representation of these two possible management options. If the second option is favored, the objective becomes to manage the wetland in a way that, despite the limited inflows, retains as far as possible the benefits provided by the wetland but simultaneously ensures a flow from the wetland to the Ruaha National Park. Such a strategy can only be achieved if evapotranspiration from the wetland is reduced. This in turn requires \"active management\" of water within the wetland; specifically a better control of flows within it.If flows through the wetland were increased so that inflowing water reached the outlet more rapidly, evapotranspiration would be reduced and downstream flows could be maintained. Currently, there is no defined channel extending all the way from Nyaluhanga to NG'iriama and, within the wetland, water moves as a sheet through reed beds, at all but the lowest flows. More rapid flows could be achieved by ensuring that major pools within the wetland are linked by channels and the major channels are kept clear of reeds and other aquatic vegetation. Source: Own analysis Today, the Ihefu wetland is in an \"unmanaged\" scenario because livestock keepers and fisher folk have been excluded. Although supposedly natural, the channels have been blocked in the past by livestock keeping and fishing activities.Inflow to the wetland spreads and this generates greater evapotranspiration loss. Although the inflow in now greater than before 2001, because of canal regulation by RBWO, the average dry season flow of about 4-5 m 3 s -1 is insufficient to generate 'spill' at the outlet. Consequently the Ruaha National Park is left without water for several months. The situation may not improve because:• No one is allowed in the area (although there is some discussion of fisher folk being allowed return)• No use of wetland resources is allowed The situation may improve because:• Negotiated uses of wetland is promoted• \"Controlled\" use of wetland resources is allowed• The wetland is managed in order to ensure minimum flows of 0.5 m 3 s-1 at the outlet.Zero exit flow to Ruaha National ParkWetland area 93 km 2 0 m 3 s -1 0.5 m 3 s -1 4-5 m 3 s -1 4-5 m 3 s -1Wetland area = 86 km 2Environmental flow to Ruaha National Park Before they were expelled from the wetland, at the time it was gazetted, the local fisher folk were very effective at blocking and unblocking channels. If they endorsed the plan and were allowed to return to the reserve, they could be encouraged to keep the channels open, especially if the practice resulted in improved fisheries. Otherwise, mechanical and perhaps even chemical removal of reeds, and dredging of channels, might have to be considered.To maintain flows downstream of NG'iriama a number of engineering alternatives could also be considered. These include:• Raising the sill level at the outlet, by constructing a low (i.e., 0.5 to 1.0 m) weir across the rock lip at NG'iriama (i.e., crest level between 1010.0 m amsl and 1010.5 m amsl). Such a structure would increase the size of the perennial swamp and effectively transform the wetland into an inter-seasonal reservoir by increasing the volume of water \"stored\" in the swamp at the end of the wet season. Although evapotranspiration losses would be significantly increased, if flow through the weir was regulated via an adjustable sluice gate, downstream flows could be controlled to ensure that minimum flow requirements were met. To minimize changes to wet season flows from the wetland, the weir would have to be designed to be overtopped during periods of high flow.• Construction of a pipe to transfer a portion of the inflow at Nyaluhanga directly to NG'iriama. This would reduce both the permanent size of the wetland and evapotranspiration from it. It would also ensure that minimum flow requirements downstream of the outlet were secured, provided current inflows to the wetland were maintained in the future.• Construction of a dam on the Ndembera River to store water for the purpose of ensuring controlled inflows to the north-eastern end of the wetland. Preliminary studies for the construction of such a dam have been conducted as part of the feasibility investigations of the Madibira Rice Project (Halcrow and Partners 1985). However, the dam was not built, largely because the cost involved made it uneconomic. Certainly building a dam is an expensive option, and it could be difficult to justify construction solely for the purpose of maintaining dry season flows. If, however, the dam was built for multiple purposes and careful management practices were put in place to ensure that environmental flows did not lose out to other demands, it could be considered a viable option.The ecological impacts of these measures would need to be carefully assessed through detailed environmental impact assessments. Detailed surveys of the wetland geometry as well as hydraulic analyses would be required to determine likely changes to the areal extent of the permanent swamp, and the resulting consequences for the seasonal wetland. The implications for fisheries and grazing, as well as other livelihood activities in the area would also have to be carefully evaluated. Participation of local people in the decision-making process would be essential for any intervention to be successful and sustainable.The determination of environmental water requirements, especially in developing countries, faces many challenges. This study has highlighted the value, particularly for relatively data-sparse regions, of integrating findings and results from a number of different research approaches and utilizing scenarios to assess the feasibility of different allocation decisions. The development of a simple computer model has improved the understanding of the hydrological functioning of the Usangu Wetlands. It also has enabled a quantitative assessment of the changes that have occurred over time. Reduction in dry season inflows has resulted in the shrinking of the dry season area of the wetland, and a consequent decline in downstream flows. Since 1958, increasing diversions of water has caused average dry season inflows to the Eastern Wetland to decrease from approximately 15.0 m 3 s -1 to 4.3 m 3 s -1 (i.e., a 70% decrease).This has led to a reduction in the average minimum dry season area of the wetland from approximately 160 km 2 to 93 km 2 (i.e., a 40% decrease). Since the early 1990s, the decrease in dry season water levels within the wetland has resulted in prolonged periods of zero flow in the Great Ruaha River, with severe consequences for the ecology of the Ruaha National Park.A number of management options exist for maintaining dry season river flows downstream of the Eastern Wetland. The wetland model enabled calculation of the inflows required to maintain specified discharges. To maintain a flow of 0.5 m 3 s -1 , required for the most critical dry season period for the Great Ruaha River through the Ruaha National Park, an average inflow of approximately 7.0 m 3 s -1 (i.e., almost double current values) is required. Although significant opportunities exist to increase local water use efficiency, and thereby enhance the inflows to the wetland, given the current levels of diversion it will be very difficult to \"release\" sufficient water to ensure the desired downstream flow of 0.5 m 3 s -1 .Consequently, a pragmatic approach is to consider alternative options that manage water within the wetland to either reduce evaporation or increase water storage. A number of alternative options have been discussed, including increasing the speed of flow through the wetland by removing reeds and dredging channels, piping water from Nyaluhanga directly to NG'iriama, and construction of either a low weir at the outlet or a dam on the Ndembera River. All these alternatives would have ecological, as well as socioeconomic consequences, which need to be carefully assessed through environmental and social impact assessments, in conjunction with discussions with all the stakeholders. Maintenance of aquatic ecosystems is a pre-requisite for sustainable development. In an environment of increasing water scarcity, the allocation of water must consider the environmental implications. However, estimating water requirements for wetlands in waterstressed catchments, in which peoples' livelihoods are highly dependent on water abstraction, is a far from trivial task. It is essential that consideration is given not only to environmental requirements, but also to the economic and social implications of maintaining environmental flows. In such situations, an understanding of flow regimes and hydrological functioning is necessary for informed decisionmaking. There is a need to develop approaches to assist decision-makers in the allocation of water for the environment. This study has demonstrated the value of relatively simple models to provide a credible scientific basis to underpin decisions relating to environmental water allocations."}

main/part_2/0143033312.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9ae7bf18548ba8adb480485a46c92dfe","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/372f8f9c-0cc8-4a87-af68-4d44d29e1956/retrieve","id":"1338674111"},"keywords":["DArT sequencing","gene annotation","marker-trait association","yam tuber quality"],"sieverID":"041025a5-008d-47ce-9c39-36b0fbaa08f1","content":"Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a nutritional and medicinal staple tuber crop grown in the tropics and sub-tropics. Among the food yam species, water yam (Dioscorea alata L.) is the most widely distributed and cultivated species worldwide. Tuber dry matter content (DMC) and oxidative browning (OxB) are important quality attributes that determine cultivar acceptability in water yam. This study used a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assay from a diversity arrays technology (DArT) platform for a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of the two quality traits in a panel of 100 water yam clones grown in three environments. The marker-trait association analysis identified significant SNPs associated with tuber DMC on chromosomes 6 and 19 and with OxB on chromosome 5. The significant SNPs cumulatively explained 45.87 and 12.74% of the total phenotypic variation for the tuber DMC and OxB, respectively. Gene annotation for the significant SNP loci identified important genes associated in the process of the proteolytic modification of carbohydrates in the dry matter accumulation pathway as well as fatty acid β-oxidation in peroxisome for enzymatic oxidation. Additional putative genes were also identified in the peak SNP sites for both tuber dry matter and enzymatic oxidation with unknown functions. The results of this study provide valuable insight for further dissection of the genetic architecture of tuber dry matter and enzymatic oxidation in water yam. They also highlight SNP variants and genes useful for genomics-informed selection decisions in the breeding process for improving food quality traits in water yam.Yams are herbaceous perennial vine plants in the genus Dioscorea, comprising over 600 species [1,2]. They grow in the tropics and sub-tropics of Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Asia, and Oceania as a source of dietary food and ingredients for pharmaceuticals and traditional medicine. In West Africa, where over 92% of its global production occurs [3], yam is involved in many key life ceremonies [4]. Dioscorea alata, also known by the common names 'water yam' or 'greater yam', is one of the most important food yams. It is the world's most widely distributed cultivated yam, though it is not cultivated on the same magnitude as D. rotundata due to traditional bias that overlooks its nutritional and agronomic potential [5].End-use quality significantly influences the acceptance of yam varieties by farmers and consumers [6]. In effect, the success of newly developed yam varieties depends not only on their agronomic attributes but also on their acceptability to consumers in terms of both sensory and utilization characteristics [7]. The yam tuber has diverse uses as a result of the wide variation in organoleptic, culinary and nutritional properties, making some yam cultivars more appropriate for certain types of food preparation than others. Water yam cultivars with good eating qualities are characterized by high dry matter, starch, and amylose contents [8]. The rapid change in colour of the tissue from white to yellow or brown after the tuber is cut, which is the result of the oxidation of polyphenols, influences its processing and utilization [9]. Polyphenolic oxidation is also linked to bitterness, off-flavours and in some instances necessitates special preparation processes to make acceptable dishes [10].Boiled yam, pounded yam (also known as \"fufu\"), and \"amala\" (prepared from cooking and stirring of the fermented yam flour-\"elubo\") are the three leading food forms of yams in West and Central African regions [11,12]. In this region, Dioscorea rotundata (white yam) is preferred to water yam for \"fufu\" and \"amala\" due to its ease of dough formation when pounded. However, some collections and advanced breeding lines of water yam at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria) have displayed the capacity to form good dough, similar to or even superior to that of some genotypes of D. rotundata [7]. Additionally, some water yam clones have higher total dietary fibre and amylose content than that reported for brown rice and whole wheat flour together with low sodium but high potassium content, indicating the nutritional role that water yam could play in managing chronic diseases including diabetes [13].This highlights the potential of water yam for food and nutritional security in West and Central Africa, particularly as it has a very wide adaptation, high genetic potential to produce fairly high yield under low to average soil fertility, early vigour for weed suppression, ease of propagation through the production of bulbils resulting in a high multiplication ratio, low post-harvest losses, good processing quality and high nutritive value [5,14].An improvement in the food quality of D. alata remains a key objective in yam breeding programmes [7] and is critical for increasing the adoption level of newly developed varieties. To date, the genetic improvement efforts to develop water yam varieties with enhanced tuber quality attributes are mainly by conventional breeding strategies based on phenotypic records/data. This is, however, arduous and slow due to the lengthy screening process of identifying superior individuals from clonal populations [5,15]. In addition, the genetic basis of traits that define tuber quality has not received much attention. With the advent of molecular markers, tremendous progress has been made to understand the genetic diversity and relationships in Dioscorea species including D. alata (water yam) [16]. The use of genotypic and phenotypic data has also proven to elucidate genetic diversity in different Dioscorea spp. [17].The advancements in next-generation sequencing technologies have led to the rapid development of DNA-informed breeding techniques such as marker-assisted breeding and genomic selection through which many crops have recorded fast genetic gains. The increasing availability of molecular markers enables researchers to tag regions of the genome associated with specific phenotypes of interest in Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping and genome-wide association studies [18]. The genetic mapping of loci underlying important tuber quality traits of water yam has not been conducted yet to assist selection decisions in the breeding process. Mapping based on genome-wide associations has become increasingly popular and powerful because of the emergence of more cost-effective, high-throughput genotyping platforms. Using molecular approaches, such as the candidate gene technique, to unravel the causal gene(s) would hasten efforts in introgressing tuber quality traits into preferred genetic backgrounds of D. alata. The precision and speed of crop breeding have been improved by the evolution of genetic linkage and association mapping of the quantitative traits. This has been clearly demonstrated by Pétro et al. [19] in water yam. Genomic resources for D. alata are being rapidly developed [20]. These include the recent pre-release of a chromosome-scale \"v2\" assembly of Dioscorea alata see release notes and assembly [20]. This genome sequence enables genome-wide association studies of key traits in water yam. To elucidate the genetic factors for tuber dry matter content and oxidative browning, a diversity panel consisting of 100 water yam clones was genotyped by diversity arrays technology sequencing. While whole-genome sequencing provides the highest resolution, it still remains expensive for non-model species such as yams. A genome-wide association study was conducted to identify single nucleotide polymorphism loci or QTL regions and genes associated with tuber dry matter and oxidative browning. The SNP loci and associated candidate genes, when validated, would be a valuable resource for marker-assisted selection in the breeding process to develop new water yam varieties with acceptable end-user qualities.We analysed phenotypic data from the three locations to estimate the variance for total genotypic value and genotype × location effect (Table 1). The variance estimates for the two traits were statistically significant (p < 0.05) for total genotypic and genotype × location effects. The variance estimate for the total genotypic value was higher than that of the genotype × location effects. Genotypic differences among the diversity panel for DMC and OxB were statistically significant (p < 0.05) in each of the three locations (Figure 1). Mean DMC was highest in Ubiaja (32.43%), followed by Ikenne (29.20%) and Ibadan (28.83%), while mean oxidative browning was high at Ikenne, followed by Ibadan and Ubiaja. Significant negative correlation (r 2 = −0.39, p < 6.825074 × 10 −5 ) was obtained between DMC and the OxB.  Table 2 presents the number of SNPs on D. alata chromosomes before and after filtering for missing data, allele frequency, and heterozygosity (see Materials and Methods for details). The SNP calling pipeline yielded 22,140 highly polymorphic SNP markers, of which 18,067 were mapped onto the 20 D. alata chromosomes while 4073 were unmapped. Out of the mapped markers, 9687 SNPs   2 presents the number of SNPs on D. alata chromosomes before and after filtering for missing data, allele frequency, and heterozygosity (see Materials and Methods for details). The SNP calling pipeline yielded 22,140 highly polymorphic SNP markers, of which 18,067 were mapped onto the 20 D. alata chromosomes while 4073 were unmapped. Out of the mapped markers, 9687 SNPs that qualified the filtering criteria were used as input for GWAS analysis. The filtered SNPs were not proportionally distributed across the 20 chromosomes with highest counts of 923, 893, and 843 displayed on chromosomes 5, 4, and 19, respectively (Table 2, Supplementary Figure S1a,b). The lowest number of SNPs, 299 and 304, were mapped on chromosome 1 and 13, respectively (Table 2). Minor allele frequency (MAF) across 9687 SNP markers varied from 0.05 to 0.50 with an average of 0.209. Observed and expected heterozygosity varied from 0.01 to 0.71 and 0.009 to 0.5, respectively. Across the chromosome, the polymorphism information content (PIC) of filtered SNPs varied from 0.20777 (chromosome 18) to 0.27728 (chromosome 10) with mean 0.23553 (Table 2). Genetic diversity conducted previously by Agre et al. [21] through discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) and admixture (population structure) revealed three major clusters with a low genetic pair-wise fixation index among clones of each group. Through admixture analysis, very few clones were identified as pure while 66% of the total accessions were found to be admixed. Linkage disequilibrium analysis revealed 312,479 loci pairs within a physical distance that extends up to 998,066 bp. About, 6.04% (450) of the loci pairs were in significant linkage disequilibrium (LD) (p < 0.001). In addition, 221 (3.10%) of the pairs were in complete LD (R 2 = 1). Pearson's correlation coefficients were negative (r = −0.035) between linkage disequilibrium (R 2 ) and physical distance (bp), as well as between p-value and R 2 (r = −0.40), showing the existence of linkage decay. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) decay differed across the chromosomes, ranging from 8289 bp for chromosome 1 to 58,562 bp for chromosome 11.Plants 2020, 9, 969 5 of 19We identified three SNP markers significantly associated with DMC (Figure 2, Table 3). Of these three SNP loci, two (Chr6_59775 and Chr6_615325) were on chromosome 6 at 59,775 and 615,325 bp physical positions, respectively (Table 3). These two SNP loci had marker effects of −4.01 and −3.33, respectively, and explained 15.50% of the total phenotypic variation. The third SNP locus associated with the tuber DMC was on chromosome 19 (Chr19_8692) at 8692 bp physical position. This SNP had a marker effect of 1.39 and explained 30.37% of the total phenotypic variation on DMC (Table 3). Of the four-gene action models (general, additive, simple dominant (1-dom-alt) and dominant reference (1-dom-ref) used in our analysis, one SNP (Chr19_8692) was identified through the additive gene action model, while two SNPs (Chr6_615325 and Chr19_8692) were identified through the dominant reference model (Figure 2).The three QTLs associated with DMC showed significant QTL × location interaction (Table 4). The SNP marker Chr19_8692 was significant at each of the three locations, while the two markers on chromosome 6 were significant in two (Ibadan and Ikenne) of the three locations (Table 5). The Quantile-Quantile (QQ) plot corroborated with reducing −log10 (p-value) toward the expected level for the dry matter (Figure 2). Further dissection of the two SNP loci associated with the tuber DMC on chromosome 6 showed that clones with the homozygous allele AA possessed higher tuber DMC than those with the heterozygous allele AG and/or homozygous allele GG (Figure 3). A marker effect on chromosome 19 revealed the allele CC to be linked with low DMC in the studied population, while allele CT and TT accounted for high DMC (Figure 4).        We identified two SNP markers, \"Chr5_118279\" and \"Chr5_125093\", both on chromosome 5 that had a significant association with the oxidative browning (Figure 5). The two significant SNP markers, \"Chr5_118279\" and \"Chr5_125093\", with marker effects of −4.06 and −3.48, were detected at LOD scores of 4.30 and 4.19, respectively (Table 3). Three (general, additive, and dominant alternative) of the four gene action models used in the analysis showed a significant marker-trait association for OxB on chromosome 5 that explained 12.74% of the total phenotypic variation (Table 3). The genotypic status of significant QTL markers associated with OxB and their corresponding mean phenotypic values presented in Figure 6. The two SNP markers were significant at Ikenne and Ibadan but not at Ubiaja (Table 5). The average phenotypic values of tuber oxidation for GA and GG genotypes were 5.22 and 7.36 for Chr5_11279, 4.91 and 7.48 for Chr5_125093 (Figure 6). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the OxB value for the allele GA was significantly lower than that predicted by the allele GG (Figure 6).  The significant SNP loci were related to structural genes using a candidate approach that takes advantage of the protein-coding gene annotation of the D. alata genome in preparation [20] (used with permission). This approach resulted in the identification of candidate genes on chromosomes 6 and 19 associated with DMC and chromosome 5 for the OxB. Through the annotation, various putative genes (26) associated with DMC, including ATP-grasp fold and succinyl-CoA synthetasetype (IPR013650) were identified at 4 kb from Chr19_8692, while glycoside hydrolase family 9 (IPR001701) and six-hairpin glycosidase superfamily (IPR008928) were identified on the marker associated with DMC on chromosome 6. For OxB, six putative candidate genes, including the thioesterase domain (IPR006683), phenylacetic acid degradation-related domain (IPR003736), histone deacetylase family (IPR000286), histone deacetylase domain (IPR023801), DUF630 (IPR006868), Cwf19-like and C-terminal domain-1 (IPR006768) were identified near the peak SNPs.LD block heatmaps based on the LD of each identified SNP loci are shown in Figures 7 and 8. For DMC, the LD analysis of the three loci (two on chromosome 6 and one on chromosome 19) showed that these markers had a relatively average to high LD parameter (R 2 > 0.8), showing a relatively high correlation (Figure 7). For OxB, the LD analysis on two loci (two markers on chromosome 5) showed that these markers had relatively low LD parameters (R 2 < 0.6) (Figure 8). The significant SNP loci were related to structural genes using a candidate approach that takes advantage of the protein-coding gene annotation of the D. alata genome in preparation [20] (used with permission). This approach resulted in the identification of candidate genes on chromosomes 6 and 19 associated with DMC and chromosome 5 for the OxB. Through the annotation, various putative genes (26) associated with DMC, including ATP-grasp fold and succinyl-CoA synthetase-type (IPR013650) were identified at 4 kb from Chr19_8692, while glycoside hydrolase family 9 (IPR001701) and six-hairpin glycosidase superfamily (IPR008928) were identified on the marker associated with DMC on chromosome 6. For OxB, six putative candidate genes, including the thioesterase domain (IPR006683), phenylacetic acid degradation-related domain (IPR003736), histone deacetylase family (IPR000286), histone deacetylase domain (IPR023801), DUF630 (IPR006868), Cwf19-like and C-terminal domain-1 (IPR006768) were identified near the peak SNPs.LD block heatmaps based on the LD of each identified SNP loci are shown in Figures 7 and 8. For DMC, the LD analysis of the three loci (two on chromosome 6 and one on chromosome 19) showed that these markers had a relatively average to high LD parameter (R 2 > 0.8), showing a relatively high correlation (Figure 7). For OxB, the LD analysis on two loci (two markers on chromosome 5) showed that these markers had relatively low LD parameters (R 2 < 0.6) (Figure 8). The red colour shows the markers with high LD followed by yellow then the white colour. The dashed lines on the Manhattan plot represent the significant threshold while the X-axis presents physical distances.Figure 8. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) heatmap showing pairwise LD between the SNP markers covering the entire chromosome 5 carrying genes encoding for OxB. The red colour shows the markers with high LD followed by yellow then the white colour. The dashed lines on the Manhattan plot represent the significant threshold while the X-axis presents physical distances. The red colour shows the markers with high LD followed by yellow then the white colour. The dashed lines on the Manhattan plot represent the significant threshold while the X-axis presents physical distances.Figure 8. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) heatmap showing pairwise LD between the SNP markers covering the entire chromosome 5 carrying genes encoding for OxB. The red colour shows the markers with high LD followed by yellow then the white colour. The dashed lines on the Manhattan plot represent the significant threshold while the X-axis presents physical distances. . disequilibrium (LD) heatmap showing pairwise LD between the SNP markers covering the entire chromosome 5 carrying genes encoding for OxB. The red colour shows the markers with high LD followed by yellow then the white colour. The dashed lines on the Manhattan plot represent the significant threshold while the X-axis presents physical distances.Dry matter content and oxidation properties of yam tubers are very important quality traits that influence the rate of adoption of new clones for cultivation and consumption. Yam improvement efforts worldwide, especially in West Africa, have tested several clones within yam populations for DMC and none or minimal oxidation of fresh tuber using conventional selective breeding based on phenotypic records [8,22,23], an approach that is slow and arduous. For quality traits, DNA-based strategies such as GWAS reported in this study have advantages over the conventional selection breeding approach because it has the potential to fast-track the development and delivery of improved yam varieties with acceptable end-user attributes. The potential of GWAS to dissect complex traits has been proven in root and tuber crops such as cassava [24][25][26] and potatoes [27,28]. The present GWAS sought to identify QTL (s) and putative candidate genes associated with genetic variation in DMC and OxB in water yam. The highly significant genotype variance for DMC content and OxB in the current D. alata panel warrant further analysis for the dissection of the genetic basis of variation for these two traits.Detailed knowledge of population structure and familial relationships (kinship) in the association panel is crucial to prevent sham associations in GWAS [29]. Population structure and admixture for this population were reported in a previous study [21]. The Q matrix (population structure) and K matrix (Admixture) were used as covariates in a mixed linear model for the association analysis to reduce false-positive associations. The reducing −log10 (p-values) toward the expected level for both traits on the quantile-quantile plots is a sign that the model successfully accounted for population structure and familial relationships in the GWAS analysis.Three QTLs were identified to be associated with DMC, 2 of which showed significant QTL-by-Environment interactions (QEI). In a study to identify QTLs associated with cassava brown streak disease, Kayondo et al. [30] reported similar results with QTLs identified at different locations and highlighted the effects of many factors such as the panel size, harvest time and environmental conditions influencing QTL identification. To address this, the best approach for increasing the resolution of associations of traits and QTLs is to combine multi-location genotypic and phenotypic scores from different diversity panels [30,31] Using the marker effect, we observed allele AA on chromosome 6 and allele TT on chromosome 19 to be responsible for high DMC in the diversity panel used in the study. Information on marker effect through the segregation pattern is fundamental for marker validation and deployment in a breeding programme [32][33][34]. We also identified the heterozygous allele GA to be significantly associated with low OxB.Our study also identified putative candidate genes within the QTL regions of the targeted traits. A total of 26 putative candidate genes were detected upstream and downstream of the SNP associated with DMC, of which 3 genes (Serine/threonine-protein kinase, Tetratricopeptide-like helical domain superfamily and Glycoside hydrolase family 9) were reported to play important roles in DMC. Serine/threonine-protein kinase (SnRK1) was reported to participate in the process of starch and sugar biosynthesis in potatoes and stimulated glucose pyrophosphorylase [35][36][37]. In potato (Solanum tuberosum) and wheat (Triticum aestivum), SnRK1 was reported to stimulate some enzymes in the starch biosynthesis pathways [38,39]. The Tetratricopeptide-like helical domain superfamily genes were reported to mediate protein-protein interactions and involved in the production of protein and starch that are the principal storage carbohydrates in plants [40,41]. The third important putative gene \"Glycoside hydrolase family 9\" was reported to be involved in diverse enzymatic metabolisms of carbohydrate compounds available in many plant tissues [42].Six putative candidate genes were identified within the QTL regions of the peak SNPs detected for OxB. Of these 6 genes, the Thioesterase domain (IPR006683) has been reported to play a major role in tuber oxidative browning pathway [43]. The thioesterase domain is part of peroxisomes that contain soluble thioesterases (oxalate oxidase), which play a significant role in regulating flux of various substrates by releasing CoA from β-oxidation intermediates and products [44]. The oxalate oxidase is an enzyme containing manganese that catalyse the oxidation of oxalate to carbon dioxide by reducing the oxygen to hydrogen peroxide [45].Tuber dry matter had a negative correlation with OxB. This desirable correlation suggests that selection for high DMC is expected to reduce enzymatic browning following oxidation of the tuber flesh. The genotypic factors greatly contribute for trait linkages and the negative correlations between the two phenotypic traits may be an indication of pleiotropism, genetic coupling and/or linkage disequilibrium with population structure effects [46]. However, our GWAS result did not reveal co-localized SNP markers for both traits to confirm that such an association is due to pleiotropy. In any case, the observed trait association provided the opportunity to select superior yam clones that indeed offer increased tuber dry matter and less tuber flesh enzymatic oxidation simultaneously. Our study identified significant and functional SNPs established at the genome level and revealed the known genes, which showed the presence of the disequilibrium between SNP markers and causative variants of DMC and OxB within or near identified genes. It is plausible that the allelic variation for oxidation observed in our study, which is associated with browning, is the result of enzymatic activities in yam, which includes polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase activities that play a major role in the phenolic content of yam tubers [47,48].The functions and characteristics of some identified genes have not been explored. However, the identified genes from this study may provide new intuition into the genetic fundamentals of DMC and OxB in D. alata.A total of 100 D. alata clones, made up of breeding lines and landraces, obtained from the Yam Breeding Unit of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria, were utilized for this study. The clones were planted at three locations in Nigeria in the 2018 growing season: Ibadan (72 • 4 N, 3 • 54 E), Ubiaja (6 • 39 N, 6 • 22 E) and Ikenne (6 • 58 N, 4 • 0 E). A lattice design with two replications was used in each of the three locations.Healthy yam tubers were sampled in each replication for dry matter determination. After harvest, the fresh tubers of each clone were cleaned with water to remove soil particles. Thereafter, the tubers were peeled and sliced into small sizes for easy oven drying; 100 g of freshly grated tuber flesh sample was weighed, put into a Kraft paper bag and dried at 105 • C for 16 h. After drying to s constant weight, the weight of each samples was recorded, and the DMC was determined using the following formula: % Dry matter content(DMC) = weight o f dry sample(g) weight o f wet sample(g) × 100(1)After harvest, one well-developed and mature representative tuber was sampled in each replication. The sampled tuber was peeled, cut and chipped with a hand chipper to get small thickness size pieces (5 cm and 0.5 mm thickness). A chromameter (CR-410, Konica Minolta, Japan) was used to read the total colour of sampled pieces placed on a petri dish immediately after tubers cut and exposure to air (0 min) and 30 min after. The lightness (L*), red/green coordinate (a*) and yellow/blue coordinate (b*) parameters were recorded for each chroma meter reading for the determination of the total colour difference. A reference white porcelain tile was used to calibrate the chromameter before each determination [49].The total colour difference (∆E*) between all the three coordinates was determined using the following formula [50]:where ∆E* = the total colour difference, ∆L* = the difference in lightness and darkness (+ = lighter, − = darker, ∆a* = the difference in red and green (+ = redder, − = greener) and ∆b* = the difference in yellow and blue (+ = yellower, − = bluer).Oxidative browning was estimated from the total variation from the difference in the final and initial colour reading as:Oxidative browning (OxB) = ∆EF − ∆EIwhere ∆EF = the colour reader value at final time (30 min) and ∆EI = the initial colour reader value at 0 min.About one gram of fresh, healthy and young leaves was collected from a field-grown plant of each clone and placed on dry ice immediately. The leaf samples were lyophilized and kept at under room temperature. DNA was extracted from lyophilized leaf samples using the CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) protocol [51] with slight modification. The DNA quality was assessed on 0.8% agarose gel and concentration was estimated using nanodrop (Amersham Bioscience, Piscataway, NJ, USA) following the manufacturer's instructions. Subsequently, 50 µL of 50 ng/µL diluted DNA of each clone was prepared and sent to Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) Pty Ltd., Australia for a genome scan using the DArT marker procedure described by Agre et al. [21].Phenotypic data obtained from the three locations were pooled and subjected to a linear mixed model analysis using the lme4 package implemented in R [52]. The best linear unbiased estimates (BLUEs) for three locations were obtained by considering clone main effect as fixed and location and replication effect as random in the mixed model as follows:Y i jkl = µ + B(E) j(i) + G k + GE i j + e i jkl (4) where Y ijkl = phenotypic observation for a trait, µ = grand mean, E = environment effect (location), B(E) = replication effect nested in location, G = genotype effect, GE = genotype by environment interaction, e = random residual error.Multiple sequences were generated by the DArTSeq platform using proprietary analytical pipelines (Diversity Array Technology, Canberra, Australia) and mapped to the Dioscorea alata v2 genome assembly preparation (used with permission) using a local produced a raw dataset of 22,140 SNPs that were subjected to quality control filtering with the following criteria: markers with low sequence depth <5; SNP markers with missing values >20%; minor allele frequency (MAF) <0.05; genotype quality <20; and heterozygosity >50; which resulted in 9687 good-quality SNPs. These filtered 9687 SNPs were subjected to summary statistics such as minor allele frequency, polymorphism information content (PIC), observed and expected heterozygosity (OH/EH) using PLINK 2 [53]. The SNP distributions and density across linkage groups obtained by using bin.size1e6 for scaling the physical position from bp to Mb in the CMplot package [54].A mixed linear model implemented in the GWASpoly package in R was used to compute associations using the mixed model y = Xb + Zu + e [55], where y is the vector of the phenotypic"}

main/part_2/0147237696.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"5fd2431f7faab3d1d8ed514243b37514","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/22ecb811-fd60-4dcc-ad98-8293fb833f4f/retrieve","id":"942264485"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"b9b6332b-dbdd-4cba-a689-cceda171dfb2","content":"Globally more food must be produced using less water. Locally, the situation is more complex. Water scarcity in a given area can be:• Physical (lack of sufficient water of acceptable quality),• Economic (inability to develop water resources through storage, water conveyance and quality improvement infrastructure -this is the case in much of Africa), or • Social (lack of social adaptive capacity to changes in water supply and demand).The combined effect of low agricultural production, water scarcity, pollution and high dependency on agriculture aggravates poverty, food insecurity, health risks, and environmental degradation. Considering that agriculture is the main user and polluter of water in both rainfed and irrigated agriculture, and that there is a high potential to increase productivity of water in agriculture, water scarcity and related development constraints can be addressed through increases in agricultural water productivity.The breadth and scope of the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food's (CPWF) mandate is substantial. This research strategy attempts to define this mandate by reviewing and refining its objectives and principles, and by clearly defining the path that will be followed to achieve its goals. In addition, the strategy outlines the kinds of outputs expected. This Strategy will serve as an overall research guide for CPWF participants from 2005 to 2008Water scarcity is one of the most pressing issues facing humanity today. Provision of sufficient water is necessary for human health and poverty reduction. However, water quality and availability are highly variable around the world. Typically, the most extreme shortages are experienced by those least able to cope with them -the most impoverished inhabitants of developing countries.In developing countries, water for agriculture consumes 70-90% of water use. To meet the needs of a growing population, more food must be produced using less water (see Box 1). This is the goal of CPWF (see Annex 1). Through research for development, the Program endeavors to yield clearly constructive and tangible outputs that will address the water-related issues of poverty, food security, health, and the environment. In this way, CPWF specifically addresses the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)The Challenge Program on Water and Food is an international, multi-institutional research initiative, with a strong emphasis on north-south and south-south partnerships. By identifying and supporting the most suitable institutions, research scientists, and development specialists, CPWF promotes new, multidisciplinary and culturally diverse partnerships designed to produce and disseminate international public goods (IPGs; see below), while also emphasizing the achievement of site-specific impact.At the heart of the Challenge Program lies the issue of water productivity. CPWF attempts to take up this issue by addressing the following question: 'Using less water, how can more food be produced, and rural livelihoods be improved, in a manner that is socially acceptable and environmentally sustainable?' One important way the Challenge Program does this is by aggregating information across production systems and scales, allowing CPWF to assess options for enhanced water productivity (see Box 2).All Challenge Program activities are based on sharing data and information amongst partners, and with the wider research and development community.CPWF practices 'research for development.' Ongoing research work exemplifies this emphasis, and illustrates the Challenge Program's mix of site-specificity, scaling up to the basin level, and the production of international public goods. Thus, CPWF funds and conducts research that is a mixture of basic, applied, and adaptive research linked to dissemination of results. Basic research clarifies scientific principles, applied research fits those principles to respond to practical challenges, and adaptive research ensures that they function in local environments.CPWF research follows three main stages, linked by feedback loops (Figure 1).The first stage, scoping, involves multiple levels of assessment, designed to identify water productivity problems at the global scale (which inform the Challenge Program's thematic foci), before narrowing these down to the basin level (defined by substantial basin priority-setting exercises). CPWF has made additional investment to secure the focus of its research over the long term through its 'Basin Focal Projects,' as described below.Increasing water productivity often involves reducing water losses in water-scarce environments. Provided water quality is not degraded and productive reuse occurs downstream, however, water saved on a farm in one part of a river basin does not necessarily result in water savings at the basin level. Water savings often involve trade-offs.Taking this into account, research by CPWF aims to promote water-saving practices where:• water saved in upper parts of the basin does not lead to a net loss of water to the communities downstream;• increases in water productivity in upper reaches can be made without resulting in reduced flows in downstream river sections or depleting groundwater resources;• an increase in salt build-up, water pollution and aquatic ecosystem degradation will be avoided;• the poor are not disadvantaged in any way.Improving water productivity requires people to share water, its benefits and the costs associated with its development and use. For example, downstream users who need water for intensive commercial agriculture may be willing to pay upstream smallholder communities to use less water. Recognizing the need for water sharing, CPWF research addresses such issues as:• How to organize water users' associations, communities or groups of communities.• How they can best share and use scarce water resources.• Incentives needed for upstream communities to conserve water for the benefit of the downstream communities and ecosystems.• Policies that can guide the rational sharing of water in a basin, within a country, or among countries. The third stage, outreach, involves transforming research results into viable strategies for local action. To ensure the relevance of the research, knowledge of the social and institutional environment in which the research results will be used is essential. Development agencies, both inside and outside CPWF, will take the lead in this stage.From the beginning of the study, all research conducted through CPWF should have practical contacts with development institutions, whether government agencies, NGOs, water users or farmer groups. Their tasks will be to implement and/or disseminate research findings. This in itself does not ensure that research results will be adopted as improved development options, but involving the community of practice from the outset enhances the probable relevance of the output from CPWF research.CPWF research occurs at three main levels of analysis:• Production (plot, farm or project) • Administrative (community, district or national) • Hydrologic (field, farm, system, catchment, sub-basin and basin).At its broadest scale, the CPWF emphasizes research at thematic and geographical levels. The Challenge Program's themes provide focus to ensure that research carried out addresses those disciplinary areas where CPWF believes it will achieve the greatest water-productivity impact. CPWF benchmark basins serve as 'real-life' laboratories within which its research is conducted and where its outputs will eventually be applied and achieve impact.CPWF Themes are a means for addressing issues and packaging information at different scales, and with slightly different perspectives, on issues related to water productivity. The CPWF Research Strategy concentrates its attention on five theme areas, each one led by a specialist from a different CGIAR center (Box 3).In consultation with CPWF management, and research and development partners, theme leaders carefully separate endogenous factors (those that are susceptible to direct CPWF research), from exogenous factors, which need to be taken into account, but are outside the CPWF's scope for directCrop water productivity: this theme takes the view that water productivity can be improved through technological and managerial innovation at the farm level. Hence, it seeks plantbreeding solutions for agriculture located in areas affected by drought and saline soils. It studies integrated natural resources management and crop production at field, farm and agroecosystem levels. This theme promotes policies and institutions facilitating the adoption of crop water productivity improvements.Water and people in catchments: this theme focuses attention at the catchment level. It is concerned with water, poverty and risk in upper catchments. It seeks innovations in improved water management, and aims to enable people to benefit from the improved management of land and water resources.Aquatic ecosystems and fisheries: aquatic environments are a key source of nutrition for many of the world's poor -often, they are the sole source of protein for these communities. Research under this theme investigates environmental water requirements; to value ecosystem goods and services; and to seek innovative ways in which to improve the productivity of aquatic ecosystems through policies, institutions and governance.Integrated basin water management systems: increasingly, integrated water resources management (IWRM) is viewed as a promising strategy for managing water resources. This theme identifies appropriate technologies and management practices designed to enable IWRM. It seeks innovative institutional arrangements and decision-support tools and information that can help with the establishment of this managerial strategy.Global and national water and food systems: this theme examines water, its management and use at the broadest of possible scales. Hence, globalization, trade, macroeconomic and sectoral policies have an important bearing on water, how it is used, and its productivity. This theme concerns itself with the kinds of investments and financing for agricultural water development and water supply that may improve water productivity or, indeed, hinder it. This theme area also recognizes that at international levels, the management of water resources is complex and therefore seeks to understand how best to formulate appropriate policy and institutions to deal with this complexity. The theme also considers changes in the global water cycle. investigation. Theme leaders recognize that water productivity improvements in agriculture will be affected by strong forces from outside the farming community. So, in allocating scarce development investments, theme leaders seek to benefit the poor and other water stakeholders by developing an understanding of (a) how the main drivers affecting water and food security will evolve over time, and (b) the impacts of changes in these drivers on future water and food security. For example, the Challenge Program does not support projects that focus on trade policy per se, but is keenly concerned with how trade policies affect water and food security at the basin, national, and global levels.CPWF believes that when considering issues of water productivity, it makes sense to focus attention at the basin scale. Hence, CPWF has selected nine river basins as the focus of its research and development work located in developing countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America (Figure 2). These basins contain sufficient variety to represent most of the water and food challenges of developing countries. Large river basins have been specifically chosen so that impact achieved will affect a significant number of people, and the relevant processes at different levels can be applied elsewhere. To test the applicability of technical and/or institutional solutions in different locations, however, CPWF encourages cross-basin projects.The diversity within and between basins means that research and development priorities tend to vary greatly. As a result, CPWF develops a set of priority research issues for each of its Benchmark Basins through the following steps:1. Synthesis of assessment reports to define 'development' and possible research hot-spots. 2. Analysis of development problems and knowledge gaps to identify information needs for different stakeholders. 3. Evaluation of the likelihood of the collected information contributing to addressing the problem, and its potential acceptance. 4. Development of rigorous criteria (extent, degree, and occurrence of the problem, magnitude of the problem and number of people affected, potential for livelihood improvements, and practicability and global relevance) for ranking different priorities. 5. Ranking of the priorities. 6. Stakeholder consultations to review research needs and approve research priorities.Basin priorities are constructed so as to make direct contributions to the thematic orientation of CPWF. Priorities change over time, as CPWF or other research groups address them, as development advances, or as attitudes change. The Basin priority list is, therefore, frequently updated, and is available on the CPWF website, www.waterforfood.com. Proponents of research proposals are asked to relate their research to this priority set, which represents a clear opportunity for defining research that addresses 'real world' needs and development requirements.CPWF's integrated approach at the basin level allows us to add value to individual research project outputs, and to yield knowledge about water productivity at the basin level. Basin focal projects have been developed to deliver this added value to various thematic research projects. A basin focal project will be carried out in each of CPWF's Benchmark Basins, and will assess water poverty and water productivity in terms of methodological developments, decision support information, and knowledge management.The basin focal projects are intended to develop a scientific framework for evaluation and outreach (scaling up) of interventions (as developed in projects), that is, to evaluate their potential impact within and across basins. This strategic research at the basin level will significantly increase the innovativeness of the Challenge Program and help generate the desired international public goods. Importantly, the basin focal projects will secure CPWF's future focus.The intention is to have basin focal projects in each of the nine benchmark basins, starting in the Mekong, Volta, Karkheh and São Francisco basins, and in the five others by 2006.CPWF's research emphases naturally relate to the outputs it expects to generate. Its outputs comprise agricultural, environmental, institutional, and/or policy innovations to address the needs of the rural poor through increased water productivity. Depending on the limiting resources and needs of each situation, CPWF research seeks higher crop yields, more income, more employment opportunities, improved livelihood quality, or some combination of these, for each cubic meter of water exploited. Thus, increased basin-level water productivity can contribute toward the livelihood improvement of the poor, yielding:• Economic solutions by generating higher income for each cubic meter of water utilized • Social solutions by creating more jobs and higher food security for each cubic meter of water used • Environmental solutions by obtaining greater resilience of vital ecosystems for each cubic meter of water.The innovations that will yield these solutions are intended to make a direct contribution into development processes, and are expected to make a significant impact on the livelihoods of the poor. The types of cross-cutting outputs that may be expected as a result of their development are as follows:• Technologies and management practices (for example, water-efficient crop varieties or irrigation systems)• Institutional mechanisms and partnership arrangements (for example, integrated water management systems to improve the distribution and utilization of water amongst multiple users at basin or sub-basin levels)• Policy recommendations (for example, the identification of national or basin-wide political and administrative instruments to obtain water-use efficiency) These categories are not mutually exclusive, because many outputs can yield both improved management practices and partnership arrangements, or institutional mechanisms and policy recommendations. These outputs in turn inform the kinds of innovation that the CPWF seeks, of which there are four main types (Figure 3):1. Enhanced water supply 2. Optimized beneficial use of water 3. Effective water-sharing amongst different users and uses 4. Sustainable aquatic ecosystems To ensure that CPWF is more than a series of individual projects, projects need to fit together in a coherent framework in each basin and across basins. Although CPWF is the largest research effort on water, food, and the environment in developing countries, there are other important research programs working toward similar objectives. CPWF therefore seeks to capture results from its studies as well as those done by others for the benefit of all. CPWF's synthesis research work represents some of its most important outputs. Research synthesis is done by the network of theme leaders and basin coordinators. Working from their overall vision, they gather information in their specialist theme or geographic area, through work with their communities of practice. They also obtain information from projects financed by other institutions. They attempt to include the perspective of the end-users of the results, and not only that of scientists. This understanding is used to update a Program Synthesis that is revised annually.  CPWF's products are international public goods. These provide information and knowledge that can be applied in several parts of the world, and that are made accessible for public use without restriction.The research centers, coordinated by the CGIAR, concentrate on creating international public goods because they can produce IPGs more efficiently and effectively than can individual countries working separately on the same or similar issues. International public goods are available free and are characterized by the fact that they are not depleted by use.Technologies and management practices: new germplasm and salt-or drought-tolerant varieties; and tools, such as decision-support systems for the analysis of crop-water-soilnutrient interactions.Institutional mechanisms and partnership arrangements: institutional innovations to increase farmers' access to markets and alternative crop-production options; insight into the roles of international, national and local institutions in the prevention of water conflicts and in transboundary negotiations.Policy recommendations: policies and institutions to foster equitable and sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems, and innovative ways in which water productivity and livelihoods can be improved through integrated crop production and fish farming; recommendations for trade and macro policies on water availability and food production.The Program uses different selection methods depending on the number of research institutes that are able to contribute to the priority topic (Box 5). In all cases, selection is done using clearly stated criteria and independent external reviewers.For research topics with many potential suppliers, CPWF uses a fully competitive process.To capture a wide range of innovative ideas while avoiding unnecessary wasted effort by the many competitors, it conducts the selection in two stages. Some proposals are eliminated at the first stage, which is the evaluation of concept notes. A reduced number proceed to prepare full proposals, which are again evaluated competitively.For those addressing specific issues and with fewer potential suppliers, CPWF uses competitive tendering. This may take one of two forms. In the first, expressions of interest and capability are invited and screened; a full project proposal is requested and negotiated with the most suitable institution. In the other, full proposals are invited directly from two to four institutions believed to be suitable and the best is selected from among these.In cases where there is only one feasible supplier, or extreme urgency, the research is commissioned directly from that supplier."}

main/part_2/0167463343.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"d4cc4559b668be12b26e529c41643061","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/bcec42d3-ca00-4adc-9137-90752538fedc/retrieve","id":"-1378447642"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"09bb2153-62dc-432b-84d2-99e104ea9fb3","content":"El ensayo IBY AN: descripción y respuestas El sistema de evaluación de germoplasma del Programa de Frijol del CIAT consta de tres viveros anuales (VEF, EP, IBYAN) uniformes, y consecutivos; en ellos, las lineas experimentales avanzadas de frijol, que han sido desarrolladas por el CIAT y por otros programas internacionales y nacionales, son evaluadas, según diversos criterios, respecto a su pol,encial relativo como nuevas variedades o como progenitores útiles para el ulterior mejoramiento del germoplasma de frijol.Este manual describe en detalle el vivero de mayor difusi6n internacional, eIIBYAN, que se compone de materiales seleccionados como resultado de las evaluaciones hechas en los otros dos viveros. El manual describe también el sistema de evaluación de germoplasma de frijol para mostrar la interrelación de los tres viveros y definir el alcance de su distribución internacional.• Qué es eIIB YA N ? EIIBYAN I es un ensayo de rendimiento y adaptación del frijol común (P. vulgaris L.), tanto arbustivo como voluble, que distribuye el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) a nivel internacional.• ¿De dónde de riva el nombre de IB YAN?Las letras iniciales en inglés del nombre del vivero: International Sean Yield and Adaptation Nursery (vivero internacional de rendimiento y adaptación de frijol) han dado origen a la sigla IBYAN . Sólo por consideraciones de eufonía se usan las iniciales del nombre en inglés del ensayo. La sigla del mismo nombre en español, VIRAF, identificó hasta 1983 los ensayos de rendimiento con materiales volubles que deben cultivarse. casi siempre, con soporte artificial. A partir de 1984, los ensayos de rendimiento y adaptación de frijol , tanto arbustivo como voluble, se denominarán con un nombre común: IBYAN.• ¿Qué clase de material se prueba en el IBYAN? EIIBYAN es un ensayo abierto a todos los materiales de frijol producidos por cualquier programa de frijol del mundo que se sujete al cumplimiento de ciertos requisitos mínimos establecidos en las pruebas de evaluación previa(Figura 1).El IBYAN puede estar formado, básicamente, por las siguientes categorias de materiales:O Lineas avanzadas del Programa de Frijol del elA T.O Lineas avanzadas de los programas nacionales de frijol. O Lineas avanzadas de programas internacionales de frijol. O Variedades de frijol desarrolladas recientemente. O Material de frijol proveniente de bancos de germoplasma.• ¿Cómo se agrupan los materiales en eIIBYAN, considerando la variedad de tipos de frijol existentes? Teniendo en cuenta que en los paises donde se cultiva el frijol hay preferencias por determinados colores y tamaños del grano y que, además, los agricultores emplean diversos sistemas de cultivo que exigen variedades de diferente hábito de crecimiento, los ensayos IBYAN están organizados de tal manera que sólo los materiales con caractensticas del grano y hábito de crecimiento compatibles con aquellas preferencias serán incluidos en un mismo ensayo.• ¿Quiere esto decir que hay mós de un ensayo IBYAN? Efectivamente. Los materiales se agrupan en 16 ensayos diferentes lal como indica el Cuadro 1.• ¿Qué garantías, en lo que concierne a su sanidad, ofrece la semiUa enviada por el elA T? 6   • ¿Qué camino siguen los resultados deIIBYAN?Los datos de cada experimento, una vez remitidos al CIAT, son analizados alli estadísticamente; los resultados del análisis se devuelven a quien dirigía el ensayo, en un plazo no mayor de 15 días. A los seis meses de terminado el IBYAN correspondiente al año en curso, se publica un informe preliminar con los datos de rendimiento de todos los ensayos IBYAN adelantados durante aquel año, y se distribuye a todos los que manejaron algún ensayo ese año. El informe final del ensayo se publica 18 meses después de distribuido el último ensayo IBYAN de ese ano.• ¿Cuóles son algunas de las características típicas de un IBYAN? O Es un ensayo relativamente pequeño que ocupa de 400 a 600 m 2 de terreno. O Está confonnado generalmente por 12 a 18 materiales, los cuales se estudian en parcelas que contienen 4 hileras de 4 m de largo cada una, en un disei'lo de bloques completos al azar con 3 repeticiones.O Los datos requeridos son s610 cinco: rendimiento, poblaci6n de plantas, días a floraci6n y a la maduración fisiol6gica, y reacci6n a dos enfennedades predominantes. Se solicitan también datos sobre el clima y el suelo del lugar donde se realizó el experimento, pero su envío es opcional. O El 80% de los materiales se renuevan anualmente.• ¿Qué procedimientos debe seguir la persona interesada en recibir los ensayos IBYAN? O Dirección exacta, igual a la que debe figurar en la etiqueta adherida al despacho. D Aeropuerto a donde debe llegar la semilla. D Fecha aproximada de siembra o de arribo de la semilla a su desti no D Declaración adicional en el certificado fitosanitario, en caso de que ésta sea necesaria.La solicitud debe venir acompañada del Permiso de Importación en los países en que éste es un requisito para la entrada de material experimental.• ¿De qué consta, físicamente, un ensayo IBYAN? Al recibo de la solicitud de envío, el CIAT despachará por via aérea, en la fecha estipulada en el pedido, un paquete que contiene la semilla del experimento, algunas instrucciones para la siembra , y los libros de campo.• ¿Cuól es la estructura del VEF y del EP? En esta reunión un grupo de investigadores de América Latina y algunos cienHficos invitados de Estados Unidos y Europa discutieron un modelo para un programa internacional cooperativo fundado, principalmente, en el intercambio de material genético de alta calidad, programa que sería coordinado por el CIAT. El esquema que se eligió como la alternativa más eficiente contemplaba el desarrollo de una serie de viveros internacionales que serian organizados por el CIAT; uno de ellos llegó a ser el Vivero Internacional de Rendimiento y Adaptación de Frijol, IBYAN , cuya propuesta de organización y operación fue distribuida y aprobada en aquella reunión. En marzo de 1976 se distribuyeron los primeros ensayos deIIBYAN, labor que ha continuado sin interrupciones hasta la fecha.Los objetivos fundamen tales del IBY AN son:1. Proveer información acerca del comportamiento manifestadobajo una amplia gama de condiciones ambientales representativas de las principales regiones productoras de frijol en el mundo-por por el siguiente material ge~tico selecto de frijol (Figura 1): a) Cultivares de frijol de desempeno sobresaliente, como las variedades comerciales en un pals o región.b) Selecciones promisorias de germoplasma que pueden tener un valor comercial, o que aún no lo tienen pero reúnen atributos utilizables en el mejoramiento genético del cultivo.e) Lineas avanzadas de los programas de mejoramiento del elAT.2. Contribuir a desarrollar, en el CIAT, material genético de frijol de alto rendimiento y amplia adaptación, mediante la identificadón de progenitores apropiados, bien sea probando directamente los posibles progenitores o bien su descendencia, en una gran diversidad de ambientes.3. Servir como una fuente de datos fundamentales para los estudios de adaptación del frijol.4. Estimular los programas nacionales de frijol senalándoles un hito para que midan el avance de sus programas de mejoramiento mediante la evaluación, en cada localidad, de un juego de variedades adaptadas localmente que representen el mejor material disponible de cada región.5. Suministrar a los programas nacionales de mejoramiento una fuente de variabilidad genética que pueda usarse directamente para cruzamientos, con fines específicos.  b) El aprovechamiento de la variación genética disponible, empleando procedimientos de mejoramiento más efectivos.e) El ensayo de líneas experimentales y selecciones avanzadas en condiciones ecológicas muy diversas, para satisfacer mejor las necesidades tanto de producción como.de consumo y de investigación en los paises cooperadores.El material mejorado del CIAT es apenas una muestra del germoplasma que producen, en todo el mundo, instituciones similares dedicadas al mejoramiento de esta especie vegetal. Aunque no puede negarse que mucho antes de la existencia del ClAT habla intercambio de germoplasma de frijol entre los diversos programas de mejoramiento del mundo, aquél se había limitado, generalmente, a variedades con nombre comercial o, cuando más, a selecciones de los bancos de germoplasma; las generaciones avanzadas y los materiales segregantes se mantuvieron siempre como patrimonio de cada programa. El CIAT, en cambio, siendo una institución con un mandato mundial de elevar la productividad del frijol, inauguró una política de intercambio de materiales a nivel. de lineas avanzadas, las mismas que después de un proceso de evaluación serian distribuidas internacionalmente. Este intercambio permite a los programas nacionales disponer con facilidad, y de manera sistemática. de los mejores materiales de frijol producidos en el mundo, con el fin de introducirlos directamente a la producción agrícola de su respectivo país y acoplarlos a sus proyectos de mejoramiento (Cuadro 3).El éxito de este mecanismo de evaluación y distribución de materiales uniformes depende de dos factores básicos: primero , la voluntad de los programas nacionale$ de compartir sus variedades y, de modo especial, sus lineas avanzadas; y segundo, la existencia de un esquema objetivo e imparcial para evaluar los materiales y seleccionar 105 mejores. Este O Ser uniformes en sus caracteristicas agronómicas, principalmente en cuanto a su color, tamaño del grano, y hábito de crecimiento.O Ser resistentes al virus del mosaico común (BCMV).El material se agrupa por su tipo de grano, su hábito de crecimiento, y según las zonas geográficas donde se usa o consume. En las evaluaciones de ese material participan agrónomos, entomólogos, fitopatólogos, virólogos, y mejoradores del Programa de Frijol del ClA T. Simultáneamente, aunque en cuatro viveros separados, se evalúan todas las entradas del VEF respecto a su resistencia a Empoasca (Iorito verde); a bacteriosis y roya; a actracnosis y mancha angular; al virus del mosaico común; y por su adaptación a dos localidades de Colombia: Palmira (altitud: 100 msnm, precipitación anual: 1000 mm, promedio anual de temperatura: 24.5°C) y Popayán (altitud: 1850 msnm , precipitación anual: 1859 mm, promedio anual de temperatura: 17°C).En la primera Quincena de enero del segundo año los resultados de las evaluaciones del VEF son examinados por todo el equipo de frijol para seleccionar los materiales que pasarán a la segunda fase. La evaluación se hace para cada grupo básico de color del grano, por separado. Dentro de cada grupo se considera el hábito de crecimiento del material, la zona de producción en que éste podría ser útil, y el tipo de resistencia Que lees necesaria para prosperar en ese ambiente. Con toda esta información se seleccionan los materiales que pasarán a la siguiente fase de evaluación.Ensayos Preliminares (EP). El vivero EP dura un año, es decir, desde enero hasta diciembre del segundo año. En él se evalúa de nuevo el comportamiento de las líneas con respecto a las enfermedades y plagas previamente evaluadas en el VEF y, además, su rendimiento, su tolerancia a los factores climáticos y edáficos adversos, la calidad de su grano, y otros caracteres. El vivero EP se ensaya en cuatro localidades de Colombia situadas entre los 1000 y los 1800 metros sobre el nivel del mar, con distintos regímenes de precipitación, y con suelos de diversas características físicas y químicas.Para completar la evaluación, se estudia el comportamiento del material frente a factores adversos que no se presentan en Colombia. Por tanto, el EP se ensaya en otros paises como Guatemala (respecto a Apion y a mosaico dorado), Costa Rica (respecto a roya y a mustia hilachosa), Perú (respecto a pH alto, a bajas temperaturas, y a sequla), y Brasil (respecto a bajo P) . La lista siguiente contiene los factores bi6ticos y climáticos, y las demás características que se evalúan en el EP, en diferentes localidades:  En la primera quincena de enero del año siguiente (tercer año), los miembros del equipo de frijol escogen, en conjunto, los materiales más destacados del EP siguiendo la misma metodología y 105 mismos crite• rios aplicados en el VEF, antes descritos. La información completa, para cada una de las entradas del EP, se compila en un catálogodenominado Catálogo EPque se distribuye en el mes de abril. Cualquier programa nacional puede solicitar al CIAT los materiales incluidos en el Catálogo EP, sea como muestras de semilla o como un ensayo de rendimien to por grupo de color .del grano. Este ensayo es pequeño: tiene dos repeticiones y en él se solicitan únicamente datos sobre el rendimiento de las lineas de frijol. Los grupos de color del grano de estos ensayos serán los mismos que se definieron para el lBYAN (Cuadro 1).Los materiales seleccionados del EP pasan a la tercera fa se, o sea, al IBYAN . El sistema de selección de materiales para este ensayo IBYAN se ilustra gráficamente en la Figura 1.El ensayo IBYA N. Básicamente, el IBYAN está constituido por dos clases de materiales: las lineas experimentales y los testigos. o Testigo internacional. Es el testigo a largo plazo; es decir, una variedad de comportamiento conocido que se mantiene fija en el ensayo de año en año. Permite medir el progreso relativo de los materiales a lo largo de los años. Este material se suministra junto con las lineas experimentales. O Testigo elite. La línea más destacada de todos los sitios de ensayo en el año inmediatamente anterior del IBYAN .Re novació n de los materiales. Las variedades que se ensayan en el IBYAN se renuevan cada ano, a excepción de los testigos internacionales que siempre se mantienen y de los testigos elite que pueden repet irse durante anos cuando no llegan a ser superados por los nuevos materiales que se prueban. El IBYA N se inicia todos los anos en el mes de enero y culmina en el mes de diciembre de ese mismo año, tercero y último del ciclo de evaluación. "}

main/part_2/0182850241.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"188babf67e56fcc1bfd8e15719fd2a04","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/6ebc7d10-58a9-46bc-bd2a-ff67877afe1e/retrieve","id":"-655034769"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"1c9af48e-db99-4e09-b28b-b35e2656408e","content":"Despite ongoing structural changes, small-scale processors, grocers, market vendors and food service operators dominate the food systems of most lowand lower middle-income countries.• Unsafe food is widespread in informal food distribution channels, having national public health implications.• Very few countries have coherent strategies for tackling food safety risks in the informal sector.• Most of the policy attention and resources now devoted to domestic food safety in the developing world focuses on strengthening centralized systems for 'food control'.• Doing more of the same things is not going to deliver safer food in the informal sector.This brief is based on the report 'New directions for tackling food safety risks in the informal sector of developing countries' that was commissioned by ILRI and the CGIAR Initiative on One Health. It presents a summary of findings from the synthesis of food safety research done in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) and outlines the way forward for the more effective and sustainable improvement of food safety management in LMICs with a focus on interventions.Despite ongoing structural changes, the food systems of most low-and lower middle-income countries still feature a preponderance of very small-scale processors, grocers, market vendors and food service operators. These players and their informal distribution channels are especially important in the domestic markets for fish, meat, fruits and vegetables; all high-nutrient foods which are also leading vectors of foodborne disease. For a variety of reasons, related to demography, economic geography, poverty, and income and opportunity inequality, food market fragmentation and informality will remain a prominent fixture of developing-country food systems for the foreseeable future.Unsafe food is a widespread issue in informal food distribution channels, having national public health implications. The evidence for this comes from studies in many locations. The high incidence of microbiological, chemical, or other forms of food contamination within these channels stems from a combination of factors, both internal and external to the pertinent food businesses. These include inadequate food safety awareness, poor hygienic and/or food storage and preparation practices, and deficient infrastructure and environmental conditions. In many instances, both the incentives and the capacities to provide safer food are weak. This is a societal and economic problem and not a trivial or transitional issue. We estimate that the traditional/informal food sector accounts for a large majority of the public health burden of foodborne disease in low and lower middleincome countries.Very few countries have coherent strategies for tackling food safety risks in the informal sector. Often, the operative approach involves periodic attempts to disrupt small-scale food operators, in the hope of hastening their business demise and ushering something more consistent with the official vision of a 'modern' food system and 'orderly' cities. This exclusion model does not make food safer, and it harms the ability of many consumers to access and afford nutritional and convenient foods. It also erodes the livelihood of poor informal business operators. Many low-and lower middle-income countries (and development assistance projects therein) have targeted informal players with food safety awareness-raising and low-cost technology uptake interventions. These have tended to bring short-term benefits but have generally not been scalable nor brought sustainable results when not paired with other interventions impacting infrastructure and/or the prevailing incentives facing food operators.Most of the policy attention and resources now devoted to domestic food safety in the developing world focuses on strengthening centralized systems for 'food control'. This has involved passage of a modern food law, and investments in testing laboratories, food company inspection units, and national agency capacities for food hazard and foodborne disease surveillance. Resource limitations have led incipient food safety agencies to focus on oversight and other interactions with medium and larger food enterprises and the 'modern' dimensions of food retail and food service. Many national food safety agencies have little or no contact with informal food operators and businesses. This is unlikely to change anytime soon. And, there do not appear to be appreciable spillovers to the domestic informal sector from investments in enhanced food safety management in export-oriented value chains.Doing more of the same things is not going to deliver safer food in the informal sector. A very different approach needs to be operationalized and tested. This would involve adjustments in institutional mandates, the locus and thematic clustering of interventions, and the approach towards regulatory delivery vis-à-vis this sector. In this modified approach, emphasis would be placed on:• Local action, centrally guided. The bulk of interventions, both regulatory and facilitative, need to come at the municipal level and the drive for safer food in the informal sector should be embedded in strategies for healthy, sustainable, and resilient cities. National agencies would still have important roles, mobilizing resources and providing guidelines and technical backstopping. At the local level, multistakeholder (i.e. consumer, community, business association, and government) platforms should be further nurtured and utilized. In many instances, effective action by municipal governments will require a mindset change which recognizes the important role played by the informal sector not only in terms of livelihoods but also in urban food and nutritional security.• Multisectoral action. Stand-alone food safety interventions may not be the best option. Rather, improving the safety of food in the informal sector can be better achieved and better resourced when bundled with interventions to improve nutrition, increase access to potable water/improved sanitation, improve environmental management, upgrade urban infrastructure, and/or others. This also implies the need firmly to mainstream food safety into urban planning and into approaches to deliver improved municipal services.• Rebalancing the use of sticks and carrots. Strict enforcement of regulatory provisions is unlikely to be effective vis-à-vis most informal sector food operators. Rather, gradual, and continuous enhancements in practices and/or facilities should be sought. Where feasible, greater effort should go into engaging and enabling the informal market operators to strengthen both their incentives and capacities to carry out their businesses in ways which result in safer food. It would be beneficial for cities (or local branches of ministries) to employ as many food hygiene/food business advisors as they do (regulatory) inspectors.• Differentiating local strategies and priorities. This is not a field where 'one size fits all'. The risk profile for different types of informal food operators varies as does the likely scope for interventions targeting them. And the settings for actions vary a lot, not only between low-, lower middle-and upper middleincome countries, but also within individual countries.Operationalizing this decentralized and multisectoral approach will need to be tailored, pragmatically, to prevailing circumstances in terms of specific coalitions for action and how interventions are sequenced or integrated with one another. This is common practice in the evolving field of urban food policy and governance, yet there are fewer applications of this for food safety.Elements of this approach are already being applied in some situations and their implementation should be closely monitored, and emerging lessons shared. For example, a variant of this approach is currently being implemented through the Eat Right India program and complementary initiatives where efforts are pursuing a combination of healthy eating, safer food, and environmental sustainability goals through state-and municipal-level interventions, guided by a central government agency. The societal roles of informal food distribution channels are formally recognized in this program and a variety of approaches are being used to engage informal food business operators, individually, in clustered locations and through representative associations."}

main/part_2/0223223913.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"e582a7c3-f83f-4e17-8997-d513046b54a7","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}

main/part_2/0239057860.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"0ec54a16-99ca-4dee-a02d-050f71a7c8a0","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}

main/part_2/0246277352.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"50595401aa2bb0db405f8d42413bb412","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/81cd215f-421c-4b38-b569-05eb8b402c8c/retrieve","id":"2035190276"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9722ef4e-ecbd-4dea-9532-ebdd71716a62","content":"No 04/5 COTTON CTA is funded by the European Union The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) was established in 1983 under the Lomé Convention between the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) Group of States and the European Union Member States. Since 2000, it has operated within the framework of the ACP-EC Cotonou Agreement.CTA's tasks are to develop and provide services that improve access to information for agricultural and rural development, and to strengthen the capacity of ACP countries to produce, acquire, exchange and utilise information in this area.South Africa is the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to have adopted genetically modified cotton for commercial production. Other countries, however, are extremely interested in the potential of GM cotton, not least because it promises to greatly reduce the amount of chemical pesticides needed to keep a crop healthy. The most common variety of GM cotton is called 'Bollgard'. It is made by the agrochemical company Monsanto, and it is known as Bt cotton, because it contains a gene from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis. This gene is responsible for making a protein which, when eaten by insects is poisonous to them. In other words, the Bt cotton plant produces its own, internal pesticide protecting it against pest attack.There has, of course, been considerable opposition to Bt cotton, not only in Africa, but even in some countries where the crop has been widely grown, such as India. Some farmers have experienced that the Bt cotton plants are less productive than their traditional varieties (although farmers in KwaZulu-Natal have experienced yield increases between 50 and 89%, according to a New Scientist report -March '03), while also being more expensive to buy. As a result they have actually lost money by planting Bt cotton. There are also concerns that Bt cotton may pose a danger to the environment that we cannot predict, and fears that farmers growing the GM variety may become overly dependent on the companies who market the seed.The interview Bt cotton -a safe and profitable option? examines these issues in the context of Bt cotton trials being conducted in Burkina Faso. The interviewee is a researcher with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, a research institute that has been in favour of genetic modification of crops, as a means of solving Africa's problems of poverty and rural under-development. However, the interviewee does emphasise the importance of African countries ensuring that all necessary safety checks are carried out before making any decision to allow the widespread planting of a GM cotton variety. He also makes the point that unless the subsidies to cotton farmers in rich countries are ended, any increases in production enabled by Bt cotton will be worthless.Syngenta, one of Monsanto's rivals in the development of GM crops, has produced a second type of Bt cotton called VIP cotton. VIP stands for Vegetative Insecticidal Protein; like Monsanto's 'Bollgard' cotton, Syngenta's VIP cotton also uses a gene from Bacillus thuringiensis (although not the same gene found in 'Bollgard'), to produce a protein that kills pests. In the case of VIP, the protein causes the insect larvae to stop feeding and die. Scientists in Zimbabwe are currently testing VIP cotton to see how effective it will be at killing different species of bollworm that afflict cotton in the country. The interview Genetically modified (VIP) cotton features a researcher, who explains what she feels the benefits of VIP cotton could be to small-scale Zimbabwean farmers.The interview Preventing pest plagues includes discussion of how, at a national level, government policies can help both to prevent pest outbreaks spreading from other countries, and to ensure that unauthorised, potentially dangerous pesticides do not end up in the hands of farmers. The interviewee also explains what farmers themselves should do to ensure that pests from one season cannot damage cotton crops in the following season. The uprooting and burning of cotton plants soon after harvest is very important, as is early cultivation of the land, which exposes insect cocoons to the sunlight, thereby disturbing their life-cycle.Protecting plants and killing pests also emphasises the importance of early planting and harvesting, to minimise pest damage and the need for chemical sprays. But the interviewee also gives some useful information on how best farmers can protect themselves against contamination by the chemicals, and the benefits of targeted spraying. This allows farmers to minimise the number of sprays needed, and protect the beneficial insects, called pest predators, which actually help to reduce pest attacks on the crop. 'Scouting', in order to identify the level and type of pest infestation, and the presence of pest predators, is a key skill for cotton farmers to learn. The interview also addresses some alternative means of pest control, such as use of home-made pesticides, and inter-planting with peppers -a naturally insect-repelling crop -to keep insects away from cotton.More information about scouting, destruction of old plants and targeted use of pesticides is given in Pest control with fewer chemicals. The interview also looks at the role chemicalmarketing companies need to have in preventing the development of insect resistance to pesticides. One key step is ensuring that chemicals which are season-specific, are only sold during the appropriate seasons. If this is done, there is less chance that farmers will continue to apply the chemicals throughout the growing season, which can encourage insects to develop resistance. The interviewee also points out that Zimbabwean cotton, despite being grown in small quantities, is favoured by the textile industry because it is grown with minimal use of chemicals, and is therefore less sticky than other cottons grown in the region.Here are some questions relating to cotton production that you could discuss in your programme, supported by the interviews in this pack. Your 'discussion' could be done by yourself, with phone-in comments from listeners if possible, or by inviting a 'cotton expert' into the studio. If you decide to debate the issues surrounding use of GM cotton, you could invite -or record contributions from -people representing both the 'for' and 'against' viewpoints.The interview on VIP cotton probably presents the case for using GM cotton most strongly. Joseph Nkole from Zambia and Ousmane Coulibaly from IITA give more emphasis to establishing the environmental safety of any varieties planted, with Dr Coulibaly also mentioning the importance of establishing the financial benefits from growing Bt cotton.This may include reforming tax systems so that locally produced cotton is not penalised, in comparison with imported cotton; lobbying for the end to cotton subsidies in developed countries; placing checks on cotton seed imports to prevent pest and disease outbreaks; controlling the pesticide products that can be sold or imported into the country; carry out a thorough analysis of the weaknesses in the cotton sector at all levels, and support the process of finding, and implementing solutions. The interviews with Dennis Ochwada, Mackson Banda and Joseph Nkole cover most of these topics.Several interviews offer advice for how farmers can target their pesticides more efficiently, thereby both reducing the cost and the number of sprays, and doing less damage to the environment. Protecting plants and killing pests and Pest control with fewer chemicals both emphasise the importance of farmers knowing how to scout their fields, to determine the level of pest attack before carrying out any spraying. The first of the two covers the need for protective clothing when using chemicals, although this is a subject that deserves much more coverage. You might want to supplement this interview with a more in depth discussion of safety during spraying, with a local expert.Crop hygiene -the uprooting and burning of cotton plants soon after harvesting -is a vital activity for cotton farmers, if pest numbers are to be minimised. Pest control with fewer chemicals refers to a 'dead period' during which cotton must not be grown, to further deplete pest populations. Early land preparation (which helps to kill pest cocoons), early planting and early harvesting are also important. Protecting plants and killing pests suggests that a repellent crop like pepper can reduce attacks on cotton, if inter-cropped.Restoring a national textile industry is a good resource for this discussion. The interview suggests that there are many problems affecting the cotton industry in Africa -referring particularly to Kenya. However, solutions to these problems are possible, particularly if all the stakeholders in the cotton sector can work together. In the interview Dennis Ochwada answers the question of whether he thinks cotton is a good business for farmers to get into. The interview Business sense needed from growers and government, is also extremely relevant for this subject, suggesting that cotton farmers must be much more businesslike if they are to succeed in the future, and that governments also have a vital role to play in ensuring a good future for the industry.Restoring a national textile industry 5'24\" Dennis Ochwada of Kenya's National Cotton Stakeholders' Forum describes how Kenya's cotton and textile industry is being rebuilt.6'33\" Dr Ousmane Coulibaly of the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture on the risks and potential of genetically modified (Bt) cotton.3'55\" Lucia Muza of the Quton company on the potential offered by Syngenta's VIP cotton to small-scale farmers in Zimbabwe.5'08\" Joseph Nkole of the Cotton Producers' Association of Zambia on the farmer practices and government policies needed to support the industry.4'16\" Joseph Mambu of the Cotton Development Corporation in Cameroon with advice on effective pesticide use and other pest control activities.5'12\" Dr Mackson Banda, Deputy Director of Agricultural Research in Malawi on how farmers and policies are working to stop cotton pests spreading in the country.4'32\" Alois Chimoga of the Cotton Research Institute in Zimbabwe on crop hygiene and correct use of pesticides.In the last twenty years, approximately four out of every five textile manufacturers in Kenya has closed down. And among Kenya's farmers, the decline in cotton production has been equally severe. But what are the reasons for this collapse in the cotton industry, and can anything be done about it? In fact, the reasons are many, and much is already being done. As a start, the Kenyan government has carried out in depth studies that have revealed weaknesses in every part of the cotton chain, from poor quality cotton seed, to unfair competition in world markets. Now, an organisation called the National Cotton Stakeholders' Forum has begun to work on the solutions.The Forum is organising activities at many different levels, to address problems throughout the industry. This has meant working with farmers, processors, marketing agents and crop scientists, and trying to establish links between them that will benefit all whose lives and livelihoods are somehow tied to cotton. Dennis Ochwada is the secretary of the Forum, as well as being Chairman of the Kenya Cotton Growers Association. He spoke to Eric Kadenge about the problems that face Kenya's cotton industry, and how they are now being addressed.\"In the mid 1980s there… OUT:… we are seriously working on it.\" DUR'N 5'24\"Dennis Ochwada of Kenya's National Cotton Stakeholders' Forum was talking to Eric Kadenge.In the mid 1980s there were about 51 textile industries in Kenya. As a result of the adverse situation of the cotton textile sector a lot of them closed down.At the moment we are having about seven functioning textile industries and most of them are still operating very much under-capacity because of lack of raw material, poor state of equipment, and lack of finance for reinvestment.At least there is good news now that measures are underway to try and revive this industry. What are those measures?First, stakeholders have come together and they have realised the importance of cotton. By stakeholders I mean farmers, I mean those who own the processing industry both primary and secondary, I mean the manufacturers of textiles, I mean the actual manufacturers of apparels, all the way down to the mama cherehani at the local duka in the village. They have come together and they have formed the National Cotton Stakeholders' Forum. They have looked at the local cotton textile chain from bottom to top and back and have realised where these weaknesses are. We have also gone out and looked at the possibilities of producing seed because we really don't have good quality seed from which our farmers can benefit right now. We have also looked at the market situation and the main problem here was that farmers really didn't know who to sell it to. Anybody could come along and cheat a farmer, take his cotton and that is the end of the story. On the other hand the processor also who wanted cotton did not know where to find the farmer. So we have created a linkage between the producers and their market as a means of stabilising the whole situation in order for it then now to start regenerating.Cotton being a cash crop is also a crop that can be exported internationally. How is the playing field when in comes to the international market?We have been saying that we Kenyan producers are efficient producers of cotton; we are competitive at the production level. Unfortunately some people, mainly in the west, are not competitive but they have resources to keep an uncompetitive sector going through subsidies. Now this is illogical.They should do what they do best and they should allow us to do what we do best. At the international level in terms of quality our cotton is good. In terms of price our cotton is good. The only problem is when you introduce subsidies by western countries then we become unable to compete.And is there anything that you can do then to meet that challenge?We are continuing to lobby for the removal of those subsidies while at the same time improving our own efficiency in production so that we continue to be competitive.Now I do realise that cotton is one crop that requires a lot of chemical input and this can have an impact on the final cost of production for the farmer. Is this something that you are trying to address?Yes. First of all let me say that the cost of chemicals and pesticides take anything between 31%-37% of the cost of production. So you can see they are quite significant. Any way we can find of mitigating that cost is of benefit to the farmer. Now what is happening is that while we are trying to get to the farmer better techniques of managing his crop so that his use of chemicals and pesticides goes down, we are also looking at alternatives like organic cotton. Those are varieties which have a special attraction in that their use of chemical is virtually negligible. They command a niche market which fetches a better price in the rich north. But we are also trying to look at what causes the chemicals to be so expensive because chemicals are also expensive.Now all said and done would you tell a farmer that cotton is a good business to get into and why?Well cotton is a good business to get into because it's a hardy crop, it's drought resistant and it grows in those areas where not many other cash crops grow. So it is something that I would tell farmers to do. First of all from the individual household level they can get money. In terms of the national economy, its extensive coverage is good for the economy. We are estimating that a fully revived cotton industry in this country would create the 500,000 jobs that have been talked about all over the place.Ochwada I would like to see it tomorrow. Unfortunately it doesn't quite work that way. There are certain things which have got time implications which we cannot avoid. One, the development of the pure seed. Surely you are not going to have a re-established and fully functional cotton sector if you don't have a pure seed. This we estimate will take about three to four years. That will go with other strategies such as the training of the farmers, the rehabilitation of our processing industry and the development of the marketing structures.That will take about three to four years if we are seriously working on it and we think we are seriously working on it. End of track.Bt Cotton -a safe and profitable option?The introduction of genetically modified crops to African soils has provoked strong reactions right across the continent. In Burkina Faso, the agrochemical company Monsanto is carrying out trials of a genetically modified cotton variety, called Bollgard 2. The new variety is designed to be resistant to certain cotton pests, such as bollworm and some caterpillars. The cotton plants have been engineered to produce a natural poison which kills these insects when they feed on the plant. However, opponents of the new technology have suggested that in many instances, such new varieties, which are known as Bt varieties, are no more effective at killing pests than ordinary cotton plants. The difference is that if you plant Bt cotton, because of its resistance to some specific pests, the crop losses linked to insects will be lower, so at the finish the yield will be higher. And also by decreasing the amount of insecticide to be used on the conventional cotton, Bt cotton can protect also the environment by being used.African governments have also been reacting to the controversy between genetically modified cotton and conventional cotton.Yes, well the controversy is a good one because if we have a genetically modified cotton, like the Bt cotton, to be planted, you have to make sure that there is no environmental cost or degradation or pollution linked to the planting of this kind of cotton. And African governments are thinking about testing, measuring the impact of planting this cotton compared to conventional cotton, and assessing all the environmental benefits, or the environmental costs, linked to the new cotton, because we don't produce it our self. It is a company, which is Monsanto which brings it, but we have to make sure that all the safety conditions are met. If the safety conditions are met, the profit can be higher for us, in terms of increased yield and lower environmental damage through lower insecticide use.OK, let's take the example of Burkina Faso, that is currently experimenting with Bt cotton. What is this level of experimentation, and what are the partners involved in this experimentation?Monsanto is testing the Bt cotton in Burkina Faso, in collaboration with the INERA, which is the National Agricultural Research Institute. But these results are not definitive, and they are only comparing the yield of Bt cotton compared to conventional cotton.What are these results, and where were the results presented?The results have been presented in September at the International Conference of Entomology in Australia, showing that there is a significant difference in yield and the level of resistance of Bt cotton. But still this is not really enough, because there are tests to be done to see the impact on the ecology, the impact on other insects, the economic and the financial impact to farmers, to the community and the country. And to make sure that all the safety conditions are met, before one can write a policy to recommend the wide use of the Bt cotton. But except Benin, which has a moratorium on GM crops up to 2007, most of the west African countries are ready to push the GM crop, especially the Bt cotton, because we have also to look for a cheaper way, to be more competitive. So this means that anything that anything that can decrease our costs of production, by using less pesticide, will be something good for us.Why is it that an independent international body has not been able to evaluate the results presented by Monsanto, to say, 'Yes, this is OK.'Coulibaly I fully agree with you. I think we need checks and balances here. And the first check and balance, which will work well, will be to put together a kind of independent council of research. No Monsanto, or no government should really have a kind of political pressure on this body. I think this is a really good way to go for it, even for more accountability.Now if Bt cotton becomes an alternative, what will this impact be on the farmers?Normally these farmers are supposed to benefit through the decrease in the cost of production, through the use of less pesticides. This can really be an advantage for a resistant Bt cotton. But the problem is more complicated, because you know that if you go to the international arena, there are a lot of subsidies.Yes, in fact I want to come to that situation.Subsidy means that the government of the US or the European Union are helping farmers with money to produce their product at a lower cost, so they get something out of the government, and our farmers don't get the same thing. Let me take an example: the US every year put $4 billion of subsidies, of help to a small number of farmers.How many?Like 25,000, almost 25,000 farmers. So compared to 15 million farmers of cotton in West and Central Africa, which are producing by their own means, without really much help from the government. And these farmers are going to compete on the same market. So I think there is a kind of unfair trade at this level. If you look at the World Trade Organisation, and you are aware of the Doha ministerial conferences, and the Cancun, so the subsidies issues came very high. And four countries, Benin, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mali put together a kind of paper proposal, called the Initiative of Cotton, where they asked for the complete removal of subsidies from cotton.So you are in fact saying in essence that Bt cotton, in the long run, is good, provided, one, the subsidy given to the American and European farmers are removed, or subsidies are also given to African farmers?Which is unlikely.Which is very unlikely. Two, one has to look at environmental impact, before one can generally say, 'Yes, Bt cotton is a good alternative for African farmers.'Exactly. End of track.Cue:In South Africa, the planting of genetically modified cotton plants has been going on for several years. So what success has it had? According to a report in the New Scientist magazine, farmers growing the GM varieties in KwaZula-Natal have not only experienced yield increases of between 50 and 89%, but also have greater peace of mind about the health of their cotton crop, which so far has shown good resistance to pest attack. The GM cotton plants get this resistance from a protein which is normally formed by a bacteria that lives in the soil. However, scientists have been able to take the gene which is responsible for making this protein, and introduce it into cotton plants. The name of the bacteria is Bacillus thuringiensis, which is why the modified cotton is called Bt cotton.Most of the world's Bt cotton is made by the company Monsanto, and is sold under the name Bollgard. However, the Syngenta company also have their own variety, which actually uses a different gene from the same bacteria. The gene also produces a protein, which when eaten by pest larvae, causes them to stop feeding and die. The protein is called a Vegetative Insecticidal Protein. Hence the name 'VIP' given by Syngenta to their own brand of Bt cotton. The Quton company of Zimbabwe is currently testing the ability of Syngenta's cotton to withstand pest attacks. Lucia Muza, one of the research team, spoke recently to Sylvia Jiyane about the potential of Bt cotton for farmers in Zimbabwe.\"We planted the Bt cotton … OUT:… human life is not there.\" DUR'N 3'55\"Lucia Muza, on the testing programme for genetically modified cotton being carried out by the Quton company of Zimbabwe.We planted the Bt cotton, it is a variety that we got from Syngenta and then we compared it to our local variety. The objective was to see whether the VIP gene was able to control Zimbabwean bollworms. Bollworms are the major cotton pest in Zimbabwe and I think they constitute more than 50% of the total cost of production in terms of plant protection. Normally for a cotton crop we end up with 7 to 10 sprays to control these bollworms and in some cases it may be weekly. So it's a lot of work, it's a lot of chemicals to use. So when we did our trial in the Bt cotton we didn't need to spray for all the bollworms, Red, Spiny or the Heliothis, up to the end of the season. Whereas in the non-Bt cotton we had to spray 7 to 10 times to control the bollworms.RRRP 2004/5 Cotton Muza I think there is a lot of potential because, like I was telling you, 40% of our production costs in cotton can actually be accounted by the sprays that we need to control pests. So it means that if we really adopt Bt cotton or VIP cotton then we can get rid of that 40% or we may reduce that to 20%, saying maybe that is the cost of the seed. So you actually reduce our cost of production. And also during spraying time, it's not easy because we have to go and scout for pests so that we just don't go and spray. And most of our farmers, especially smallholder farmers, they don't have these good scouting skills. So they don't actually scout, so they loose a lot of their yield because they spray when maybe it is too late, or if they spray when it is not necessary. Also in spraying, people use a lot of chemicals, you need to wear a lot of protective clothing, you use a lot of water, so especially for women spraying is not an easy job. Also in terms of the environment, you are adding a lot of chemicals to the environment. So I think by introducing Bt cotton surely it will be environmentally friendly, it will reduce our costs, it will reduce our labour requirements and it would be user friendly.Muza I see the potential surely to be there more in the smallholder sector because they are the people who have got the limitations in terms of scouting, in terms of labour and most of the farmers are actually women. And if you look in terms of yields in the cotton industry, the smallholder sectors are the ones that are being affected so much. So that it is very difficult to say a farmer will achieve yields that are above 1500 kgs per hectare. That is why at the moment they complain that is not profitable to grow cotton. With Bt we will assure them of yields that are above 1.5 tons per hectare, and then it will become profitable to them.And what are some of the challenges for Bt cotton in the country since it seems like it's a new development that is just coming in and people may not really welcome it that much. What are some of the challenges?There are so many challenges. People need to be educated, what is Bt cotton? What is the effect of that protein that we have added to the cotton, to the environment, and to the people themselves. So it's a matter of educating not only the people on the ground but also including the policymakers. We needed really to take lessons from what has happened in other areas, to see whether there were some negative effects on the environment and on the human beings in those areas, so that we really assure our people that there are not going to be those negative effects on the environment or on human life in general. But like I told you, it's a matter of us working together with the Biosafety Board and doing the experiments together so that everybody would be convinced that this is the way forward and that the results are positive and that the damage to the environment and to human life is not there. End of track.Cue:If farming is to be a profitable business, and not just a subsistence activity, there are two issues that farmers will need to think about very carefully: how to maximise their yields, and how to get the best price possible for their crop. With a cash crop such as cotton, there may be some help available for them to do both things. In Zambia, for example, there are a number of cotton promoting companies that depend on farmers to supply high quality cotton for their textile plants. Dunavant, Clark Cotton and Mulungushi are three such companies operating in the country, that are helping farmers both to grow and sell cotton. Despite this, however, the Zambian textile industry is struggling, not least because of a tax system which favours imported cotton, and makes Zambian cotton too expensive for the local industry to buy.Joseph Nkole is the Executive Secretary of the Cotton Producers Association of Zambia. He believes strongly that the government should be supporting its domestic cotton producers through a better tax system. He also believes that Zambia should be exploiting the Africa Growth Opportunity Act, known as AGOA, in order to export more cotton products to the United States. Under AGOA, a range of commodities, including finished clothes, can be exported without duty to the American market. Mr Nkole spoke recently, to Chris Kakunta, about how he believes the Zambian cotton industry can be resuscitated, or brought back to life. Chris began by asking how the cotton promoting companies were helping farmers in Zambia to increase their cotton production.\"These organise the small-scale … OUT:… getting Bt into this country.\" DUR'N 5'08\"Mr Joseph Nkole of the Cotton Producers Association of Zambia was talking to Chris Kakunta.These organise the small-scale farmers into schemes that are provided with inputs for production. They go into providing extension services to the farmers and then they provide the market for the farmers. But what we are seeing as a base is to have now these farmers to be trained in the various skills. To have best practices where they are dealing with a particular promoter, not leapfrogging from one promoter to another and avoiding to pay back loans. We want the farmers to have good ethics, appreciate the sanctity of contracts, so that they can now start to do business on a business footing, so that they can grow into bigger entities and run business on their own.How best can a small-scale farmer look after his or her cotton crop so that it gives maximum yield?Well principally the farmer must plant his cotton early, on time. He must weed his crop, he must control the pests and he must have the correct plant population. For me these are the four non-negotiables in cotton production and if a farmer handles those with optimum efficiency they are bound to get very good yields from a hectare of cotton.Why do you think the yields are still low per hectare?RRRP 2004/5 Cotton Nkole I think some farmers want to grow cotton as a by the way crop after they have planted maize or they have grown other crops. Now we are trying to get the farmers to appreciate that cotton is a main crop that they must engage in, plant on time, manage properly and they will see the good yields coming through. It has been done in many places and we are just hoping that we can now spread this to all the parts of the country where cotton is being grown.Zambia is part of the global village and obviously we have seen some cotton being imported into the country. Does that imported cotton affect the price of the local production and what are you doing to help the farmers have the better price?There are two issues here. One is the issue of second-hand clothing. Two is the issue of tax on raw cotton. Imported cotton is costing less to the textile industry than Zambian cotton because of the tax regime. And we have identified this with the ginners, and the Zambia National Farmers Union and we are trying to talk to the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry and their counterparts in finance to see how best we can give the Zambian cotton a price good enough for export so that it competes with cottons coming from outside. Yes cotton from outside is cheaper and the only reason is truly due to the tax regime. If government decides to tackle the issue of internal taxation again the service-providing companies will pass the benefit to the farmers by increasing the price. On the other hand, we would also work as an association to lobby the promoting companies, to pay the farmers a price that is good enough. But for Zambia, really for the price to improve we must get our textile industry to process the cotton produced in this country into finished products. Then you can start to benefit even from AGOA and the price to the farmer will obviously be increased. And so we are saying let us get quickly to look at what is Mulungushi doing? What is Mukuba doing? What is Mulungushi-China doing? Let us get them to have to produce garments; then we can break into the AGOA. There is a lot of benefit in there. Our counterparts and colleagues in West Africa are benefiting from it and I think it is a question of time. Very soon we will have these meetings to discuss how the government can come in to help us resuscitate the textile industry and then see our lint being processed internally.What about coming to Bt cotton? Do you think if a law was passed in Zambia to allow such cotton to be grown, as an association you would embrace it? And if you are going to embrace it, why?We would definitely want to work within the ambits of the law. What we are seeing is the benefit to the small cotton farmer, like the other colleagues in the region are getting. So if we were to say 'Yes', we would say it would be a welcome idea because we stand to benefit as a nation by increased volumes. We are, in the meantime, collecting a lot of data and evidence to show that this has got advantage for us. And as I said, we will not fight the law. If the law of the land determines that we have no Bt cotton, we shall go by that. But as an association we would want to have further investigation and compare the advantages and disadvantages. And at the moment we are currently thinking that it would be worth our while to increase productivity, to increase profitability and enhance the standards of living of our smallholder cotton farmers by getting Bt cotton into this country. End of trackCue:In recent years, a farming method called Integrated Pest Management has become increasingly popular with farmers in Africa, particularly those growing vegetable crops. But what does Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, actually mean? As its name implies, IPM involves combining, or integrating, many different farming practices in order to find a solution to a difficult problem, that of controlling pests. These methods may include the use of chemical pesticides, but in using such chemicals an IPM farmer will firstly make a careful assessment of the type and number of pests attacking the crop, so that pesticides can be applied in an appropriate way. This both reduces the cost for the farmer, since less pesticide is wasted, and also causes less damage to the environment. For example, helpful insects, known as pest predators, are less likely to be affected.Mr Joseph Mambu is an agricultural researcher who has worked for the Cotton Development Corporation in Cameroon for many years, particularly in the north of the country. Martha Chindong spoke to him about the danger of pests for cotton production, and how his organisation is helping farmers in the north of Cameroon to tackle the problem.\"(Vernac) After beans, in this area … OUT:… to destroy the cotton plants.\" DUR'N 4'16\"Mr Joseph Mambu of the Cotton Development Corporation in Cameroon, with some advice for how farmers can reduce pest attacks on their cotton plants.Transcript Mambu (Vernac) After beans, in this area cotton is the next crop mostly attacked by pests and if not treated we will loose more than 80% of the produce.What are the main pests of cotton?The most dangerous cotton pests are caterpillars as well as some bacterial infection.This means that a lot of pesticides are needed in growing cotton. Am I right?(Vernac) This entails the use of much pesticide to grow cotton.Can the pesticides be used in a sustainable way, so as not to affect the farmer and his environment?We advise farmers to always protect themselves before and during the use of these chemicals. That is to put on eyeglasses, nose masks and they should also clean themselves after the use of these chemicals. We used to apply the chemicals quickly, at random, without any tests. To reduce costs and waste of chemicals, as well as the harm done to the environment, we later carried out tests to know the level of pest attack and whether or not to treat the farm. If, for example, we find 20 insects within the population of 100 cotton plants, the farm is declared infested and we treat these farms twice a month.Considering that you reduced the treatment from 4 times a month to only 2 times, were the results still encouraging? Mambu (Vernac) With this approach the results were encouraging.Is there a possibility to use Integrated Pest Management in growing cotton?(Vernac) Of course Integrated Pest Management can be used in growing cotton. First the use of resistant varieties is recommended, but we do give farmers treated seeds in order to produce quality cotton for the market. This is because the resistant varieties may give good yield but not necessarily quality cotton. We also advise that the farmers respect the planting season, for early planting can avoid certain treatments carried out with chemicals. And also early harvesting will reduce the number of times to treat the farm. Because if harvesting is delayed there is an insect that usually attacks the cotton fibre as soon as the cotton bud opens. And this also will entail that after this harvest we will have to treat the cotton again before use. If this happens the farmer will have to carry out the supplementary treatment that will bring extra costs and waste of chemicals. So farmers should then follow the advice of the agriculture technicians placed at their disposal.Is there any other thing that you would have loved us to share on this topic? Mambu (Vernac) Cotton farmers in the north have succeeded to produce an insecticide from a mixture of soap and kerosene. This effectively killed insects that attack the cotton, but the product is short lived, for should it rain this product would be washed away. Cotton as we know is a mono-cultivated crop, that is it can only be cultivated on its own without associating other plants. However, we can try to associate another plant to the cotton, like the pepper, whose repulsive affects on insects are well known, and this can also help to repel the pest that will come to destroy the cotton plants. End of trackThis is very good because if you have travelled to all cotton growing areas, if you leave cotton plants in the field you find these even late pests like cotton stainers flying all over the place. Now if you cut all these or you uproot all the cotton plants, you burn them, you reduce the breeding ground for these particular things. And then as you start the new season, you start with a fresh season, and a fresh crop, so that if there are any pests coming they should be coming within that season but not coming from one season to another. That would develop a bomb for the cotton crop.Now there are some diseases and even pests that spread from region to region, country to country. Are there special rules to maybe check the spread of diseases of cotton?Yes we have a Cotton Act in the country which prohibits imports of unauthorised cotton varieties into the country. This is done first in the interest of protecting the crop from pests from other countries, even diseases being imported through seeds. So the government here has this Act which is in force so that we don't just receive seed from elsewhere without proper verification of the phyto-sanitary, and sanitary measures that were taken in the place of production. So the law is there, it protects the farmer, it protects the economy, it protects the cotton industry so that it continues to flourish.How do you look at the use of chemicals as opposed to the cultural practices in cotton production?Well at the moment we can say is, we don't have a single method of controlling pests in cotton. What we are advocating at the moment is Integrated Pest Management. By Integrated Pest Management we mean use of cultural practices, use of improved varieties, use of chemicals where necessary, plus also crop hygiene, uprooting of stalks. Combining these is what we call Integrated Pest Management, so that no single method is the superior in pest management. We have to combine these methods in an integrated manner. Then it will be friendly to the environment. But if we just advocate chemical use, we will pollute the environment.There is a law, there is the Cotton Act which is a binding thing. And we work in close liaison with all stakeholders in the cotton industry. This includes chemical manufacturers or sellers, ginners, cotton ginners, those who do bailing of cotton, those who do exporting of cotton, whoever is working on cotton we work with them. But the rule of thumb is that, if let's say a chemical company wants to introduce a pesticide in the country, they have to come to the Ministry of Agriculture and apply and we have a committee which is called Agricultural Technology Clearing Committee which looks at the pesticides. So our scientists have to analyse that particular pesticide, evaluate it in the field, generate information under our local conditions and then be satisfied that it can work under our local conditions. Then we release it, officially release it, ask them to sell it in Malawi. We don't just allow any importation of any junk to be sold on our soils because we are cautious, we need to protect the farmer.I have also heard about the Pesticide Control Board. How serious is this Board?The Pesticide Control Board is very serious because if there is a banned pesticide they will take an action to say this must not be used on the soils of Malawi. This protects the environment, it protects us as human beings, it protects the natural fauna, the natural environment is protected. So people must realise that this Board is working in the interest of the whole nation. End of track.Cue:If farmers plant the same crop on the same land each year, as many do, one very great danger is that the number of pests feeding on the crop can grow and grow. Such a build up in pest numbers makes the task of obtaining a good harvest increasingly difficult, and expensive. Because of this, many who practise Integrated Pest Management use the technique of crop rotation -moving crops around the farm, or simply using their land for a different crop in the new season. Growing a cereal crop followed by a legume crop is one common example.Cotton plants are very susceptible to insect pests, particularly a group of pests called bollworms. To prevent the number of these insects increasing on their farms, it is essential that cotton farmers destroy all their cotton plants between cropping seasons. When buying cotton seed for planting, the seed packets should give clear information about the dates that the plants should be destroyed after the crop has been harvested. But of course, some farmers may not be aware of the importance of this information. So how to communicate this important message about cotton production?In Zimbabwe the Cotton Research Institute has been working for many years to improve cotton production in the country. Busani Bafana visited the institute to find out what is currently being done to help cotton farmers in fighting bollworm pests.\"Zimbabwe is among the top five … OUT:… footsteps in this direction.\" DUR'N 4'32\"Alois Chimoga, Principal Research Officer at the Cotton Research Institute in Kadoma, Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe is among the top five producers of hand picked medium staple cotton. The government has ensured the maintenance of this standard of cotton production through the establishment of the Cotton Research Institute in 1925. One of the challenges of growing cotton is the ability to manage pests. For example bollworm, a key pest of cotton can reduce yields by up to 60% if not controlled. We spoke to an entomologist, Mr Alois Chimoga who is the Principal Research Officer in Kadoma, Zimbabwe. How has your institute helped farmers in this regard?Farmers have been helped to control pests by a dead period of 66 days when cotton is not allowed to grow. During the growing season farmers have been taught to do scouting, to look for the pests. If the pests are there in high numbers they only apply chemicals as a last resort. In doing scouting they are supposed to apply chemicals following the labels, very low dose when the plants are very small and when the plants are very high we apply high doses.These have helped the cotton farmers to have high quality. The scouting also helps the pests to be controlled by predators, because the period where no chemicals are applied the predators will be in big numbers controlling the pests.The IPM approach has gained respect in a number of African countries. How has it been received by farmers the Institute here has worked with?RRRP 2004/5 Cotton 24The farmers have received us very well and they understand it very well as pest management. Such as the destruction dates, after you have picked your cotton you destroy the cotton crop, they have understood this because on every pocket of seed there are dates for the destruction period and they have taken this very well. They know when you grow cotton you need to follow guidelines.Mr Chimoga, what particular hurdles have you had to overcome to ensure that farmers understand this approach and they implement it?Farmers had heard of using some of the chemicals which we don't allow like pyrethroids, which are supposed to be used from January up to the end of season, and non-pyrethroids from emergence up to January. We have moved away from this hurdle by insisting that the marketing companies will produce, will supply the chemicals, give the farmers these chemicals, during the appropriate time, even the agrochemical companies. So far we have had good success with fenvalarate, one of the pyrethroids which has shown resistance in other countries from the bollworms. In Zimbabwe we don't have any problems with fenvalarate as far as Heliothis bollworm is concerned.We would like to know what practical benefits of the Integrated Pest Management approach have you realised in the way farmers in Zimbabwe grow and harvest their cotton?Farmers have benefited quite a lot. They use low chemicals. Zimbabwe is renowned for low chemicals compared to their South Africa our neighbours.Farmers have recouped more money from their high quality hand picked cotton as a result. So far our cotton, it is not sticky, it is liked by all the stakeholders in the cotton industry despite of it being very low in terms of the quantity.What are the future trends in the implementation of Integrated Pest Management in Zimbabwe for cotton growers?Our future plans for cotton growers, as an institute, is to provide them with the new technology. So far we have been allowed by the Biosafety Board to experiment on GMO's. We are making concerted efforts to look at the aspect of how pest GMO's are going to control the red bollworm, the Heliothis bollworm that causes 60% of yield loss. In 2-3 years' time we shall be able to have a lot of footsteps in this direction. End of track"}

main/part_2/0261896882.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8eb78513aae1224717049c9b8cde2ffa","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/3d91253d-5623-4716-897b-8c418d773a95/retrieve","id":"-768402070"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"5f47f239-6e1a-4c27-baeb-a9a2b813aad9","content":"a mayor duración, más acumulación de diversidad genética duración de la domesticación divergencia de los acervos MI y MII divergencia de los acervos Andino y 'Mesoamericanos' divergencia de P. lunatus y otras especies Andinas adaptado de Serrano-Serrano et al. 2010 mi añosPor qué preocuparse de los silvestres y especies afines? (1) ?Qué debe conservar un banco de germoplasma? ? la diversidad morfológica es en gran parte ilusión! la domesticación sólo afectó una fracción de la diversidad genética 7/36Por qué preocuparse de los silvestres y especies afines? (2) ?cambio de paradigmas: avances en genómica anticipan el uso del genoma completo 2. Sectores enteros del genoma conservados de una especie a la otra 1. Genes de interés pueden ser marcados permitiendo la 'SAM' 3. Genes de interés pueden ser editados (e.g. CRISPR/Cas9) 8/36Por qué preocuparse de los silvestres y especies afines? (3) ? usar otras especies no como fuentes de genes a transferir, si no como modelos a copiar selección muy precoz de individuos portadores, selección fenotípica viene luego 'screening' de genotecas  bancos de germoplasma, antes de mejoramiento buscar homólogos de Arabidopsis en cultivos de interés (y todos los mutantes) según el caso, activar o silenciar un gen, mediante acción sobre los RNAs según el caso, insertar un fragmento de DNA foráneo en un gen alterando su expresión fuentes:  albinervus, augusti, jaliscanus, juquilensis, lignosus, lunatus, maculatifolius, marechalii, mollis, nodosus, pachyrrhizoides, polystachyus, rotundatus, salicifolius, scrobiculatifolius, sinuatus, smilacifolius, sonorensis, viridis Organización actual del género Phaseolus  • no hubo resultados en mejoramiento, pero sobre distancias entre especies Estudios de la exina de los granos de polen  Hipótesis explicativa hace 3 mi años un miembro de los Paniculati migra a los Andes hace 2.2 mi años arranca la especiación: P. lunatus andino, P. augusti, P. pachyrrhizoides hace 1.1 mi años P. lunatus se diferencia en los acervos A1, MI y MII 5 desde 1 mi años MI y MII recolonizan el trópico americano; se queda A1 "}

main/part_2/0264958813.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a73f585dfa99f90277bfa1b3f3b0298a","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/32995e61-4611-410c-88f3-7993ed8cfc99/retrieve","id":"-933739183"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"7dd74f6e-c2e2-4a70-aa5a-00901d11e10c","content":"We identify and prioritize the key biophysical factors for optimal basil development in Valle del Cauca, Colombia • Southern Valle del Cauca, notably Cali and Jamundí, offers 161,052 ha of prime land for basil production.• Confirm the department's suitability and potential for basil cultivation using our model.• We provide essential insights to decision-makers, producers, and organizations for effectively promoting this crop.A B S T R A C T CONTEXT: Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) cultivation in Colombia has increased exponentially since 2006 (over 41fold in relation to 2020), driven by a favorable export market. It is a particularly promising crop for creating livelihood opportunities in the region, especially for vulnerable populations such as victims of forced displacement and single mothers. Basil cultivation can foster economic empowerment, strengthen the community social fabric, and support sustainable development. Based on previous studies, Valle del Cauca has suitable soil and climatic conditions for this crop, making it one of the country's most promising regions for its cultivation. OBJECTIVE: Our study aimed to create a model to identify biophysically suitable zones in Valle del Cauca for basil cultivation. METHODS: We used a variety of techniques for our model. First, we conducted a comprehensive literature review to identify the criteria for the biophysical suitability model. We then used a multi-criteria analysis methodology to evaluate the weight of each criterion, indicating its relative importance for the crop. We subsequently applied the Suitable Crop Location Index (SCLI) using spatial analysis techniques to generate a suitability map, illustrating the most suitable areas for basil cultivation. Lastly, we conducted a sensitivity analysis to identify the critical factors and the model's stability. We used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools that integrated fuzzy suitability functions and aptitude criteria weighting, drawing on the Analytical Hierarchical Process. Our model explored a primary and a secondary scenario to assess the suitable areas in the event of average and 75% rainfall exceedance. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Our study model identified the southern part of the department as the most suitable for basil production, particularly the municipalities of Cali and Jamundí. These areas, currently used primarily for sugarcane cultivation, offer 161,052 ha of suitable land (categorized as good and very good), accounting for 5% of the territory studied. SIGNIFICANCE: While the model could be further refined by considering the socioeconomic and ecosystem information, this study provides valuable information for decision-makers, producer associations, and organizations interested in promoting, investing in, and establishing basil production as a commercially viable crop, by facilitating the identification of the most suitable cultivation areas for its production.Colombia has seen a significant increase in the production of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) since 2006, from 767 tons in 2006 to 31,824 tons in 2020 (MADR, 2019(MADR, , 2022)), This represents a 41.5-fold increment since 2006, which is both substantial and significant, for instance, when compared to cereal crops. 1 Among the MAPs, basil, chive, mint, laurel, and oregano have experienced the highest growth rates, and are in high demand on international markets (Vega, 2018). Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) production has particularly increased, from 56 tons in 2008 to 4097 tons in 2020, with an increase in the planted hectares from 26 ha in 2008 to 543 ha in 2020, and higher average yields (from 1.8 t/ha in 2008 to 6.5 t/ha in 2020), as reported by (MADR, 2019(MADR, , 2022)).Basil is in high demand in the export market (Semana, 2023;Vega, 2018), especially in the United States (Legiscomex, 2023;Pinillos Angarita, 2016). In recent years, several studies have highlighted the profitability of MAP cultivation for export, particularly with regard to fresh basil export to the United States, highlighting Colombia's potential in this market (Acevedo-Durán, 2019;Cajamarca-Larrota et al., 2018;Poveda-Trespalacios and Pinzón, 2019;Rey-Sepúlveda, 2014;Santos-Orduz and Manrique-Ruíz, 2020). Specifically for basil, a 2020 study by Moreno-Reyes and Silva (2020) demonstrates a positive financial indicator.Small producer associations have established basil cultivation for export, primarily cultivated by women heads of households, victims of forced displacement, and young people in the area (Bonilla, 2022;Gobernación del Huila, 2022;Piñeros-Martinez, 2022;Yáñez-Vargas, 2022). Thus, basil cultivation presents an economic opportunity for vulnerable communities and can potentially strengthen the social fabric in Colombia (Muñoz et al., 2021). Valle del Cauca is one of the departments with the greatest potential in Colombia for basil production (CCI, 2007;Saldarriaga-Correa, 2014;National Agricultural Survey 2006, as cited in Aldana, 2015), where it has favorable soil and climatic conditions for its production, and where basil is found subspontaneously between the municipalities of Palmira and Cerrito (García-Barriga, 1975).The Colombian government recognizes the potential of aromatic herbs and has developed research projects and strategies to promote their production and commercialization (CORPOICA et al., 2016). However, more needs to be done to assess the suitability of the different regions for aromatic herb production and to support small producers. Land suitability analysis can guide the establishment of new projects, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively and that the cultivation of aromatic herbs can thrive. Suitability techniques analyze the interaction between location, development actions, and environmental factors to classify their suitability for a particular use (Malczewski, 2004).The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a well-established and widely-used multi-criteria decision-making method that has proven instrumental in weighing and prioritizing diverse criteria when assessing land suitability for agricultural purposes (Akinci et al., 2013;Malczewski and Rinner, 2015;Shaloo et al., 2022). AHP has been found to be the most suitable process for handling multi-criteria data that are heterogeneous in nature (Chivasa et al., 2022). This methodology aligns with the integrated Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) approach and geospatial techniques, and holds great potential for improving result accuracy (Chivasa et al., 2022;Ramamurthy et al., 2020) and addressing the crucial need to maximize food production from existing cultivable land (Seyedmohammadi et al., 2019).This study has selected the AHP-GIS (geographical Information Systems) methodology to identify suitable areas for basil cultivation in Valle del Cauca, Colombia, in order to optimize decision-making and promoting informed agricultural development. The selection of this department allows to take advantage of elements that favor development which are not implicit in the model, such as its good infrastructure, access to specialized inputs and services, the active presence of institutions that promote agricultural development, as well as its strategic location with access to nearby seaports and airports, offering trade and export opportunities towards national and international markets.Beyond the work carried out by Rural Agricultural Planning Unit (UPRA) at the national level, there are limited studies applying this methodology in Colombia (Anacona Mopan et al., 2023;Córdoba-Colombia et al., 2018;Rivera., 2023), particularly in the context of nontraditional crops. Therefore, this study is the first to apply this methodology to address the topic of aromatic plant cultivation in Colombia.To identify suitable areas for basil cultivation, we used a variety of techniques (Fig. 1) in a step-wise process. First, we conducted a comprehensive literature review to identify the criteria for the biophysical suitability model. Second, we used a multi-criteria analysis methodology to evaluate the weight of each criterion, indicating its relative importance for the crop. Third, we developed a spatial suitability analysis model to integrate all the information. Fourth, we applied the Suitable Crop Location Index (SCLI) to generate a suitability map, identifying the most suitable areas for basil cultivation. Lastly, we conducted a sensitivity analysis to identify the critical factors and the model's stability.The department of Valle del Cauca (Fig. 2) is located in southwestern Colombia, between 3 • and 5 • N and 75 • and 77 • W, at an average altitude of 1000 m above sea level, covering an approximate area of 22,000 km 2 . It integrates the active continental margin of South America, at the site of interaction with the Nazca and Caribbean tectonic plates. The associated continental feature is the Andes Mountain range, which is divided into three cordilleras separated by intramontane valleys (Servicio Geológico Colombiano, 2001).Here, the average temperature fluctuates between 23 • and 24 • Celsius, with relative humidity between 65% and 75%. Annual precipitation indices are 1589 mm in the north (133 rainy days), 1882 mm in the south (109 rainy days), and 938 mm in the central region (100 rainy days) (IDEAM, 2015). The area has a bimodal climate pattern with a rainy season in the months of April-May and October-November (accounting for 70% of annual precipitation) and two dry seasons in January-February and July-August (Armbrecht and Ulloa-Chacon, 1999).Valle del Cauca has been used for agricultural and livestock activities since the 16th century, when Spanish colonization began, and then intensively in the mid-20th century for the industrial cultivation of sugarcane (Vargas, 2012). Currently, the main crops planted are sugarcane, coffee, and bananas (MADR, 2022).To determine the criteria for optimal basil cultivation, we conducted a literature review focused on basil cultivation. For this, we search on platforms such as Web of Science and Scopus, local university library catalogs and agricultural agency publications. Initially we had >30 documents, however when we reviewed them and got to the primary source, we were left with 10 documents that simultaneously have spatial information within the study area. Among our final literature we found review articles and books published by government agencies. Our review indicated that basil has not been widely studied. Among the 10 articles presenting relevant data, published between 2004 and 2019, we identified the following biophysical criteria: altitude, drainage, sunshine, relative humidity, precipitation and temperature (Table 1). Slope gradient was included as it affects the distribution of daytime sunlight, which is essential for optimal basil growth. Exclusion criteria included urban areas, water bodies, protected areas, and lands with advanced erosion.While soil characteristics play an important synergistic role in cultivation, we did not include more specific soil criteria such as pH, salinity, organic matter content, taxonomy or texture, because this information was either not available for basil or has not been sufficiently studied in the study zone to create the layer to be included in the model.To integrate the absolute values of the different variables for the selected criteria, a common scale is needed. To avoid biased results, normalization is required. These processes scale all criteria down to the same level while maintaining the relative importance of each criterion. Membership functions are used for this purpose (Bellman and Zadeh, 1970;Bonham, 1994). These functions range between 0 and 1, indicating the degree to which an element belongs to a set. All these functions can exhibit increasing, decreasing, or symmetric graphical trends and are defined by parameters or control points that correspond to the extreme and optimal values of the variables (Dubois and Prade, 1980;Duprey and Taheri, 2009;Gill and Bector, 1997).To evaluate and normalize the factors affecting basil growth, we used a variety of fuzzy functions. These functions were selected to best reflect the criteria described in the consulted literature (Table 1). We used a scale ranging from 0 to 1 to normalize the values, where 1 represents the most favorable conditions for basil growth. For example, a value of 0.7 for temperature indicates that the temperature is slightly below the ideal range. We used composite functions for both precipitation and temperature factors. The parameters of the fuzzy functions are provided in Table 2 of the supplementary material. Figures Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 depict the fuzzy functions used for each criteria. The drainage factor was evaluated based on a qualitative scale (Table 2 supplementary material), which was transformed into a quantitative scale from 0 to 18, where the lowest values corresponded to very high levels of drainage and the highest values to very poorly drained soils.Of the criteria considered for exclusion, water bodies and urban areas were assigned a value of zero, while land erosion was evaluated based on different erosion degrees (see Table 2). Regarding the protected areas, only Civil Society Nature Reserves were not excluded from the model (Decree 1996(Decree of 1999(Decree , 1999)).The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a multi-criteria decisionmaking process that uses analytical hierarchies to determine the importance of criteria and their associated relationships in complex problems (Brandt et al., 2017;T. L. Saaty, 1977T. L. Saaty, , 1980)). It supports decision-makers in selecting the best alternative based on multiple criteria and sub-criteria (R. W. Saaty, 1987).The AHP is based on three steps.Step 1: Transform the multi-criteria decision-making problem into a hierarchy model. The model has three levels: the goal at the top, the criteria in the middle, and the alternatives at the bottom. These three levels are the minimum requirement for the hierarchy model, though we can add other layers of sub-criteria between the criteria and the alternatives, if required. Step 2: Identify the importance of one criterion over another. Comparative judgements are made by constructing pairwise comparisons between criteria.A scale is proposed by R. W. Saaty (1987) (Table 3) helps to find oneto-one correspondence between the set of alternatives and a subset of rational numbers, which represent the importance of of i th alternative Fig. 1. Framework for the biophysical suitability model for basil cultivation. AHP (Analytical Hierarchical Process); SCLI (Suitable Crop Location Index).M.M. Esponda-Bernal et al. over the j th alternative. Suppose we have n alternatives to be compared pairwise. If a ij denotes the preference of i th alternative over the j th alternative, where i, j = 1, 2, …, n. Such pairwise comparisons are used to find the importance of one alternative over another in terms of each criterion. Then these relative preferences form a positive reciprocal matrix A = [a ij ] of order n, where a ii = 1 ∀i = 1, 2, …, n and a ij = 1 aji , i, j = 1, 2, …, n. An n ×n pairwise comparison matrix of order n can be represented as follows:(3) Step 3: Perform the priority vector (weights) and consistency of the judgements. Consistency Ratio (CR) shows the likelihood that the ratings were developed by chance. The ideal CR is zero (0). However, in practice achieving zero is difficult. To be accepted the CR must be <10%, and if CR > 10% then the decision maker should re-evaluate the pair-wise comparison to identify the source of inconsistency and resolve it and repeat the analysis until CR reaches an acceptable level (R. W. Saaty, 1987).To gather expert opinions to hierarchize the selected biophysical criteria related to the development of basil cultivation, we developed an online questionnaire, 2 which utilized comparative judgements through the Saaty rating scale (see Table 3). We initially took a database of 198 companies that were somehow involved in working with aromatic plant cultivation in Colombia. After that, we filtered out those companies that had no connection to basil cultivation, resulting in 16 companies. Next, we contacted these 16 companies by phone, specifically reaching out to the key individuals responsible for crop management, and received responses from 11 of them. We also contacted two expert basil researchers who have experience in its production, bringing the total number of respondents to 13. The questionnaire was completed between August and October 2020, each providing individual aggregate ratings. 3 After collecting the ratings from each expert, we used the AHP methodology to process the data and determine the weighting of each factor (Table 4).One expert (a producer) was excluded from the final weighting process due to the respondent's Consistency Radius (CR) value being too high (a value of >0.1). The remaining 12 experts' responses were used to calculate the final weighting of the factors, resulting in a final general CR of 0.019.Data for precipitation, temperature, relative humidity, and sunshine  Monthly multiannual data series between 1981 and 2010 were selected and cleaned to ensure that each series had a minimum of 10 years of continuous data. Spatial and alphanumeric information was obtained from regional and national institutions' published data (see Table 5). To build the necessary modeling layers, the spatial data was converted into a 100-m resolution raster format using ArcGIS 10.6 software.Precipitation, temperature, relative humidity, and sunshine criteria were interpolated from the alphanumerical information provided by the stations. Before interpolation, box plots and time series graphs were used to identify potential errors or outliers. The normality of all series was tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and the semivariogram parameters were estimated using Gamma Design software. Kriging was used to interpolate the precipitation series, which had an R-squared value above 70%, while Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) was used to interpolate the other criteria. The model evaluated two scenarios: average precipitation, and a Weibull 4 precipitation 5 exceedance probability analysis for 75% (Weibull, 1951). The exceedance scenario was used to assess crop suitability in case of reduced precipitation.The factors were integrated using a weighted sum of the previously normalized raster layers and the weights assigned to each criterion (Table 4). The exclusion criteria layers were then normalized by multiplying directly with the raster generated in the previous weighted sum. The weighted sum tool and the raster calculator toolboth included in the ArcGIS software spatial analyst packagewere used to perform weighted sums and multiplications. This process was repeated for each precipitation scenario (average and 75% exceedance).The SCLI was classified into six categories (Table 6). The FAO classification (FAO, 1976) (S1, S2, S3, N1, N2) is widely used and recognized in the scientific community, but we focused on providing a more detailed suitability classification to obtain more granular results.The Sobol' variance-based method was proposed for the sensitivity analysis as it is widely applied in the field of numerical modeling (Saltelli et al., 2010) and spatial models (Lilburne and Tarantola, 2009;Xu et al., 2020;Zajac et al., 2015). The method decomposes the variance of the model output and obtains measures of sensitivity for both individual model inputs (factors and weights) and combinations of inputs (Saltelli et al., 1999). It is very appropriate for complex geographical models because such models are rarely additive and linear, and is therefore not sufficient to explore the inputs individually. Instead, the inputs must also be explored in combination with an increasing level of dimensionality (Peñacoba-Antona et al., 2021).To assess the Sobol' variance-based method we employed the SimLab (Joint Research Centre, 2010). We initially examined the frequency distribution of the factors, which was calculated based on histograms generated from each normalized raster. Subsequently, for the weights (as presented in Table 4), we assigned a uniform distribution with a ± 20% variation from their nominal values. We then conducted Monte Carlo analysis, sampling both the factors themselves and their corresponding weights, resulting in a total sample size of 1920 values. Additionally, Sobol' method was applied a total of 17,280 times in our analysis.First-order indices measure the average influence of a factor on the model output. A higher index indicates a greater effect of the factor on the model. Total indices add up all the factor indices, including the firstorder effect and any additional effects that arise from interactions among factors. This calculation provides a complete picture of the factors overall influence on the model (Monserrat and Barredo, 2006). To ensure optimal basil growth, the plants require 16 h of sunshine under greenhouse conditions. Cortés and Clavijo (2008) In cases of free exposure, the species grows better in long-day conditions, which means that more hours of sun exposure are preferable. (Makri and Kintzios, 2008) Relative HumidityThe optimum relative humidity for basil growth ranges from 60% to 70%.To ensure proper development of basil, it is estimated that 300-400 mm of water spread over the growing season is required. For a basil crop in free exposure, there are 4.8 cycles per year (Bonilla-Correa and Guerrero-Rojas, 2010), which means that rainfall of 1440-1920 mm per year is necessary.A requirement of 1500-2000 mm per year.The optimum temperature range for basil growth is 24-30 • C during the day and 16-20 • C at night. Cortés and Clavijo (2008) In general, increasing air temperature to 29 • C resulted in an increase in fresh and dry weight accumulation, node number, percent of plants with visible flower buds or flowers, plant height, internode length, branch number, and chlorophyll fluorescence.The optimum temperature was found to be 28 • C for the relative growth rate.The optimal slope gradient for aromatic plants, in general, should be <12%.Note: The effect of temperature on the growth of four basil varieties is illustrated in the supplementary material.1 Drainage is the removal of excess water and dissolved salts from the surface and subsurface of the land in order to enhance crop growth (FAO, 1996). 2 Sunshine is the measurement of the hours of effective sunshine in a day (solar brightness or insolation), which is associated with the amount of time during which the ground surface is irradiated by direct solar radiation (IDEAM, 2017). 4 The Weibull distribution was selected because of its simplicity, versatility, and ability to approximate exponential, normal, and/or skewed distributions (Barili et al., 2022;Rahmani et al., 2014;Reeve, 1996;Schönwiese et al., 2003;Weibull, 1951;Wilson and Toumi, 2005). Moreover, Weibull distributions are commonly used to analyze climate data, especially when studying the likelihood of extreme precipitation events (Kotz and Nadarajah, 2000;Olivera and Heard, 2019;Rahmani et al., 2014). 5 Only the precipitation criterion was considered for the scenario, as it has the highest number of meteorological stations and, therefore, is the most robust climate criteria.In addition to the model results, empirically-derived quantitative information is needed to validate the classification (Rossiter, 1990;Van Lanen and Bouma, 1989). When validating a model, the aim is to ensure the accuracy and reliability of its predictions, providing insights into its quality and performance. In summary, model validation is crucial to ensure its reliability, good generalization to new data, and effectiveness in real-world situations, thereby establishing a solid foundation for decision-making and implementation in various contexts.Ideally, the crop yield response should be empirically evaluated from multi-environmental trials conducted in each land suitability class, as recommended by Huajun and Van Ranst (1992). In our specific case, we   1 Soil erosion is broadly defined as the accelerated removal of topsoil from the land surface through water, wind or tillage (FAO, 1996, p. 100).have access to municipal-level yield data from the National Agricultural Survey (MADR, 2022) for the year 2021 within the category of \"Aromatic and Medicinal Plants\". Based on this we could calculate the correlation between the yield of aromatic plants and the average value of the SCLI index, both at the municipal level. We conducted these calculations using RStudio.The suitability level determined using fuzzy logic functions is normalized from zero to one, with zero indicating no suitability and one representing maximum suitability. After normalizing the factors, we can identify the most restrictive ones for crop suitability, as shown in Fig. 5. In exclusion areas 6 only, the suitable area decreases to 789,632 ha, representing 38% of the study area. On the other hand, the most restrictive factors are represented by areas with extreme values of precipitation and steep slopes. In the precipitation scenario with 75% exceedance, there is a reduction in the suitable area, especially in the geographical valley. 7 Finally, it would be beneficial to incorporate a global erosion layer, taking into account the geographical valley.Upon integrating the factors, we can determine the most suitable areas for basil cultivation under different rainfall scenarios. We classified the homogeneous suitability areas into six categories: very good, good, regular, low, very low, and exclusion, the latter with zero suitability. Fig. 6 shows the suitability map for basil cultivation under averagePairwise comparison matrix used in the study's online questionnaire. Source: Taken from (R. W. Saaty, 1987).  6 Exclusion areas are defined as areas that lack suitability based on specific criteria, including urban areas, waterbodies, protected areas, and land with advanced erosion. 7 The geographical valley of the Cauca Valley is an extensive plain that extends along the course of the Cauca River in Colombia. This valley is characterized by its relatively flat and fertile topography, flanked by mountain ranges on both sides.precipitation conditions, while Fig. 7 shows the categories under the Weibull 75% exceedance. The most suitable areas are located in the southern part of the geographic valley, where slopes are gentle and erosion is low. The main limitations are represented by high precipitation and low sunshine in the Pacific zone, as well as steep slopes in the western and central mountain ranges. Table 7 provides information on the suitability ranges and the area (in hectares) in each category.Most of the study area is concentrated in the exclusion (which applies to any crop), low, and regular aptitude categories. Nevertheless, there are a considerable number of hectares (161,052 ha) categorized as good and very good. It worth highlighting that, under the Weibull 75% exceedance precipitation scenario, the best aptitude areas are reduced almost to the point of disappearing (Fig. 7 which indicates basil's high sensitivity to rainfall. Specifically, it reduced the very good classification area of the department from 0.3% to 0.1%. Another significant change under the 75% exceedance scenario is that the good zones in the center of the geographical valley changed to the regular category, and the highest suitability area categorized as very good changed to good, i.e., in the southwest zone of the municipality of Cali.We classify as \"high-aptitude\" the zones falling within the very good and good aptitude categories. Examining the distribution of suitability categories across different regions reveals that the majority of suitable areas in both scenarios are located in the geographical valley (Table 8, Table 9). Specifically, we identified 29 municipalities within the good category, totaling 118,618 ha and 96,287 ha under average precipitation and 75% exceedance scenarios (see supplementary material). Regarding the very good category, this number is reduced to 5104 ha and 2270 ha for average precipitation and 75% exceedance scenarios, respectively, focusing on the municipalities of Cali and Jamundí (Table 10). It is worth noting that, under the second scenario (decreased rainfall), many areas in Cali and Jamundí change from the very good category to the good category, while the 78 ha identified in Candelaria as very good are no longer included in the high-aptitude zone altogether (Table 10). Using the average SCLI, a more detailed analysis of the optimal locations at the village level identified the villages of La Viga, Peón, El Banqueo, and Valle del Lili as those with the highest potential. These villages keep their potential even under the second (decreased precipitation) scenario.Currently, the best-suited areas for basil production are primarily used to cultivate sugarcane, as shown in Table 11. Sugarcane covers between 64% to 99% of the agricultural land in these municipalities, which is a significant portion. The region's favorable growing conditions and well-established infrastructure in the geographical valley make it an ideal location for growing crops such as basil.Suitable locations for basil cultivation in Valle del Cauca benefit from several facilities, including a wide coverage of the road network. Specifically, the National Route 25 (Western Trunk Road) runs through the most suitable areas, spanning 0-13.6 km (Instituto Nacional de Vias, 2022), thereby encompassing the zones of interest. Furthermore, these locations are conveniently situated 16-44.6 km in a straight line from the primary airport of the department (Alfonso Bonilla Aragón) (Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura, 2021), facilitating the streamlined exportation of fresh produce (Barreño-Rojas, 2004).Basil cultivation could provide social benefits. While sugarcane cultivation has historically been an important source of income for farmers in Valle del Cauca and plays a significant role in the local economy (Bermúdez Escobar, 2017), this industry has also faced challenges related to land disputes, labor violations, and displacement of local communities (Vélez-Torres et al., 2019). Additionally, it continues to drive significant environmental impacts, particularly if not managed sustainably, including soil degradation, reduced availability and quality of water and soil (Pérez et al., 2011), and deforestation and drying of wetlands for sugarcane monoculture (Vélez-Torres et al., 2019).In contrast to sugarcane, basil cultivation is typically grown on a smaller scale and presents opportunities for smallholder farmers to diversify their income sources and enhance their livelihoods (Muñoz et al., 2021). Furthermore, basil cultivation proves to be more profitable on the export market, particularly for organic production (Gobernación del Huila, 2022;Reyes-Pinilla, 2011;Santos-Orduz and Manrique-Ruíz, 2020), which is expected to result in fewer adverse environmental impacts than conventional sugarcane production.Other essential criteria to be considered for successful basil cultivation include irrigation systems and water quality, particularly to meet export market requirements related to quality assurance. Basil requires regular irrigation every two to three days and precipitation alone is often unreliable (Makri and Kintzios, 2008;Caliskan et al., 2017;Daza-Torres et al., 2017;Naderianfar et al., 2017). Good-quality water for irrigation to avoid the risk of the irrigation system clogging (Barreño-  Rojas , 2004). Since most basil is exported in fresh leaf form (Acevedo-Durán, 2019; Santos-Orduz and Manrique-Ruíz, 2020), rigorous post-harvest processes are essential to ensure its quality, for which a reliable power supply is necessary (Bonilla-Correa and Guerrero-Rojas, 2010;Santos-Orduz and Manrique-Ruíz, 2020).Phytosanitary quality is another critical criterion for organic basil production. A risk analysis based on the history of the plot should be developed to design a suitable preventive strategy for latent pests and diseases (Bonilla-Correa and Guerrero-Rojas, 2010). Although most biophysical criteria for basil cultivation have been included in the model, others, such as pH and salinity, could not be added due to a lack of data in the study zone; thus, these missing criteria should be evaluated through soil analysis before crop establishment. Lastly, even though the erosion factor has been added to the model, it would be appropriate to enter a full-coverage erosion layer into the model, which includes a study of the geographical valley.The first-order sensitivity index (Si) measures the average impact of a factor on the model output, without considering its interaction effects. The higher the index, the greater the influence the factor has on the model. The total-effect index (Sti) calculates the sum of the factorial indices involving the factor, including its first-order effect and all higher-order effects resulting from interaction among factors (Monserrat and Barredo, 2006). Table 12 shows that temperature, precipitation, slope, and altitude are the most sensitive factors of the model. It is not surprising that temperature emerged as the most sensitive factor in the model, given its highest weighting among the criteria. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that temperature exhibits limited variability within the study area.Comparing Si and Sti for each parameter of the model enables us to understand the difference in the impact of each factor individually and in combination with others. Typically, Sti is greater than or equal to Si. The difference between the indices reflects the extent to which a factor interacts with other factors. In this case, the difference between the two indices is negligible, with the largest difference only 0.015. To be considered significant, the difference should be at least 0.2, as noted by   Si = first-order index); Sti = total-effect index. Monserrat and Barredo (2006). This suggests that the factors employed in the model exhibit a high degree of independence.To further explore the levels of uncertainty within the study area, conducting a more comprehensive sensitivity analysis is essential, as recommended by Arika Ligmann-Zielinska and Jankowski (2014). Given the pronounced role of temperature in our sensitivity analysis, it would be valuable to explore climate-change scenarios that incorporate temperature variations.Despite the constraints posed by the available data, we managed to obtain municipal-level yield data from the National Agricultural Survey (MADR, 2022) for the year 2021, specifically focusing on the \"Aromatic and Medicinal Plants\" category. We obtained a strong correlation (R 2 = 0.73) between the yields for the year 2021 and the average SCLI by municipality. This suggests that the suitability classification produced by our model has the potential to be a valuable decision-making tool for basil production in the study area.The next step involves taking the evaluation from the municipal to a more localized level to achieve greater precision and accuracy, evaluating suitable areas at a localized level to achieve higher resolution and accuracy. Also, is valuable includes socioeconomic and ecosystem aspects to ensure economic viability of the crops with investment potential.We conducted a suitability analysis for basil cultivation in the Valle del Cauca department using a biophysical approach. Our model prioritizes key factors affecting crop development, combining GIS and multicriteria decision-making. We explored scenarios based on average and reduced rainfall, revealing a reduction in suitable production areas. Exclusion factors, such as slope and precipitation, ruled out mountain ranges and the Pacific zone. Our results highlight suitable areas for basil cultivation, with the most favorable located in the southwest, achieving a maximum SCLI of 86 and 88 under average rainfall and a Weibull exceedance scenario for 75%, respectively. A sensitivity analysis identified temperature as the most critical factor. This exploratory study recognizes the need for further research to enhance model inputs, emphasizing its indicative nature. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper."}

main/part_2/0266081234.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"b1af3fb406c37309d10503ef9be04589","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/4b5eecf5-316a-4b5d-b6f4-46140a6bf91b/retrieve","id":"184544572"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"dbb4dc1b-038d-4be7-8345-049d4e7b1e41","content":"Pelipita est une banane à cuire soupçonnée d'être originaire des Philippines, riche en caroténoïdes pro vitamine A avec une teneur totale de 2 548 µg / 100g à l' état cru et non mûr . Il est en train d'être rapidement vulgarisé pour une éventuelle adoption dans les systèmes agroalimentaires de l'Afrique de l'Est. Il a été évalué en station de recherche et à la ferme au Burundi et à l'est de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC). Des essais en station de recherche sont également en cours en Tanzanie et en Ouganda. "}

main/part_2/0268215988.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"1957058a4ed6099debe47435e9b3fc92","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8b5d4cf7-266b-4cd5-a86a-d16ce9782204/retrieve","id":"298106149"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"f1a0a06d-8e9e-4937-bbc7-2c2a0e4f9a0f","content":"The 3 rd AsiaBlight Budget coverage:-50 % covered by Sponsors -25% covered by CCCAP (without counting people's work time) -15% covered by CAU (without counting people's work time) -10% your registrations!"}

main/part_2/0275038907.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ac5c19a740bc914bbd79e29e860d576b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e3b35f52-6daf-4026-8847-7a704c86f3fc/retrieve","id":"521201678"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"28dd2004-7daa-4827-991e-e44362b1aa25","content":"ICT enabled climate services information linked to agro-advisories have directly enabled more than 5,000 farmers in at least 10 districts in India (since 2016) to make better decisions in planning and managing their farms using SMS delivered context specific, agro-advisories that incorporate medium-, extended-range and seasonal climate forecasts. This will likely to result in 20% increase in the yield of groundnut and chickpea crops and contribute US$225/hectare to income.ICT enabled climate services information linked to agro-advisories have directly enabled more than 5,000 farmers in at least 10 districts in India (since 2016) to make better decisions in planning and managing their farms using SMS delivered context specific, agro-advisories that incorporate medium-, extended-range and seasonal climate forecasts.This will likely result in 20% increase in the yield of groundnut and chickpea crops and contribute US$225/hectare to income."}

main/part_2/0299465276.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3856a8369667ecf89e0039f0abe08d90","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a70794e5-a7ca-4172-947a-e2484f326c5e/retrieve","id":"-1535795367"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"e2bc16e7-62d0-49a9-be62-9cebc18a6eae","content":"This research is made possible thanks to the technical and financial support from GREAT and USAID/FFP • Qualitative data collection methods were used • 8 focus groups discussions, 6 key informant interviews and 57 transcript contents from (FLGs) meetings. • The key informants provided details about their community in terms of the banana production system, previous BXW management, the sources and modes of information dissemination etc. • The purpose of the FGDs was to better understand gender dynamics in banana cropping systems and access to knowledge• Data were analysed using Nvivo 10 software • Content analysis was performed using a combination of deductive and inductive approaches• Cash and food crops are often intercropped in banana-based farming systems. Cash crops are associated with men and food crops associated with women • Men and women prefer banana cultivars based on the use that is linked to gender roles:ü Banana beer is preferred by men, who typically manage income from it in married households. ü Women prefer cooking varieties because of their roles in household's food consumption. • While some men considered that the use of money resulting from banana becomes the decision of man without consulting his wife, others found that it is wise to inform his wife about the banana sales to motivate her to continue working in the banana plantation.• Banana and disease management tasks are often carried out by men; thus men are generally targeted as recipients for trainings and information. • Women attend meetings/trainings when their husbands are unable or refuse to attend.• Men prefer to attend meetings when they realize direct economic benefits e.g. per diems • women's mobility when compared to men, is limited because of their roles and responsibilities that are associated with household and reproductive tasks• Within FLG members applying SDSR to manage BXW , a limited intra-household sharing of information has been observed. • Even when information is shared , men claimed that SDRS practices are not necessary implemented by their wives • However, women's activities on annual crops associated with banana, are seen as opportunities to use SDRS practices to control BXW • A woman in FGD said \"it is time to break with culture, women can do the work on banana\"• Information sharing from FLG members to non-members in the community serves as important way to disseminate SDRS practices. • However , in some circumstances non-members do not heed advices of members • FLG members are not recognized by community members as being knowledgeable of SDSR • Neighbors' failure to manage the disease affects activities of those who make concerted effort to manage BXW in the community• Research to investigate gender in systems is essential to ensure that approaches do not cause undue harm that undermines women's empowerment and smallholder livelihoods.• A \"one size fits all\" approach towards the introduction and scaling of innovations will likely deepen gender inequality in gender unequal contexts.• Gender roles clearly have implications for managing BXW and scaling methods to control the disease "}

main/part_2/0301644437.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"295ebbebba780617e4cd7f2b195889dd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/7a980ed9-6113-41b4-9677-ed36e278e251/retrieve","id":"-351855106"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"3655bfbf-368b-49b8-a7d3-42c5f75b59d3","content":"El presente documento recopila los Boletines Técnicos Agroclimáticos que fueron generados en ejercicios participativos en las reuniones de las Mesas Técnicas Agroclimáticas (denominadas Mesas Agroclimáticas Participativas en el país -MAP), llevadas a cabo en 2021. Las MAP son realizadas es realizada gracias al esfuerzo conjunto de un gran número de instituciones locales, nacionales e internacionales, enfocados en garantizar la seguridad alimentaria y la agricultura sostenible. Permiten generar espacios de discusión entre actores para la gestión de información agroclimática local, con el fin de identificar las mejores prácticas de adaptación a los fenómenos de variabilidad climática. Para más información consulte el manual de MTA disponible en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114605.¿Cómo usar el agua eficientemente en su finca?.Se debe realizar una planificación del riego para evitar un exceso o una insuficiencia del agua en los cultivos, según fase fenológico de la planta.. Recuerde: Implementar en su fincas tecnologías de uso eficiente del agua para la adaptación al cambio climático y la seguridad alimentaria, tales como:• Prácticas de conservación de los suelos y manejo integrado de cultivos para riego y que sirvan para mantener la humedad en el suelo. • Protección de manantiales o fuentes de agua debe ser prioridad de todos sus habitantes.• Utilizar tecnologías para la captación y almacenamiento del agua, tanto de las que provienen de las precipitaciones o aguas lluvias, como las superficiales y aguas subterráneas.• Implementar tecnologías para el bombeo y la distribución de agua para fines agropecuarios, utilizando técnicas de riego que minimicen las pérdidas de agua y de erosión del suelo. • Reutilización del agua grises o servidas, a través de sistemas de dosificación y desinfección que permiten un uso eficiente del agua y de los nutrientes en los sistemas de riego, principalmente para huertos familiares.Semilla Variedades: Preferiblemente utilizar variedades criollas adaptadas a su región, o variedades comerciales como : Dehoro y Amadeus 77 que se adaptan a zona baja y zona alta del departamento, (si hay mucha humedad, el grano tiende a dañarse por lo que hay que tener buenas practicas agrícolas). Manejo Agronómico: Realizar adecuado control de malezas antes y durante todo el ciclo del cultivo. En Laderas hacer barreras vivas o barreras muertas y sembrar con curvas a nivel. Realizar la siembra con un distanciamiento de 40 cm entre surco y depositando 8 semillas por metro lineal bajo labranza mínima. Eliminar malezas de 15 a 20 días antes de la siembrapara evitar hospederos de plagas.Es importante en la etapa de siembra, seleccionar bien la semilla, verificar si es apta para la siembra. Realizar sufertilización utilizando productos orgánicos como ser Bocachi, humus,entre otros. Plagas y Enfermedades: Monitoreo y control de plagas y enfermedades: Mancha angular, Mosaico dorado, Roya. Post cosecha: Hacer un manejo adecuado Post cosecha del grano, Cosechar en canícula. No secar el grano en la parcela. Al almacenar el grano cosechado se recomienda hacerlo en Graneros o silos limpios, libres de plagas..Manejo Agronómico: Manejo preventivo con fungicidasa base de cobre. Manejo adecuado de sombra y ventilación del cultivo para evitar enfermedades. Rotación de productos químicos y fertilización adecuada del cultivo. Realizar \"pepeneo\" del fruto caído para control de la broca • Fertilización adecuada del cultivo. Plagas y Enfermedades: Monitoreo y control de enfermedades fungosas: ojo de gallo, roya, mancha de hierro. Monitoreo de la plaga grillo indiano. Monitoreo y control de enfermedades fúngicas como la roya, mancha de hierro y ojo de gallo con productos a base de cobre; así también, el control de plagas como la broca y grillo indiano. Control con trampas.Sembrar pastos mejorados adaptados a la región, realizando buena fertilización con abonos orgánicos. Usar variedades de pasto como : Cuba 22, Brisantha, King Grass, pasto Camerún y Alicia.Hacer bancos forrajeros, se puede utilizar el rastrojo de la caña, sales y suplementos alimenticos de alto valor nutricional.Vacunación, desparasitación para control de garrapata y vitaminado del Ganado.Establecr bancos forrajeros, mediante la siembra de árboles como leguminosas.Realizar Ensilaje, bloques nutricionalesy heno, asegurar alimentación del Ganado. Suministrar sales minerales, para asegurar salud del ganado.Vacunación ,desparasitación y vitaminado del Ganado. Establecer bancos forrajeros, mediante la siembra de árboles como leguminosas.Seleccionar las variedades según ventanas de mercado y que se adapten a las condiciones locales, ejemplo: Cebolla: Bella Dura (Buena aceptación mercado local), Sweet Caroline (Exportación) y las Cebollas Rojas (Matahari, Rasta, Red Pasion y X-P Red). Al establecimiento del cultivo, hacer una buena preparación del terreno, haciendo subsolado para evitar el encharcamiento.Emplear sistemas de agricultura protegidas como casa malla, macro-túnel, mega-túnel y estructuras temporales como casa chinay micro-túnel (Agribon).Semilla Variedades: sembrar variedad de forraje de pastoreo y variedades mejoradas, tanzania, mombasa, brachiarias. Establecimiento de Pastos de corte como cuba 22, King grass, caña de azúcar. Siembra de forraje para ensilaje como Maíz, sorgo, pastos de corte. Manejo del Suelo: Evitar la quema de potreros, realizar una adecuada preparación del suelo incorporando rastrojos e incorporar estiércol para el abonado del suelo. Manejo del Agua: Elaborar Cosechas de agua y/o reservorios, para zonas donde exista exceso de precipitación, también elaborar canales de drenaje para evitar encharcamientos. Donde no exista mucha precipitación establecer sistemas de riego para producción de forrajes. Manejo Agronómico: Ajustar las fechas de siembra con relación a lo presentado, sembrar los pastos de corte en la primera semana de mayo. Para los pastos se recomienda usar Urea, estiércol para su fertilización, con un distanciamiento adecuado de siembra. Realizar siembra de árboles y establecer bancos forrajeros y el establecimiento de sistemas silvopastoriles. Establecer una rotación de potreros para mejorar el establecimiento de forrajes Plagas y Enfermedades: Realizar Monitoreo constante de cultivos para identificar plagas.Post cosecha: Implementar prácticas de conservación de forrajes (ensilaje y henificación), también la realización del almacenamiento del ensilaje y heno para prolongar la calidad de estos.Semilla Variedades: Maíz de ciclo corto, DICTA Sequia, DICTA MAYA y QPM.Manejo del Suelo: Realizar labranza cero y realizar el manejo de rastrojo para mantener la humedad incorporarlo al suelo.Manejo del Agua: En la parte plana incorporar rastrojos para mantener la humedad y en la ladera se debe hacer curvas a nivel para que el suelo no se erosione y se mantenga la humedad, se recomienda establecer barreras muertas o barreras vivas. Manejo Agronómico: Aplicación de fertilizantes dependiendo de la semilla mejorada o hibrido. Aplicar ficha técnica compuesta por fertilizantes, control de malezas.Plagas: Aplicación de insecticidas amigable con el medio ambiente (etiqueta amarilla, azul o verde) y aplicación de fungicidas (franja azul o verde) dependiendo de la variedad.Enfermedades: Constante monitoreo y aplicación de fungicidas Post cosecha: Doblar el maíz para que seque más rápido, trasladarlo a la secadora para aplicar el secado (podría ser con una secadora solar) y utilización de bolsas plásticas, silo y hojas mejoradas para el proceso de almacenamiento FRIJOL Semilla Variedades: Seleccionar semillas libres de hongos y enfermedades y elaborar pruebas de germinación Utilizar variedades para laderas arriba de 800 metros, se recomienda Honduras Nutritivo y Paraisito, Manejo del suelo: Hacer una buena preparación del suelo que sea profunda para que penetre más el agua, debido que se pronosticas muchas lluvias se recomienda se recomienda siembras a curvas a nivel, surcos de drenaje. Si siembra con bueyes siembre en la parte alta del surco Es recomendable elaborar camas debido a la intensidad de las lluvias.Manejo del Agua: Debido que se pronosticas muchas lluvias se recomienda elaborar pequeños reservorios de agua, donde sea factible.Manejo Agronómico: Estar pendiente de las alertas de lluvias para realizar la fertilización.Plagas: Tratar la semilla con plaguicidas para evita el ataque de plagas, hacer monitoreo del cultivo para detectar los brotes a tiempo, realizar el control adecuado mediante el uso de adherente al momento de realizar aplicaciones.Enfermedades:. Utilizar semillas tolerantes a enfermedades principalmente hongos y bacterias, realizar monitoreos constantes y fumigaciones preventivas para disminuir apariciones de enfermedades. Rotar el suelo si ya tuvo plagas o enfermedades en una parcela. Cosecha y Postcosecha: Hacer el uso de tendales como túneles de plásticos para tenerlos listos para la cosecha. Tener materiales plásticos a la mano para cubrir el producto y estar pendiente de información climática para realizar la cosecha en su parcela. Se recomienda realizar las siguientes practicas en sus cafetales:• Utilizar variedades tolerantes a la roya y nematodos.• Realizar un manejo adecuado de semillero y viveros.• Utilizar variedades como LEMPIRA y PARAINEMA.• Realizar las plantaciones con las densidades adecuadas de siembra y de acuerdo a las variedades seleccionadas. • Realizar un manejo de sombra adecuado en el cultivo.• Realizar control y monitoreo de plagas y enfermedades.• En caso de utilizar pesticidas,preferiblemente hace ruso de los de etiqueta verde Manejo Agronómico: Curar su semilla y sembrar de 6-7 semillas/mt y 30-40 cms entre surco. Cuando siembre en laderas, hacer curvas a nivel y camas levantadas, puede incorporar materia orgánica y procurar proveer al cultivo una buena fertilización 12-24-12 a la siembra, a los 20 días urea y a los 40 días la segunda. Puede utilizar productos orgánicos de fabricación casera: Caldos microbianos, Fermentación, Sulfocalcico. Plagas y Enfermedades: Para evitar enfermedades como pudrición de la mazorca se debe seleccionar variedades con buena cobertura de la mazorca. Para la mancha de asfalto mantener un cultivo limpio y aplicar productos a base de cobre. Realizar constante monitoreo de plagas como gallina ciega y gusano cogollero.Pos cosecha: Cosechar a 14% de humedad y almacenar en estructuras secas y herméticas como silos o bolsas de cosecha, que mantengan el grano libre de plagas. En el caso de silo aplicar práctica de la vela para garantizar un sellado hermético (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD06dBpfT1M). Utilización de ajo como medio de conservación de granos.Semilla Variedades: Preferiblemente utilizar variedades criollas adaptadas a su región, o variedades comerciales como : frijol Amadeos 77 y Honduras Nutritiva, (si hay mucha humedad, el grano tiende a dañarse por lo que hay que tener buenas practicas agrícolas), también están las variedades Campechano y Catrachito.Manejo Agronómico: Es importante en la etapa de siembra, seleccionar bien la semilla, verificar si es apta para la siembra, realizar buen control de maleza, preferiblemente manual para que quede forraje en el surco y así evitar la erosión del suelo. Puede hacer zanjas de infiltración para mantener humedad del suelo y elaboración de pequeños reservorios Plagas y Enfermedades: Realizar un manejo integrado de plagas y enfermedades como ser de Áfidos, diabrótica (tortuguilla), mosca blanca y gallina ciega, en el que puede usar plaguicida natural, compuesto de ajos, madreado, chiles bravo y detergente para que se adhiera a la hoja de la planta; Se recomienda para la babosa Caracolex, Enfermedades: Mancha angular, la roya y mosaico dorado.Post cosecha: Realizar un manejo Post cosecha adecuado del grano, buscando con tiempo lugares secos para el almacenamiento del grano. Pos cosecha: Evaluar la planta para verificar si existe alguna plaga, tratar de evitar daños mecánicos al momento de manipular el fruto, procurar que las cajas plásticas no lleven mas del 80% de su capacidad al momento de transportar el fruto y almacenar la cosecha en un lugar fresco.Semilla Variedades: Puede sembrar variedades nacionales (PUREN, Jicaramany) y variedades importadas como Bellini, Arnova, Paluca, Soprano, Toronto Montecarlo, Barcelona, Granola, Ambition, vivaldi, baranka entre otras. Sembrar semilla certificada Manejo Agronómico: En laderas hacer terrazas, curvas a nivel, barreras vivas, incorporación de materia orgánica (rastrojos y gallinaza) para mantener humedad del suelo. Hacer remoción de suelo con el objetivo de romper el pie de arado provocado por la compactación. Buscar zonas donde tenga acceso al agua, siembras en verano el distanciamiento es más cerca y en invierno más separado para evitar hongos. En invierno utilizan terrenos con pendiente, hacer enmiendas agrícolas como ser cal, gallinaza en lugares con poca cobertura vegetal.Plagas: Paratrioza: promover la eliminación de rastrojos, identificar de acuerdo a la etapa para aplicar la cantidad adecuada del producto químico a usar. Mosca Minadora: identificación y aplicación de plaguicidas. Gallina Ciega: Remover los suelos con anticipación y aplicación de productos químicos a la hora de la siembra y el aporque con productos granulados. Palomilla: productos químicos, no dejar la papa tanto tiempo en el suelo.Enfermedades: Conocer el historial para rotación de suelos, para los hongos: mildium, tizones: en invierno sembrar separado entre planta, realizar un programa de manejo de enfermedades con la utilización de productos químicos de manera eficiente, buscar lugares con pendiente para evitar la humedad, preparar los suelos con anticipación, utilización de camas altas.Cosecha y Postcosecha: Chapiar el producto para la cosecha en época lluviosa, fumigación del producto con gramoxone en época seca controlando así la enfermedad de paratrioza. Semillas Variedades: Cultivo de fresa variedad San Andreas, Albión y criolla.Manejo del Suelo: Preparación completa usando arado, rastra y acamadora, con uso de curvas a nivel, emplasticado de suelos. Manejo del Agua: En el caso de fresa se recomienda uso de sistema de riego por goteo auto compensado. Manejo Agronómico: Distanciamiento de siembra de 0.40 cm entre surcos y 0.30 cm entre plantas. La preparación de suelo según las pendientes del terreno se puede hacer utilizando tractor o mediante tracción animal, en este caso el énfasis es profundizar a 30 cm. Las fechas de siembra recomendadas para fresa de preferencia en octubre o noviembre, pero si se hace en mayo o junio se debe contar con invernaderos. Los insumos para el cultivo de fresa de preferencia en un 50% con uso de orgánicos y además utilizar productos de menos de 3 días de residualidad. La fertilización dependerá del análisis de suelos y de las recomendaciones brindadas en el mismo. Plagas y Enfermedades: Control preventivo de enfermedades causadas por hongos( Alternaria, Pestalotia) en rotación de productos comerciales recomendados para este cultivo, hacer control preventivo de plagas como ácaros (arañita roja) usando productos acaricidas a base de abamectina. Manejo Post Cosecha: Se debe hacer uso de cajas de foam y de bandejas plásticas. Así mismo se debe contar con áreas techadas y de preferencia la parcela debe estar cerca de carreteras para evitar daños por transporte. Además se debe tenerse acceso a refrigeración para evitar daños y alargar la vida del producto. Para áreas de producción extensivas y en zonas bajas como La Másica, Esparta, Arizona que presentan niveles friáticos altos se puede hacer uso alternativo de variedades existentes en las casas comerciales (RR, RR+BT, Dcal etc.). Se recomienda el uso de semillas certificadas. No utilizar mas de 2 semillas/postura. MANEJO DEL SUELO: Evitar los suelos compactados, por lo que se debe hacer uso de la mecanización en zonas planas y en laderas uso del rastrojo. al momento de preparar suelo no quemar. MANEJO DEL AGUA: Es muy importante la incorporación de un sistema de riego MANEJO AGRONÓMICO: La aplicación de los fertilizantes formulados DAP,etc), se debe hacer al momento de la siembra y las posteriores aplicaciones hacerla sembrada para su mayor eficiencia. PLAGAS Y ENFERMEDADES: Curado de semilla para las plagas de suelo y control preventivo de Gusano cogollero con insecticidas sistémicos. En zonas que se han presentado Mancha de asfalto utilizar el hibrido Dicta 96. POST COSECHA: Hacer dobla para evitar problemas fungosos, para facilitar la cosecha se debe hacer previamente control de maleza.SEMILLA VARIEDADES: Usar variedades según zonas: semilla mejorado como Amadeus 77 y Tolupan rojo y Criollas como Seda arbolito y el chile. No utilizar mas de 2 semillas/postura. MANEJO DEL SUELO: Evitar quemas, incorporar los rastrojos o residuos de cosecha, incorporar materia orgánica. Realizar un fertilizante orgánico como bocashi u otro que este a su alcance, el mismo debe incorporarse un mes antes de la siembra para que sirva a la retención de humedad al suelo. MANEJO DEL AGUA: Preferiblemente donde se pueda tener sistema de riego por goteo, es recomendable regar por la mañana para hacer aprovechamiento del agua. MANEJO AGRONÓMICO: Realizar aporque entre los 12 y 15 dds, Utilizar un fertilizante formulado granular al momento de la siembra, hacer un buen control de malezas y plagas y uso de fertilización foliar al menos 2 veces antes de los 35 días para evitar estrés en la planta PLAGAS: Hacer un control preventivo preferiblemente con insecticidas sistémicos, uno a los 12 dds, hacer monitoreo constante y si es posible muestreo de plagas. Esperar que el suelo presente humedad para aplicar y evitar estrés en el cultivo. ENFERMEDADES: Hacer control preventivo de hongos, a los 12 días primera aplicación preferiblemente fungicidas sistémicos, mantenerse vigilantes a la presencia de lluvias y hacer aplicaciones al paso de las mismas, evitar aplicaciones de cualquier tipo en periodo de floración. POST COSECHA: Se tiene que tener un almacenamiento adecuado, a un de 12 % de humedad, se recomiendo pastillas para curar frijoles para evitar la incidencia de gorgojo. MANEGO DE PLAGAS: Salibaso plaga de pastos Utilizar variedades resistentes para evitar la plaga. Contar con un plan de control para la plaga. MANEJO POST COSECHA: Preparación oportuna de ensilaje en temporada seca, silos, bloques nutricionales y heno (en caso de abundancia de pastos) para asegurar la alimentación del ganado.Realizar una mezcla adecuada de sales minerales de acuerdo a las condiciones del ganado. Realizar vacunación, desparasitación y vitaminado para asegurar la salud del ganado.Utilizar programas preventivos para evitar enfermedades como la pierna negra, carbón sintomático, antrax. Establecer un manejo integrado en las operaciones de higiene durante el ordeño para evitar enfermedades como la mastitis. Para ectoparásitos realizar un programa intensivo de acuerdo al ciclo de vida del ectoparásito, realizar aspersiones para el control de los mismos y realizar monitoreo constante. Realizar un programa de desparasitación de acuerdo a la incidencia de los parásitos, vía oral o intramuscular cada tres meses. MANEJO DEL SUELO: Hacer una buena preparación del terreno, utilizar suelos profundos, crear una cobertura vegetal (materia orgánica) y uso de curvas a nivel. MANEJO DEL AGUA: Realizar un buen drenaje, realizar pruebas de infiltración y el Uso eficiente del recurso hídrico. MANEJO AGRONOMICO: Sembrar la sombra primaria y secundaria con el fin de conservar la humedad del suelo y reducir la temperatura, realizar podas correspondientes, aplicación de fertilizantes orgánicos y evitar el uso de insecticidas porque reduce la polinización. PLAGAS: Para el control de la monilia, monitorear la humedad y realizar podas y desechar los frutos enfermos en un sitio especifico. ENFERMEDES: Realizar podas y monitoreos constantes.POST COSECHA: Iniciar el proceso de fermentación y secado siguiendo los protocolos establecidos, realizar el proceso de almacenamiento de igual manera siguiendo los protocolos establecidos y hacer uso eficiente de los subproductos para lograr un mayor ingreso.En el cuadro 1 y 2 se presentan las fechas de siembra propuestas para el ciclo de primera 2021 para los cultivos frijol y maíz en los 8 municipios de la Región 04 Valle de Lean, según resultados que brindó la modelación realizada con la herramienta CROPWAT 8.0 de la FAO.CUADRO Semilla Variedades: Se recomienda realizar pruebas de germinación antes de la siembra. Utilizar semilla de buena calidad de ciclo corto, de acuerdo a las variedades mejoradas (DICTA Ladera, DICTA Guayape, DICTA Maya). Respecto a las variedades locales/criollas, se recomienda utilizar las que presentan mejores rendimientos y menos ataques a plagas y enfermedades.Manejo del suelo: Se recomiendan las bordas en zonas planas, acequias o zanjas al contorno en zonas inclinadas, para que no afecte la escorrentía.Manejo Agronómico: Realizar labranza mínima, incorporar rastrojo en la parcela. De ser necesario el uso de químicos se recomienda la utilización de (Rimoxato y Paraquat). Debido a las altas precipitaciones se recomienda realizar levantamiento de bordas, uso de barreras vivas y muertas. De igual manera, se recomienda aplicar fertilizantes como 18-46-0 y 12-24-12. Plagas y Enfermedades: Para evitar enfermedades como pudrición de la mazorca se debe seleccionar variedades con buena cobertura de la mazorca.Realizar control preventivo de Mancha de asfalto con productos a base de cobre o Benomilo. Realizar constante monitoreo de plagas como gallina ciega y gusano cogollero, además de un control oportuno de malezas.Post cosecha: La cosecha se debe realizar con la humedad adecuada del grano (14%), al almacenar en silos o trojas, es necesario curarlo y mantenerlo en un lugar libre de humedad con practica de cierre hermético.Semilla Variedades: Sembrar variedades criollas adaptadas al territorio como: frijol vaina morada, frijol arbolito de matocho, frijol vaina blanca (frijol negro) y variedades como \"Honduras Nutritiva\", Amadeus, Carrizalito, Dehoro, que sean precoces como el frijol Cuarenteño y resistentes a plagas. Manejo del Suelo: Realizar siembras cuando el suelo presente 20 cm de humedad. Preparación del suelo antes de la siembra y control de malezas cada 15 a 20 días para mantener limpia la parcela del cultivo y evitar plantas hospederas de plagas y enfermedades. Manejo Agronómico: Realizar adecuado control de malezas antes y durante todo el ciclo del cultivo. Distanciamiento de siembra entre postura, 8 semillas por metro lineal.. Fertilización foliar con productos orgánicos como el madrifol, realizar un buen manejo integrado de enfermedades contra mustia hilachosa (tela araña o hielo negro) y la antracnosis. Plagas y Enfermedades: Monitoreo y vigilancia de plagas como la gallina ciega, babosa y tizones tempranos y tardíos, realizando monitoreos constantes y con la aplicación de cal, ceniza y sulfocalcio para evitar utilizar productos químicos. Monitoreo y control de enfermedades como: Mancha angular, Mosaico dorado, Roya del frijol.Post cosecha: Hacer un manejo adecuado recolección del grano, cosechar en canícula. No secar el grano en la parcela. Al almacenar el grano cosechado se recomienda hacerlo en graneros o silos limpios libres de plagas.Manejo Agronómico: Manejo preventivo con fungicidas base de cobre. Manejo adecuado de sombra y ventilación del cultivo para evitar enfermedades. Rotación de productos químicos y fertilización adecuada del cultivo. Aplicación de biofermentos, para que las plantas de café sean mas resistentes a ataques de enfermedades. Estableciendo de arboles maderables en sistemas agroforestales para sobra dentro del cultivo. Plagas y Enfermedades: Monitoreo y control de enfermedades fúngicas como la roya, mancha de hierro y ojo de gallo con productos a base de cobre; también realizar el control de plagas como la broca y grillo indiano.Sembrar pastos mejorados adaptados a la región, realizando buena fertilización con abonos orgánicos. Usar variedades de pasto como : Brizantha, Camerún, Cuba 22, Clon 51, Botón de oro.Realizar la rotación de potreros, para garantizar la restauración de los pastos, utilizando cercas eléctricas. Realizar prácticas de conservación de suelos , implementar sistemas silvopastoriles, barreras vivas y curvas a nivel.Hacer bancos forrajeros, se puede utilizar el rastrojo de la caña, sales y suplementos alimenticos de alto valor nutricional, además del uso de algunas leguminosas como Leucaena y Guanacaste. Se recomienda realizar riego por aspersión, para el manejo de los pastos.Realizar vacunación, desparasitación y vitaminado del hato ganadero para evitar plagas y enfermedades. Garantizar el suministro de agua limpia en la piletas para que esté disponible para el ganado. Realizar suministro de sales minerales y suplementos alimenticios. Realizar pruebas de mastitis y tuberculosis, monitoreo constante de enfermedades relacionadas con el exceso de humedad. Vacunación contra pierna negra. Realizar Ensilaje, bloques nutricionales y heno para asegurar la alimentación del Ganado.Seleccionar las variedades de ciclo corto, realizar siembra a inicio de junio, elaborar almácigos para la germinación de las semillas. Y utilizar variedades que se adapten a las condiciones climáticas de la temporada. Realizar la preparación del suelo e incorporar abonos orgánicos, realizar obras de drenaje al suelo y en el caso de suelos secos tratar de mantener humedad en el suelo con materia orgánica. Controlar las malezas con limpieza artesanal y mediante productos agroecológicos y biofermentados. Realizar control tanto mecánico como natural de plagas y enfermedades. Así como también monitoreos de plagas y enfermedades preventivos y continuos  Manejo Agronómico: Realizar pruebas de germinación de 15 a 20 días antes de la siembra, tratar la semilla previo a su siembra. Sembrar a una apropiada densidad según la variedad para evitar competencia entre plantas. Realizar la fertilización con productos orgánicos y sólo si es necesario el uso de productos químicos que sean de baja toxicidad.Plagas y Enfermedades: Para evitar enfermedades como pudrición de la mazorca se debe seleccionar variedades con buena cobertura de la mazorca. Realizar control preventivo de Mancha de asfalto con productos a base de cobre o Benomilo. Realizar constante monitoreo de plagas como gallina ciega y gusano cogollero. Realizar control oportuno de malezas. Evitar hojas en el suelo, para prevenir enfermedades de origen fungoso.Post cosecha: La cosecha se debe realizar con la humedad adecuada del grano (14%), al almacenar en silos o trojas, es necesario curarlo y mantenerlo en un lugar libre de humedad. Sembrar pastos mejorados adaptados a la región, realizando buena fertilización con abonos orgánicos. Renovación de potreros utilizando variedades importadas como: Brizanthas, Brachiarias Decumbens, Mombasa y Pasto Mulato. Establecer sistemas de ensilajes con siembra de maíz QPM, maicillo sureño y caña agregando sales y suplementos alimenticios de alto valor nutricional empleando dosificaciones adecuadas en la alimentación.Hacer bancos forrajeros, se puede utilizar el rastrojo de la caña, sales y suplementos alimenticos de alto valor nutricional.Vacunación, desparasitación para control de garrapata y vitaminado del Ganado.Establecer bancos forrajeros, mediante la siembra de árboles como leguminosas.Realizar Ensilaje, bloques nutricionales y heno, asegurar alimentación del Ganado. Suministrar sales minerales, para asegurar salud del ganado. Diseñar un plan sanitario de reproducción y engorde por finca con el acompañamiento de técnicos de la SAG. Manejo Agronómico: Realizar pruebas de germinación de 15 a 20 días antes de la siembra, importante tratar la semilla previo a su siembra. Utilizar una apropiada densidad de siembra según la variedad para evitar competencia entre plantas.Sembrar en curvas de nivel, evitar las quemas, labranza cero, utilización de barreras viva para evitar la erosión, utilización de tanques de ferrocemento para el almacenaje de agua, realizar bancales de materia orgánica para mantener la humedad del suelo, en época lluviosa realizar drenajes para evitar inundaciones, realizar la fertilización con productos orgánicos y de ser necesario el uso de productos químicos que sean de baja toxicidad.Plagas y Enfermedades: Es necesario la detección temprana del gusanó cogollero y control inmediato. Realizar control oportuno de malezas. Para evitar enfermedades como pudrición de la mazorca se debe seleccionar variedades con buena cobertura de la mazorca. Para la mancha de asfalto mantener un cultivo limpio y aplicar productos a base de cobre.• Pos cosecha: Cosechar a 14% de humedad y almacenar en estructuras secas y herméticas como silos o bolsas de cosecha, que mantengan el grano libre de plagas. En el caso de silo aplicar práctica de la vela para garantizar un sellado hermético(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD06dBpfT1M) Utilización de ajo como medio de conservación de granos. Aprovechar los rastrojos para incorporar materia orgánica, eliminar malezas de 15 a 20 días antes de la siembra para evitar hospederos de plagas. Realizar su fertilización utilizando productos orgánicos como ser Bocachi, humus, entre otros. En los predios planos se puedan hacer drenajes para evitar encharcamiento. Se recomienda utilizar sistemas de riego por goteo, donde sea factible, desarrollo de sistemas de humedales para reutilización del agua, captación de aguas lluvias a través de represas artesanales para su almacenamiento.Plagas y Enfermedades: Realizar monitoreos constantes para evitar plagas y enfermedades como: Mancha angular, Mustia hilachosa y Roya. Realizar monitoreo constante de las parcelas. Realizar control de malezas para evitar plagas y enfermedades.Manejo Agronómico: Manejo preventivo con fungicidas a base de cobre. Manejo adecuado de sombra y ventilación del cultivo para evitar enfermedades. Rotación de productos químicos y fertilización adecuada del cultivo. Realizar \"pepeneo\" del fruto caído para control de la broca Fertilización adecuada del cultivo. Regulación y manejo de sombra, ventilación del cultivo para evitar enfermedades. Diversificación de la finca cafetalera, siembra de granos básicos y hortalizas Plagas y Enfermedades: Monitoreo de la plaga grillo indiano. Monitoreo y control de enfermedades fúngicas como la roya, mancha de hierro y ojo de gallo, con fungicidas a base sulfocalcio y cobre. Control con trampas.• Siembra de pasturas mejoradas, altos en proteínas para mejorar la dieta y nutrición del ganado, realizando una buena fertilización con abonos orgánicos. Siembra de sorgo multi propósito como DICTA 29 y el BMR.• Realizar fertilización con abonos orgánicos.• Realizar rotación de potreros.• Hacer bancos forrajeros, se puede utilizar el rastrojo de la caña, sales y suplementos alimenticos de alto valor nutricional.• Manejo adecuado del ensilaje, bloques nutricionales y heno para asegurar la alimentación del Ganado. Establecimiento de bancos de proteínas con árboles como las leguminosas. Ganado:• Implementar la ganadería con enfoque sostenible y planificación de los hatos ganaderos • Vacunación, vitaminado y desparasitación del Ganado para control de endo y ecto paracitos.• Suministrar sales minerales, para asegurar salud del ganado. Plagas y Enfermedades: Para evitar enfermedades como pudrición de la mazorca se debe seleccionar variedades con buena cobertura de la mazorca. Para la mancha de asfalto mantener un cultivo limpio y aplicar productos a base de cobre. Realizar constante monitoreo de plagas como gallina ciega y gusano cogollero.Pos cosecha: Cosechar a 14% de humedad y almacenar en estructuras secas y herméticas como silos o bolsas de cosecha, que mantengan el grano libre de plagas. En el caso de silo aplicar práctica de la vela para garantizar un sellado hermético (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD06dBpfT1M). Utilización de ajo como medio de conservación de granos.Semilla Variedades: Preferiblemente utilizar variedades criollas adaptadas a su región, o variedades comerciales como : frijol Amadeos 77 y Honduras Nutritiva, (si hay mucha humedad, el grano tiende a dañarse por lo que hay que tener buenas practicas agrícolas), también están las variedades Campechano y Catrachito.Manejo Agronómico: Es importante en la etapa de siembra, seleccionar bien la semilla, verificar si es apta para la siembra, realizar buen control de maleza, preferiblemente manual para que quede forraje en el surco y así evitar la erosión del suelo. Puede hacer zanjas de infiltración para mantener humedad del suelo y elaboración de pequeños reservorios Plagas y Enfermedades: Realizar un manejo integrado de plagas y enfermedades como ser de Áfidos, diabrótica (tortuguilla), mosca blanca y gallina ciega, en el que puede usar plaguicida natural, compuesto de ajos, madreado, chiles bravo y detergente para que se adhiera a la hoja de la planta; Se recomienda para la babosa Caracolex, Enfermedades: Mancha angular, la roya y mosaico dorado.Post cosecha: Realizar un manejo Post cosecha adecuado del grano, buscando con tiempo lugares secos para el almacenamiento del grano. Pos cosecha: Evaluar la planta para verificar si existe alguna plaga, tratar de evitar daños mecánicos al momento de manipular el fruto, procurar que las cajas plásticas no lleven mas del 80% de su capacidad al momento de transportar el fruto y almacenar la cosecha en un lugar fresco.Semilla Variedades: Puede sembrar variedades nacionales (PUREN, Jicaramany) y variedades importadas como Bellini, Arnova, Paluca, Soprano, Toronto Montecarlo, Barcelona, Granola, Ambition, vivaldi, baranka entre otras. Sembrar semilla certificada Manejo Agronómico: En laderas hacer terrazas, curvas a nivel, barreras vivas, incorporación de materia orgánica (rastrojos y gallinaza) para mantener humedad del suelo. Hacer remoción de suelo con el objetivo de romper el pie de arado provocado por la compactación. Buscar zonas donde tenga acceso al agua, siembras en verano el distanciamiento es más cerca y en invierno más separado para evitar hongos. En invierno utilizan terrenos con pendiente, hacer enmiendas agrícolas como ser cal, gallinaza en lugares con poca cobertura vegetal.Plagas: Paratrioza: promover la eliminación de rastrojos, identificar de acuerdo a la etapa para aplicar la cantidad adecuada del producto químico a usar. Mosca Minadora: identificación y aplicación de plaguicidas. Gallina Ciega: Remover los suelos con anticipación y aplicación de productos químicos a la hora de la siembra y el aporque con productos granulados. Palomilla: productos químicos, no dejar la papa tanto tiempo en el suelo.Enfermedades: Conocer el historial para rotación de suelos, para los hongos: mildium, tizones: en invierno sembrar separado entre planta, realizar un programa de manejo de enfermedades con la utilización de productos químicos de manera eficiente, buscar lugares con pendiente para evitar la humedad, preparar los suelos con anticipación, utilización de camas altas.Cosecha y Postcosecha: Chapiar el producto para la cosecha en época lluviosa, fumigación del producto con gramoxone en época seca controlando así la enfermedad de paratrioza. Semillas Variedades: Cultivo de fresa variedad San Andreas, Albión y criolla.Manejo del Suelo: Preparación completa usando arado, rastra y acamadora, con uso de curvas a nivel, emplasticado de suelos. Manejo del Agua: En el caso de fresa se recomienda uso de sistema de riego por goteo auto compensado. Manejo Agronómico: Distanciamiento de siembra de 0.40 cm entre surcos y 0.30 cm entre plantas. La preparación de suelo según las pendientes del terreno se puede hacer utilizando tractor o mediante tracción animal, en este caso el énfasis es profundizar a 30 cm. Las fechas de siembra recomendadas para fresa de preferencia en octubre o noviembre, pero si se hace en mayo o junio se debe contar con invernaderos. Los insumos para el cultivo de fresa de preferencia en un 50% con uso de orgánicos y además utilizar productos de menos de 3 días de residualidad. La fertilización dependerá del análisis de suelos y de las recomendaciones brindadas en el mismo.Plagas y Enfermedades: Control preventivo de enfermedades causadas por hongos( Alternaria, Pestalotia) en rotación de productos comerciales recomendados para este cultivo, hacer control preventivo de plagas como ácaros (arañita roja) usando productos acaricidas a base de abamectina. Manejo Post Cosecha: Se debe hacer uso de cajas de foam y de bandejas plásticas. Así mismo se debe contar con áreas techadas y de preferencia la parcela debe estar cerca de carreteras para evitar daños por transporte. Además se debe tenerse acceso a refrigeración para evitar daños y alargar la vida del producto. Manejo del suelo: Hacer una buena preparación del suelo que sea profunda para que penetre más el agua, debido que se pronosticas muchas lluvias se recomienda siembras a curvas a nivel. Es recomendable elaborar camas debido a la intensidad de las lluvias.Manejo del Agua: Se recomienda elaborar pequeños reservorios de agua, donde sea factible. Manejo Agronómico: Sembrar cuando el suelo presente humedad en los primeros 20 cm de profundidad. Realizar un adecuado control de malezas para evitar hospederos que provoquen enfermedades (áfidos y babosas). Sembrar en hilera a una distancia de 10 cm entre postura y 50 cm entre surco. Plagas: Tratar la semilla con plaguicidas para evita el ataque de plagas, hacer monitoreo del cultivo para detectar los brotes a tiempo. Enfermedades:. Utilizar semillas tolerantes a enfermedades principalmente hongos y bacterias. Rotar el suelo si ya tuvo plagas o enfermedades en una parcela.Cosecha y Postcosecha: Cosechar cuando la parte inferior de la vaina este seca.No secar el grano en la parcela.Manejo Agronómico: Manejo preventivo con fungicidasa base de cobre. Manejo adecuado de sombra y ventilación del cultivo para evitar enfermedades. Rotación de productos químicos y fertilización adecuada del cultivo. Realizar \"pepeneo\" del fruto caído para control de la broca.Fertilización adecuada del cultivo. Plagas y Enfermedades: Monitoreo y control de enfermedades fúngicas como la roya, mancha de hierro y ojo de gallo con productos a base de cobre; así también, el control de plagas como la broca y grillo indiano. Control con trampas.Sembrar pastos mejorados adaptados a la región, realizando buena fertilización con abonos orgánicos. Usar variedades de pasto como : Cuba 22, Brisantha, King Grass, pasto Camerún y Alicia. Para los pastos se recomienda usar Urea, estiércol para su fertilización, con un distanciamiento adecuado de siembra. Realizar Monitoreo constante de cultivos para identificar plagas. Implementar prácticas de conservación de forrajes (ensilaje y henificación), también la realización del almacenamiento del ensilaje y heno para prolongar la calidad de estos.Vacunar, desparasitar y vitaminar el ganado para control de plagas y enfermedades. Aislar a los animales que presenten síntomas de alguna enfermedad para evitar su transmisión (tuberculosis, Septicemia, Estomatitis, Mamilitis Herpética). Realizar pruebas de mastitis. Establecer bancos forrajeros, mediante la siembra de árboles como leguminosas.Realizar Ensilaje, bloques nutricionales y heno, asegurar alimentación del Ganado. Suministrar sales minerales, para asegurar salud del ganado.Seleccionar las variedades según ventanas de mercado y que se adapten a las condiciones locales, ejemplo: Cebolla: Bella Dura( Buena aceptación mercado local), Sweet Caroline (Exportación) y las Cebollas Rojas (Matahari, Rasta, Red Pasion y X-PRed).Al establecimiento del cultivo, hacer una buena preparación del terreno, haciendo subsolado para evitar el encharcamiento. Emplear sistemas de agricultura protegidas como casa malla, macro-túnel, mega-túnel y estructuras temporales como casa chinay micro-túnel (Agribon). • Hacer sistemas de drenaje, zanjas y canales para evitar posibles inundaciones y encharcamientos dentro de los cultivos.• Diversificación de la finca promoviendo la agricultura familiar y hortalizas.• No realizar quemas, para evitar incendios forestales, ni deforestar.• Realizar la preparación del suelo e incorporar rastrojos, materia y abonos orgánicos • Evitarlabranza,sobretodoenladeras,paraevitarlaerosióndelsuelo,yrealizarcurvasanivel.• Realizarlaboresconstantesenelcultivo,comoeldeshierbemanual,controldemalezaylimpieza artesanal.• Conservación de fuentes de agua a través de la reforestación de la zona de recarga hídrica. En zonas de valle preparar el suelo con drenajes y sembrar en camas altas de 20 cm, en zonas de ladera asegurar prácticas que eviten la erosión utilizando barreras vivas y muertas. Preparar el suelo, antes de la temporada de lluvia. Realizar rondas de limpieza eliminando malezas que sean hospederas de plagas y/o enfermedades. Realizar obras de drenaje para evitar encharcamientos e inundaciones en el cultivo. Incorporar materia orgánica y abonos naturales al suelo que mejoren la textura del suelo evitando la erosión y manteniendo retención de humedad. Seleccionar y curar bien la semilla que se plantará. Manejo integrado de plagas y enfermedades a través de un monitoreo constante. Realizar la fertilización con productos orgánicos y de ser necesario el uso de productos químicos que sean de baja toxicidad.La cosecha se debe realizar con la humedad adecuada del grano (14%), al almacenar en silos o trojas, es necesario curarlo y mantenerlo en un lugar libre de humedad y de plagas como roedores, procurando un cierre hermético. Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas: Sembrar del 10 al 20 de septiembre, para cosechar a finales de noviembre donde haya ausencia de lluvias. Utilizando preferiblemente las variedades criollas adaptadas al territorio, y para zonas altas DEHORO, zonas arriba de 300 msnm AMADEUS y por debajo de los 300 variedad arbolito. Cultivar en camas levantadas para evitar el encharcamiento del suelo y para un mejor desarrollo radicular de la planta Implementar barreras vivas y muertas. Incorporación de rastrojos para evitar erosión del suelo, protegerlo y retención de humedad. En lugares con pendiente realizar obras físicas de conservación de suelo y siembras a contorno de pendiente. Monitoreo permanente del cultivo para prevenir plagas y enfermedades.Utilizar fertilizantes biológicos, exudado de lombriz y biofertilizantes foliares aplicar cada 8 días. Además, puede realizar su fertilización utilizando productos orgánicos como ser Bocachi, humus, entre otros. Implementación de secadores solares para brindarle la humedad correcta al grano.Al almacenar el grano cosechado se recomienda hacerlo en bolsas postcosecha y silos limpios, libres de plagas utilizando el cerrado hermético con ayuda de una candelita: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD06dBpfT1M.Estatus del Sistema de Alerta del ENSO: VIGILANCIA DE LA NIÑAEstablecer cobertura/protección de suelos para evitar o reducir erosión por escorrentía, principalmente durante los meses de septiembre y octubre. Desarrollar procesos adecuados de desinfección del suelo.Almacenar agua en obras de captación, retenciones, cosechadoras de agua. Aparatos hidráulicos, para aprovechar el agua de escorrentía de las quebradas y fuentes de agua. Implementar el reciclaje de agua a través de posos recicladores. Construcción de bomba de agua Manual o Casero, llamada Bomba Flexi, ver el siguiente video para su construcción: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-iqY8IODZMTratamiento de las semillas. Se recomienda hacer selección/preparación de las semillas y preparar adecuadamente la tierra eliminando las malezasEvitar la siembra de cultivos en zonas propensas a inundaciones o deslices. Donde sea factible establecer drenajes para evitar encharcamiento. Implementar acequiasAnte las condiciones de alta humedad pronosticadas, vigilancia y control de pudriciones radiculares en frijol y el complejo de mancha de asfalto en maíz.Incrementar la vigilancia epidemiológica fitosanitaria para el monitoreo de plagas por la alta humedad. Particularmente para plagas de lepidópteros. Evitar el exceso de fertilizantes nitrogenadosEl viento puede provocar acame (doblez o inclinación del tallo) en maíz, frijol y otros granos básicos. Barreras vivas como se recomienda en zonas expuestas a vientos fuertes que se repiten cíclicamente.Respecto al manejo postcosecha, incorporar medidas e infraestructura que beneficien el secado y calidad de granos.La pandemia de coronavirus durante los últimos meses ha generado impactos en la producción de alimentos, debido al acceso al mercado y el empleo rural. Por lo que se recomienda a los actores de las cadenas agroalimentarias tomar en cuenta las siguientes medidas de bioseguridad:Uso adecuado y constante de la mascarilla tanto en la producción y distribución de sus rubros productivos.Lavado de manos con abundante agua y jabón y si no tiene acceso utilice alcohol clínico al 70%.Mantener la distancia de 1.50 a 2.00 metros de personas que lo visitan o usted visita y en la calle.Gestionar y/o buscar la vacuna con las autoridades sanitarias.Si ya está vacunado, por favor continúe con las mismas medidas de bioseguridad.Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas:Utilizar las variedades mejoradas como: Sorgo Sureño, Sureño 2 BMR, DICTA 10 y DICTA 29, también se pueden utilizar variedades criollas que presentan buena adaptación, rendimientos y tolerancia a plagas y enfermedades como el sorgo \"tortillero\".Preparación del en laderas realizar prácticas de conservación de suelos para evitar la erosión y siembras a contra pendiente.Realizar obras físicas para mantener un buen drenaje dentro de la parcela.Antes de la siembra, realizar limpieza de parcela principalmente de malezas hospederas y rastrojos contaminados con enfermedades o plagas.Realizar la siembra con un distanciamiento entre surcos a 70 cm y entre planta a 10 cm.Realizar la fertilización con productos orgánicos y de ser necesario el uso de productos químicos preferiblemente que sean de baja toxicidad.Almacenar el grano cosechado en un lugar limpio libre de plagas o enfermedades.Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas: Para el Ganado: Los cruces de Pardo x Brahman y considerar los cruces de Guir lechero x Holstein como alternativa para ganado lechero y doble propósito Diseñar un plan sanitario de reproducción y engorde por finca con el acompañamiento de técnicos de SAG. Implementar Sistema Silvopastoril con la siembra de árboles como la Leucaena, Cratylia, Madreado, puede ser para cercas vivas, mejora la temperatura del ganado.Sembrar pastos mejorados adaptados a la región, y pastos Brisanta, Alicia y Victoria, hacer bancos forrajeros, se puede utilizar el rastrojo de la caña, sales y suplementos alimenticos de alto valor nutricional.Realizar ensilajes para almacenar alimentos para la temporada seca.Hacer las fumigaciones correspondientes para el control de plagas y enfermedades.Cultivar en callejones con barreras de contorno que servirán como beneficio alimenticio y nutricional para el ganado. Comayagua: precipitación similar al promedio en todos los municipios del departamento de Comayagua. Se presentarán condiciones de lluvia entre los 121 mm a los 450 mm en la mayoría de municipios del departamento.La Paz: precipitación similar al promedio en todos los municipios del departamento. Se presentarán condiciones de lluvia entre los 201 mm a los 350 mm en la mayoría de municipios del departamento.Comayagua: precipitación superior al promedio en todos los municipios del departamento de Comayagua. Se presentarán condiciones de lluvia entre los 161 mm a los 400 mm en la mayoría de municipios del departamento.La Paz: Se presentarán condiciones de lluvia entre los 201 mm a los 400 mm en la mayoría de municipios del departamento.Comayagua: valores de precipitación superiores al promedio en todos los municipios del departamento. Se presentarán condiciones de lluvia entre los 131 mm a los 350 mm en la mayoría de municipios del departamento.La Paz: Se presentarán condiciones de lluvia entre los 131 mm a los 350 mm en la mayoría de municipios del departamento.Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas:Sembrar variedades de frijol resistentes a la humedad y variedades precoces como el Cuarenteño y variedades mejoradas como Honduras nutritivo, Amadeus, DeHoro, además de variedades criollas adaptadas a la zona como frijol Vaina Morada.Sembrar variedades de maíz de mediana y baja altura para evitar el acame como: Dicta Sequía. Sembrar en bordas, terrazas o camas levantadas para evitar el encharcamiento de la planta, promoviendo un mejor desarrollo radicular y conservar la humedad necesaria en el suelo.Implementar barreras vivas y muertas para control de viento y retención del suelo.Incorporación de rastrojos para evitar erosión del suelo, y aumentar la retención de humedad.Distanciamiento de siembra de 15 a 20 cm a 1 semilla por postura.Mantener limpia la parcela, eliminando malezas días antes de la siembra para evitar hospederos de plagas y enfermedades. Monitoreo permanente del cultivo para prevenir plagas y enfermedades y uso preventivo de MM.Utilizar biofertilizantes como Madrifol y aplicación de pulpa de café incorporada al suelo.Cosechar oportunamente en galeras o con secadores solares cuidando la correcta humedad del grano (13-14%). Implementación de secadores solares para brindarle la humedad correcta al grano.Al almacenar el grano cosechado se recomienda hacerlo en bolsas postcosecha y silos limpios, libres de plagas utilizando el cerrado hermético con ayuda de una candelita: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD06dBpfT1M.Sembrar semillas criollas adaptadas a la zona y variedades mejoradas e híbridos. Preparación de suelos realizando obras de conservación de suelos, incorporando abonos naturales materia orgánica como: cascara de café, estiércol de ganado, casulla de arroz y gallinaza, para mejorar la composición y calidad del suelo. Sembrar en terrazas en zonas de ladera y sembrar barreras vivas y muertas.Preparar muy bien el terreno, antes de la siembra. Realizar rondas de limpieza contin��as eliminando malezas que sean hospederas de plagas y/o enfermedades.Realizar obras de drenaje para evitar encharcamientos e inundaciones en el cultivo. Levantar camas para evitar encharcamientos o producir en huertos techados con plásticos UV de preferencia. Manejo integrado de plagas y enfermedades a través de un monitoreo constante. Para el tratamiento de Mosca blanca y Gusano \"Rosquilla negra\" se recomienda su tratamiento con productos orgánicos como Sulfocalcico o con extractos a base de chiles, de ser necesario aplicar productos químicos. Para el tratamiento de hongos entomopatógenos se recomienda controlar con productos químicos según la severidad del caso, de preferencia utilizar etiqueta verde. Realizar la fertilización con productos orgánicos y de ser necesario el uso de productos químicos que sean de baja toxicidad.Aplicar cal al suelo para prevenir plagas y enfermedades. Para prevención del virus del mosaico y roya, aplicar Sulfocalcico o caldo Bordelés, para Mal de talluelo prevenir con aplicaciones de productos a base de ajo, chile, ruda y plantas aromáticas.Cosechar con un índice adecuado de humedad.Estatus del Sistema de Alerta del ENSO: VIGILANCIA DE LA NIÑAEstablecer cobertura/protección de suelos para evitar o reducir erosión por escorrentía, principalmente durante los meses de septiembre y octubre. Desarrollar procesos adecuados de desinfección del suelo.Almacenar agua en obras de captación, retenciones, cosechadoras de agua. Aparatos hidráulicos, para aprovechar el agua de escorrentía de las quebradas y fuentes de agua. Implementar el reciclaje de agua a través de posos recicladores. Construcción de bomba de agua manual o casero, llamada Bomba Flexi, ver el siguiente video para su construcción: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-iqY8IODZMTratamiento de las semillas. Se recomienda hacer selección/preparación de las semillas y preparar adecuadamente la tierra eliminando las malezasEvitar la siembra de cultivos en zonas propensas a inundaciones o deslices. Donde sea factible establecer drenajes para evitar encharcamiento. Implementar acequias y canales de drenaje.Ante las condiciones de alta humedad pronosticadas, vigilancia y control de pudriciones radiculares en frijol y el complejo de mancha de asfalto en maíz.Incrementar la vigilancia epidemiológica fitosanitaria para el monitoreo de plagas por la alta humedad. Particularmente para plagas de lepidópteros. Evitar el exceso de fertilizantes nitrogenadosEl viento puede provocar acame (doblez o inclinación del tallo) en maíz, frijol y otros granos básicos. Barreras vivas como se recomienda en zonas expuestas a vientos fuertes que se repiten cíclicamente.Respecto al manejo postcosecha, incorporar medidas e infraestructura que beneficien el secado y calidad de granos.La pandemia de coronavirus durante los últimos meses ha generado impactos en la producción de alimentos, debido al acceso al mercado y el empleo rural. Por lo que se recomienda a los actores de las cadenas agroalimentarias tomar en cuenta las siguientes medidas de bioseguridad: Uso adecuado y constante de la mascarilla tanto en la producción y distribución de sus rubros productivos. Lavado de manos con abundante agua y jabón y si no tiene acceso utilice alcohol clínico al 70%. Mantener la distancia de 1.50 a 2.00 metros de personas que lo visitan o usted visita y en la calle. Gestionar y/o buscar la vacuna con las autoridades sanitarias. Si ya está vacunado continúe las mismas medidas de bioseguridad.Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas:Variedades para hacer cambio de plantación en finca, se recomienda Parainema y para zonas altas Colombiano Amarillo, por su resistencia a la roya y calidad aromática.En laderas, realizar prácticas de conservación de suelos para evitar deslizamientos, incorporar barreras vivas y muertas.No utilizar insecticidas para conservar la calidad de la producción y calidades organolépticas del café.Realizar obras físicas para mantener un buen drenaje dentro de la parcela.Mantener una buena regulación de la sombra dentro de la finca cafetalera. Para el tratamiento de la Roya utilizar caldo Bordelés.Para control de Broca, se recomienda aplicación de sustancias para proteger el grano utilizando hongos entomopatógenos como Beauveria bassiana.Utilizar aguas mieles como fertilizantes foliares.Darle tiempo adecuado a la fermentación del grano.El secado del grano, hacerlo en secadores solares para un mejor control de humedad.Realizar un correcto tostado del grano para conservar calidad del café.Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas: Para el Ganado: Para las zonas bajas utilizar una genética resistente como el ganado cebú. Implementar Sistema Silvopastoril con la siembra de árboles como la Leucaena, Cratylia, Madreado, puede ser para cercas vivas o para mejorar la temperatura del ganado. Establecer pequeños reservorios de agua, o embalses de agua, e implementar reutilización de aguas grises para riego de pequeñas parcelas.Sembrar pastos mejorados adaptados a la región, y pastos Brizantha, Alicia y Victoria, hacer bancos forrajeros, se puede utilizar el rastrojo de la caña, sales y suplementos alimenticos de alto valor nutricional.Realizar ensilajes para almacenar alimentos para la temporada seca.Hacer las fumigaciones correspondientes para el control de plagas y enfermedades.Cultivar en callejones con barreras de contorno que servirán como beneficio alimenticio y nutricional para el ganado. Se recomienda realizar las siguientes practicas: Variedades/Semillas: Recomendamos utilizar variedades criollas adaptadas a la región, o variedades, como DEORHO, AMADEUS y Paraisito Mejorado.En laderas hacer barreras vivas muertas y con curvas a nivel. Incorpación de rastrojos para mantener humedad. Elaborar acequias en las zonas planas que tienden a inundarse de agua.Debido a las condiciones esperadas de lluvia sembrar a una densidad adecuada.Para evitar enfermedades como la mustia hilachosa, se deben de hacer aplicaciones preventivas de fungicidas. En el caso de mancha angular y virus del mosaico Dorado, usar variedades mejoradas y rotar cultivos. Mantener una parcela limpia, libre de rastrojos y malezas para eliminar hospederos.Establecer fecha de cosecha que no sea lluviosa. Realizar un manejo Post cosecha adecuado del grano.Por la lluvia, no secar el grano en la parcela. Busque sitios secos que estén cerca de la parcela.Se recomienda realizar las siguientes practicas: Variedades/Semillas: Usar Semillas que se adapten a las condiciones climáticas y que presenten los mejores rendimientos, como DICTA Ladera y DICTA Sequía. Curar su semilla y sembrar de 6-7 semillas/mt y 30-40 cms entre surco. Se debe seleccionar variedades con buena cobertura de la mazorca, para evitar enfermedades como pudrición de la mazorca.Elaborar acequias en las zonas planas que tienden a inundarse.Para la mancha de asfalto mantener un cultivo limpio y aplicar productos a base de cobre. Proveer al cultivo una buena fertilización 18-46-0 a la siembra, a los 20 días urea y a los 40 días la segunda Realizar constante monitoreo de plagas como gallina ciega y gusano cogollero. Cosechar a 14% de humedad y almacenar en estructuras secas y herméticas, para que el grano esté libre de plagas. Se recomienda cosechar el maíz de primera mas temprano de lo habitual para evitar la temporada más lluviosa que puede afectar la calidad del grano.Estatus del Sistema de Alerta del ENSO: VIGILANCIA DE LA NIÑAEstablecer cobertura/protección de suelos para evitar o reducir erosión por escorrentía, principalmente durante los meses de septiembre y octubre. Desarrollar procesos adecuados de desinfección del suelo.Tratamiento de las semillas. Se recomienda hacer selección/preparación de las semillas y preparar adecuadamente la tierra eliminando las malezasEvitar la siembra de cultivos en zonas propensas a inundaciones o deslices. Donde sea factible establecer drenajes para evitar encharcamiento. Implementar acequiasAnte las condiciones de alta humedad pronosticadas, vigilancia y control de pudriciones radiculares en frijol y el complejo de mancha de asfalto en maíz.Incrementar la vigilancia epidemiológica fitosanitaria para el monitoreo de plagas por la alta humedad. Particularmente para plagas de lepidópteros. Evitar el exceso de fertilizantes nitrogenadosEl viento puede provocar acame (doblez o inclinación del tallo) en maíz, frijol y otros granos básicos. Barreras vivas como se recomienda en zonas expuestas a vientos fuertes que se repiten cíclicamente.Respecto al manejo postcosecha, incorporar medidas e infraestructura que beneficien el secado y calidad de granos.La pandemia de Coronavirus durante los últimos meses ha generado impactos en la producción de alimentos, debido al acceso al mercado y el empleo rural. Por lo que se recomienda a los actores de las cadenas agroalimentarias tomar en cuenta las siguientes medidas de bioseguridad:Uso adecuado y constante de la mascarilla, tanto en la producción y distribución de sus rubros productivos.Lavado de manos con abundante agua y jabón y si no tiene acceso utilice alcohol clínico al 70%.Mantener la distancia de 1.50 a 2.00 metros de personas que lo visitan o usted visita y en la calle.Gestionar y/o buscar la vacuna con las autoridades sanitarias.Si ya está vacunado continúe las mismas medidas de bioseguridad.Se recomienda realizar las siguientes practicas:Utilizar las variedades mejoradas como: Sorgo Sureño, Sureño 2 BMR, DICTA 10 y DICTA 29, también se pueden utilizar variedades criollas que presentan buena adaptación, rendimientos y tolerancia a plagas y enfermedades como el sorgo \"tortillero\".Antes de la siembra, realizar limpieza de parcela principalmente de malezas hospederas y rastrojos contaminados con enfermedades o plagas.Realizar la siembra con un distanciamiento entre surcos a 70 cm y entre planta a 10 cm.Realizar la fertilización con productos orgánicos y de ser necesario el uso de productos químicos preferiblemente que sean de baja toxicidad.Almacenar el grano cosechado en un lugar limpio libre de plagas o enfermedades. Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas:Zona alta, sembrar en postrera tardía a partir de finales noviembre con variedades como Amadeus, carrizalito, Zona media alta y baja: variedad campechano variedad de fitomejoramiento participativo, variedad NC, Amadeus, Honduras nutritiva. Materiales criollos adaptados a la zona.Realizar un adecuado manejo de coberturas para evitar la erosión del suelo, así como el establecimiento de barreras vivas en las parcelas, tomando en cuenta la pendiente de los terrenos. Aplicación de abonos orgánicos como Bocashi, Micro organismo de montaña sólidos y líquidos, cal.Restablecer reservorios de agua que permitan su almacenamiento como la implementación del diseño Key line. Según CENAOS-COPECO para el departamento de Intibucá en los meses de agosto-octubre 2021 el pronóstico de anomalía de precipitación acumulada presentara el comportamiento expresado, según los siguientes meses:Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas: Ya que las condiciones son de mucha lluvia, se recomienda sembrar entre el 10 al 25 de agosto. Maíz de porte bajo, principalmente en zonas de valles para evitar los vientos; como Guayape, Tuxpeño, Victoria, DICTA Maya y Sequia. (Dicta Maya y Sequía son muy buenos ya probados tiene cobertura de mazorca y es de porte bajo se evita el acame.) En Zona alta: Criollo \"Maizón\": de porte bajo, se dobla en cualquier época y no se pudre. Se deben aprovechar los rastrojos para incorporar materia orgánica, protección de la erosión y mejorar las capacidades de retención de agua. Además, evitar las quemas para no erosionar el suelo. Se recomienda, utilizar sistemas de riego por goteo, desarrollo de sistemas de humedales para reutilización del agua, captación de aguas lluvias para su almacenamiento en el verano.Preferiblemente, No utilizar los agroquímicos de etiqueta roja.Realizar un control riguroso de hongos. Para evitar la mancha de asfalto tener limpia las fincas y combatir con fungicidas a base de cobre. Adecuado almacenamiento, prácticas de conservación de productosEstablecer cobertura/protección de suelos para evitar o reducir erosión por escorrentía, principalmente durante los meses de septiembre y octubre. Desarrollar procesos adecuados de desinfección del suelo.Almacenar agua en obras de captación, retenciones, cosechadoras de agua. Aparatos hidráulicos, para aprovechar el agua de escorrentía de las quebradas y fuentes de agua. Implementar el reciclaje de agua a través de posos recicladores. Construcción de bomba de agua manual o casero, llamada Bomba Flexi, ver el siguiente video para su construcción: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-iqY8IODZMTratamiento de las semillas. Se recomienda hacer selección/preparación de las semillas y preparar adecuadamente la tierra eliminando las malezas Evitar inundaciones Evitar la siembra de cultivos en zonas propensas a inundaciones o deslices. Donde sea factible establecer drenajes para evitar encharcamiento. Implementar acequiasAnte las condiciones de alta humedad pronosticadas, vigilancia y control de pudriciones radiculares en frijol y el complejo de mancha de asfalto en maíz.Incrementar la vigilancia epidemiológica fitosanitaria para el monitoreo de plagas por la alta humedad. Particularmente para plagas de lepidópteros. Evitar el exceso de fertilizantes nitrogenados. Uso de adherentes en las aplicaciones para asegurar la efectividad del producto. Regulación del pH del agua para realizar la aplicación.El viento puede provocar acame (doblez o inclinación del tallo) en maíz, frijol y otros granos básicos. Barreras vivas como se recomienda en zonas expuestas a vientos fuertes que se repiten cíclicamente.Respecto al manejo postcosecha, incorporar medidas e infraestructura que beneficien el secado y calidad de granos.La pandemia de coronavirus durante los últimos meses ha generado impactos en la producción de alimentos, debido al acceso al mercado y el empleo rural. Por lo que se recomienda a los actores de las cadenas agroalimentarias tomar en cuenta las siguientes medidas de bioseguridad: Uso adecuado y constante de la mascarilla tanto en la producción y distribución de sus rubros productivos. Lavado de manos con abundante agua y jabón y si no tiene acceso utilice alcohol clínico al 70%.Mantener la distancia de 1.50 a 2.00 metros de personas que lo visitan o usted visita y también en la calle.Gestionar y/o buscar la vacuna con las autoridades sanitarias de su localidad.Si ya está vacunado, por favor continúe con las mismas medidas de bioseguridad.Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas:Utilización de las variedades como ser Soprano, replica de Bellini, Daysi, Faluca, Barcelona, Arnova, y variedades de producción nacionales como DICTA. Sembrar en suelos con una pendiente mayor a 0, 1 ó 2 grados, para evitar problemas de encharcamiento. Realizar prácticas para evitar la erosión como las barreras vivas/muertas, siembra a curvas de nivel, incorporación de rastrojos, aplicaciones de enmiendas como ser cal, llevar historial de suelos que no tengan enfermedades de bacterias.Hacer drenajes en suelos planos e implementación de siembra en camas. Seguir el paquete tecnológico de fungicidas e insecticidas para el control de hongos, distanciamiento de siembra más separado entre surco y entre planta para evitar la proliferación de Hongos. Control de hongos como mildiu, control de minadores, control de gusanos del suelo utilizando insecticidas como ser: CPS órgano fosforados, utilización de productos de cinta verde que son productos de baja toxicidad, Utilizar trampas biológicas de plástico color amarillo y rojo, y al aplicar pesticidas uso de adherentes. Control de humedad, ciclo de cosecha correspondiente, en la bodega utilizar tarimas. Selección de Papa de libres de daños mecánicos papas verdes, papas podridas.FRESA Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas: Puede Utilizar variedades criollas adaptadas a la zona, o variedades como la San Andreas y Albión. Se recomienda sembrar el cultivo en camellones, de preferencia bajo sistema de riego por goteo. Las plantas se deben sembrar a una distancia de 40 cm entre surco y 30 cm entre plantas para evitar problemas de hongos. Para la fertilización hacer previo un análisis de suelos, por si necesita hacer enmiendas. De preferencia el 50% con uso de productos orgánicos o con productos de baja residualidad.Realizar un manejo integrado de plagas y enfermedades.Hacer rotación de productos químicos, sobre todo paralas enfermedades causadas por hongos como la alternaría y Pestalotia.Hacer control preventivo de plagas como ácaros (arañita roja) usando productos acaricidas a base de abamectina. Al cosechar, se debe hacer uso de cajas de foam y de bandejas plásticas para no dañar el fruto. Se debe contar con áreas techadas y de preferencia la parcela debe estar cerca de carreteras para evitar daños por transporte. Además, se debe tenerse acceso a refrigeración para evitar daños y alargar la vida del producto.Para la zona alta variedad Hass y para la zona baja Choquete y variedad Antillana. Puede aplicar materia orgánica como gallinaza. Los agujeros deben ser profundos, con buen drenaje para evitar encharcamiento.Realizar manejo integrado del cultivo, manteniéndolo libre de malezas, además de monitoreo de plagas y enfermedades. Al momento de la cosecha, evitar daños mecánicos en el fruto. Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas:Aprovechar canícula para labores de cosecha, si esta ubicado en la cordillera nombre de dios donde hay presencia de lluvias en agosto, cubrir la cosecha en campo, colgar el frijol para acelerar el secado. Monitorear la madurez fisiológica y proceder a cosecha a un % menor al 17.No dejar grano en campo, llevarlo bajo techo una vez desgranado.Establecer cultivos en menor área para época de postrera, sembrar en septiembre, en laderas, no quemar, incorporar rastrojos para evitar pérdidas de suelos, usar curvas a nivel.Hacer un control preventivo con fungicidas e insecticidas y hacer uso de fertilización foliar, mantener constante vigilancia de las enfermedades.Elaborar toda practica agronomía antes de los 30 dds, antes de floración.Se favorecen condiciones de ENSO-neutral para el restante del verano (~60% de probabilidad hasta septiembre), con La Niña surgiendo posiblemente durante la temporada de agosto-octubre y durando hasta invierno 2021-22 (~70% de probabilidad durante noviembre-enero).Según CENAOS-COPECO para el Valle de Lean en los meses de agosto-octubre 2021 el pronóstico de anomalía de precipitación acumulada presentara el comportamiento expresado, según los siguientes meses:Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas:Acelerar labores de cosecha, concentrándolas en los meses de agosto y septiembre.Hacer pruebas de humedad y proceder a cosechas si se tiene de menor a 18%. Si la siembra se realizó en el mes de junio es recomendable proceder a doblar para evitar daños por excesos de humedad. Cubrir la cosecha en campo o trasladarla bajo techo. Asegure una humedad menor del 14% si el grano va ser almacenado aprovechando los días soleados aun presentes en el mes de septiembre principalmente en la zona costera. Si está en la zona baja de preferencia no establecer el cultivo de maíz en los meses de setiembre y octubre, sustituir el rubro por el cultivo de arroz para el ciclo de postrera. Si está en ladera, no quemar, usar el rastrojo para conservación de suelos, sembrar con curvas a nivel, usar variedades de tamaño mediano para evitar acames www.upeg.sag.gob.hnSe recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas: Para el Ganado: Se recomiendan los cruces de Pardo x Brahman y considerar los cruces de Gyr lechero x Holstein, como alternativa para ganado lechero y doble propósito. Diseñar un plan sanitario de reproducción y engorde por finca, con el acompañamiento de técnicos de SAG. Implementar Sistema Silvopastoril con la siembra de árboles como la Leucaena, Cratylia, Madreado, puede ser para cercas vivas o para mejorar la temperatura del ganado.Sembrar pastos mejorados adaptados a la región, y pastos Brizantha, Alicia y Victoria, hacer bancos forrajeros, se puede utilizar el rastrojo de la caña, sales y suplementos alimenticos de alto valor nutricional.Realizar ensilajes para almacenar alimentos para la temporada seca.Hacer las fumigaciones correspondientes para el control de plagas y enfermedades.Cultivar en callejones con barreras de contorno que servirán como beneficio alimenticio y nutricional para el ganado. Valores de precipitación, superiores al promedio en todos los municipios del departamento de Olancho. Se presentarán condiciones de lluvia entre los 121 mm a los 250mm en la mayoría de municipios del departamento, con probabilidad de aumento en las precipitaciones.Según mapa se precian valores de precipitación, superiores al promedio en todos los municipios del departamento de Intibucá. Se presentarán condiciones de lluvia entre los 161 mm a los 350mm en la mayoría de municipios del departamento, con probabilidad de aumento en las precipitaciones. Hacer drenajes en las parcelas. Realizar arreglos de siembra, zonas altas sembrar 2 a 3 granos, con distanciamiento de 15 y 18 pulgadas entre postura y postura, zona baja entre 60 a 65 cm. Realizar un adecuado manejo integrado del cultivo durante todo su ciclo de producción, controlando plagas como áfidos, babosas mosaico dorado, lorito verde y enfermedades como la mancha angular y roya.Realizar un adecuado manejo de coberturas para evitar la erosión del suelo, así como el establecimiento de barreras vivas en las parcelas, tomando en cuenta la pendiente de los terrenos. Aplicación de abonos orgánicos como Bocashi, Micro organismo de montaña sólidos y líquidos, cal.Restablecer reservorios de agua que permitan su almacenamiento de la misma.Para evitar enfermedades como la mustia hilachosa, se deben de hacer aplicaciones preventivas de fungicidas, y en el caso de mancha angular y virus del mosaico Dorado, usar variedades mejoradas, y rotar cultivos.Realizar un manejo Post cosecha adecuado del grano. Por la lluvia, no secar el grano en la parcela.Se favorecen condiciones de ENSO-neutral para el restante del verano (~60% de probabilidad hasta septiembre), con La Niña surgiendo posiblemente durante la temporada de agosto-octubre y durando hasta invierno 2021-22 (~70% de probabilidad durante noviembre-enero).Según CENAOS-COPECO para el departamento de Olancho en los meses de agosto-octubre 2021 el pronóstico de anomalía de precipitación acumulada presentara el comportamiento expresado, según los siguientes meses:Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas: Utilizar preferiblemente su semilla criolla adaptada al territorio, también variedades mejoradas como DICTA maya, DICTA ladera, Guayape (Ensilaje), Victoria (Maíz amarillo). Se deben aprovechar los rastrojos para incorporar materia orgánica, protección de la erosión y mejorar las capacidades de retención de agua. Además, evitar las quemas para no erosionar el suelo. Sembrar cuando el suelo presente humedad en los primeros 20 cm de profundidad. Realizar conservación de suelos incorporando barreras vivas y muertas y microorganismos para el mejoramiento del suelo. No quemar, ni deforestar y realizar incorporación de rastrojos, preferiblemente hacer camas para evitar encharcamiento y/o pérdidas de los cultivos.Realizar un adecuado distanciamiento de siembra recomendado para el cultivo.Realizar una buena fertilización ya sea con productos químicos u orgánicos, preferiblemente, No utilizar los agroquímicos de etiqueta roja. Para evitar plagas como cogollero y enfermedades como la mancha de asfalto realizar un adecuado manejo integrado del cultivo durante todo su ciclo de producción. Evitar hojas en el suelo, para prevenir enfermedades de origen fungoso.El secado del grano para su cosecha y almacenamiento debe de ser a un 14% de humedad.Establecer cobertura/protección de suelos para evitar o reducir erosión por escorrentía, principalmente durante los meses de septiembre y octubre. Desarrollar procesos adecuados de desinfección del suelo.Almacenar agua en obras de captación, retenciones, cosechadoras de agua. Aparatos hidráulicos, para aprovechar el agua de escorrentía de las quebradas y fuentes de agua. Implementar el reciclaje de agua a través de posos recicladores. Construcción de bomba de agua manual o casero, llamada Bomba Flexi, ver el siguiente video para su construcción: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-iqY8IODZM Manejo de semillas:Tratamiento de las semillas. Se recomienda hacer selección/preparación de las semillas y preparar adecuadamente la tierra eliminando las malezasEvitar la siembra de cultivos en zonas propensas a inundaciones o deslices. Donde sea factible establecer drenajes para evitar encharcamiento. Implementar acequiasAnte las condiciones de alta humedad pronosticadas, vigilancia y control de pudriciones radiculares en frijol y el complejo de mancha de asfalto en maíz.Incrementar la vigilancia epidemiológica fitosanitaria para el monitoreo de plagas por la alta humedad. Particularmente para plagas de lepidópteros. Evitar el exceso de fertilizantes nitrogenados. Uso de adherentes en las aplicaciones para asegurar la efectividad del producto. Regulación del pH del agua para realizar la aplicación.El viento puede provocar acame (doblez o inclinación del tallo) en maíz, frijol y otros granos básicos. Barreras vivas como se recomienda en zonas expuestas a vientos fuertes que se repiten cíclicamente.Respecto al manejo postcosecha, incorporar medidas e infraestructura que beneficien el secado y calidad de granos.La pandemia de coronavirus durante los últimos meses ha generado impactos en la producción de alimentos, debido al acceso al mercado y el empleo rural. Por lo que se recomienda a los actores de las cadenas agroalimentarias tomar en cuenta las siguientes medidas de bioseguridad: Uso adecuado y constante de la mascarilla tanto en la producción y distribución de sus rubros productivos. Lavado de manos con abundante agua y jabón y si no tiene acceso utilice alcohol clínico al 70%.Mantener la distancia de 1.50 a 2.00 metros de personas que lo visitan o usted visita y también en la calle.Gestionar y/o buscar la vacuna con las autoridades sanitarias de su localidad.Si ya está vacunado, por favor continúe con las mismas medidas de bioseguridad.Para ganadería se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas:Vacunación, desparasitación para control de garrapata vitaminado del Ganado.Establecer bancos forrajeros, mediante la siembra de árboles como leguminosas.Diseñar un plan sanitario de reproducción y engorde por finca con el acompañamiento de técnicos de SAG.En finca: Establecimientos o mejoramiento de Sistemas Silvopastoriles o Agrosilvopastoriles, con siembra de árboles como, Leucaena, Cratylia y Madreado para cerca viva.No exponer el suelo a la compactación y brindar tiempo para realizar prácticas de chapias. Para pastos se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas:Siembra de pastos mejorados, realizando buena fertilización con abonos orgánicos. Renovación de potreros utilizando variedades importadas como: Brizanthas, Brachiarias Decumbens, Mombasa y Pasto Mulato.Establecer sistemas de ensilajes con siembra de maíz QPM, maicillo sureño y caña agregando sales y suplementos alimenticios de alto valor nutricional empleando dosificaciones adecuadas en la alimentación.Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas:Seleccionar semillas de ciclo corto, de preferencia variedades criollas adaptadas al territorio.Se sugiere sembrar en ladera, contra la pendiente a una distancia de 20 centímetros entre cada planta y 1 metro entre surco Utilizando 3 semillas por postura. Antes de la siembra, realizar limpieza de parcela principalmente de malezas hospederas y rastrojos contaminados con enfermedades o plagas. Realizar la fertilización con productos orgánicos y de ser necesario el uso de productos químicos preferiblemente que sean de baja toxicidad.Almacenar el grano cosechado en un lugar limpio libre de plagas o enfermedades. Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas:Utilizar preferiblemente las variedades de frijol de ciclo corto: DEORHO, AMADEUS, Carrizalito y Paraisito Mejorado, asimismo, puede utilizar variedades criollas adaptadas a cada región.Hacer drenajes en las parcelas, y levantar camas para evitar el encharcamiento de agua Realizar arreglos de siembra, zonas altas sembrar 2 a 3 granos, con distanciamiento de 15 y 18 pulgadas entre postura y postura, zona baja entre 60 a 65 cm.Aplicación de abonos orgánicos como Bocashi, micro organismo de montaña sólidos y líquidos, cal.Realizar un adecuado manejo integrado del cultivo durante todo su ciclo de producción, controlando plagas como áfidos, babosas mosaico dorado, lorito verde y enfermedades como la mancha angular y roya. Realizar aplicaciones preventivas de fungicidas.Realizar un manejo Post cosecha adecuado del grano. Por la lluvia, no secar el grano en la parcela. Se recomienda cosechar y almacenar el grano con el porcentaje óptimo de secado para prevenir perdidas de almacenamiento.Usar estructuras herméticas para el almacenamiento como silos y barriles.Almacenar el grano con el porcentaje óptimo de secado (13-14%).Se favorecen condiciones de ENSO-neutral para el restante del verano (~60% de probabilidad hasta septiembre), con La Niña surgiendo posiblemente durante la temporada de agosto-octubre y durando hasta invierno 2021-22 (~70% de probabilidad durante noviembre-enero).Según CENAOS-COPECO para el departamento de Santa Bárbara en los meses de agosto-octubre 2021 el pronóstico de anomalía de precipitación acumulada presentara el comportamiento expresado, según los siguientes meses:Se recomienda realizar las siguientes prácticas:Usar semillas mejoradas, en zonas de laderas, sembrar DICTA Ladera y DICTA Sequía y GUAYAPE y VICTORIA (Maíz amarillo).Utilizar distanciamiento de 25-30 cm entre planta y 70 cm entre surco y reducir la densidad de siembra a 50,000 plantas/Ha.Al momento de la siembra realizar fertilización y el tratamiento adecuado a la semilla contra plagas del suelo.Monitoreo constante de plagas y enfermedades.Rondas de limpieza, chapia y eliminación manual de maleza, fomentar la incorporación de materia orgánica y abonos naturales al suelo que mejoren la retención de humedad;Preferiblemente realizar la fertilización con productos orgánicos y de ser necesario químicos con baja toxicidad;Para la cosecha y post cosecha tratamiento de secado al grano hasta dejarlo a 14% de humedad, curar adecuadamente los granos y almacenarlos en un lugar libre de humedad que permita la inocuidad y adecuadas condiciones transporte."}

main/part_2/0302118981.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a29d2d56c04f3301e49abab1fa82436c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a3aae279-0168-4a8c-b52a-eb67403366c7/retrieve","id":"1602659357"},"keywords":["• P568 -Activity 4","1","2: Develop, disseminate and apply a conceptual framework to evaluate environmental sustainability OICR: Outcome Impact Case Report"],"sieverID":"e234115c-313b-4fb8-8a2e-6eebee0eab21","content":"Adoption of ex-ante tool to assess environmental impacts of livestock value chains has led to positive changes in knowledge and attitudes about the environmental footprint of livestock production in data-scarce regionsThe expected increase in demand for livestock products due to population growth and shifting dietary patterns has posed a threat to the sustainability of livestock production. Through initial funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CLEANED (Comprehensive Livestock Environmental Assessment for improved Nutrition, a secured Environment and sustainable Development along livestock value chains) was developed by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, ILRI and partners as part of a pilot project assessing environmental impacts of livestock production systems. This multidimensional tool calculates the environmental impact in terms of land requirements, productivity, economics, soil impacts (e.g. erosion, Nitrogen balance), greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe) and water impacts. The rapid results from the tool provide qualitative evidence for decision-making and planning purposes. CLEANED empowers end users to better design sustainable livestock systems by helping to identify the environmental impacts and trade-offs of proposed practices or development interventions. Consistent assessments of current and future environmental impacts of livestock value chains (VC) are necessary for effective livestock development.Over the past decade, the Alliance has provided the public with numerous opportunities to become familiar with CLEANED. Through trainings, workshops, and online resources, the Alliance has strived to introduce the tool to as many end users as possible. The goal was to guide livestock stakeholders in establishing production systems with reduced environmental footprint and increased ecosystem service contributions. The main expected outcomes of the tool are for environmental concerns to be considered when designing livestock development/investment programs and policies, and for government agencies and development partners at local and national levels to promote sustainable livestock development practices. A survey was administered to end users to evaluate the changes in attitude towards and knowledge of the environmental impact of livestock systems and VC. The survey also assessed the participants' skills and usage of the tool since being introduced. Results from the survey have proven that there has been a positive increase in the education and awareness of environmental impact, and the tool has encouraged policy making decisions for minimal environmental impact. Not only have the majority of participants enjoyed using CLEANED, but the tool has also been credited as being the catalyst for their increased interest in environmental impact issues. Adoption of the tool has also influenced policy enactments and investments towards improved technologies for more sustainable livestock production systems and VC throughout data-scarce environments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.• https://tinyurl.com/y4nmuafzPart II: CGIAR system level reporting The CLEANED (Comprehensive Livestock Environmental Assessment for Improved Nutrition, a Secured Environment and Sustainable Development along Livestock Value Chains) tool was developed to assess the environmental impact of livestock systems and value chains. This multidimensional, ex-ante tool evaluates land requirements, productivity, water use, soil health, economics and greenhouse gas emissions.• 2347 -CLEANED-X (Comprehensive Livestock Environmental Assessment for improved Nutrition, a secured Environment, and sustainable Development along livestock value chains) tool version 3 (https://tinyurl.com/2psafuv3)• 73 -CLEANED X Tools (https://tinyurl.com/2manghf7) • 241 -CLEANED-R (Comprehensive Livestock Environmental Assessment for Improved Nutrition, a Secured Environment and Sustainable Development along Livestock and Fish Value Chains) tool (https://tinyurl.com/2gucbk4h) Elaboration of Outcome/Impact Statement: CLEANED was designed as a decision-support tool for reducing the environmental impacts of livestock systems and value chains (LS&VC) in data scarce regions around the world. The rapid results generated by the ex-ante tool have inspired end users to consider environmental impacts when designing livestock development programs and policies, and encouraged government agencies and development partners at local and national levels to promote sustainable livestock development practices. A decade after its launch, CLEANED has been used in many projects and research assessments globally. End users in over 34 countries, representing approximately 81 different organizations, have used the multi-dimensional tool to understand the environmental impacts and trade-offs of proposed practices or development interventions. For example, in 2018, the NGO Send-A-Cow collaborated with CIAT to assess the land requirement for a dairy cow in western Kenya under different feeding regimes. Along with the desired calculations, CLEANED helped to visualize the importance of optimally managing land, finding solutions to limited labor availability, and making trade-offs with food production and limitations in milk marketing [1]. Assessments with the tool have also contributed to various projects whose goals aimed for a reduction of poverty and vulnerability among livestock dependent livelihoods in selected rural areas [2,3,5].Although the adoption rates of intervention scenarios are low in some cases, the outputs from the CLEANED assessments have been shown to act as a catalyst for the development of sustainable LS&VC and introduction of better technology [4]. The tool has also been proven to raise awareness of the environmental impacts of LS&VC. A survey was administered to end users to evaluate the changes in attitude towards and knowledge of environmental impact, and to gauge the skills and usage of the tool by participants since being introduced to it. Out of all participants that have used the tool, 84% received some sort of training, and almost 60% discovered CLEANED through the trainings and workshops provided by the Alliance. Furthermore, an overwhelming majority of users have had great experiences with the tool. Over 95% of participants agree that they have gained knowledge from using the tool and 86% agree that the tool has helped them make more environmentally conscious decisions. Not only has CLEANED aided users in recognizing the importance of environmental impact, but the tool has also been used to help guide policy decisions and initiate public and private sector investments [5]."}

main/part_2/0307375207.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"ad649011d0bcb694f58c6e0247cc4d08","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/f2ae5541-bc8a-4d43-80a0-3d35ac6854b4/content","id":"-1097881708"},"keywords":["maize","drought stress","heterosis","heterotic group","heterotic pattern","genetic distance"],"sieverID":"482c50fb-0b3b-48ac-8569-067d60fc6d47","content":"Understanding the heterosis in multiple environments between different heterotic groups is of fundamental importance in successful maize breeding. A total of 737 hybrids derived from 41 maize inbreds were evaluated over two years, with the aim of assessing the genetic diversity and their performance between heterotic groups under drought-stressed (DS) and well-watered (WW) treatments. A total of 38 737 SNPs were employed to assess the genetic diversity. The genetic distance (GD) between the parents ranged from 0.05 to 0.74, and the 41 inbreds were classified into five heterotic groups. According to the hybrid performance (high yield and early maturity between heterotic groups), the heterosis and heterotic patterns of Iowa Stiff Stalk Synthetic (BSSS)×Non-Stiff Stalk (NSS), NSS×Sipingtou (SPT) and BSSS×SPT were identified to be useful options in China's maize breeding. The relative importance of general and specific combining abilities (GCA and SCA) suggests the importance of the additive genetic effects for grain yield traits under the WW treatment, but the non-additive effects under the DS treatment. At least one of the parental lines with drought tolerance and a high GCA effect would be required to achieve the ideal hybrid performance under drought conditions. GD showed a positive correlation with yield and yield heterosis in within-group hybrids over a certain range of GD. The present investigation suggests that the heterosis is due to the combined accumulation of superior genes/alleles in parents and the optimal genetic distance between parents, and that yield heterosis under DS treatment was mainly determined by the non-additive effects.Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the oldest domesticated crop species in the world, and it is also an important feedstock and industrial raw material (Makumbi et al. 2018;Yang et al. 2021). As the demand for maize continues to increase, expanding its production is an urgent challenge. Since 2007, maize planting area and total grain output have ranked first in China (FAO 2019). Chinese maize germplasms have been introduced from different regions and countries, and breeding projects in China have always integrated local varieties and exotic germplasm to broaden the germplasm resources. However, there is no complete record of the entire selection process (Zhang et al. 2016(Zhang et al. , 2017)). Based on these considerations, an in-depth understanding of maize germplasm in China, including the genetic relationships and heterotic patterns, is very important (Choukan et al. 2006;Zhang et al. 2018), particularly through highthroughput SNP genotyping.Drought has always been one of the major stresses that affect plant growth and reduce crop production (Toker et al. 2007;Hu and Xiong 2014), and it is most recalcitrant to breeding. Even in the areas with sufficient rainfall for maize production, intermittent drought is almost certain to occur during one or more plant growth stages, especially during the most sensitive flowering and grain filling phase (Menkir and Akintunde 2001;Oyekunle et al. 2015). While drought limits the crop growth and ultimate performance at any stage, it can decrease grain yields by up to 17% and reduce the average yield by more than 90% when severe stress coincides with the flowering and grain-filling stages (NeSmith and Ritchie 1992). Located in the center of Eurasia, Xinjiang is a typical arid and semi-arid farming region in China, with an average annual precipitation of about 150 mm. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for breeding maize with enhanced tolerance to drought and improved yield in water-deficient environments.Generally, maize germplasm in China can be assigned to eight heterotic groups: Lancaster, Reid, Iowa Experiment Station Reid Yellow Dent (Iodent), Lvda Red Cob (LRC), Sipintou (SPT), group A germplasm derived from modern US hybrids (PA), group B germplasm derived from modern US hybrids (PB), and Tropical (Xie et al. 2007;Lu et al. 2009;Zhang et al. 2016Zhang et al. , 2018;;Xu et al. 2017). The Reid group primarily originated from the US southern dent type, while the Lancaster group originated from the US northern flint type. This difference in geographical origin laid the foundation for the heterosis observed between these two groups (Troyer and Palmer 2006). Aiming at early maturity and yield traits, Iodent was successfully selected from the openpollinated varieties of Reid Yellow Dent lines by ear-to-row selection (Smith et al. 2004). With the development of the commercial breeding process, the heterotic groups in US have undergone great changes. The Reid group was gradually replaced by the Iowa Stiff Stalk Synthetic (BSSS) germplasm, thus establishing a female parent bank with BSSS as the main germplasm. On the contrary, the other germplasm was merged into Non-Stiff Stalk (NSS) as a paternal group (Mikel et al. 2008(Mikel et al. , 2011)). The SPT group was bred from Tangshan Sipingtou Chinese landrace, which initiated a large-scale cultivation of compact maize in China. The PB group was derived from modern US hybrids, including 78599, 78641, 78698, and 87001, containing tropical and subtropical genetic germplasm, and has the advantages of good greenness, mature living culm, strong culm, resistance to leaf spot and stem rot, etc.The exploitation of heterotic patterns provides a vital source of information for hybrid breeding (Laude et al. 2015). Although the genetic gain of maize inbred lines is the primary focus, breeders often want to produce superior performance of hybrids when one line is crossed with another from a different group (Ertiro et al. 2017). However, this does not necessarily imply that all hybrids produced between parents of different heterotic groups would always obtain high yield or heterosis, but only parental crosses between certain specific groups actually do (Wang et al. 2015). As a result, maize heterosis models are difficult to predict and are not consistent with the test materials and evaluation environments, and thus their application is limited. Therefore, it is essential for breeders to understand the genetic relationship between groups, because it guides the direction of germplasm resource improvement and the choices for hybridization. When data on the hybrid performance of different heterotic groups become available (Zhao et al. 2015), we can identify the most promising heterotic pattern based on existing breeding information.Previous studies have mainly focused on the classification of heterotic groups of Chinese germplasm, with no attention given to the performance of the hybrids from different heterotic groups with contrasting responses to drought stress and non-stress conditions. Thus, the major objectives of this study were to: (i) analyze the combining ability and heterosis using 41 representative maize inbred lines and their hybrids across well-watered and drought-stressed conditions; (ii) determine the genetic relationships and heterotic patterns in a broad and diverse set of maize inbreds; and (iii) assess the relationships between hybrid performance, heterosis, and SNP-based genetic distance (GD) under distinct water treatments.A total of 41 maize inbred lines were selected from a diverse panel of 593 maize inbreds (Appendix A), representing temperate and tropical maize germplasm from the current breeding programs in different locations in China. These inbred lines show normal maturity in Shihezi, Xinjiang, China and their germplasm information was described in detail elsewhere (Wang et al. 2017;Yu et al. 2020). Among the 28 temperate lines, B73, Mo17, Dan340, Ye478, HZ4, and Qi319 have been used as common testers for six Chinese heterotic groups. The remaining nine Chinese temperate inbreds are key donors for developing both inbreds and hybrids across maize regions in China. The 23 tropical lines have been playing a very important role as the parents across worldwide breeding programs in China and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), three of which (Jiao51, Chuan29 female, and 18-599) are from China. The parents were selected based on three criteria: (1) representativeness of the original population structure of the subgroups, (2) possessing a maximum allelic variation and (3) their wide cultivation in temperate regions with normal fertility and maturity. The parents comprised 13 conventional inbred lines (C), nine droughttolerant lines (D) and 19 drought susceptible lines (S) (Appendix B) (Derera et al. 2008;Oyekunle et al. 2015). The conventional lines were selected for high general combining ability (GCA) for yield potential with GCA>6.5 in multi-environment trials (Shunyi, Beijing during 2013-2015and Shehizi during 2017-2018). Drought tolerant and susceptible lines were selected, respectively, with drought tolerance index (DTI)≤20 and DTI>20 under managed drought-stressed condition at Shehezi (2017)(2018)(2019)(2020). DTI was calculated as a percentage of grain weight per plant (GWPP) under drought stress compared to that under full irrigation, using the following equation: DTI (%)=[(Yield under well-watered treatment-Yield under drought)/Yield under well-watered treatment]×100 (Derera et al. 2008).The 41 parents were crossed in an incomplete diallel to develop a multiple-hybrid population with 737 F 1 hybrids in Sanya, Hainan Province, China in Winter 2016 (Kempthorne and Curnow 1961). Partial tropicaltropical crosses were not included, because they cannot mature normally in Xinjiang. Five hybrids were excluded because their flowering was too late. The multiple-hybrid population can be divided into two subsets, 378 temperate hybrids derived in Griffing IV using 28 temperate parental lines, and 359 North Carolina Design II (NC II) hybrids generated between 28 temperate and 13 tropical parental lines (Appendix C). The breeding lines were genotyped with the Maize 55K SNP chip in a previous study (Wang et al. 2017;Xu et al. 2017). Compared with the widelyused Illumina MaizeSNP 50 BeadChip, the 55K array has lower missing and heterozygous rates and more SNPs with lower minor allele frequency (MAF) in tropical maize, facilitating the in-depth dissection of rare but possibly valuable variations in tropical germplasm resources. Initially, 50 812 SNPs evenly distributed on the maize chromosomes were genotyped for each line. Next, SNPs with missing data >20%, heterozygosity >20%, and minor allele frequency <0.05 were excluded, leaving a total of 38 737 SNPs that were used in the final data analysis.The 737 hybrids were planted in a 10×80 alpha lattice design, while the 41 parents were planted in a randomized complete block design, each with two replications, in 2017 and 2018 under two water treatments in Shihezi, Xinjiang (44°27´N, 85°94´E), with average annual precipitation 160 mm. Xianyu 335 was used as a control to evaluate the consistency of the environmental treatments. The rainfall data for the two years are included in Appendix D. The trials of each treatment were implemented in tworow, 3-m long plots each with 26 plants. The irrigation regimes were created using drip irrigation starting at the seeding period. To initiate drought stress, average days to anthesis (DTA) were predicted based on previous data of hybrids under well-watered conditions (Wang et al. 2017). In the well-watered (WW) regime, sufficient water (12 cm) was supplied in each 10-day interval after June 10 (45 days after planting). In the drought-stressed (DS) regime, the hybrids were classified into three sets (≤60, 60-70, and ≥70 d) based on the DTA with a 5-m isolation zone, and irrigation was given until the 15 days before the expected anthesis date in each set. The DS condition was maintained until 20 days after 90% of the hybrids flowered, and then irrigation was provided in 10-day intervals with one-third of the water amount as the WW regime.Hybrids and their parents were characterized for eight traits under both treatments. DTA and days to silking (DTS) were recorded when at least 50% of the plants reached anthesis and silking, respectively. The anthesissilking interval (ASI) was measured for each plot as the difference between DTS and DTA (i.e., ASI=DTS-DTA). After female flowering, plant height (PH) was recorded as the distance between the ground and the tassel tip, and ear height (EH) was recorded as the distance between the ground surface and the stem knot of representative ears. PH and EH values were recorded and averaged from five plants in the middle of the plot. Grain weight per plant (GWPP) was evaluated from an average of 10 plants.Row number (RN) and kernel number per row (KPR) were measured and averaged for each plot from 10 ears.The analyses of population structure and relationships among the 41 target inbred lines were conducted using admixture (Alexander et al. 2009) and MEGA version 7.0.26 (Kumar et al. 2016). The genetic divergence between each pair of 41 parents was measured as Nei's (1972) GD using MEGA version 7.0.26. A dendrogram was constructed using the Neighbor-Joining (NJ) tree method based on the shared allele genetic distance matrix of all individuals using MEGA.Genetic variation among parental lines was statistically tested by analysis of variance for each trait under both treatments using the linear model: y ikl =u+g i +l k +(gl) ik +r lk +e ikl where y ikl is the observed value of ith genotype (parental line i) in the lth replication in the kth year, u is the grand mean, g i is the effect of the ith genotype, l k is the effect of the kth year, (gl) ik is an interaction effect between ith genotype with kth year, r lk is the effect of the lth replication within the kth year, and e ikl is the random residual error (Makumbi et al. 2018). The genotypic effect was considered a fixed effect, while the others were considered random effects. The model was fit to the data using the R \"lmer\" and \"lmerTest\" packages (R Core Team 2013; Bates et al. 2015;Kuznetsova et al. 2017).The total variance of hybrids was divided into the variances due to GCA effects of parental lines and specific combining ability (SCA) effects of crosses and their interactions. The variance components for hybrids were estimated using the mixed effect model:) ijk +r lk +b mlk +e ijklm where y ijklm is the phenotypic performance of the ijth cross in the mth incomplete block of the lth replication in the kth year, l k is the effect of the kth year, g i and g j are the GCA effect of the ith and jth parental lines, respectively, s ij is the SCA effect of crosses between lines i and j, (g i l) ik and (g j l) jk are GCA×year effects of the lines, (s ij l) ijk is the SCA×year interaction effects, r lk is the replication effect, b mlk is the effect of the incomplete blocks in the lth replication nested in the kth year, and e ijklm is the residual error. The variance components of GCA and SCA were estimated using the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS ( 2008) following partial diallel cross analysis (Kempthorne and Curnow 1961). The relative importance of GCA and SCA (GCA-SCA ratio) was calculated as the ratio (Makumbi et al. 2011GCA +δ 2 SCA ) where δ 2 GCA and δ 2 SCA are the variances for GCA and SCA, respectively.The GCA and SCA effects were estimated following Griffing's (1956) method 2 model I using the R program (R Core Team 2013):-g i -g j wherey i. is the average of the hybrids among the ith line crossed with a series of parents,y .. is the overall mean, g i and g j are the GCA effects for the ith and jth lines, respectively, s ij is the SCA effect for the ijth hybrid, and y ij is the trait value of the ijth hybrid.The mid-parent heterosis (MPH) for each hybrid was calculated as MPH=100×(F 1 -MP)/MP, where F 1 is the hybrid mean performance, MP is mid-parent value and MP=(P 1 +P 2 )/2, and P 1 and P 2 represent the mean performances of Parent 1 and Parent 2, respectively. Better parent heterosis (BPH) was calculated as BPH=100×(F 1 -BP)/BP, where BP represents the betterperforming parental line. The Pearson correlation of GWPP with parental GD, MP values, and hybrid performance were calculated using the R \"Hmisc\" package (Harrell and Dupont 2016).An admixture model-based clustering was performed using the genotypes of 38 737 SNPs from the Maize 55K chip with improved genome coverage by the Admixture Software to infer the population structure with a fixed number of groups k that varied from 1 to 10. For k=5, the CV error was relatively low (Appendix E). When only the lines from Chinese maize breeding projects were considered, k=5 resulted in the optimal partition, which is highly consistent with the known heterotic groups established in maize breeding programs in China.The GD values for the 41 inbred lines ranged from 0.05 (NK764 vs. PHG83) to 0.74 (FAPW vs. HZ4) with an average GD of 0.56. The results of the cluster analysis using an NJ phylogenetic tree based on GD revealed a distinct separation of the lines into five groups. Besides the tropical subgroup, other temperate inbred lines could be clustered into NSS, BSSS, PB, and SPT, represented by the inbred lines Mo17, B73, Qi319, and HZ4, respectively (Fig. 1). The NSS group could be subdivided into the Lancaster and Iodent groups, while the BSSS group could be subdivided into the Reid and PA groups. Among the five subgroups, PB had the least allelic variation, with an average GD of 0.36, and Tropical had the highest GD value (Table 1). Among the intergroups, the least allelic variation was found between Tropical and PB with an average GD of 0.53, while GD values were relatively higher between BSSS and SPT, SPT and NSS, and BSSS and NSS. The average GDs between inter-group parents were significantly higher than those between intra-group parents.Results of the analysis of variance for the inbreds under WW and DS treatments showed significant genotype effects for grain yield and all other measured traits (Appendix F). GWPP values of the inbred lines ranged from 22.3 g/plant for CML206 to 123.2 g/plant for Tie7922 under the WW treatment, and from 18.3 g/plant for TR0403 to 91.2 g/plant for PH6WC under the DS treatment (Appendix B). While 18-599 had the highest drought tolerance, H21 had the lowest drought tolerance. PH6WC, Tie7922, Zheng58, and PHN47 had the four highest GWPP values under drought, and their ASI values were 5.8, 2.8, 3.5, and 2.0 days.Significant phenotypic differences were observed among the hybrids under both the WW and DS conditions five were from within-group crosses. Meanwhile, out of the 15 top-yielding hybrids under the DS treatment, one hybrid was from C×D cross, six were from C×C crosses, three were from S×C crosses, and three were from S×D crosses. In contrast, out of the 10 worst single-cross hybrids under the DS treatment, four were from S×S crosses. The best single-cross hybrid (Dan340×PH6WC) was from a C×C and NSS×BSSS cross, generating yields higher than the control Xianyu 335 by 19% under DS but by -0.02% under the WW treatment.With the highest yield hybrid model, PB×BSSS produced an average yield of 173.2 g/plant with 143.6%, 89.6% and 2.6 g/plant of MPH, BPH, and SCA under the WW treatment, and it produced 112.9 g/plant with 102.2%, 68.6% and -1.6 g/plant of MPH, BPH, and SCA under the DS treatment (Table 1; Fig. 3; Appendix H). The lowest yield hybrids were from the crossing patterns of PB×PB under WW treatments and SPT×SPT under DS treatments. The earliest hybrids were from the crossing patterns of SPT×NSS, SPT×Tropic, NSS×NSS, BSSS×NSS and SPT×BSSS under both treatments, and the lowest PH hybrids were from SPT×BSSS, SPT×NSS, SPT×Tropic, BSSS×NSS, BSSS×BSSS and NSS×NSS.(Appendix G). GCA and SCA effects were significant for all traits under both WW and DS treatments. Further results showed that the GCA×year effects were significant for all traits, and the SCA×year effects were significant for all traits except KPR under WW treatment. The ratio of variance components revealed that GCA effects were much higher than SCA effects for all traits except the KPR and GWPP under DS treatment, ranging from 0.58 for KPR to 0.90 for EH under WW treatment and ranging from 0.46 for GWPP to 0.95 for RN under DS treatment. Thus, the relative contribution of the GCA effect is much higher.Hybrid performance was strongly affected by genotype under both DS and WW treatments (Fig. 2). Under the DS treatment, GWPP ranged from 52.92 to 165.13 g/plant (Table 2), whereas under the WW treatment, it ranged from 72.39 to 236.23 g/plant. The mean GWPP (106.14 g/ plant) under DS was 34.76% less than that under the WW treatment (Table 2). Among the 15 top-yielding singlecross combinations under the DS treatment, two were from within-group crosses, while the others were from between-group crosses (Table 2). In contrast, out of the 10 worst single-cross hybrids under the DS treatment, The level of MPH varied widely among the tested traits. MPH was positive for GWPP, RN, KPR, and PH, but negative for DTA and DTS under both the WW and DS treatments (Table 3). The average MPH values for KPR and GWPP were much higher than other traits under both treatment conditions. The MPH values for GWPP, KPR, RN, and PH were higher under the WW treatment than those under the DS treatment. The hybrids from BSSS×Tropic, Tropic×NSS, Tropic×PB, and SPT×Tropic had relatively higher MPH values for GWPP under the WW and DS conditions, while other hybrids involving tropical parents performed poorly, indicating a poor yielding potential of tropical parents (Fig. 3).The GCA effects of the 41 inbred lines for each trait under the WW and DS treatments were shown in Appendix I. The top five positive GCA effects for GWPP under the WW treatment were from inbred lines H21, Qi205, PH6WC, DAN340, and Tie7922. Under the DS treatment, the highest and most significant GCA effects for GWPP were from inbred lines PH6WC, Zheng58, Tie7922, Dan598, Qi205, and F42. The SCA effect for GWPP ranged from -70.93 g/plant (F42×FAPW) to 74.12 g/plant (TR0423×HZ4) under the WW treatment, and it ranged from -2.85 g/plant (F42×B73) to 59.01 g/plant (LH132×Qi319) under the DS treatment. The hybrids from PB×BSSS and NSS×PB had high SCA effects for GWPP (>2.00 g/plant) under the WW treatments, while NSS×PB had high SCA effects for GWPP (>2.00 g/plant) under the DS treatment (Appendix H). The SCA effects were negative for the within-heterotic group hybrids and greater for between-heterotic group hybrids than withinheterotic group hybrids (Appendix H).GWPP in F 1 hybrids was significantly positively correlated with PH, EH, RN, KPR, BPH, SCA, and MPH under  1) GWPP, grain weight per plant; DTS, days to silking; ASI, the anthesis-silking interval; PH, plant height; KPR, kernel number per row.2) The parents in each hybrid were classified as drought-tolerant (D), high general combining ability (GCA) (C) and drought-sensitive (S). The GD estimates were highly correlated between the pairwise parental lines and the hybrid performance for SCA, MPH, BPH, PH, and GWPP. Regression analysis revealed that the GD between the parental lines within heterotic groups was significantly correlated with hybrid grain yield under WW and DS treatments (Fig. 5-A; Appendix J), and hybrid yield increased with the increase of genetic distance, but no relationship between GD and hybrid grain yield was found between heterotic groups (Table 4). We found that under the WW and DS treatments, the degree of GD was significantly positively correlated with MPH within heterotic groups, but not between heterotic groups (Appendix K), suggesting that a medium level of GD may contribute the maximum increasing effect on the heterosis of grain yield. To test this hypothesis, we classified the hybrids into groups based on their levels of GD: ≤0.40, 0.41-0.45, 0.46-0.50, 0.51-0.55, 0.56-0.60, 0.61-0.65, and ≥0.66. Hybrids with 0.55-0.60 GD had the highest MPH of grain yield under both water treatments (Fig. 5-C), and the MPH under the WW condition was consistently higher than that under the DS condition. In addition, because SCA is an indicator of non-additive effects, the relationship between SCA and GD under both water treatments was investigated. We found that SCA for grain yield was correlated positively with GD under both water treatments. With the further increase of GD, however, the rate of increase of SCA decreased gradually (Fig. 5-B and C).The SCA for grain yield under the DS condition was higher than under the WW condition. It is interesting that when the GD between parents was relatively small, the hybrid had a higher SCA.The significant variations among inbred lines and hybrids in GWPP and other traits indicate that substantial genetic variation exists among the maize parents and their hybrids. The significant genotype×environment interactions for grain yield and other traits reveal that the expression of these traits would not be consistent across the test environments. Similar findings have been reported in other studies (Oyekunle et al. 2015;Makumbi et al. 2018), suggesting the need to evaluate inbreds and hybrids in various environments to identify droughttolerant genotypes with consistent favorable responses to unpredictable growing environments. Decreased PH, EH, GWPP, and ear traits and increased ASI under drought were also reported in several earlier studies (Bolaños and Edmeades 1993;Adebayo et al. 2017). Here, we monitored the stress level imposed on experimental hybrids under drought stress for two consecutive seasons in order to obtain sufficient stress intensity to evaluate the differential responses of hybrids. The average GWPP recorded for hybrids under DS decreased by 35.76% compared to the WW treatment. A yield decrease in the range of 20-30% has been considered as severe drought stress (Bolaños and Edmeades 1996;Campos et al.  ). The significant variation in GWPP under drought observed in this study is an indicator for distinguishing tolerance from drought in maize hybrids.In this study, a larger contribution of the GCA sum of squares was found for most traits compared to that from the SCA sum of squares (Appendix G). This result suggests that additive gene action was predominant over non-additive gene action for most of the observed  Fig. 4 Correlation among genetic distance (GD), mid-parent heterosis for grain yield (MPH, %), better parent heterosis for grain yield (BPH, %), grain yield, and other agronomic traits under drought-stressed (DS) and well-watered (WW) conditions. DTA (d), days to anthesis; DTS (d), days to silking; ASI (d), anthesis-silking interval; PH (cm), plant height; EH (cm), ear height; RN, row number; KPR, kernel number per row; GWPP (g/plant), grain weight per plant; SCA (g/plant), specific combining ability for grain yield; MP (g/plant), mid-parent for grain yield. Blank, not significant at P<0.01.traits under both conditions, which is contradictory with several studies (Bolaños et al. 1993;Njeri et al. 2017), but consistent with others (Amiruzzaman et al. 2010;Ahmad et al. 2016;Dermail et al. 2020). The difference between this study and the others could be largely attributed to the differences in the germplasm used, as our study included a large number of tropical maize inbreds with a higher level of genetic diversity. The GCA-SCA ratio for KPR and GWPP under the WW treatment was higher than that under the DS treatment, suggesting that additive effects play a major role for yield traits under the WW treatment.On the contrary, non-additive effects appeared to play an important role in grain yield under the DS treatment (Appendix G; Fig. 5-C), and non-additive effects were Previous reports suggested that tropical germplasm had higher diversity and larger GD than temperate germplasm (Lu et al. 2009;Zhang et al. 2016). Because the tropical germplasm was mainly introduced from CIMMYT with distinct genetic diversity, a systematic comparison of GD and heterosis was performed and higher GD was confirmed in the tropical germplasm, indicating that modern temperate maize inbred lines have experienced a long period of intense breeding selection. Only favorable alleles for target agronomic traits were selected and maintained during the breeding process, resulting in a decrease in genetic diversity. In this study, all the hybrids containing tropical parents had higher MPH and BPH for GWPP than the other hybridization models under the DS treatment (Table 1; Fig. 3). High percentages of heterosis recorded for grain yield, particularly in the high-yielding hybrids between tropical and temperate germplasms under DS treatment, suggests that tropical and temperate maize inbreds possess the complementary genes/alleles. The diversity hosted by the temperate and tropical lines surveyed in this study can be exploited for developing maize hybrids with enhanced heterosis under DS treatment, and promising lines could be derived by crossing the temperate group with tropical lines to enhance their levels of drought tolerance.The parents selected for this study were from elite inbreds currently used in the temperate regions. They are widely used as hybrid parents or excellent donors in breeding programs across maize-growing regions. They can generally represent the production level and genetic diversity of the existing elite maize germplasm in China. The dendrogram from the NJ tree method based on SNP markers identified five distinct groups, which is consistent with previous studies (Teng et al. 2004;Xie et al. 2007;Lu et al. 2009;Zhang et al. 2016). A slight difference in our study was that the LRC group was merged into Lancaster, which included the Chinese landraces from Chinese maize breeding programs, including Dan340. Chuan29Female as a Tropic line was grouped into PB. The drought resistance of the hybrids under the drought stress condition could explain the drought tolerance observed in this group of germplasms. In commercial maize breeding in China, the BSSS group is considered as a female group, while other groups are regarded as paternal. In this study, the BSSS group showed better GCA effects for GWPP, KPR, and other traits under stress when compared with the paternal group (Appendix I). Therefore, yield stability under multiple environmental stresses is an important criterion during the breeding of female inbred lines.Extensive information in divergent pools can be generated from the diallel mating design (Reif et al. 2005), providing useful information for understanding the genetic relationships among genotypes, and thus a more strategic breeding plan could be developed to improve specific traits. Based on our field data (Table 1), the PB group manifested high GWPP, late maturity, and high PH. The SPT, BSSS, and NSS groups showed high GWPP, early maturity, and low PH, which was consistent with the research in northern China (Zhang et al. 2004;Meng et al. 2010). The most explored heterotic pattern is the crosses between BSSS and NSS (Mikel 2008(Mikel , 2011)). In the early and middle 1990s, the major heterotic pattern was domestic inbreds×SPT in the North Spring Maize Region, while in the Huang-Huai-Hai Summer Maize Region the major pattern was domestic inbreds×Pioneer hybrids in China. The major heterotic patterns then became Reid×Tem-tropic I, Reid×Zi330, Reid×SPT, Zi330×Temtropic I and Lancaster×SPT in the early 21st century (Wang et al. 1997;Teng et al. 2004). With the increase of mechanized planting, the combination of early maturity with high yield gained more popularity. In this study, we studied the heterotic patterns of BSSS×NSS, NSS×SPT, and BSSS×SPT, which are the most popular in China's maize breeding with some important hybrids. During 2005-2019, the two most commercialized hybrids were Zhengdan 958 and Xianyu 335. The parents of Xianyu 335, PH6WC and PH4CV, belong to the BSSS×NSS pattern, while the parents of Zhengdan 958, Zheng58 and Chang7-2, are in the SPT×BSSS pattern.A superior grain yield was observed in the hybrids involving drought-tolerant inbred lines or conventional inbred lines compared to those involving tolerant×conventional lines, conventional×conventional lines, tolerant×sensitive lines or conventional×sensitive lines, indicating additive gene effects and the significance of dosage effects of drought-tolerant genes in the parental lines. This result is consistent with the previous studies (Kirkham et al. 1984;Derera et al. 2008;Oyekunle et al. 2015), where hybrids with at least one drought-tolerant parental line have higher yields than hybrids with two susceptible parental lines. It can be concluded that at least one parent should be either drought-tolerant or a good GCA line to produce single-cross hybrids with drought tolerance, and that parents should be selected from different heterotic groups so that the hybrids can be formed with complementary inbred lines. In our study, drought-tolerant hybrids showed more KPR, higher PH and shorter ASI than susceptible hybrids (Table 2; Fig. 4). Therefore, these three traits can be used as selection criteria for droughttolerant maize breeding. PH6WC and Tie7922 are two outstanding inbreds because when crossed with other lines their hybrids performed well under both WW and DS treatments. These inbred lines can be used as superior donors in the development of elite inbred lines in Chinese and worldwide breeding programs.The genetic distance between parental lines has been used to improve the identification of heterotic hybrids in several crops (Betrán et al. 2003). Previous studies have reported that the correlation between parental GD and hybrid performance was significant for grain yield and other traits under DS and WW conditions (Badu-Apraku et al. 2013;Suwarno et al. 2014;Laude and Carena 2015), which is contrary to several other reports (Balestre et al. 2008;Oyekunle et al. 2015;Su et al. 2017). Within a certain range, greater genetic distance is associated with greater heterosis. On the other hand, a GD that is too large is harmful owing to genetic incompatibility (Wei et al. 2018). In this study, more markers and a larger population were used to estimate the GDs among the 41 parental lines. Positive correlations of parental GD with GWPP, MPH and BPH were observed under both treatments (P<0.01 and 0.2<r<0.4) (Fig. 4). Based on the parents' heterotic groups, the hybrids could be classified into within-group and between-group categories. The GD between parents was relatively small for withingroup hybrids, and MPH for grain yield increased with GD. With the increase of GD, however, the level of MPH for grain yield between heterotic groups remained largely unchanged (Fig. 5-C). Therefore, the optimal genetic distance should be studied further for breeding super hybrids.This study shows that the inbreds were clustered into five groups, and the heterosis patterns of BSSS×NSS, NSS×SPT and BSSS×SPT with early maturity and high yield were determined to be useful in Chinese maize breeding. A larger contribution of the GCA sum of squares to genetic variation was found for most traits under both WW and DS conditions, suggesting that additive gene action was predominant, but GWPP and KPR under DS treatment are mainly controlled by nonadditive effects, suggesting that SCA would be a good selection criterion for future drought resistance breeding. Tropical and temperate inbreds possess complementary genes/alleles, and thus promising inbred lines could be derived by crossing these two groups to enhance drought tolerance. This study reveals that at least one of the parental lines with drought tolerance and high GCA effect would be required to achieve the ideal hybrid performance under drought stress. GD had a significant positive correlation with yield and yield heterosis in withingroup hybrids across a certain range of GD. There are a large number of genes governing the heterosis, and highyielding hybrids should have more superior genes (Huang et al. 2015). The present investigation suggests that the heterosis is due to the accumulation of superior genes/ alleles between parents and the optimal genetic distance between parental lines. In maize drought resistance breeding, superior genes/alleles should be aggregated into parents based on their heterotic groups, and super hybrids could be produced by crossing different heterotic groups."}

main/part_2/0312540789.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"f40e1dc48ce1b3f6c11e26731f0e01e1","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/04788add-e5bf-4802-be2f-31f16a49b840/retrieve","id":"-527170453"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"c9fd39f4-09ab-45b4-9a90-04dcc692ba4d","content":"Green grams in Kenya Agriculture in Kenya contributes to the national economy, food security, and employment of rural households. Climate change and weather variability affect agricultural production negatively and it is expected to worsen in the future. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices present an opportunity to reduce such losses, build resilience in the agriculture sector, improve productivity and farmer incomes, and contribute to climate change mitigation (CIAT & World Bank, 2017). Green gram, also known as mungbean, maash or moong (Vigna radiata L.), is a potential food and cash crop in Kenya and grows well in arid regions, playing a key role in local food security. In the regions where stakeholders of the green grams value chain have been interviewed (Makueni, Kitui, Tharaka, Nithi), the area under production typically varies from 1-10 acres per household.The temperature trend (from 1961-2005) for both the short (October, November, December, (OND)) and long rainy season (March, April, May, (MAM)) show that temperature in Kenya has been increasing by more than 0.8°C (Figure 1). In particular, the rate of increase has been by more than 1°C over north-eastern and northwestern parts of the country during the long and short rainy season respectively. During both the long and short rainy seasons, the model projection for mid-century (2050's) shows a temperature rise all over Kenya (Figure 2). The temperature is expected to rise by about 2.8°C -3°C over western, southwestern, central, northern and north-eastern parts of Kenya during MAM (Figure 2). The temperature is also expected to rise over south-eastern part of Kenya by about 2.5°C during the same long rainy season. During the short rainy period, the temperature is expected to rise by about 2.5°C and 2°C in the western and eastern half of the country respectively. The seasonal mean rainfall in the short rainy season is projected to significantly increase in the north-western part of Kenya by as much as 50% for mid-century (Figure 3). In the north-eastern, central and eastern parts of the country, the seasonal mean rainfall is also expected to increase by up to 30-40% during the short rainy season.The increase in the seasonal mean rainfall accompanied by an increase in the number of consecutive wet days (2-3 days) overwestern and north-eastern part of the country (Figure 4) can translate into enhancement of extreme rainfall and resultant extreme events of flooding in the region. However, in the long rainy season, the seasonal mean rainfall decreases by about 10-20% in the north-western and western part of Kenya. Similarly, the consecutive wet days are expected to decrease by 1-2 days in the western and north-western parts of the country. However, in the long rainy season, the seasonal mean rainfall decreases by about 10-20% in the north-western and western part of Kenya. Similarly, the consecutive wet days are expected to decrease by 1-2 days in the western and north-western parts of the country.The projection of the longest consecutive dry days (CDD) for both the short and long rainy season show that dry spells will decrease for mid-and-end of the century in most parts of Kenya. Specifically, the reduction in the longest dry spell is about 4-5 days in the northern part of the country for OND, 1-2 days for MAM (Figure 5). The fact that the decrease in consecutive dry days combined with the previous findings of an increase in seasonal mean rainfall and consecutive wet days in OND reinforces the probability of extreme flooding events.In Summary, during both the short (OND) and long (MAM) rainy seasons, the model projections for 2050s show that a high temperature rise (particularly during MAM) is expected in all parts of Kenya ranging from 2.0°C to 3°C. An increase in seasonal rainfall and consecutive wet days in the short rainy season could reinforce the probability of extreme events of flooding in the north-eastern and north-western part of the country. However, a decrease in seasonal rainfall and a likelihood of more dry days in western Kenya during the long rainy season could have an implication of more incidences of agricultural drought in the region by 2050s.Unlike other crops, yields of green gram are likely to increase substantially in the future as a result of climate change during both the long and short rainy seasons. In both future long and short rainy seasons, green gram yields under optimum management conditions are likely to increase by about 2 tonnes per hectare in most areas. In Meru, yields are likely to increase by up to 6 tonnes per hectare in the future long rainy season. However, in Embu, yields are likely to decrease especially in the short rainy season when yield decreases of up to 2 tonnes per hectare are expected. Approximately 70% of both female and male interviewed farmers have not experienced a difference in rainfall over the past ten years. Those that did experience change, mentioned that extreme rainfall had decreased. Concerning drought and temperature, 84.5% of all interviewed farmers mentioned an increase in drought and 92.7% of farmers felt that extreme high temperatures had increased. Striking difference is that most of the interviewed female farmers felt that the occurrence of extreme low temperatures had increased whereas most of the male farmers mentioned that it had decreased. 64% of the interviewed farmers reported that the start of the long rainy season had become more unpredictable (Figure 7).A majority of all stakeholders cited a perceived decrease in crop productivity due to climate change (Figure 8).The Climate Risk Assessment workshop brought together 60 participants representing the different stakeholders of the green grams value chain. The majority of the participants were male and female smallholder farmers (Figure 9).  "}

main/part_2/0339618436.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"64430d43064ba32372ecd17e46a1d408","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/ff71f9f6-94d6-4e7e-9f52-7a382913d103/retrieve","id":"1271202322"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"644374bd-02d1-409e-86c8-b8e905e2f67c","content":"The aim of the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) is to improve livelihoods and food security by enhancing the productivity and diversity of aquatic and agricultural systems. 1 The AAS program in the Barotse floodplain of Zambia, which is being implemented in ten communities including; Kabula, Kapanda Lealui, Mapungu, Mwandi, Nalitoya, Nembwele, Senanga, Sifuna and Situlu in December 2014, in Nanikelako in April 2015 and in Mwandi, evaluates changes in seasonal flooding patterns and the availability of natural resources to strengthen the productivity of aquatic agricultural management practices and improve the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable. 2 It is essential to understand the current food and nutrition security situation in the Barotse floodplain in order to support the AAS program objective. Food availability in the Barotse is highly seasonal; it becomes limited from August or September to January, during which time food and nutrition insecurity worsens. 3 It is therefore necessary to identify opportunities to promote sustainable and diverse dietary options. This narrative provides an explanation of how the market research was conducted and some preliminary results. Overall, our research indicates that poor market access is a significant constraint in the Barotse floodplain, inhibiting AAS community members from securing proper nutrition and food.Market sampling was conducted in 2014 to assess AAS community members' access to food items in markets as well as record seasonal price trends. In total, ten markets frequented by community members in AAS research sites were surveyed. Markets sampled in the city of Mongu, located in Mongu District in Western Province, included the Black and Green Markets, Main Market, Harbor Market, Mandanga Market, Kapulanga Market and Mbuywana Market. Additional market sampling in Mongu District was conducted in the community of Lealui, located 20 to 30 minutes from the city of Mongu by vehicle, at the Lealui Market. The remaining markets sampled in Western Province included the Senanga Main Market, Mapungu Shops and Old Lukulu Market. Coordinates for each market were recorded using a GPS device.Vendors were interviewed on the food items sold, daily profit, and prices and availability of food items. They were encouraged to share information on changes in prices and availability, as well as on the origin of the food items. High and low seasons of availability were identified as well as fluctuations in prices based on seasonal changes. Approximately 20-30 food items were surveyed in each market. A nutritionist, nutrition officer or extension officer from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock participated in the sampling of markets.The ten completed market surveys were then organized into one comprehensive document in order to observe trends and differences in food prices and availability across markets. Food items were organized into the categories of \"energy,\" \"protective\" and \"body-building.\" Annex 1 illustrates seasonal trends in food prices and availability across all markets.A total of 89 food items were surveyed across 10 markets. The greatest number of food items were surveyed in Old Lukulu Market (39), followed by the Black and Green Markets in Mongu (31), Mongu  Main Market (30), Kapulanga Market (27), Mandanga Market (25), Lealui Market (24), Mbuywana  Market and Senanga Main Market (23), Harbor Market (19) and Mapungu Shops (11). Figure 1 indicates the number of food items surveyed in each market, organized into five categories. Mapungu, as well as those living in Mwandi, also frequent the market in Kalabo. There is no market in Mwandi.The AAS communities located in Mongu district frequent the markets of the provincial capital, Mongu. Crops are often sold within the communities or taken to the markets in Mongu. 4 There is no market in Situlu or Nanikelako. However, households in Lealui have access to a market located in their community. The Lealui market includes a number of vendors who display their products outdoors in stalls or on mats on the ground. There are also a number of stores that sell processed food like maheu (a processed drink made from maize mealie meal, milk, and sugar), soft drinks and biscuits, as well as other food products like eggs and groundnuts. Due to recent road construction and the presence of construction workers in the area, the demand for food items in the Lealui market has increased.Community members explained that this has led vendors to increase their prices, which has caused concerns among local people since not all are able to afford the new prices. Vendors also explained that sales grow annually in July. Since water levels decrease during the dry season, there is an increase in travel between Mongu and Kalabo by road and therefore an increase in consumers that pass by the Lealui market.Community members in Lealui also explained that Mongu is the main market for selling and buying fish. 5 Markets in Mongu include the Black and Green markets, Main market, Harbor market, Kapulanga market, Mandanga market and Mbuywana market. While the AAS team was conducting the market survey in the Kapulanga market, they found that some vendors were not willing to give information because previous surveys on food safety had already been undertaken in the area and vendors did not find it necessary to answer additional questions. In contrast, vendors in the Mandanga market were willing to give information. However, it was difficult for some to calculate their daily profits for each food item since they combine the money earned from all food items. Vendors in the Mandanga market also stated that fish is the most frequently purchased food item that is a rich source of animalbased protein. Consumers begin purchasing other sources of protein, such as beans, kapenta and eggs, when fish is less available during the fishing ban that lasts from December to March. As the demand for these products increases, so do the prices. Since local consumers are easily affected by price changes, vendors often keep prices constant but reduce the quantity sold at that price. In the Mbuywana market, which is small with few vendors, vendors stated that they ordered most of the food items from the Main market in Mongu, which is fairly large and accessible by bus.Since there are no markets in Kabula or Kapanda, community members frequent the Old and New Lukulu markets. While many sell vegetables door to door in their communities, the lack of market access inhibits individuals from selling crops outside of the community. 6 Similarly, there are no markets in Nalitoya, Nembwele or Sifuna. The closest markets are in the town of Senanga. During focus group discussions, community members stated that the primary market for fish products is in Senanga, where they can set higher prices. 7Throughout the ten markets surveyed, prices normally increase during the low season or when a food item is in high demand. Figure 2 illustrates the seasonal changes in price for a variety of food items.Some items, which do not vary in seasonal availability, maintain constant prices throughout the year, as illustrated in Figure 3. Trends in prices and availabilityMaize \"mealie meal\" is commonly purchased to make nshima, a thick porridge eaten with vegetables, fish or meat. The price for a 25 kg bag of breakfast mealie meal ranges across markets from K58 in the Mandanga market to the highest price of K76 in the Lealui market. However, it is more common for consumers to purchase smaller quantities of breakfast mealie meal than a 25 kg bag. Quantities are measured in local containers and prices span from K1 to K15, depending on the amount purchased.Overall, vendors stated that breakfast mealie meal is available year round and that the price remains constant. However, a vendor in the Old Lukulu market differed from the rest, stating that the price of breakfast mealie meal increases when maize is low in season.There is generally a higher demand for breakfast mealie meal than roller meal, which is also produced from maize but is less processed and less expensive. Roller meal is available year round with prices that range from K60 to K65 for a 25 kg bag. It is interesting to note that breakfast mealie meal is usually preferred over roller meal, even though it is more expensive. Grinded maize mealie meal is also available year round. However, grinded maize mealie meal was only recorded in one market in Mongu and therefore no comparisons can be made on this food item across markets. The price of maize grain is fairly similar across the markets in which it was surveyed. Consumers purchase maize grain to take to a hammer mill and later produce mealie meal, samp, beer or local beverages like maheu. Cassava mealie meal is generally available year round and prices are fairly constant. According to a vendor in Mongu, if cassava mealie meal becomes less available, the price will remain constant but the quantity sold at that price will decrease.Rice is available year round in markets, with the low season coinciding with the rainy season (from November to April). During the low season, prices either increase (for larger quantities of 5-10 kg) or vendors decrease the amount packaged and keep the price constant. Wheat flour is also available all year. A vendor in the Old Lukulu market stated that wheat flour is ordered from Lusaka; during the cold season (from June to July), the order price for flour increases.In terms of tubers, roasted cassava was surveyed in only one market in Mongu, the vendor of which explained that cassava is not in season during the rainy season since it cannot be harvested during this time. Likewise, locally processed cassava flour is less available during the rainy season. When it is less available, a vendor in the Mandanga market in Mongu explained that the price remains the same but the quantity packaged decreases. In contrast, a vendor in the Lealui market stated that the price and quantity do not change when it is less available. This may reflect differences in consumer demand and producer needs between those living in rural Lealui versus those in urban Mongu. The vendor in Lealui also stated that cassava becomes more available from June to August because vendors from Kaoma arrive to exchange cassava for fish. Dried cassava, which was surveyed only in the Old Lukulu Market, and there it is available year round since the cassava has been processed. Vendors in numerous markets stated they bought Irish potatoes from Shoprite, a large supermarket chain located in Mongu, or ordered them from Lusaka and resold them in the markets. When Irish potatoes are less available, the price increases or less potatoes are sold for the same price than during the high season. The low season for sweet potatoes, which can depending on the variety rich in vitamin A and also energydense, coincides with the rainy season. The price for sweet potatoes remains constant throughout the year but fewer potatoes are sold at that price during the low season. Sweet potatoes are also often dried to increase availability during the low season. They are obtained from the floodplain and Kaoma.Other energy-dense foods sold in the markets include buns, butter scones and fritters. These are all locally produced, have constant prices and are available all year. Sugar, which is also available year round, holds constant prices across markets; a 1 kg bag is normally sold for K7 or K8. A vendor in the Mapungu shops stated that sugar sales increase during June and July because the wild fruit used to brew beer is less available and people substitute it with sugar.Vitamin A rich food Only two other vitamin-rich food items were observed in the market besides sweet potatoes. Carrots were only surveyed in the Mongu Main Market and Senanga Main Market. There is generally a low availability of carrots. A vendor in Senanga stated that she bought carrots from Shoprite and then resold them at the market. Although the price remains constant throughout the year, the quantity sold at that price decreases during the low season. Paw paw was only surveyed in two markets in Mongu. While vendors gave slightly different descriptions of when paw paw is available, their responses overlapped to show that it is not available from October to December and that availability is lower from January to May. Even during the low season, one vendor stated that the price for paw paw does not change.There is a variety of dark green leafy vegetables available in markets. The high season for pumpkin leaves, sweet potato leaves, cassava leaves, amaranthus and hibiscus coincides with the rainy season. Pumpkin leaves are generally available year round. The price for a bundle of pumpkin leaves is the same across markets at K0.50. When it is less available, a vendor in Old Lukulu Market stated, the price remains constant but the bundle contains less leaves. In Senanga, the price for a bundle of sweet potato leaves increases from K0.50 in the high season to K1 in the low season. Cassava leaves were only surveyed in one market in Mongu, where a vendor stated the low season is from June to August and the price for a bundle was K1. The price of a bundle of amaranthus ranges from K0.50 to K1, depending on the market. Hibiscus is available year round and the price for a bundle ranges from K0.50 to K1 across markets. During the low season, the price of hibiscus usually remains the same but the size of the bundle is cut in half by a handful. Unlike other the dark green leaves, rape is available year round with the high season lasting from about May to August or September. Rape was surveyed in all markets except for the Lealui Market. In most markets, vendors stated that they keep the price constant but reduce the number of leaves sold in a bundle. Prices range from K0.50 to K1 for a bundle.Other vegetables observed in the markets include cabbage, Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, onions, okra, African eggplant, eggplant, green pepper and green beans. Cabbage, which was surveyed in most markets, is available all year. A vendor in Harbor Market stated that availability does not vary much because the cabbage comes from many places, including the floodplain, upland and Lusaka. If cabbage becomes less available, it is normally sold at a higher price. Chinese cabbage is also available year round, with the high season lasting during the dry season, from about April to August. The price remains constant at K1 for a bundle of leaves throughout the year but the number of leaves sold at that price decreases during the low season.Tomatoes, which were surveyed in all markets, are available year round with the low season lasting from January to March. There were, however, some inconsistencies in vendors' descriptions of the low and high season for tomatoes. Tomatoes are sold in bundles of 2 or 4, depending on their size. The price of tomatoes is relatively similar across the markets. For example, 4 medium tomatoes are sold for K2. During the low season, 4 medium tomatoes are sold for between K3 and K5. When tomatoes are very scarce, a vendor in Mongu's Main Market stated that the price of one tomato can increase to K5. In contrast, when tomatoes are highly available, they go to waste. Onions are also available year round, but the low season occurs near the end of the year. A vendor in the Harbor Market explained that there is less availability of onions during the rainy season because the onions rot during this time. The price and number of onions sold in a bundle depends on their size. One bulb is usually sold for K1. In most markets, vendors stated that the price remains the same, even when onions are less available.In contrast to onions, the high season for okra coincides with the rainy season with lower availability during the dry season. A bag of okra that has 10 to 12 fingers is sold for K1 or K2, depending on the market. During the low season, the price will increase or it will remain the same and the number of fingers packaged in the bag will decrease. African eggplant is available year round and appears more available during the dry season. A bag of African eggplant, which may contain 15 to 25 eggplants, is priced at K1 or K2, depending on the market. During the low season, either the price increases or the price remains the same and the number of African eggplant packaged decreases. Eggplant was only surveyed in one market, where a vendor stated that it is only available from December to January. Four eggplants, ranging in size, are priced at K5.A vendor in Mongu stated that since green pepper is not high in demand, its price and revenue is relatively low. For example, 4 to 5 green peppers are sold for K1 or K2, depending on the market. The price remains constant even when it is less available. In contrast, green peppers are priced higher in Senanga at K1 per pepper during the high season and K3 during the low season. Green beans were surveyed in only one market in Mongu; a bag of green beans is sold at K2 and the price is constant throughout the year. Garlic was also only surveyed in one Mongu market; 5 bulbs are sold for K5 during the high season. During the low season, the number of bulbs sold for K5 decreases to 4.Few types of fruit were observed across the markets. Oranges were only surveyed in one market in Mongu and the price ranges from K0.50 to 1.50 per orange, depending on its size. The high season for oranges lasts from April to August and the low season from September to March, which coincides with the rainy season. Pineapples were also only surveyed in one market, in the Old Lukulu Market. One pineapple is sold for K4 or K5. The vendor in Lukulu explained that pineapple is only available from January to February and that it comes from North Western Province.Animal-source food Fish was the most commonly surveyed animal-source food across the markets, including fresh and dried types. Fish is more available from June to August, during which prices are lower. Some vendors stated that fish is not available during the fishing ban from December to March. However, others stated that fish is still available during this time, but at a lower level. This perhaps serves as evidence that fishing still occurs during the ban. During the low season, prices for fish increase or prices remain the same but the number of fish sold at that price decreases. When the fishing ban begins, the demand for kapenta increases as consumers seek a substitute for fresh fish. As the demand for kapenta increases, vendors keep prices constant but decrease the amount of kapenta that is sold at that price. Sales decrease once there is plenty of local fish on the market again. Vendors also mentioned that kapenta is obtained from Siavonga, Mpulungu and Lusaka.Beef was only surveyed in the Kapulanga Market in Mongu. One kilogram of mixed cuts was priced at K27. The vendor stated that beef is available all year, but that sales increase during the fishing ban. Pork was surveyed in the Mandanga Market in Mongu. It was sold by the vendor as fried pork chops and priced at K20 for 1kg. During lower availability from October to May, the price remains the same but the pork chops are reduced in size.Eggs are available year round, with some vendors stating that the low season lasts from June to August. Like kapenta and beef, vendors mentioned that sales increase during the fishing ban. During the low season, the price of a tray of eggs increases slightly, but individual eggs are consistently sold at K1. Multiple vendors mentioned that eggs are ordered from Lusaka.In terms of dairy products, fresh Parmalat brand milk is available year round and prices do not fluctuate; a container of 250 mL is sold for K4 and of 500 mL for K6. Sour milk was only surveyed in the Lealui Market and Old Lukulu Market. The vendor in Lealui stated that the price does not change as the availability changes, which becomes lower in March, but the quantity sold at that price is reduced.Beans, cowpeas, groundnuts, bambara nuts and soy pieces were observed during the market sampling. Beans were surveyed in all markets except the shops in Mapungu. The demand for beans is higher during the fishing ban when less fish is available for consumption. Prices vary depending on the quantity sold, which is often measured in local containers, and increase during the low season or when the demand for beans is higher. Cowpeas were only surveyed in two markets, in the Kapulanga Market in Mongu and the Old Lukulu Market. While cowpeas are available throughout the year, a vendor in the Kapulanga Market stated that the low season lasts from December to April, which coincides with the rainy season. The price of cowpeas increases during the low season. Groundnuts were surveyed in most markets. Similar to beans and cowpeas, the low season for groundnuts is during the rainy season, generally from November to March, with the high season occurring during the dry months. However, even when groundnuts are less available from the floodplain, vendors can obtain them from Sesheke and Kaoma. The price of groundnuts increases during the low season or the quantity packaged is reduced and sold at the same price as during the high season. For example, a 250 g bag of groundnuts is sold for K2 during the high season but for K3 during the low season. Powdered groundnut is available all year and is often purchased by consumers to add to samp, vegetables and dried fish. Bambara nuts were only surveyed in the Kapulanga Market. The vendor stated that they are available all year and that prices range from K2 to K3 for quantities measured in local containers. Soy pieces, purchased from Lusaka, are also available year round. A 100g bag is priced at K3; prices of soy pieces remain constant.Other food items sold throughout the markets include cooking oil, salt, anthill soil, baking soda, baking powder, paprika, curry, soft drinks, maheu, D'lite (mix used to make porridge for children) and Instant Thobwa (maize and soybean mix to make drinks or porridge). These items are available year round and the prices remain constant. Cooking oil is often sold in small bags or reused bottles at varying prices ranging from K0.50 to K10. A new 750mL bottle of cooking oil is sold for K10 to K13. Anthill soil is purchased by pregnant women who believe it satisfies cravings. It was observed that at Mongu's Main Market, more soil is sold than powdered groundnuts, even though powdered groundnuts are available all year at constant prices and are an excellent source of protein and energy as well as certain micronutrients.The research on the location of markets and fluctuation of food prices and availability indicates that AAS communities have poor access to markets. This lack of market access inhibits community members from consistently obtaining food items and from exploring opportunities to diversify their diets. It is therefore a major constraint to improving the nutrition situation of households in the Barotse floodplain, especially during the hunger season.During focus group discussions led by the AAS team in the ten communities, individuals discussed the need to improve access to markets as a priority area to enhance the well-being and livelihoods of households. Proposed actions included training households in the production of quality products, strengthening linkages to markets, improving transportation, lobbying the government for better road and market infrastructure, and facilitating the establishment of market information centers. 8 These actions may be further explored to identify opportunities to improve market access and therefore open up entry points to increase dietary diversity and improve nutrition."}

main/part_2/0363928875.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"540c6421d8fc12ce74cd58f1de76c62b","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/c65d98f0-2e78-45bf-bed5-935bdd1b787b/retrieve","id":"1468785075"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9a92a29c-781f-4b9c-bf90-d1f0e84575a8","content":"Water resources development has played a significant role in the expansion of agriculture and industry in the Olifants River Catchment. However, currently, water resources are severely stressed and water requirements continue to grow. Water deficit is one of the major constraints hampering development in the catchment; both the mining and agricultural sectors are producing below optimal levels because of their reliance on insufficient supplies. Furthermore, the colonial and apartheid regimes have left a legacy of inequity. There is inadequate water supply to many households and now there is a considerable effort to improve the basic supply in lots of places. Against this background, the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model was applied to evaluate: i) an 'historic' (1920-1989) scenario of water resources development; ii) a 'baseline ' (1995) scenario of current water demand; and iii) a set of three plausible 'future' (2025) scenarios. For each scenario, the WEAP model was used to simulate water use in five different sectors (rural, urban, mining, commercial forestry and irrigation) over a 70-year period of varying rainfall and flow. For the 'baseline' and 'future' scenarios, levels of assured supply were estimated for each sector and, based on water productivity data, the economic cost of failing to provide water was predicted. Current shortfalls are estimated to cost between US$6 and US$50 million per year, depending on rainfall and hence river flows. If increases in demand are not checked this cost will increase significantly. Under a high demand scenario, the economic benefits increase greatly but, even with infrastructure development and improvements in water conservation, the financial cost of water supply failures rises to US$10.5 million in most years and, in exceptionally dry years, up to US$312 million. The study illustrates the value of scenarios to provide insight for resource planning and to evaluate different options for meeting future water demand.vi 1 Optimizing water use for the benefit of people must take into account a wide range of often competing requirements, including domestic needs, industry and agriculture as well as the requirements of communities dependent on natural resources and the needs of aquatic ecosystems. Good management of water resources should be based on an insight into the evolution of past water use, as well as an understanding of current demand and an awareness of possible future trends (Molle 2003).Water allocation models estimate the quantity of water available to different users within a river basin at different times. Over the last 30 to 40 years major advances have been made in their development and they are increasingly used to assist in the planning and management of complex water resource systems (Jamieson 1996). These models are of use because they help support the analysis of allocation problems involving complicated hydrological, environmental and socioeconomic constraints and conflicting management objectives (McCartney 2007). They allow policymakers and managers to gain insight into the potential consequences of policy changes, changes to physical infrastructure and changes in processes that affect runoff (e.g., those due to land-use modifications). They can also help set the expectations of different water users with respect to the reliability and security of supply, which can help secure investment in water dependent enterprises (Etchells and Malano 2005). In some instances models have been integrated within an economic framework, thereby\"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.\"George Santayana (1863Santayana ( -1952) ) enabling an assessment of the potential economic consequences of different options used for the management of water resources (e.g., Rosegrant et al. 2000).In this study, the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model was used to investigate scenarios of water demand in the Olifants River Catchment in South Africa. Scenarios are commonly used to investigate complex systems that are inherently unpredictable or insufficiently understood to enable precise predictions. In this instance, although there is reasonable, but not total, knowledge of current (i.e., 1995) water demand, there is considerable uncertainty about future water needs. Furthermore, just as future demand is uncertain, the lack of monitoring and consequent paucity of data, make it impossible to discern historic water demand exactly. Consequently, this study comprised three components:(i) development of a scenario of 'historic' water demand in the catchment from 1920 to 1989;(ii) development of a 'baseline' scenario, based on estimates of water demand in 1995; and(iii) development of three scenarios of 'future' water demand, based on plausible projections of water use in 2025.demand over time, allows an assessment of water resources development in the context of varying demand and provides insight into how the current situation was attained (i.e., how we got to where we are). The 'baseline' scenario, which was based on demand estimates for 1995, but for which there remains uncertainty because of lack of data, provides a reference (i.e., where we are currently) against which future change may be assessed. Since the future is very unpredictable, three alternative 'future' scenarios were developed. These three scenarios reflect alternative paths for water resources development in the catchment (i.e., where we are going). Each scenario illustrates the possible effect of different water demand trajectories. These scenarios are not the only possibilities for future water resources development in the catchment and, currently, it is not possible to attach probabilities to them. Nevertheless, they are of value because they provide a basis for discussion and, by evaluating different options for meeting possible future water demand, a framework for strategic planning. To this end, the implications of constructing new infrastructure and implementing improved water conservation and demand management measures were determined for each scenario.This report describes how each of the scenarios was developed and the assumptions which underpin them. Application of the WEAP model enabled quantitative assessments of each scenario. Since year-to-year variation is important for water management and needs to be considered, 70-years of monthly time step flow and rainfall data were used to mimic natural hydrological variation. The demands of the scenarios were superimposed on these time series. For the baseline and future demand scenarios, levels of assurance for supply under the different conditions simulated were calculated. By combining water productivity data with simulated estimates of unmet demand, the approximate economic cost of failing to supply water was estimated in each scenario. Although economic efficiency alone should not guide decisions about water resources development 1 , these data nevertheless provide a useful starting point for comparison of alternatives.The following section of this report describes the natural characteristics and economic and water resources development in the catchment. The Reserve, an important component of the National Water Act (1998) with significant implications for water resources development, is described and a brief overview of water allocation in South Africa is presented. The following chapter describes the WEAP model and its configuration to the Olifants River Catchment. The subsequent chapters describe the historic, baseline and future scenarios. In each case, the scenarios are described, the results are presented and the economic implications are assessed. The final section comprises concluding remarks.1 Other factors that need to be considered include issues of equity, requirements for social development and the possible environmental and health impacts.The Olifants River is a major tributary of the Limpopo River. The river rises at Trichardt, to the east of Johannesburg, in the province of Gauteng, and flows northeast, through the provinces of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, into Mozambique (Figure 1). The Letaba River (catchment area of 3,264 square kilometers (km 2 )) joins the Olifants River just before it flows into Mozambique. However, the Letaba Catchment is not included in the Olifants Water Management Area (WMA) 2 . For this reason and because most previous studies have not included the Letaba River, the current study focused on the area (54, 475 km 2 ) of the Olifants WMA, hereafter simply referred to as the 'Olifants Catchment'.The geology of the catchment is complex. Granite is the most dominant rock type, but dolerite intrusions, in the form of dikes and sills, are common (DWAF 1991). An escarpment running approximately north-south separates the highveld (i.e., land above 1,200 meters (m)) from the lowveld (i.e., land below 800 m) (Figure 1). The climate of the catchment is largely controlled by the movement of air-masses associated with the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. For this reason, rainfall is seasonal and largely occurs during the summer months, October to April. The mean annual rainfall is in the range of 500 to 800 millimeters (mm) over most of the catchment, but exceeds 1,000 mm in the mountains and in places along the escarpment (Figure 2). However, the temporal pattern of rainfall is irregular with coefficients of variation greater than 0.25 across most of the catchment (McCartney et al. 2004). Evaporation varies across the catchment but is highest in the north and west. The mean annual potential evapotranspiration (estimated by the Penman-Monteith method) for the catchment is 1,450 mm. Runoff from the catchment reflects the temporal and spatial distribution of the rainfall with the greatest volumes in the south and along the escarpment Mean annual rainfall in mm (Source: developed from data in Schulze et al. 1997). Graphs show mean monthly rainfall in mm at selected rain gauges (Source: data provided by the DWAF). (Figure 3). The average annual runoff from the catchment is 37.5 mm (i.e., 6% of the average annual rainfall), which equates to 2,040 million cubic meters (Mm 3 ). However, there is considerable inter-annual variation and consecutive years where flow is below the mean annual discharge are a common occurrence (McCartney et al. 2004).The population of the Olifants River Catchment is estimated to be approximately 3.2 million, of which approximately two-thirds live in rural areas (Magagula et al. 2006). The major urban centers are Witbank and Middelburg (Figure 1). It is estimated that activities within the catchment, many of which are highly dependent on water, generate between 5 and 6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of South Africa. Economic ventures are diverse and include mining, power generation, metallurgic industries, irrigation, dryland and subsistence agriculture, and ecotourism. However, there are wide variations in economic development throughout the catchment and large inequities in domestic and productive water use between areas that were formerly \"homelands\" under the apartheid regime and the rest of the catchment (Magagula et al. 2006;Cullis and van Koppen 2007;van Koppen n.d.). Currently, as throughout the rest of South Africa, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) is making a concerted effort to improve domestic water supplies in many areas (DWAF 2003a). Mean annual runoff across the Olifants Catchment.3Flow that would occur in the catchment if there were no human interventions (i.e., virgin land cover and no water resource development).Source: Derived from WR90 data. The main economic activity is concentrated in the mining and industrial centers of Witbank and Middelburg in the south, and near Phalaborwa in the east. The total area of rainfed cultivation is estimated to be 945,948 hectares (ha) (CSIR 2003). This compares with an estimated irrigated area of approximately 110,240 ha (McCartney et al. 2004). Extensive irrigation occurs in the vicinity of the Loskop Dam, along the lower reaches of the Olifants River, in the vicinity of its confluence with the Blyde River, as well as in the Steelpoort Valley and the Upper Ga-Selati catchment. Much of the central and northwestern areas (former homelands in the apartheid era) are largely undeveloped, but have high rural populations, many of whom are highly dependent on the income from migrant workers. Commercial forestry occurs in some of the higher rainfall areas, particularly in the Upper Blyde Catchment. Just before the border with Mozambique, the Olifants River is one of the principal rivers flowing through, and hence maintaining the ecology of, the Kruger National Park, which receives more than one million visitors a year.Water resources development has played a prominent role in the economic development of the catchment. Over the last century there has been substantial state investment in water resource infrastructure. There are 37 major dams (i.e., reservoir capacity greater than 2 Mm 3 ) and approximately 300 minor dams (i.e., reservoir capacity 0.1 to 2 Mm 3 ). In addition, it is estimated that there are between 3,000 and 4,000 small dams (i.e., reservoir capacity less than 0.1 Mm 3 ), most of which were constructed for livestock watering and irrigation. Currently, the cumulative storage of dams in the catchment is estimated to be approximately 1,480 Mm 3 (i.e., 73% of the mean annual runoff) (McCartney et al. 2004). Groundwater resources in the catchment are used for partial fulfilment of agricultural and mining requirements. The greatest utilization is in the northwest of the catchment where high yields, in the order of 30-20 liters per second (ls) -1 , are obtained from dolomite. Here the groundwater is used extensively for irrigation and domestic supply. The mines are increasingly utilizing groundwater, but, currently, the extent of utilization is not very clear. For the whole of the Olifants Catchment, the annual utilizable quantity of groundwater is estimated to be approximately 250 Mm 3 , of which between 75 and 100 Mm 3 are currently abstracted (McCartney et al. 2004). Within the catchment, water requirements are growing rapidly with the development of mines and increasing power generation, and domestic demand. An assessment of water requirements and availability in the catchment indicates that deficits occur in most years (DWAF 2003b). The deficits occur, in part, because it is a requirement of the National Water Act (1998) that contemporary water resource planning makes provision for a Reserve to ensure both basic human needs and to protect aquatic ecosystems (see section, The Reserve). The water 'deficit' means that the Reserve is currently not being fully met. Furthermore, water is not being supplied to users at the level of assurance that the DWAF would like and curtailments are necessary. The Limpopo Province Economic Development Strategy reveals that the lack of regular water supply is one of the major constraints hampering development in the region and both the mining and agriculture sector are producing at below optimal levels because of reliance on insufficient supplies (Cambridge Resources International 2003). There is a widely recognized need to manage water resources in the catchment more effectively to ensure the sustainability of agriculture and secure the livelihoods of people.Key principles of the National Water Act (1998) are sustainability and equity. The Act asserts that, in conjunction with using water resources to promote social and economic development, it is essential to protect the environment to ensure that the water needs of present and future generations can be met. This is partly achieved by leaving enough water (i.e., a reserve) in a river to maintain its ecological functioning. To this end, the Reserve is the only water right specified in the National Water Act. As such, it has priority over all other uses of water and must strictly be met before water resources can be allocated to other uses. The Reserve comprises two parts:• the basic human needs reserve (i.e., water for drinking and other domestic uses); and• the ecological reserve (i.e., water to protect aquatic ecosystems).A comprehensive study has been undertaken to determine the Reserve for the Olifants Catchment (Louw and Palmer 2001;Palmer 2001aPalmer , 2001bPalmer , 2001c)). The study focused primarily on estimating flow quantities, although there was also limited consideration of water quality issues. An assessment of the extent to which local rural communities are dependent on a healthy river ecosystem was also conducted (Joubert 2001) 4 . The latter was used to assist in identifying the desired ecological condition of the river at key locations.The study divided the catchment into three zones: the Upper, Middle and Lower Olifants. Flow requirements were determined through detailed studies conducted at 17 sites, located both on the main river and tributaries (Figure 4). The sites were carefully selected for their representativeness of instream and riparian habitat. For each site, requirements of the Reserve were determined with cognizance of both the need to maintain the Olifants as a \"working river\" for industry, mining and agriculture as well as the need to protect valuable ecosystems, particularly in the lower reaches of the catchment (Louw and Palmer 2001). At each site, a 70-year time series  of environmental flow requirements (monthly time step) was developed using the Building Block Methodology, which replicates key components of the natural flow variability (King et al. 2000).  This was based on group discussions, interviews and the distribution of questionnaires among various user groups. The duration and magnitude of reliance on the river was ranked to provide an overall indication of the significance of the river on the daily lives of the local community.  The environmental flow requirements vary from year to year, depending on rainfall, but overall the flows recommended for the long-term ecological maintenance of the Olifants River constitute between 15.7 and 33.5 percent of the mean annual flow. At IFR 16, located within the Kruger National Park, the total requirement of the Reserve is estimated to be 394 Mm 3 (i.e., about 20% of the natural mean annual runoff from the catchment). However, analyses show that dry season environmental flow requirements represent a significantly greater proportion (i.e., exceptionally up to 78%) of the natural river flow.At present, water allocation in South Africa is the responsibility of the DWAF. However, it is envisaged that in future this will revert to Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs). Source Directed Controls have been established as a framework to regulate water use and minimize the negative impacts of human water use on water sources (DWAF 2007). Key amongst these measures are authorizations and entitlements to utilize water resources in an equitable and sustainable manner. Under the National Water Act an entitlement is granted for a particular water use for a specified time, with attached conditions. Entitlements may or may not require licenses but, with the exception of the Reserve (see section, The Reserve) and small volumes abstracted for household use (regarded as low impact), all entitlements must be formally authorized. In future, water allocation plans that set out the amounts and conditions for use will be established for all WMAs (DWAF 2007).To address past imbalances in allocations that occurred during the apartheid era, a process of allocation reform and water reallocation is being undertaken (DWAF 2005b). A key mechanism for this process is compulsory licensing of all existing and potential water uses. This procedure, which has been initiated in the Olifants Catchment through a survey of existing lawful use, aims to determine where reallocation is necessary to achieve a fairer distribution of resources compared to what has occurred in the past. The reallocation of water is intimately linked to the land reform process, which is also being undertaken in the country to redress the inequities that occurred during the apartheid era (Hall 2004). In some places there has been reallocation of land and water from commercial farmers to smallholders and many believe that this form of redistribution should increase in the future. However, currently, it is envisaged that overall future water entitlements for irrigation will, for the most part, remain the same as those of the present landowner (DWAF 2007). It is anticipated that mechanisms for water trading, similar to those created in Australia (Turral et al. 2005), will be established in the future to facilitate temporary and permanent reallocation, not only within the agricultural sector but also between sectors.In order to be useful, water allocation models must accurately represent the significant features of water resource systems within catchments. Ideally they should simulate: i) availability of water, including variability and storage behavior; ii) water demand (i.e., the behavior of water users); and iii) the water allocation framework, including entitlements, processes and rules (Etchells and Malano 2005). This section describes how the WEAP model was configured for the Olifants River Catchment and its application to the different scenarios.Developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), the WEAP model was designed to be used to evaluate planning and management issues associated with water resources development. It can be applied to both municipal and agricultural systems and can address a wide range of issues including: sectoral demand analyses, water conservation, water rights and allocation priorities, streamflow simulation, reservoir operation, ecosystem requirements and cost-benefit analyses (SEI 2001). The WEAP model has two primary functions (Yates et al. 2005):• simulation of natural hydrological processes (e.g., evapotranspiration, runoff and infiltration) to enable assessment of the availability of water within a catchment; and• simulation of anthropogenic activities superimposed on the natural system to influence water resources and their allocation (i.e., consumptive and non-consumptive water demands) to enable evaluation of the impact of human water use.To allow simulation of water utilization, the elements that comprise the water demand-supply system and their spatial relationship are characterized for the catchment under consideration. The system is represented in terms of its various water sources (e.g., surface water, groundwater and water reuse elements), withdrawal, transmission, reservoirs, wastewater treatment facilities, and water demands (i.e., user-defined sectors, but typically comprising industry, mines, irrigation and domestic supply, etc.). A graphical interface facilitates visualization of the physical features of the system and their layout within the catchment.The WEAP model essentially performs a mass balance of flow sequentially down a river system, making allowance for abstractions and inflows. To simulate the system, the river is divided into reaches. The reach boundaries are determined by points in the river where there is a change in flow as a consequence of the confluence with a tributary, or an abstraction or return flow, or where there is a dam or a flow gauging structure. Typically, the WEAP model is applied by configuring the system to simulate a recent 'baseline' year, for which the water availability and demands can be confidently determined. The model is then used to simulate alternative scenarios to assess the impact of different development and management options. The model optimizes water use in the catchment using an iterative Linear Programming Algorithm, the objective of which is to maximize the water delivered to demand sites according to a set of user-defined priorities. All demand sites are assigned a priority between 1 and 99, where 1 is the highest priority and 99 is the lowest. When water is limited, the algorithm is formulated to progressively restrict water allocation to those demand sites that have been given the lowest priority. More details of the model are available in Yates et al. (2005) and SEI (2001).In South Africa the primary water management unit is the 'quaternary catchment' and the DWAF has made a considerable effort to collate information on water resources for all these catchments. Within the Olifants Catchment there are 114 quaternary catchments. In this study, the analyses conducted using the WEAP model were underpinned by data for these catchments. However, although theoretically possible, limited computer power made it impractical for the WEAP model to simulate each quaternary catchment separately that the most important tributaries (i.e., the Steelpoort and Blyde) were simulated individually. Second, because it facilitated model calibration, since five of the sub-catchments have flow gauging stations located at their outlets (see section, Model Calibration). Figure 5 is a schematic representation of the system as it was configured, showing the quaternary catchments incorporated in each of the sub-catchments in the WEAP model (WB1 to WB8). For the eight subcatchments in the WEAP model estimates were made of water resources. Water abstraction and net demand 6 were estimated for five different sectors: rural, urban, mining, commercial forestry and irrigation.In this study, data on water resources were obtained from a variety of sources, but primarily from the DWAF. Naturalized river flow and rainfall data were taken from the WR90 study, which was a national five-year project undertaken in South Africa to provide baseline hydrological data for water resources planning and development (Midgeley et al. 1994). This study provided a 70year time series for quaternary catchments for the period 1920 to 1989. For the current study, these data were combined (using areal weighted averages for rainfall and by summing for the flow) to provide time series estimates (on a monthly time step) for rainfall and naturalized flow for each sub-catchment in the WEAP model (Table 2).Given the large number of dams (see section, Economic and Water Resources Development), it was not possible to simulate all the reservoirs located in the Olifants Catchment individually. However, in the current study, reservoirs with a capacity greater than 25 Mm 3 were explicitly incorporated in the model. Details of the nine reservoirs which exceeded this capacity were obtained from the DWAF Dam Safety Register (Table 3). These nine reservoirs have a total capacity of nearly 1,005 Mm 3 (i.e., 68% of the estimated total reservoir storage in the catchment). The DWAF has not formalized rule curves for the dams in the Olifants Catchment yet. Currently, each dam is operated independently, based, to a large extent, on expert judgment. As a result, no operating rules were available for the dams. Consequently, with the exception of the Blyderivierspoort Dam, no operating rules were incorporated within the WEAP model. This meant that the reservoirs were not drawn down to attenuate wet season floods and no restrictions were applied on abstractions as the reservoirs emptied. Because the Blyderivierspoort Dam, which is located on the highest flowing tributary, is used for flood 6In this report the term net demand is used synonymously with consumption (i.e., the volume of water abstracted and not returned to the hydrological system of the catchment). Schematic of the quaternary catchments comprising each of the eight sub-catchments in the WEAP model (WB1 to WB8). Inset map shows configuration of the WEAP model and the five gauging stations (B1H005, etc.) which were used for the model validation.Flows from Letaba River (B83E)control, a simple rule that did draw the reservoir down prior to the wet season was applied to this dam. However, this was an assumed curve, which was not verified by the DWAF. For each dam, stage-volume and stage-area curves were obtained from the DWAF. Net evaporation from the reservoirs (i.e., the difference between monthly evaporation and precipitation) was computed from rainfall and estimates of potential open water evaporation data derived from Schulze et al. (1997).It is estimated that there are close to 10,000 operating boreholes in the Olifants Catchment. A DWAF database includes an estimate of the proportion of groundwater that is utilizable in each quaternary catchment. The proportion that is utilizable is defined as a function of ease of extraction and water quality constraints (McCartney et al. 2004). An estimate of the total sustainable groundwater yield for each subcatchment in the WEAP model was determined by summing the estimated utilizable groundwater resource from the quaternary catchments located in each sub-catchment (Table 4). In relation to the sub-catchments in the WEAP model, groundwater abstraction is highest in WB3 and WB4. In the former it is believed that it primarily supplements irrigation, whilst in the latter it is primarily used to Notes:1 Derived as area-weighted average from WR90 rainfall zones (Source: Midgeley et al. 1994).2 Derived as accumulated WR90 naturalized flow from quaternary catchments (Source: Midgeley et al. 1994). The DWAF has established a comprehensive database of water demand and use throughout South Africa. This database, known as the Water Situation Assessment Model (WSAM), provides data for all quaternary catchments for the year 1995 (Schultz and Watson 2002). In the current study, this database was used to estimate the demands within each sub-catchment for the 'baseline' scenario and provided the basis for modifying demands for both the 'historic' and 'future' scenarios. It had been hoped to use an updated version of the database for the year 2000, but this was unavailable at the time the modeling was conducted.Five water-use sectors were simulated in the WEAP model. These were irrigation, mining, rural, urban and commercial forestry. Within the Olifants Catchment, there is also a large demand from the power sector for cooling water. This is estimated to be 188.8 Mm 3 per year. However, this demand is largely met through inter-basin transfers from the Vaal, Inkomati and Usutu catchments (McCartney et al. 2004). Most of the water is transferred directly to reservoirs located at the power stations and leaves the catchment as evaporation. Consequently, it is believed to have a negligible impact on the net water resources of the catchment and so was not simulated within the WEAP model. Data on water demand in 1995 for each of the sectors were obtained from the WSAM database. The data for each sub-catchment in the WEAP model were derived by summing the relevant data from the quaternary catchments located within that sub-catchment. The WSAM database contains information that enables calculation of both gross and net demand for each sector. In the current study, with the exception of irrigation, all demands were entered into the WEAP model as net demand. For irrigation, the demands were entered as gross demand, but with an estimate of the return flow. Table 5 describes and presents the net demand for each sector incorporated within the WEAP model simulation.Inter-and intra-annual differences in irrigation demand were computed based on variations in rainfall. For each sub-catchment an equation was developed to estimate the irrigation demand as a function of rainfall. Similarly, for commercial forestry, intra-annual variation was simulated by altering the percentage of annual demand, in each month, to reflect variations in soil moisture. Further details are provided in McCartney et al. (2005). Rural water demand encompasses all domestic water requirements outside of urban areas. 74It includes stockwatering and subsistence irrigation on small rural garden plots. Domestic and stockwater requirements are based on per capita consumption rates derived from the WSAM database. Domestic use varies from 32 to 113 lpcpd with an average of 84 lpcpd for the whole of the Olifants. Livestock consumption was estimated to be 42 lpcpd. Return flows are believed to be negligible, so the total requirement is the same as the net demand. It was assumed that there was no intra-annual variation.The urban water demand encompasses industrial, commercial, institutional and municipal 28 water requirements. Within the WSAM database the domestic water demand is determined based on per capita consumption related to a household classification system. Thus, demand varies from 320 lpcpd for big houses to 10 lpcpd for shantytown houses supplied by communal taps. Within the WEAP model the total consumptive water requirement (i.e., that which is consumed and does not contribute to sewage/effluent) was used. No allowance was made for changes to water quality in returning effluents.Afforestation impacts the hydrology of the catchment by increasing 54 forestry evapotranspiration (and so reducing runoff) relative to indigenous vegetation.It is this flow reduction characteristic that was simulated as a demand within the WEAP model. Annual demand was estimated from the WSAM database based on volume per hectare of forest in each quaternary catchment.As described above (section Model Description), water allocation is simulated in the WEAP model using priorities to curtail certain water uses during periods of scarcity. In the past, demands have been considerably affected by entitlements and these were incorporated into the historic scenario implicitly. It is also likely that future demands will be increasingly influenced by water entitlements. However, since the water demands within each sector were lumped for each sub-catchment, it was not possible to simulate specific authorizations and license conditions in the current study.The priority for the demand sites were set on the basis of not only the true priorities within the catchment (i.e., between different sectors), but also the probable realities of upstreamdownstream allocation. Hence, priorities were progressively lowered with increasing distance downstream (Table 6). The exceptions were sub-catchments WB4 and WB6. Since these are separate sub-catchments (i.e., located off the main-stem of the river) the demands within these catchments were assumed to be separate and not directly affected by upstream use. In all the sub-catchments, forestry was given priority one, because, as discussed in Table 5, it is a flow reduction activity rather than a true demand. All dams were given priority 51 (i.e., lower than all the demand sites), which meant that, at any given time, keeping the reservoirs full was of less importance than meeting demands. This is unlikely to be the case in reality, since limits would have been placed on demands during periods of water shortage. However, since the dam operating rules were not available from the DWAF none were included.The complexity of water allocation models and the fact that they are required to simulate human behavior (i.e., to reflect changes in demand) in addition to physical processes means that model calibration and validation is extremely difficult and has often been neglected in the past (Etchells and Malano 2005). In this study an attempt was made to calibrate the WEAP model using observed flow data obtained from the five gauging stations located on the main stem of the Olifants River (Figure 5). These flows integrate the impact of climate, changes in demand, water resource development and land-use within a catchment. Calibration involved changes to model parameters to better simulate the historic scenario. These included changing assumptions about the pattern of historic demand, altering demand priorities, modifying the operating rules of the Blyderivierspoort Dam and including environmental flow requirements, to improve the fit between simulated and observed flows.  As there is no automatic routine for calibration within the WEAP model, changes were implemented and tested manually, by trial and error; a time consuming task. Calibration was based primarily on visual comparison of the simulated and observed time series and mean monthly flows. Since the data records for the gauging stations cover different periods of time, the stations used for different time periods varied. The oldest record extends back to October 1948, hence there was no calibration of the model before this date.For the calibration, just two environmental flow locations were included. One in the Kruger National Park and one immediately upstream of gauging station B5H002. The first reflected a true environmental flow, since attempts were made to maintain a baseflow of 0.57 m 3 s-1 through the Park from the 1940s onwards. The second was introduced simply to improve the low flow simulation at gauge B5H002. As such it does not represent a genuine environmental flow requirement, but rather the reality that demand allocation upstream of B5H002 was not completely optimized. Both environmental flow sites were given priority one.Figure 6 is a comparison of the simulated and observed flow at each of the five gauging stations. Both the monthly time series and the mean monthly flows are presented for the period that each gauging station was operating.There is very good agreement between the observed and simulated hydrographs at two of the gauging stations, B5H002 and B7H009 (Figures 6e to 6h). Certainly in relation to the mean monthly flows, the WEAP model performed well.For these two stations the percentage error in the simulated mean annual flow is less than 3 percent (Table 7). At B1H005, based on the 17 years of complete data, the percentage error in the simulated mean annual flow is just over 20 percent (Table 7). At this station the simulation of the dry season recession is good, but there is a tendency for the wet season flows to be too high (Figure 6b). Given that there are no large reservoirs upstream of this location, the model fit could only be improved by better simulation of wet season demands, but no additional information was available to enable this.The simulation at B3H001 and B7H015 is poor. At both stations the WEAP model significantly overestimates the flow, particularly in the wet season. At B3H001, there may be a problem with the observed flows. Although the record extended from 1966 to 1989, only 13 years of complete data were available and the record indicates that missing data are often associated with high flow periods (Figure 6c). Even when available, the measured flows in the wet season appear very low (given the size of the catchment). It is possible that there is some bypassing at this gauging station. Further attempts to improve the model fit at this location were believed to be unwarranted without further analysis and quality control of the observed flow series, which was beyond the scope of the current study. At B7H015, observed data are only available for two complete years, hence evaluation of model performance at this station is less meaningful than at the others. However, in one year, 1988, the model performed reasonably well (Figure 6i). More observed data are required    to make a fully objective assessment of the model performance at this location.Although impossible to quantify, there remains considerable uncertainty in the model output. This uncertainty arises from both uncertainties associated with the structure of the model and a lack of understanding (and data) of the complex processes being simulated. Many assumptions had to be made in all the scenarios simulated. The model could be improved but, overall, the results of the calibration were sufficiently encouraging to suggest that model outputs are at least indicative of the likely impacts of changes predicted in the scenarios. Nevertheless, the uncertainty (and the fact that it cannot be quantified) should be kept in mind when interpreting results of the model and findings of the study.In this study, a transient scenario is one in which demands change over the duration of the scenario. In comparison, an equilibrium scenario is one in which demands are fixed at a specific level throughout the duration of the scenario.An attempt was made to simulate historic water demand in the catchment for the period 1920 to 1989. This period was chosen because the WR90 naturalized flow and rainfall data series are available for input to the model (see section, Water Resources) and also because it represents the period of greatest water resource development in the catchment (van Koppen n.d.). This 'historic' water demand scenario was based on estimates of changes in demand within each sector over time and, as such, represents a 'transient' scenario 7 (Table 8). Changes in the irrigation demand were interpolated based on recorded estimates of irrigated area from 1955, 1968, 1988 and 1995. No allowance was made for changes in irrigation practices or crops grown over time (i.e., the demand per hectare and the proportion of return flows in each sub-catchment in the WEAP model were assumed constant). In the rural and urban sectors, changes in demand were based primarily on population growth. For the mining and commercial forestry sectors, very little data were available on temporal variation and thus changes were based primarily on perceptions of change over time (McCartney et al. 2005). The timing of dam construction and, for some dams (e.g., the Loskop and Witbank dams), the dates when they were raised were obtained from the DWAF Dam Safety Register (Table 3).Figure demands in the early part of the simulation (i.e., specifically the 1920s and possibly the 1930s) are most likely to be underestimated. However, for the most part it is believed to be a plausible representation of the changing net water demand in the catchment over time.The graph highlights: i) the general upward trend, driven primarily by increasing demand for irrigation, and ii) the considerable inter-annual variability in demand, arising from changes in irrigation demand, reflecting variability in rainfall. The five-year running mean shows two periods of more rapid rise in consumption. The first extended from approximately the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s and the second extended from approximately the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. The first, in particular, was driven by a rapid increase in irrigated area. However, net demand was exacerbated by drought. Within the 70-year period of simulation, the most severe drought occurred over the five years from 1961 to 1965 (McCartney et al. 2004). The lack of rain significantly increased irrigation demand and hence consumption in this period. In fact, this scenario indicates that the levels of irrigation consumption attained in 1965 (461 Mm 3 ) were not exceeded again until 1978 (476 Mm 3 ), another drought year. In the second period, increasing consumption was driven less by the rate of increase in irrigated area, which slowed considerably from the early 1970s (perhaps a consequence of lack of investment caused by economic recession) but was largely a consequence of droughts. Severe droughts in 1978Severe droughts in , 1981Severe droughts in -1982Severe droughts in and 1984Severe droughts in -1986, drove up irrigation demand in this period. Figure 8 compares the evolution of reservoir storage and the simulated net demand over time. It is based on the DWAF Dam Safety Register and shows the storage in all the major (but not all the minor) reservoirs in the catchment. These had a total storage of just under 1,200 Mm 3 in 1989.Reservoir storage does not equate to yield, but nonetheless it is interesting that dam construction in the 1930s and 1970s occurred after net demand outstripped storage, potentially leaving the catchment vulnerable to droughts. Analysis of evaporation from the reservoirs simulated in the WEAP model highlights another interesting result of the historic scenario. As would be expected, evaporation from reservoirs increased significantly as the amount of water stored increased over time. Extrapolating the results from the WEAP model to all reservoirs in  Note:1 No area was included in the baseline scenario because in the WSAM database smallholder irrigation is incorporated in the rural per capita demand.The baseline scenario was developed using demands in 1995 derived from the WSAM database (Table 5). As with the historic scenario, the simulation was conducted using the 70 years of naturalized flow and rainfall data derived from the WR90 study. However, in this case both the demands and storage (i.e., dams) were fixed at the 1995 level for the entire period. As such, the scenario represents an 'equilibrium' type scenario.Table 9 summarizes the key data underpinning the scenario. From the WSAM database, the average annual net demand for the whole catchment was estimated to be 744 Mm 3 . Tables 10 and 11 present the average annual net demand for each sector and each sub-catchment in the WEAP model, respectively. However, inter and intra-annual fluctuations in irrigation demand, arising from variations in rainfall, meant that the total annual net demand varied from 577 to 995 Mm 3 .From the WEAP model the unmet demand was determined for each sector for each month simulated. These data were summed to calculate the annual unmet demand for each of the 70 years of simulation. The frequency of occurrence of unmet demand is of more interest to planners than the mean annual unmet demand. Consequently, standard frequency analyses were applied to the 70-year series of unmet demand to determine the return periods for different magnitudes of shortfall. This involved fitting a statistical distribution to each series of annual unmet demand, ranked by the magnitude of shortfall. A number of different statistical distributions were tested and, though the one producing the best fit varied from one series to another, overall, a two-parameter log-normal equation proved the best for most series and hence was used in all cases. Figure 9 presents two examples of the statistical distributions fitted. Finally, the results were converted to assurance levels (i.e., volumes of water that can be guaranteed with different degrees of certainty). For each sector and each return period estimate, this was done by subtracting the shortfall from the demand (to give the volume that could be guaranteed) and converting the return period to a percentage level of assurance (e.g., return periods of two, five and 100 years are equivalent to assurance levels of 50, 80, and 99 percent, respectively). There is always some uncertainty associated with fitting statistical distributions. In this study this was particularly the case for those series in which failure to meet demand occurred in only a few years of the 70-year series. Consequently, the assurance levels are not precise, but in each case are indicative of the probability of satisfying demand in any year.Water productivity figures, expressed as rand m -3 , have been estimated for the Olifants Catchment based on an estimate of the gross geographical product (GGP) of the catchment (Prasad et al. 2006). The total GGP of the catchment is estimated to be 24,400 million rand (i.e., US$3,253 million), which equates to 9,478 rand (i.e., US$1,264 8 ) per capita. This compares to a per capita GGP of US$1,200 reported by Magagula and Sally (n.d.). Water productivity estimates have been derived for four sectors: agriculture, industry, mining, and water supply services (Table 12). These figures were determined by dividing each sector's contribution to GGP by the volume of water 'used' in that sector. For each sector, water is just one of many vital inputs and its relative importance may be small. For example, iron ore may make a much larger contribution than water to revenue generated by the steel industry. Furthermore, the  analysis only accounts for 'blue' water use (i.e., water abstracted from rivers or groundwater). In particular, for the agricultural sector it ignores the contribution made by rainfall. Nevertheless, GGP contributions determined with respect to blue water use provide an indication of the relative productivity of water supplied by DWAF for each sector (Prasad et al. 2006).The water productivity data were used to estimate the cost of failing to supply water (i.e., effectively foregone contributions to GGP arising from water shortages) to each of the sectors simulated in the WEAP model. Since the commercial forestry sector is rainfed it was not included in the analyses. For these analyses, all the rural demand was assumed to be for water supply. This almost certainly over-estimates the productivity of rural water use. An alternative would have been to use the agricultural sector value, but since rural water has multiple uses this would probably underestimate its true value. The urban demand was divided between water supply and industry based on direct (i.e., domestic demand) and indirect (i.e., industrial, commercial and institutional demands) demands as categorized in the WSAM database. economic analysis, based on the water productivity figures, indicates that, currently, the costs of failure to deliver water to the irrigation and mining sectors in the Olifants River Catchment range from approximately US$6 to US$50 million per year (i.e., 0.2 to 1.5 percent of current GGP), depending on how dry it is (Table 14). The largest losses are in the agriculture sector, simply because water supply to irrigation is of a lower priority than provision to the mining sector. Since most irrigation is taking place in sub-catchments WB2, WB3 and WB4, the greatest economic losses occur in these sub-catchments.In the scenario discussed above, environmental flows were simulated exactly as in the historic scenario (i.e., simply at two locations, with fixed baseflows). To assess the implications of fully implementing the Reserve, environmental flowTable 13 summarizes the results for the baseline scenario. The results indicate that in total 725, 706, and 639 Mm 3 can be provided with assurance levels of 50, 80, and 98 percent, respectively. The DWAF estimate the 'yield' of the catchment (i.e., the volume of water that can be guaranteed in 98% of years) to be 638 Mm 3 (Magagula et al. 2006). This corresponds very well with the estimate of 639 Mm 3 , obtained from the WEAP modeling, and provides confidence that the simulation in the WEAP model is reasonable. Shortfalls are experienced every year, predominantly in the irrigation sector (mean annual shortfall to irrigation is approximately 26 Mm 3), but also with small shortfalls in the mining sector. In this scenario, rural and urban supplies are assured at the 99.5 percent level (i.e., failure to supply these sectors would occur less than once in 200 years).The annual cost of unmet demand varies, depending on rainfall and hence river flows. The  15). Each was effectively included as a time series of additional demands with priority 1. The model was then rerun.Table 16 summarizes the results of the model for the baseline scenario with the Reserve implemented. These results indicate that, as would be expected, full implementation of the Reserve reduces the volumes of water that can be provided to other sectors at any particular level of assurance (i.e., unmet demand to other sectors increase). As well as increasing unmet demand in the irrigation and mining sectors, under current conditions full implementation of the Reserve would also result in shortfalls in both urban and rural supply (Table 16). It is for this reason that the DWAF is not currently implementing the Reserve fully, despite the fact that it is the number one priority by law.Table 17 shows that implementing the Reserve would increase the costs of failing to supply water to all sectors to be between approximately US$13 and US$78 million per year. This represents additional costs (i.e., above those already being incurred as a result of shortfalls) of between US$7 and US$29 million per year. These additional costs equate to just 0.2 to 0.9 percent of GGP, arguably a relatively small price to pay to safeguard the sustainability of the resource 9 .  Furthermore, this analysis of costs to other sectors makes no allowance for the benefits derived from full implementation of the Reserve, many of which are not valued by conventional markets (i.e., water-related environmental services, including water supply and maintenance of natural resources on which many poor rural communities depend).Although, currently, there is no agreement between South Africa and Mozambique on flows across the border, analyses show that one advantage of implementing the Reserve is that baseflows are likely to exceed what may, according to the DWAF, be agreed as minimum cross border discharge in the future (i.e., 5 percent of the monthly naturalized streamflow) (Arranz and McCartney 2007).Each of the future scenarios was developed from a mixture of quantitative and qualitative information relating to possible future trends in population and the potential changes within each sector that might occur prior to 2025. As such, each scenario represents a coherent and consistent description of a possible state of the future water demand in the Olifants Catchment. Discussions that took place with DWAF officials (including Beyers Havenga, the Chief Engineer responsible for water resource development in the Olifants River Catchment) and at a workshop (in March 2006) attended by a number of water resource experts, were used to test the assumptions made and validate the plausibility of each of the three scenarios. Some aspects were common to all three scenarios, including:• Full implementation of the Reserve. Since it is a legal requirement, and of the highest priority for the DWAF, it was assumed that the Reserve will be fully implemented in 2025. Consequently, environmental flow requirements at six locations were simulated within the WEAP model with priority one (Table 15).• No increase in commercial irrigation. The DWAF does not foresee any significant increase in commercial irrigation in the future. Where land is transferred from commercial to smallholder farmers, the total water allocation should stay the same (see section, Water Reallocation). The one exception being that a small number of entitlements will be issued for new and revitalized smallholder irrigation schemes 10 .• No significant land-use change. The Olifants is regarded by the DWAF as a 'mature' catchment, with little scope for significant land-use change. Development of additional commercial forestry is currently prohibited. It is possible that new forestry practices currently being implemented (e.g., the clearance of buffer strips alongside river channels) will reduce the impact of forestry and improve flows slightly.• No significant increase in livestock. The DWAF does not foresee significant changes in livestock numbers.The key assumptions made in each of the scenarios are summarized in Table 18.Table 19 summarizes the statistics used as the basis for water demand in each of the three future scenarios. Tables 20 and 21 present the average annual net demand for each sector and each sub-catchment in the WEAP model, respectively. Figure 10 shows the three future scenarios relative to the historic and baseline scenarios. As with the baseline scenario actual net demand varied from year to year, depending on rainfall and hence requirements for irrigation. Over the 70 years of simulation it varied from 652 to 1,070 Mm 3 for the low demand scenario, from 726 to 1,145 Mm 3 for the medium demand scenario and from 906 to 1,325 Mm 3 for the high demand scenario. Although unquantifiable, because uncertainties in the model are common to all the scenarios, their significance lies in 10The Revitalization of Small-scale Irrigation Systems (RESIS) program is currently being implemented across the Limpopo Region. The objective of this program is to reinstate failed smallholder irrigation schemes. The total area that will be revitalized is currently unclear and depends, to a large extent, on studies being conducted to assess the sustainability of individual schemes. The future scenarios assumed different areas of irrigation rehabilitated from this program. Comparison of water demand in the Olifants River Catchment for the past, baseline and future scenarios. ) the relative differences between them. Figure 11 presents the estimated GGP of each scenario. These were estimated by adding additional economic benefits, derived from each sector, to the baseline GGP, assuming that water Summary of the key assumptions made in each of the future scenarios.Low demand • A slowing of both rural and urban population growth, in comparison to that experienced from 1996 to 2001 (i.e., varying between sub-catchments, but with an average across the whole catchment of 1.35% per annum).• Per capita demand remains constant for both rural and urban users (i.e., averages across the catchment of 85 and 133 lpcpd, respectively).• A small increase in smallholder irrigation (1,839 ha) largely arising through the RESIS program.For consistency with the baseline scenario this was added to the rural demand.• Some mines close and some open. No net increase in coal mining, but an increase in platinum group metal mines particularly in WB3. Overall, the number of active mines in the catchment increases from 93 to 118.• New practices in commercial forestry are effective. The impact is equivalent to reducing the area of forestry from 40,000 to 38,000 ha.Medium demand • Both rural and urban populations grow at the same rate as the growth between 1996 and 2001 (i.e., varying between sub-catchments, but with an average across the whole catchment of 1.85% per annum).• Per capita demand remains constant for both rural and urban users (i.e., averages across the catchment of 85 and 133 lpcpd, respectively).• An increase in smallholder irrigation of 3,679 ha largely arising through the RESIS program. For consistency with the baseline scenario this was added to the rural demand.• An increase in both coal and platinum group metal extraction. The total number of active mines in the catchment increases from 93 to 168.• New practices in commercial forestry only have a limited effect on runoff, so that the area under commercial forestry effectively remains constant at 40,000 ha.• Both rural and urban populations grow at a higher rate than the growth between 1996 and 2001. Urban populations increase significantly, particularly in towns located close to new mines. Rural populations also increase. It varies between sub-catchments but the average population increase across the whole catchment is 2.35% per annum.• Per capita demand increases, due to increases in both socioeconomic status and improvement in rural supply. In catchments where urban per capita demand is currently less than 200 lpcpd, this increases to 200 lpcpd. In rural areas net demand increases from 85 to 125 lpcpd.• An increase in smallholder irrigation of 7,357 ha largely arising through the RESIS program.For consistency with the baseline scenario this was added to the rural demand.• Much of the current geological exploration is successful resulting in significant increases in the number of both coal and platinum group metal mines. The number of active mines in the catchment increases from 93 to 225.• New practices in commercial forestry only have a limited effect on runoff, so that the area under commercial forestry effectively remains constant at 40,000 ha.demands in each scenario were fully met. Further details of the scenario development, including comparisons with those used by the DWAF for planning, are given in Arranz and McCartney (2007). Notes: 1 Differences between scenarios are based primarily on the varying success of the RESIS (rehabilitation) project in the Olifants Catchment. For consistency with the baseline scenario, increased net water demand was added to the rural component.2 These scenarios assume the same 'average' water use in mining as the baseline scenario. Comparison of estimated GGP for the baseline and each of the future scenarios.  Figure 12a provides a comparison of the total unmet demand (i.e., shortfall) for different return periods in each sector. Table 22 presents the estimates of water that can be supplied at different levels of assurance to each sector in each of the three scenarios. The results indicate that shortfalls occur every year, even in the low demand scenario. Irrigation suffers the most from shortfalls, as it is the sector that is given the lowest priority. Consequently, the greatest shortfalls are those in sub-catchments that have the greatest irrigation demand (i.e., WB2, WB3 and WB4). In the high demand scenario, shortfalls would occur in every sector virtually every year and no water can be guaranteed for irrigation at the 99 and 99.5 percent assurance levels. In the medium and the low demand scenarios, irrigation shortfalls occur every year. For these scenarios shortfalls also occur in the rural, urban and mining sectors above the 80 percent assurance level (i.e., demand in these sectors cannot be met at least one year in five). Table 23 presents the estimated economic cost associated with the shortfalls in water supply in each sector. Figure 13a shows the estimated GGP at different assurance levels. The results indicate that, depending on the rainfall and hence flow in the river, annual costs are likely to vary between US$23 and US$404 million and between US$92 and US$1,334 million for the low demand and high demand scenarios, respectively. Thus, in exceptionally dry years (200-year return period), economic losses due to insufficient water supply are likely to be in the order of 11 percent of GGP (US$3,653) in the low demand scenario and 27 percent of GGP (US$ 4,936) in the high demand scenario. In all the scenarios, in more extreme years, urban losses are similar to, or exceed, losses in the irrigation sector.  For each demand scenario an evaluation was made of the impact of both the likely future infrastructure development and water conservation and demand management measures that might be introduced in the catchment. For infrastructure development three changes were set up in the model:• The DWAF has recently (i.e., 2006) completed modification of the Flag Bosheilo Dam (located in sub-catchment WB3). By raising the dam by 5 m, the reservoir storage has been increased from 105 to 193 Mm 3 . Since this was completed after the 1995 baseline scenario, it was only incorporated in future scenarios.• The DWAF is in the process of building a large dam on the Steelpoort River (i.e., sub-catchment WB4), called the de Hoop Dam, which should be completed in 2008.In terms of storage (347 Mm 3 ) it will be the second largest reservoir in the catchment, after the Loskop Dam (374 Mm 3 ). The primary purposes of the dam are: i) to provide water for the mines; ii) to provide bulk water supplies for municipalities; and iii) to enable maintenance of the downstream ecological reserve (DWAF 2005a).• In addition to this dam the DWAF has conducted feasibility studies for a dam on the main stem of the Olifants River, called the Rooiport Dam (in subcatchment WB5). In the analyses conducted it was assumed that building of this dam (300 Mm 3 ) would also have been completed by 2025.The National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998) and the Water Services Act (Act 108 of 1997) have provided an enabling environment for the implementation of water conservation and demand management (WCDM) measures. The DWAF considers such measures to be an important approach to reconciling water demands and water resources in the Olifants Catchment. Potential savings for each sector are presented in Table 24. In the model runs, investigating WCDM, these savings were presumed to have been achieved by 2025.Tables 25 and 26 present the results of the model runs with the new infrastructure, for each of the future scenarios. The new infrastructure reduces unmet demands and increases assured supplies. Compared to the baseline scenario the greatest proportional impact of the infrastructure is at the higher assurance levels. Shortfalls still occur in both the irrigation and mining sectors in the low and medium demand scenarios, but in both cases rural and urban supplies can be assured at the 99.5 percent level (Figure 12b). In the high demand scenario full irrigation demand cannot be met, even at the 50 percent assurance  In the rural sector significant water losses due to the deficiency in the water supply infrastructure 20 and the existence of illegal connections have been found (Havenga, pers. comm.). Considerable savings are anticipated.In the urban sector the losses and illegal connections are less important than in rural areas 15 (Havenga, pers. comm.). Savings are anticipated, but these savings are not as great as in the rural sector.The mining sector is quite efficient in water use. At most mines, the water used in most 5processes is recycled. Consequently, only relatively small improvements are anticipated in this sector. level, and shortfalls in mining, rural and urban supplies occur at higher assurance levels (Figure 12b). As discussed previously, the costs of failing to supply water vary depending on rainfall and hence river flows (Figure 13b). The annual costs of failing to supply water are estimated to vary between US$2.6 to US$94 million (i.e., 0.07 to 2.6% of the potential GGP) for the low demand scenario and from US$28 to US$842 million (i.e., 0.6 to 17.1% of the potential GGP) for the high demand scenario.Tables 27 and 28 present the results of the model runs with WCDM measures implemented, in each of the future scenarios. In comparison to the implementation of new infrastructure, the WCDM measures have less impact at low assurance levels, but, since they are the assumed proportion of the demand have a significantly greater impact at high assurance levels. Shortfalls occur in the irrigation sector in both the low and medium demand scenarios, but in both cases rural supplies are assured at the 99.5 percent level (Figure 12c). In the high demand scenario full irrigation demand cannot be met, even at the 50 percent assurance level and shortfalls in mining, rural and urban supplies occur at higher assurance levels. As discussed previously, the costs of failing to supply water vary depending on rainfall and hence river flows (Figure 13c). The annual costs of failing to supply water are estimated to vary between US$11 and US$39 million (i.e., 0.3 to 1.1% of the potential GGP) for the low demand scenario and from US$44 to US$645 million (i.e., 0.9 to 13.1% of the potential GGP) for the high demand scenario.Tables 29 and 30 present the results of the model runs with both new infrastructure and WCDM measures implemented, in each of the future scenarios. As would be anticipated, the combination of new infrastructure and the implementation of WCDM measures result in better levels of supply than when only one or the other option is implemented. In this case, rural supplies are guaranteed (even at the 99.5% assurance level) even in the high demand scenario. However, shortfalls still occur in the urban sector in the high demand scenario and in irrigation and mining in all three scenarios, particularly during higher return period low flow events, but still occur every year for irrigation (Figure 12d). As discussed previously, the costs of failing to supply water vary depending on rainfall and hence river flows (Figure 13d). The annual costs of failing to supply water are estimated to vary between US$0.6 to US$14.7 million (i.e., 0.02 to 0.4% of the potential GGP) for the low demand scenario and from US$10.5 to US$312.2 million (i.e., 0.2 to 6.3% of the potential GGP) for the high demand scenario.  The demand for water in the Olifants River Catchment will change over the next twenty years. Future demand will depend, to a large extent, on population growth and changes that occur in different sectors as well as differing water use practices and government policies. Currently, it is impossible to forecast exactly how demand will change by 2025. To consider many of these different effects a scenario approach was used to investigate possible changes. These scenarios were used to investigate historic, current and future developments in water demand. Application of the WEAP model enabled quantitative assessments to be made. By linking model outputs with water productivity data it was possible to make preliminary estimates of the economic costs of each scenario. Although based on simple assumptions, these estimates are believed to be indicative of the economic costs and benefits of different water development strategies.It is unlikely that in practice the future will closely follow any one scenario. However, by illustrating what could occur under each scenario, information has been obtained that is useful for resource planning. The scenarios offer a platform for discussion. Key findings of the study are:(i) Past infrastructure development in the catchment has been driven, to a large extent, by the expansion of irrigation and mining. Though circumstantial, the evidence is that dams have been built following periods of drought, when demand outstripped supply.(ii) It varies from year to year, but current mean annual demand is estimated to be approximately 744 Mm 3 . Despite relatively low economic returns on the water used, irrigation is by far the largest user of water in the catchment. There is considerable inter-annual variability as a consequence of varying rainfall. With the exception of the revitalization of some smallholder schemes, the DWAF is currently prohibiting further development of irrigation. Future significant land-use changes in the catchment are unlikely. Evaporation from reservoirs is now the second largest anthropogenic 'use' of water in the catchment.(iii) The cost of shortfalls in water supply varies depending on rainfall and hence river flows in the catchment; volumes of unmet demand and, consequently, costs of failing to supply water increase dramatically during periods of drought. Current shortfalls in supply, primarily to the irrigation and mining sectors, are estimated to be costing (i.e., in terms of foregone contributions to GGP) between US$6 and US$50 million per year.(iv) To safeguard domestic rural and urban supplies, the DWAF is not currently fully implementing the Reserve. If it was fully implemented, under current conditions, the resultant increases in unmet demand in other sectors are estimated to cost an additional US$7 to US$29 million per year, again depending on rainfall. This represents between 0.2 and 0.9 percent of current GGP, arguably a small price to pay to safeguard the sustainability of the resource. Furthermore, this makes no allowance for the benefits (e.g., to poor rural communities) that implementation of the Reserve ensures.(v) The future scenarios indicate an increased water demand as a consequence of increasing population, domestic demand and mining activities. By 2025 average annual demand was predicted to increase to 818 Mm 3 in the low demand scenario and up to 1073 Mm 3 in the high demand scenario. In the absence of water resource development measures, annual economic losses, arising from the failure to supply water, of between US$23 and US$404 million per year (i.e., 0.6 to 11.0% of the potential GGP) and between US$92 andUS$1,334 million per year (i.e., 1.9 to 27.0% of the potential GGP) are estimated for the low and high demand scenarios, respectively.(vi) The construction of the dams proposed by the DWAF significantly increases water availability at all assurance levels, but has the greatest proportional impact at the highest assurance levels (i.e., during droughts). The dams alone would be sufficient to ensure rural and urban supplies at all assurance levels for both the low and medium demand scenarios. However, in these scenarios shortfalls still occur in both the irrigation and mining sectors in most years. In the high demand scenario, significant shortfalls occur in the irrigation and mining sectors in all the years and progressively at higher assurance levels in both the rural and urban sectors. Overall, the annual economic costs of supply failures are estimated to be in the range of US$2.6 to US$94 million (i.e., 0.07 to 2.6% of the potential GGP) for the low demand scenario and US$28 to US$842 million (i.e., 0.6 to 17.1% of the potential GGP) for the high demand scenario.(vii) The introduction of WCDM measures has slightly less impact than dam construction at lower assurance levels, but significantly greater impact at higher assurance levels. Shortfalls still occur, even in the low demand scenario, particularly in the irrigation sector. In the medium and high demand scenarios, shortfalls occur in the mining, rural and urban sectors as well as in irrigation. Overall, the annual economic costs of supply failures are estimated to be in the range of US$11 to US$39 million (i.e., 0.3 to 1.1% of the potential GGP) for the low demand scenario and US$44 million to US$645 million (i.e., 0.9 to 13.1% of the potential GGP) for the high demand scenario.(viii)A combination of new dam construction and the introduction of WCDM measures could improve the water resource situation in the low and medium demand scenarios to better levels than the current baseline. However, even with both sets of measures implemented, significant (and costly) shortfalls would still occur in the high demand scenario. Overall, the annual economic costs of supply failures are estimated to be in the range of US$0.6 to US$15 million (i.e., 0.02 to 0.4% of the potential GGP) for the low demand scenario and US$10.5 to US$312 million (i.e., 0.2 to 6.3% of the potential GGP) for the high demand scenario.The scenarios developed in this study are simplistic. No allowance was made for reallocation of water between sectors. It is likely that in future, as demand, and hence scarcity, in the catchment increases, there will be increased pressure to utilize water in the most economically efficient manner. Reallocation of water towards higher value uses is seen by many as a logical step in demand management and one that maximizes the economic welfare to be derived from alternate uses (World Bank 1993;Dinar and Subramanian 1997). However, clearly, careful consideration of political, regulatory, environmental, organizational and social issues is also required. This is particularly important in South Africa where the issue of past inequities must be addressed. The reallocation of commercial irrigation licenses to smallholders, which may occur through the land reform process, requires careful consideration not only because of equity implications, but also due to the likely economic and water resource impacts. Methods of environmental economics are improving and should be applied to determine the value (not just possible costs) of full implementation of the Reserve. To deal with the high levels of uncertainty in future demand, the DWAF should develop a flexible, phased approach to water resources development in the catchment. This should be underpinned by efforts to constrain demand.This study has demonstrated how relatively simple allocation models such as the WEAP model can be combined with simple economic analyses to provide at least indicative answers to important water resource questions. Further research is needed to improve the model and the scenarios developed. Work is required to: i) better assess model uncertainty and thereby improve the interpretation of model results; ii) evaluate the possible social and economic impacts of water reallocation between sectors; iii) evaluate possible policy and regulatory frameworks for improving water use efficiency and water reallocation; iv) assess the benefits (not only the costs) derived from implementation of the Reserve; v) assess the impacts of future development of groundwater resources and the implications on river flows; and vi) evaluate the possible impacts of climate change."}

main/part_2/0368136812.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2bcb92e41a1c51a17919ab4ea027bc62","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/0ffdf0dc-42b5-4250-9e99-ea85e49bb039/retrieve","id":"1303998369"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"893da1fb-9683-4d41-a2c1-41c1308532aa","content":"Rapid appraisal of the live cattle value chain Results of rapid appraisal Conclusions Recommendations References Tables Table 1. Livestock populations and regional distribution   Ethiopia is a largely rural country with an agrarian economy. Livestock are of economic and social importance both at the household and national levels, and have in the past provided significant export earnings. Although estimates vary widely, 1 livestock is thought to contribute 15-17% of Ethiopian gross domestic product (GDP), 35-40% of agricultural GDP and 37-87% of the household incomes; the large variations are due directly or indirectly to climatic variation. Livestock have multiple uses aside from income generation, including cash storage for those beyond the reach of the banking system, draught and pack services, and manure for fuel and fertilizer. In addition to these non-market values, a thriving informal export trade in live animals further emphasizes the significance, albeit unrecognized by official statistics, of livestock (and particularly cattle) in the Ethiopian economy.The country is ecologically diverse, featuring 18 distinct agroclimatic zones, but it has two major recognized livestock production systems: highland with predominantly mixed farming; and lowland pastoral and agropastoral systems. Ethiopia borders half a dozen countries in the Horn of Africa, and in all cases cultural, linguistic, clan and family links span the boundaries. Such connections employ physical and organizational trading arrangements that predate modern frontiers, and serve Middle Eastern markets for imported cattle and beef.Ethiopia's domestic meat consumption for 2006-07 has been estimated at 2.4 kg/capita per year for beef, 0.7 kg/ capita per year for sheep meat and 0.4 kg/capita per year for goat meat (Negassa and Jabbar 2008). Total meat consumption was close to 276 t in 2006-07, of which beef and mutton account for 68% and 21%, respectively. Pronounced differences have been identified between rural and urban patterns of meat consumption, particularly for beef (1.7 kg c.f. 7.0 kg, respectively) and mutton. Aside from economic factors, rural and urban consumption differences can be explained by social and demographic characteristics such as age structure and the rigour of adherence to religion-based fasting (Negassa and Jabbar 2008). Overall production for sale has proven difficult to estimate, but production and export volumes 2 indicate approximate self-sufficiency in beef, necessitating exports as an outlet for any future increases in production. However, meat production per head of livestock is low by the standards of other significant livestock producing African countries. For instance, de Haan (2003) shows that production of cattle meat in Ethiopia is just 8.5 kg/head of cattle per year, which is significantly lower than in Kenya and Senegal (21 and 16 kg,respectively).Although substantial numbers of cattle are kept for milk production, per capita annual consumption of milk and dairy products is just 22 kg of milk equivalent in Ethiopia, far below that of Sudan (160 kg) and Kenya (80 kg) (FAOSTAT 2010). Transport logistics confine dairy marketing to selected areas, with the exception of homeproduced butter.The Middle East has been the traditional destination for Ethiopia's formal export of live animals and meat, and remains the major export destination. This applies equally to formal trade as to informal trade. Of the total Ethiopian exports of livestock and livestock products valued at 300-455 million United States dollars (USD) annually (FAOSTAT 2010 and expert interviews), approximately USD 150-300 million pass through informal channels (based on Solomon et al. 2003).Despite the prominence of cattle in Ethiopian society and its economy, relevant qualitative and quantitative information is both scarce and subject to a variety of interpretations. Mobilizing cattle, and their supporting natural and human resource base, in a sustainable manner for development purposes is therefore a challenge that begins with identification of problems and opportunities about which there is limited agreement. It is in this context that the government of Ethiopia requested a diagnostic study, through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is supporting the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) to undertake a work program requested by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, to provide strategic input and technical assistance in several key areas of the country's agricultural sector.Using an extensive review of secondary materials, learning from a series of stakeholders' consultations, and participatory rapid assessments of market actors, this study analyses live cattle and beef marketing. It is focused on two of Ethiopia's major cattle trading routes, representing each of the agropastoral highland production systems and pastoral lowland production, and the respective routes taken by animals to market. The main objective is to diagnose problems based on quantitative measures, and identify associated policy strategies. The study team included local specialists, international management consultants, as well as researchers from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. The team not only interacted with the policymakers on emerging results but also triangulated the results with other experts in the country in the forms of both stakeholders' consultations and one-to-one interviews.The rest of the report is organized as follows. The next section summarizes existing information concerning Ethiopian cattle production and marketing of live cattle, and offers synthesis of existing research and conventional wisdom on a range of subjects related to the live cattle trade. Issues of disagreement are included in such synthesis, and an attempt is made to reconcile opposing views. The third section presents information concerning inputs and their supply, as related to live cattle marketing. This is followed by the fourth section that reviews selected studies of marketing practice and requirements, and their costs. The fifth section presents the results of the rapid appraisal of the live cattle value chain conducted as part of this study. The sixth section presents the study's conclusions and the paper concludes with a summary of key findings and recommendations.Estimates of the numbers of cattle and other livestock species in Ethiopia vary substantially. Table 1 presents regionally disaggregated Central Statistical Agency (CSA) estimates of the livestock population, which shows a cattle population of around 50 million. Similar sets of numbers have recently been assembled by ILRI specialists, for a total of 47.5 million (Fadiga and Amare 2010), but other sources put the numbers higher 3 or lower. Ethiopia's cattle herd structure features relatively high male representation (44.5% of the population), and the largest proportions for both sexes fall into the 3-10 year age category (see Table 2). This is an indication of the uses to which the animals are put: oxen for cultivation and cows for milk production. 4 Of the 27% of male cattle of over three years of age, about 90% are thought to be used as draught power, although this figure is dominated by highlands' practice. For example, notice that lowland Afar region has 6.77% of its cattle as 'males 3-10 years' while more highland Amhara region has 34.55% in this same class of animal. It is generally thought that in the highland mixed farming areas, cattle are raised primarily to provide bullocks for draught purpose, and that meat and milk are secondary products. In contrast, lowland pastoral areas feature cattle for milk and meat production.3. CSA estimates for 2006-07 suggest numbers as high as 58 million cattle.4. For sheep and goats, males make up 26.6% and 30% of their respective herds indicating a higher disposal of males at younger ages while females (48% in sheep and 42% in goats) are kept beyond two years for reproduction.In all regions, but particularly the pastoral drought-prone areas, animal numbers indicate wealth and social status, and a buffer against uncertain events. Meat is derived almost exclusively from indigenous cattle breeds. Milk is also obtained by and large from indigenous stock with limited numbers of crossbred cows confined to urban and peri-urban areas. -indicates missing data.Source: Fadiga and Amare (2010).Most analyses of herd dynamics portray mortality as being rather higher than sales, and as the largest extractor for all species. Figure 1 estimates summarize available data. Notably, cattle for sale are rarely slaughtered at home and hence their sales use the long delivery chains to be discussed below. Ethiopian cattle offtake 5 is low by East African standards, and also low in relation to offtake for other species (Figure 2). Negassa and Jabbar (2008) also cite three-year (2003-05) averages of net 6 commercial offtake rates for cattle, sheep and goats to be 9%, 6% and 7% respectively. There is thought to be proportionally higher offtake of cattle in the lowlands than highlands as highland animals are kept longer (for draught and as replacements for draught animals). This offtake pattern is thought to deliver a low-quality animal from the highlands; 75% of those sold are culled draught oxen. Lowlands systems, conversely, provide young bulls due to pastoralists' retaining female animals for dairy.Box 1: What dictates pastoralists' sales?Analysis in the current study indicates that from the estimated 10 million cattle population in the pastoral areas, only about 800,000 (or less than 10%, are male yearlings), the age and sex class most suitable for market sale. Pastoralists are reported to sell, typically, animals to meet immediate cash needs which, during periods of high prices, may mean a decline in the numbers sold. The prevalence of cash sales is, however, called into question by the current study. Risk-related behaviour, lack of rural banking services and the lack of alternative livelihood and/or investment opportunities were all reported to the authors as contributing to reluctance amongst pastoralists to sell in response to high prices. Therefore, conventional supply and demand curves are inverted in the case of pastoral sales; this finding is supported by previous studies on pastoral livestock and cited in McPeak and Little (2006). Explanations for low offtake rates are varied, but most feature the motivation for sale being incidental household expenses (taxes, loan repayments and social and family obligations) rather than pre-planned commercial gain.Livestock producers also typically have few animals for sale, and herd size is known to be positively associated with offtake. Producers' land area is negatively associated with offtake, due to an increased role of draught power in cultivation (Negassa and Jabbar 2008).5. Offtake is defined as the animals sold, as a proportion of all animals held within an enterprise.6. Net offtake subtracts out purchases for replacement, and commercial offtake excludes sales due to age and culling. Market forms and channels Domestic markets can be classified into basic/primary 'bush' markets, primary assembly markets, secondary markets for distribution and terminal markets in demand centres. Bush markets are attended by producers both as sellers and buyers and commonly intermediated by brokers, with purchase being primarily for replacements and rarely for fattening. Traders dominate purchases at assembly markets, and sales into secondary and terminal markets. At production level, and to an unknown extent at various market levels, brokers mediate transactions.Purchases for fattening and for slaughter occur at secondary or terminal markets. Feedlots purchase for fattening on a somewhat large scale, while household fattening units (primarily in highland mixed production systems) fatten retired draught oxen without purchasing in markets. Butchers tend to buy primarily (directly or via a trader) from household fattening units. Teklewold et al. (2009) described the prevailing channels 7 as follows:• Collectors buy only from producers• Small traders buy 83% of stock from producers and 17% from collectors• Large traders buy 44% from collectors, 36% from producers and 20% from small traders• Feedlot operators buy 64% from small traders, 30% from producers and 6% from big traders• Purchasing agents buy 80% from big traders, 15% from small traders and 5% from producers• Live animal exporters buy 39% from big traders, 29% from feedlot operators, 20% from purchasing agents and 12% from small traders.Informal exports of live animals offer an alternative channel. This channel subtends from an assembly function by specialized traders with cross-border links. It is widely reported that such traders also act as suppliers of imported consumer goods. Livestock sales to such traders are the only viable source of such commodities and this factor is likely to be influential in the decision to sell to cross-border traders.Formal exports of live animals and meat have resulted in the establishment of slaughter and fattening facilities at key locations throughout the country. Such locations are influenced by feed supply, access to air transport, proximity to markets serving domestic demand (principally Addis Ababa), and at certain locations on livestock trekking routes. Domestic demand, centred on Addis Ababa, provides the major demand sink in Ethiopia and therefore heavily influences livestock flows.The volume of Ethiopian formal exports of live animals has declined in recent years while the same measure for meat has fluctuated (Table 3). Live animal exports are subject to periodic interruptions from bans imposed by importing countries due to disease outbreaks. Live Ethiopian livestock imports were banned by one or more importing Middle East countries; an oft-cited statistic is that this occurred a total of seven times during the last three decades. Such bans are widely perceived as being both scientifically and politically driven. As live animal exporters are small businesses, 8 this adds to instability due to their lack of working capital, which in turn constrains expansion.Originating primarily from the pastoral areas near international frontiers, Ethiopian exports of live animals are difficult to quantify. 8. Eighty-eight known exporters on average sent only 2400 animals abroad in the 2008-09 year.Box 2: Why is informal trade so large?Informal trade is encouraged by the number of onerous administrative steps required to formally export. This combined with the historical trade routes of pastoralists whose practice of informal cross-border trading (since before the time borders existed) contributes to the high value of informal trading.Some of the administrative requirements that are burdensome for smallholders and exporters to attain are: export licenses, quarantine requirements, banking clearance requirement for remitting foreign exchange, formal set minimum weight, and informal minimum price requirements.Principal factors contributing to informal trade are the following:• Better price and more consistent market across the border (many reasons for this• Poor market linkages (e.g. transportation costs, transaction costs, lack of relationships/trust)• Consumer goods (food, clothes, electronics) more readily available from across border• Government restrictions (e.g. in-practice price floor of USD 500, weight floors of 320 kg [see Rich et al. statement in Box 4],bringing cattle to required export weight of 400 kg, ban on consignment sales)• Challenges accessing formal export markets (e.g. Djibouti quarantine, ban on Ethiopian livestock and meat)• Financial advantages to informality (e.g. taxation, formal vs. black market foreign exchange rate)• Non-financial advantages to informality (e.g. avoided regulation, health standards, bureaucratic delay and hassle)• Non-economic factors (e.g. clan, linguistic ties, religious preference)Ethiopian livestock mortality is high, estimated variously at 8-10% for cattle and 14% for small stock (Negassa and Jabbar 2008). Fadiga and Amare's (2010) estimates are 14% for cattle, 33% for sheep and 27% for goats, and these figures underlie the very high proportions of herd/flock estimates represented by stock losses (see Figure 1 above). In the highlands, cattle reproductive rates are as low as 3% 9 (Negassa and Jabbar 2008), and Aklilu ( 2007) cites Bekele's confirmation of a similar situation in the lowlands with conception rates at 50.5%, abortion incidence at 8.5%, and normal births at just 53.5% for cattle. He further reports a survival rate from normal births of just 39% for cattle.Ethiopia's predominant source of animal feed is natural pastures, forages and browse of varying nutritive value. These feeds are generally communal, or are communally administered. These feature strong seasonality in supply, as rains are bimodal in many parts of the country, but highland and lowland areas have differential rainfall patterns. As a result, traditional patterns of seasonal livestock movement have persisted.Grazing as a source of feed has been continuously declining as a result of increased areas of cultivation, and changing patterns of fallow. The resultant crop residues from farming, and by-products such as straw, are becoming increasingly important sources of feed in crop producing areas as are stubbles and other crop residues. Haymaking for commercial sale is practised in certain high-demand locations such as in urban and semi-urban dairy producing areas. Despite the presence of a vibrant grain industry for human consumption, concentrate feeds from whole grains are little used in Ethiopia, possibly due to the lack of any surplus over requirements for human consumption. Concentrate feeds formulated from by-products of flour and oil mills are used, but are not common.Box 3: How fast are feed costs rising?This study found that the average price of animal feed increased by 3.2 times over the last five years, faster than the rate of increase for food, and faster than overall inflation. A case in point is that the average price/ kg of baled hay was about 0.30 Ethiopian birr (ETB) in 2004 (USD 1 = ETB 18.13 at 7 November 2012, but that this had risen to ETB 1.2 in 2009. Reasons for the increase centre on increased demand for meat and higher consumption of meat (FAOSTAT 2010) particularly in urban areas-driven by increased incomes and increasing urbanization, and the increased demand for animal feed due to awareness of the role of feed/ feedlots in productivity and the resultant growth of the industry.9. This estimate uses the whole herd as a base, on observations of 50% calving from the breeding females, with parturition occurring every second year.Crop residues are in most cases selectively fed to oxen/bullocks and lactating cows, and sometimes to heifer calves. Their share in the national feeding regime is said recently to have increased, to over one quarter of total feed. Conversely, the share of natural pastures stands at 62% (see Figure 3) of the total. This is especially evident in the highland parts of the country where crop cultivation is increasingly intensive. Industrial by-products from flour mills (bran, shorts and middlings) and oil factories (various by-product supplemental 'cakes'), where available, are mixed with crop residues in commercial dairy and beef feeding systems. This feed source has influenced the location of feedlots to some extent. As shown in Figure 4, regional patterns use of various feed types varies considerably around the national aggregate. Grazing 62%Hay 6%By-products 1%Improved/sown fodder 0%Others 3% Figure 4. Regional livestock feeding practicesCompiled by Fadiga and Amare (2010).Note: Green fodder includes grazing.In the various beef production systems, feed shortages are pervasive and persistent. In the mixed system (see Table 5), CSA estimates that the great bulk of dry matter originates from pasture, and straw and stover. CSA data and expert interviews indicate that 64 million tonnes of dry matter are required annually to sustain the cattle population in Ethiopia. Ethiopian livestock industry specialists estimate that only about 37 million tonnes are currently available (Table 6), and therefore the system satisfies just 58% of livestock nutrition needs. The feed situation is similar in pastoral areas, for example, Yemane (2001) estimates that there is a feed deficit of 30% of requirements in Afar Region.  Box 4: Feed as a constraint to export competitiveness Rich et al. (2008) analysed a scenario where animals are tested, vaccinated, and quarantined over a 21-day period, and then finished in feedlots for consistency and quality -bringing them to export weight of 400 kg. They point out that under this professional feedlot management system that includes world standard sanitary and phytosanitary measures, Ethiopian beef would cost USD 1000 more/tonne, more on average than do meat from Brazil and India. The report concludes that Ethiopian meat will only be competitive against the mass-produced meats of countries like Brazil, India, Pakistan and Australia if it is positioned as niche, high value product and marketed as such.The primary reason for the higher cost cited by Rich et al. (2008) is feed. The combination of feed for energy, dry matter, proteins, and costly concentrates make it prohibitively expensive. The feed cost problem is not exclusive to Ethiopia; in other developing countries, feedlots have historically been built next to low-cost sources of digestible feeds, like pineapple peel in Thailand, or brewery waste in many countries. There are a number of new and existing large sugar plantation and other types of large scale agriculture investments occurring in Ethiopia; these could be potential sites for feedlots.Coverage by animal health services in Ethiopia is summarized in  Veterinary drugs and equipment are widely reported to be in shortage. MoARD (2010) reports that the public veterinary infrastructure comprises one vaccine-producing laboratory, one referral diagnostic laboratory, 14 regional laboratories and 2573 clinics. Conversely, the private sector operates 62 clinics, 149 pharmacies and 239 rural drug retail outlets. Twenty-eight individuals are involved in the import of veterinary drugs. The National Veterinary Institute produces a total of 45-60 million doses of vaccines against 16 diseases. Its current capacity with regard to foot and mouth disease for example, is 80,000 doses for the A and O strains.Box 5: How is animal health funded and organized?The Livestock Master Plan, Volume F ( 2008), and expert interviews, agree that annual non-salary expenditure (drugs, equipment, and transport) on animal health in Ethiopia is currently between ETB 200,000 and 800,000, as opposed to the recommended level of at least ETB 1.5 million. When considered on a per animal basis total spending (salary and non-salary) the total is just under ETB 1/animal, compared to recommended levels of ETB 31. Currently private veterinarians make up a small proportion of the total animal health workers. Private drug distributors (who typically hire the private veterinarians) compete periodically with governmentsubsidized drugs. The inconsistent availability of government-supplied drugs prevents private companies from developing their rural distribution networks. Expert interviews and field visits indicate that a typical rural vendor can expect to collect revenue of ETB 8000/month on when not competing with discounted drugs, but only ETB 1200 when the enterprise has to compete with discounted government drugs. This study found that penetration of private drug vendors is extremely low in Ethiopia when compared to other countries in the region.Transport costs from production areas to terminal markets and slaughter facilities are thought to be the major costs of marketing for live animals, and for meat exports, estimated at 27% and 32% of the total marketing costs, respectively (Teklewold et al. 2009). For feedlot operators, and for large and small traders, transport from the production area comprises about 46%, 58% and 56% of their cost of marketing operation, respectively. Trekking declines as a share of all animal movement as one moves up in the marketing channels but remains a major cost in the less-advantaged rural areas. At the other end of the value chain, air transport costs are widely reported to present a barrier to Ethiopia's competitive position on export markets; costs range from USD 700/t (Middle East destinations) to USD 2500 (West Africa) (Ethiopian Airlines Cargo Marketing Service 2008).There are reported to be many fees and taxes levied by government (Table 9). Multiple collections and ambiguous interpretations of tax liability are widely reported. Such ambiguities offer a potential source of additional revenue for local authorities, and opportunistic behaviour by various agencies is widely reported. In the trading of cattle, payments are required for a variety of privately-provided services (agency fees such as broker and trader fees, use of barns, slaughter fees). No known studies have been conducted of the nature and application, nor of the cost, of such service fees.All live animal exports are required to be quarantined at the last port before embarking, usually Djibouti. Quarantine services are offered by just one firm in Djibouti. In addition to the monopoly price power exercised, the problem of space arises and there is competition from formally and informally exported animals.An exporting firm is required to have an export permit from the customs authorities for any given lot of animals, and to meet the minimum requirement of 320 kg live weight/animal. At the time of this study, it was widely reported that a price floor of USD 500/animal was being informally enforced. Several exporters have legal cases against them (related to tax evasion) for exporting below the 'average' price that the National Bank determines.Setting aside the general policy question on the efficacy of such a practice, there are issues related to the relevance of the USD 500 price requirements of exporters. By all accounts, this price is not regularly revised so as to adjust for the long-term change in animal prices. It is also not adjusted for the cyclical nature of animal and meat prices in Ethiopia where prices are suppressed in the months of low natural feed availability. Exporters expressed the view that they are effectively banned from trading during these low-price periods of the year.A study in May 2009 on the retail price of beef in Addis Ababa and its surroundings revealed that price ranged from ETB 47 to 64/kilogram (Table 10). This translates into free-on-board price range from USD 4087 to 5565/t, which is higher than international prices. A 1983-84 livestock subsector review put the share of the producer at 76% of local retail prices. Aklilu (2002) cites a July 1995 study by Orangewould International indicating that the producer's share was 55% of the retail price in Addis Ababa; 56% in Adama (100 km south of Addis Ababa) and 72% in Chancho (45 km northwest of Addis Ababa).To generate quantitative information about the actors operating in live cattle value chains, their transaction arrangements, the constraints they face and the revenues and costs they generate, primary data were collected. Time and resources constrained the scope of the study, so that a rapid appraisal approach was used whereby a structured interview was held with selected agents, and questionnaires completed. Actors included commercial operators, as well as local municipal and government agents.To the authors' knowledge, this is one of very few attempts to collect, present and formulate development strategy from data at each point along designated live cattle value chains in Ethiopia serving specified demand sinks. The products involved, the routes and key points along them, and the actors located at each point, were derived from interviews with relevant actors participating in the value chain. Questionnaires were constructed based on the review of existing work, and based on interviews with industry specialists.Data collected was employed in constructing estimates of the extent of costs and revenues based on means or medians of the observations. These were compiled to provide estimates of shares of total costs for each value chain actor and also to consolidate aggregate measures and assign them to activities and actors. Frequency distributions were also employed to examine and present the activities carried out by the various actors.The rapid appraisal pursued two livestock delivery routes within Ethiopia, based on demand for cattle for four end uses: (1) slaughter for domestic sale; (2) slaughter for meat export;(3) formal live cattle exports; and (4) informal live cattle exports. To span the two main production systems and include cultural and agro-ecological differences, a 'southern' and 'northern' route was chosen (Figure 5) for which specific locations (Table 11) were identified for application of rapid appraisal questionnaires by industry specialists such as local authorities, brokers, Ministry of Agriculture specialists and butchers. Notes: (1) 'Feedlots' refers to intensive feeding systems, both large (commercial feedlots) and small (household fattening units). ( 2) Slaughter facilities include both service operators (charging a fee to other agents for a slaughter service) and those slaughter facilities taking possession of cattle for sale as meat and other products on their own accounts.(3) Retailers are, in general, butchers selling to the final consumer. Characterization of the actors Substantial diversity was observed amongst actors interviewed during the rapid appraisal. Formal analysis of variation between and within the two routes was not conducted, but clearly the data span several organizational divides in terms of size (e.g. cooperatives).Tables 13 and 14 present further summary information about the actors interviewed, specifically their ownership structures, reasons for owning and engaging in cattle, elements of horizontal and vertical integration and use of contracts. Different patterns emerge in that producers in the southern route appear to be more oriented toward regular commercial (as opposed to forced sale or occasional) sale than are those of the northern route.Purposes for holding cattle and reasons for buying cattle indicate a greater role for draught power and insurance roles of animals on the northern route.For the most part, the agents interviewed operate entirely on their own account, with the notable exception of feedlots on the Southern route, where a variety of external investors are reported to be shareholders in feedlots. Traders in both routes operate in a variety of sectors beyond livestock and agricultural trading, including input trading, crop purchase and consumer goods trading. It is notable that the producers in the southern route report more involvement in crop production than do those in the northern route; the opposite bias would have been expected, due the producers in the northern route passing through far higher concentrations of agropastoral areas. Co-operatives on both routes report a variety of roles (supply of inputs, advisory services, purchase as well as brokerage) and services, and that sales to the co-operative are not closely linked to membership.Table 15 presents average results from the rapid appraisal of value chain actors, with each route considered separately. Quite different patterns of costs emerge. The retail price of the northern route is lower than that of the southern route, due both to a lower live weight at sale and a lower retail price/unit of weight. Although not all animals moving along either route are sold at retail, this price provides a significant share of incentives along the chain.Based on this reported information, numerous differences emerge between the two routes: surprisingly, feed costs at production level are much lower for the northern route (perhaps reflecting use of producers' own crop residues it the latter case); taxes and levies paid are considerably higher for the northern route, and the overall configuration of profits throughout the two chains are quite different. As a summary, the pie charts in Figure 6 present the differences in configuration of costs and profit distribution between the two routes.   Box 6: How do the forms of fattening differ?Only a small fraction of Ethiopian beef is raised in feedlots-the vast majority of cattle are fattened in backyard systems by smallholders throughout the country. The widely-held perception is that feedlot fattened cattle generally produce softer meat, with white fat and a good proportion of red meat. This meat is preferred for steaks or Ethiopian tibbs (beef cut in strips and fried). Backyard fattened meat is reported to be tougher, with yellow fat, more fat (but less marbling) and less red meat. This is preferred for consumption as raw meat for the local stew called we'et.This study's preliminary work found that backyard fattening is cheaper than feedlot operation, but cannot supply large and consistent volumes to a commercial abattoir or trader. This in turn is reported to limit both investment and commitment to individual backyard producers. However, feedlot operators reported that they cannot sell to local butchers' shops as they cannot compete on price with backyard fattening. Moreover, a local butcher cannot absorb the large volumes available from feedlots (averaging around 500 head/cycle) thereby forcing large-volume export sales. Finally, butchers are reported to pay 50% of the purchase price on delivery and the remainder following sale, which would limit feedlots' purchases of replacement stock. Information representing the allocation of costs and profits amongst value chain actors along the two delivery routes is presented in Figure 7. These diagrams suggest significant differences in business structures, as costs of labour, feed, water and administration are found to be different between the two routes. Notable differences include the profitability of both retailers and feedlots, and an apparently different role performed by cooperatives on each route: effectively as a trader on the Southern route and as a barely profitable conduit to traders on the northern route.Figure 7. Allocation of costs and profits to one beef animal moving along each of the routes Note: white colour represents purchase price of animals.Figure 8 identifies different roles played by actors along the two routes: a notable item is the dominance of producers and feedlots in feed use for the southern route, but in contrast, the significant feed use by cooperatives on the northern route. In general the northern route's actors portray a more evenly distributed share of costs than occurs in the southern route. This may indicate less specialization on the northern route, but notably suggests an accompanying feature of a more even sharing of profits within the chain. Feed uses 10 vary substantially amongst actors, and between routes (Figures 9 and 10). This probably reflects availability and cost of the various feeds. To some extent the between-route differences reflect the agroecological conditions and production systems: particularly for feed which is reported as a relatively low cost to producers, but a high cost to co-operative (Figure 8), on the northern route. However, the agents on the northern route report a larger variety of feeds being used than their southern route counterparts, as well as exhibiting more widespread use of hay, crop by-products and crop residues.10. Questionnaires used in rapid appraisal interviews asked first whether agents 'used' selected inputs, and then 'cost' were addressed. The results presented here use only the 'use' results, due to difficulties in estimating cost. Feedlots clearly administer a substantial number of animal health items (Figures 11 and 12), in addition to those used by producers and co-operatives. This indicates a possible duplication of effort, and is likely to be a consequence of mixed lines of animals arriving from the supply areas, so that feedlot management is required to treat all animals, particularly those destined for export. It should be noted that this removes the incentive for producers' provision of vaccinated and disease-free stock, as the feedlots face the same costs regardless of producers' husbandry. Use of animal health products and services, particularly vaccines, are reported far more widely by actors on the southern route than the northern. This particularly applies to vaccines, but is also apparent for dips and antiworm treatments. More of the feedlots on the southern route appear to use animal health products than do those on the northern route.Actors in the Ethiopian live cattle value chain report the widespread use of late payment in transactions. Almost all actors report their own funds as the sole source of working capital. However, almost all actors also report both selling and buying on credit. Both statements support the common claim of shortage of capital as a constraint. The terms of this informal credit represent simply a delayed payment (one week to three months delay was commonly reported), with no interest paid on outstanding balances. The only exception appears to be co-operatives, hinting at functions that are beneficial to producers in terms of accelerated payment. There is no pronounced difference in the prevalence or form of delayed payments between northern and southern routes.Sales patterns for cattle differ significantly between the two routes and within each route depending on the actor involved (Figure 13). Particularly for cows, wet season sales dominate for producers, but other actors do not, in general, buy all cows in the wet season. This mismatch of sales patterns in the value chain indicates a potential return to actors that can buy and hold animals until the next-stage actor is ready to buy them. Table 16 summarizes actors' perceptions of the price patterns; very little agreement is observed across actors, and several actor sets expressed very different views even on the identification of the highest price period in the year. Similarly, views on the causes of within-year price fluctuations were diverse both within and between actor sets. Figure 14 presents the differences in quality perceptions along the beef value chain. On both routes, producers claim that buyers express the strongest preference for breeds and colours of animal, but on both routes the traders and feedlots rank age, and length and size, as well as condition, higher than breed. Several other such anomalies appear.  Problems of cattle purchase focus to some extent on distance to market and credit. However, several actors identify the mixed qualities of animals (within a sales lot) presented for sale. As noted earlier, this requires costly treatment of all animals, and differential feeding, for further fattening. The actions of brokers occasion much complaint.Statements of problems of cattle sale are dominated by complaints about the payments system-late payments are apparently frequent and disrupt smooth (possibly timely) operations. Low demand and low prices also appear as claims, but appear to be of less importance than the payment issues.Cattle play a significant economic role in rural Ethiopia, including the generation of income for traders, service providers and butchers, and exporters. The financial accounting of this role is problematic due to non-market roles and functions of livestock and informal trade (notably in export trade). The perceived level of economic activity in the livestock sector varies substantially from year to year due to external factors (climate and disease, changing regulation and policy environment, as well as trade restrictions associated with disease). Factors internal to the live cattle and beef trading system also limit its performance as a driver of pro-poor development.This study has set out to diagnose problems, and propose a strategic approach to them. Generation of improved livelihoods throughout such chains requires an understanding of how they work, who operates within them, how they relate to each other, and what costs and revenues appear in the chain and how they are allocated. This study employs both the prevailing wisdom and quantitative assessments to characterize the Ethiopian live cattle and beef value chains for this purpose.Received communication and previous studies portray the cattle production and marketing system as poorly productive, and with low offtake. Ethiopia is approximately self-sufficient in cattle, with surpluses primarily exported through informal channels. Clearly the domestic markets do not compete effectively with cross-border traders' terms of purchase.The bases of low productivity identified here simply echo past studies: lack of feed (quality and quantity, and probably with seasonal volume mismatches), poor provision of veterinary health services, and weak service infrastructure. This study's contribution is to accentuate the importance of feed constraints, but also identify possible connections to changing land use, and water and land shortages as voiced by market agents during the interviews.The low productivity is one cause of low offtake, but further explanation is drawn from the received wisdom: alternative uses of cattle that are not geared for commercial sales and poor access to markets and market information. An apparent lack of understanding of what the market demands, and the absence of a prompt and complete payments system, as identified in the current study, are likely to be further contributing factors to low offtake. The effectiveness of the live cattle value chains in transmitting information was examined in terms of transmission of (1) commercial knowledge (time of, and basis for, highest sales volumes, effect of climate on year-round sales prices) and ( 2) incentives (reported buyers' desired characteristics). The preliminary results of this study demonstrate conflicting versions of information at different points in the chain.Despite widespread recognition of resource constraints, both short-term (feed) and long-term (water and soil quality), financial and social pressures exist for producers to accumulate greater numbers of animals. However, few incentives exist for them to sell in an organized fashion (including supply smoothing so as to offer cattle for sale outside of periods when feeds are available) so as to boost offtake and moderate overstocking effects. Notably, increased offtake would enable economies of scale elsewhere in the value chain and thus increase the downstream employment benefits flowing from the livestock sector. In the current study, scale of operation was found to have an effect on trading relationships between fattening operations and buyers, favouring backyard operations.The received wisdom is that export competitiveness presents a challenge to the Ethiopian cattle value chain, as domestic prices exceed those at international level and Ethiopian feed costs are high. However, export would be the only outlet for increased cattle numbers due to increased offtake or increased productivity at prevailing offtake rates. Interviews suggest that export markets are the only viable outlets for feedlot-fattened cattle except in specific periods where naturally fattened animals are not available (middle of dry season to early rainy seasons) and relatively small quantities-compared to exporters-of fattened animals are demanded by butchers. Further examination of export competitiveness, across a range of production and marketing functions and systems, is called for.The study has characterized value chain actors as being largely self-employed, at all stages but feedlots, where external investment is common. Actors are commonly found to be diversified within and beyond the livestock sectors, and unanimously to claim to lack capital for expansion. Co-operatives were found to be somewhat active in livestock trading in some contexts, but their connections and commitment to livestock-owning members was difficult to identify. Producers largely listed marketing and sale for income generation amongst principal reasons for owning livestock, but as expected draught power plays a significant role along the northern route, with its cropping systems.Numerous differences emerged between the southern and northern routes studied here. It was anticipated that actors, and particularly producers, on the northern route would feature a greater emphasis on crops that their southern counterparts. The opposite was observed, which emphasizes the increasing expansion of crops in pastoral areas. However, the result occurs with little precision and requires further investigation. The northern route's animal feeding practices clearly favoured crop residues and by-products and featured very little grazing.Consistent with past studies, this diagnostic study identifies a plethora of private sector and government-related transaction costs. Also in agreement with past work, this study identifies high domestic prices in interaction with high marketing costs, to select against Ethiopian beef's competitiveness on formal export markets (however, this can also be attributed to what is perceived by economists as the Ethiopian birr being overvalued compared to world currencies; the birr has depreciated approximately by 30% over the last two years partly as a result of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund). In some disagreement with existing work, this study identifies apparent profits throughout the live cattle value chain, albeit one that favours retailers in some settings and traders in others. Further research and benchmarking is needed to provide evidence on the extent of margins and profits achieved. This study reports the widespread use of late payment throughout the cattle value chain, as an informal type of credit for which no interest is collected. The burden of late payment is then likely to fall on the producer, who is not making significant cattle purchases so cannot pass on the late payment.Feedlots report profitable fattening operations, as portrayed in this study's analysis, albeit with low margins. Low margins are, in theory, compensated for by high throughput, but many Ethiopian feedlots are poor users of available capacity and produce small numbers of animals. On a smaller and less intensive scale, the household fattening unit (primarily in the highlands) is an alternative model, but little is known about its potential based on feeds produced within the single farm operation, and using old draught oxen rather than purchased animals.A number of organizational and technical issues remain to be addressed in scaling up this model, and in demonstrating its effectiveness.To accompany the competitiveness issues mentioned above, live animal exports appear to be constrained by a number of administrative and structural factors, ranging from the lack of an internationally-recognized quarantine station, through minimum weight and price regulations at the border, to the inability to source a uniform line of high-quality stock, and lack of access to working capital and the necessity of late payments.The reported aversion of producers to sales of cattle needs to be addressed by attacking its root cause: low prices to producers, due to sales that do not match buyer requirements for quality, uniformity, seasonal supply and guarantee of disease status. These disincentives for sale are magnified by a hard and soft infrastructure that encourages non-market use of livestock, particularly cattle.The engagement of the private sector is a clear requirement for encouraging transactions and boosting offtake. It can provide advances in provision of animal health services, credit (working capital and investment capital), and in export development and promotion. The private sector can provide the impetus for, and practical applications of, standardization so as to achieve uniformity of product lines, and to implement it with risk management tools such as contracting and regular payment schedules.An apparent problem is in animal health, for which government dominance has not been a solution. A program of privatization would introduce a profit motive for provision of an effective and competitively-priced service, but a pre-requisite for this development would be the cessation of government vaccination programs which, by free provision, currently crowd out private involvement. However, the private sector cannot be expected to enter the live cattle value chain with enthusiasm unless fundamental issues of the profitability of live cattle production are resolved. Alternative models, such as franchises and branding of Ethiopian meats abroad as high quality and/or possibly grass finished beef, will need to be piloted.The communication of market requirements by traders, feedlot operators, retailers and exporters is currently restricted due to the availability of substantial profits from moving animals between locations and over time. This is due to poorly integrated markets and highly seasonal sales practices by producers. Government action is justified in the promotion of market information: through collection, analysis and dissemination. Substantial experience suggests that sustainability of such activities is difficult, so low-cost options need to be identified and examined, perhaps focusing on dissemination via co-operatives that are currently operating more as traders than as service providers to members.An integrated set of activities may be identified whereby value chain actors can be provided with incentives to buy at designated times (perhaps to alleviate drought) and places, and using specific desirable methods (contracts, standard quality descriptors) by credit allocations to boost working capital and alleviate the problems caused by the prevailing informal credit system of late payments. This scheme might be piloted with banks lending to cattle value chain actors such as traders or co-operatives, initially relying on collateral available from the diverse business interests of current actors.Private action is needed in differentiating Ethiopian beef due to its inability to compete in low quality undifferentiated international markets. A major branding initiative will be required that although beyond the responsibility of government, will draw on government competence in establishing standards, and compliance behaviour in respect of animal health and hygiene.A further market-related development is required to solve the fundamental problem of the shortage of animal feed. This problem appears to have multiple causes, drought being just one. Others include the changes in land use that see grazing displaced by crop land encroachment, the geographic and seasonal displacement of crop residues from production-level feeding demand, and extremely low productivity that limits the profits available from any feeding regime that uses expensive feeds, labour and animal health inputs. The combination of poor incentives for feeding and input use results in the observed non-uniform lines of animals being marketed, and the necessity for the observed duplication of feeding and animal husbandry steps. It is recognized that no single feed solution will fit all locations, production systems and market situations: even in this narrow current study, a substantial variation in feed practice and accompanying cost was identified. This justifies a program of research into feed production, marketing and use, and piloting of the most promising results. Of necessity this will need to examine crop choice by farmers on former grazing lands, with an emphasis on feed production as by-products, residues, and marketed fodders.On the demand side of the feed equation, government can play a valuable role in promoting systems that enhance the efficiency of use of feed. This advance will reduce the waste of feed resources and materials due to maintenance (or below) feeding and duplication of weight gain by a succession of actors. Feedlots are an alternative that has been tried, with mixed success: substantial evidence suggests that feed costs constrain their performance. Smaller scale alternatives should be trialled and the results disseminated: new organizational forms of highland household fattening systems offer one interesting option; a changed role for existing co-operatives in pastoral areas offer another; highland-lowland interaction to transmit demand for animals and supply of feed is a third; household dairy as a source of animals for fattening is yet another. A full range of workable options will be revealed through engagement of producers and other market participants by way of participatory extension and applied research.This study has identified a number of problem areas, and with limited time and resources have attached quantitative measures to both technical and financial issues. The actions recommended above will need to be informed by more formal analysis, and following an appropriate timeline. It is therefore recommended that a task force drawn from industry, the research community, and government be established to review these recommendations in light of further information on:• crop-livestock interactions (e.g. expansion of crop areas, use of crop residues) in traditional grazing areas• dairy/beef interactions• options for market-driven feed provision at each stage in the value chain, in each region and in a variety of crop contexts• costs and barriers to formal export, and the factors enabling informal exports• infrastructure and procedures for quarantine• availability and possible use of market information This task set necessitates formation of a beef industry organization. It would ideally commission studies and pilot programs, and make recommendations to government based on the results achieved. The funding of such a body would ideally be based on levies of industry actors, supplemented by government funding where public interest is served. The genesis of such an organization would ideally be through the rationalization of existing bodies."}

main/part_2/0370439953.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9cb57f00057ef1bc9be78db10f450491","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/8ef2c3e3-905f-4bcd-8c03-c3c25552b3cc/retrieve","id":"375722850"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"aec749c6-f4aa-44f3-961a-84347a49da60","content":"Soybean (Glycine max L.) is an important grain legume cultivated on approximately 1.24 million ha in Africa (1). Malawi ranks fourth in area of production in Africa, with 75,000 ha in 2009 (1). Soybean is also gaining importance in Mozambique and several other southern African countries due to diversification programs. During a field survey conducted in March 2010, soybean plants with phyllody and witches'-broom disorders typical of phytoplasma infection were observed in three of five fields surveyed in Lilongwe (Chitedze Research Station) and Salima (Channa, Chitala) districts in Malawi and three of four fields surveyed in Zambezia Province in Mozambique. Symptoms consisted of shoot proliferation, reduced leaflets, shortened internodes, proliferated auxiliary shoots producing witches'brooms, virescence, and phyllody. Incidence of symptomatic plants was <1% in Malawi and 10 to 15% in Mozambique. Yield loss was 100% in affected plants. Five leaf samples each from symptomatic and asymptomatic plants were collected from six fields; total genomic DNAs were isolated and used as templates in PCR using phytoplasma-universal primer pair P1 and P7 for 16S-23S ribosomal RNA encoding region (3). PCR amplicons (1,709 bp) were produced from only templates derived from symptomatic plants. Amplicons from a symptomatic plant each from Malawi (Channa, Salima District) and Mozambique (Mutequelse, Zambezia Province) were directly sequenced in both directions and submitted to the GenBank (Accession Nos. HQ840717 and HQ845208). Nucleotide sequences of the two African soybean witches'-broom (SoyWB) phytoplasma strains were 100% identical. The virtual restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) pattern derived from these sequences using iPhyClassifier software (4) was similar to the reference pattern of the 16Sr group II, subgroup C (cactus phytoplasma, Accession No. AJ293216), with a pattern similarity coefficient of 0.99. A BLASTn search revealed that the African SoyWB phytoplasma sequences had a nucleotide sequence identity of 99% with those of soybean phytoplasma from Thailand (Accession No. EF193353), cactus phytoplasma from China (Accession No. EU099561), and several other members of 16SrII group. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the clustering of these strains with members of 16SrII group. In 1984, the occurrence of phyllody and witches'-broom symptoms in soybean in Mozambique was reported (2), however, no comprehensive details on the pathogen are available. To our knowledge, this is the first report of phyllody and witches'broom disease in soybean in Malawi and the first molecular evidence of association of a 16SrII-C group 'Candidatus phytoplasma' with the disease in Malawi and Mozambique. Phyllody and witches'-broom is a destructive disease, and its widespread occurrence can adversely affect soybean production in sub-Saharan Africa. Identification of alternative hosts and vector species would improve our understanding of the disease's epidemiology and contribute to development of appropriate tactics to prevent escalation of this problem into a major disease.References: (1) FAOSTAT. http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/default.aspx. Retrieved 28 December 2010. (2) P. Plumb-Dhindsa and A. M. Mondjane. Trop. Pest Manage. 30:407, 1984. (3) L. B. Sharmila et al. J. Plant Biochem. Biotech. 13:1, 2004. (4) Y. Zhao et al. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 59:2582, 2009.  "}

main/part_2/0372209045.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"660dfc885d8f38eaef84a61ef56405cd","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/b2ec84a6-799c-4ae3-a2ff-99efc4ee9f1d/retrieve","id":"-977697904"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"601e6e89-7c45-4807-8d21-ae981186e268","content":"CCAFS Workshop Reports aim to disseminate interim climate change, agriculture and food security research and practices and stimulate feedback from the scientific community.CCAFS Flagship 2: Climate Services and Safety Nets held a Science Meeting for all project leaders under Flagship 2 at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society in Palisades, New York in October 2016. The goal of the workshop was to give the project leaders the chance to share their work and learn about each other's projects. The group discussed how best to collaborate and plans for flagship moving into Phase II. The meeting proved to be a useful opportunity for collaboration and knowledge sharing across projects.The presentations -from summaries of work to cross-cutting discussions -gave participants the opportunity to discuss cross-project fertilization, how to improve their projects, and how to improve collaboration across the flagship. Such discussions and subsequent activities will help the flagship reach its intended outputs and outcomes. Project leaders were able to learn from each other as well as gain valuable insight into seasonal forecasting from Dr. Lisa Goddard. The participants found the relationship building and information presented in the meeting valuable, and many plans were put in place for continued collaboration.CCAFS Flagship 2: Climate Services and Safety Nets held a Science Meeting at the Lamont Campus of Columbia University, Palisades, New York, from 17-19 October 2016. 1 The meeting, hosted by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), brought together project leaders within the flagship. The purpose was to provide an opportunity to share what project leaders have learned from their work and chart a course for collective work to have greater impact moving into the next phase of CCAFS. Flagship 2 has a portfolio of projects that are based in different regions on varying topics. However, each project falls under the overarching theme of Climate Information Services and Climate-Informed Safety Nets. This allowed project leaders to find commonalities among their projects and look for opportunities to work together in the future.The first session of the meeting allowed researchers to share knowledge, approaches, tools and lessons from their projects. After an opening introduction session, each project leader was given the opportunity to share a summary of their work. Presentations, sessions, and discussion also focused on identifying overlapping research issues, prospects for collaboration, communication, and knowledge exchange and knowledge synthesis products. Lastly, the workshop explored promising external partnership and funding opportunities.Following opening remarks, all project leaders presented on their projects. The presentations were focused on the research questions, contributions made to date, and challenges. Below is a summary of each project. Further details can be found in Appendix 3.Tailored Agro-Climate Services and food security information for better decision making in Latin America (Diana Giraldo) Dr. Giraldo's project aims to understand gaps and opportunities related to the communication and use of agro-climactic information, improve climate and food security indicators in planning, monitoring 1 In 2017, CCAFS renumbered all flagships, and the climate services and safety nets flagship is now Flagship 4. This report will use the old numbering since it was held in 2016. and decision-making, and combine climate forecasts and crop models while characterizing climate related risks. Onset indices can be challenging because it can be difficult to understand and predict the onset of the rainy season. Lastly, the project will need to find a way to scale up the usage of the agroclimate forecasts.Enhancing benefits of Remote Sensing Data and Flood Hazard Modeling in Index-based Flood Insurance (IBFI) in South Asia (Giriraj Amarnath)The objective of Dr. Amarnath's project is to set up pilot-scale trials in India and Bangladesh to demonstrate that positive verifiable impacts emerge from IBFI in terms of agricultural resilience and improving productivity and household incomes, locally and at the broader scale. The project is also developing tools and strategies that support IBFI development and upscaling, integrated with existing and future flood control measures. In 2016, the project reached 284,684 farmers in Bihar under the new PMFBY crop insurance scheme, with approximately 2.5 million hectares of farm fields being insured, which covers crop loss or damage caused due to natural disasters. The challenges that the project faces are that designing flood insurance requires local specific data and capacity in both marketing and contracting; in addition, there is a lack of capacity on a range of topics.CSI India: Enhancing farmers' adaptive capacity by developing Climate-Smart Insurance for weather risk (Miguel Robles)The CSI India project seeks to examine Picture Based Insurance (PBI) as an index insurance model.The project is designing and implementing a new agricultural micro-insurance product to make it easier to gather information from farmers at high frequency and possibly to integrate insurance with new services: monitoring, agro advisory and precision agriculture. There is evidence of the interplay between agricultural insurance and adoption of climate smart technologies. Potential limitations include the difficulty of having long term participation of farmers in delivering high frequency data as well as developing an app that works on any phone. Researchers also plan to consider if moral hazard is a potential problem and if so, develop ways to minimize it.Development (Pierre Sibiry Traore)The CASCAID project, led by Dr. Pierre Sibiry Traore, focuses on two overarching research questions: 1) Can information technologies, earth observation and parsimonious models operationalize more agile, granular and robust yield forecasting systems? And 2) Can more inclusive citizen engagement, activated by public-private partnerships lead to socially disaggregated, demand-driven and impact bearing farm advisory services? In the first phase, emphasis has been placed on outcomes with less focus on specific research questions. The expected outcome of the project is to enable 2 million farmers to use climate information in support of seasonal agricultural decision making in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, and Senegal.Enhancing adaptive capacity of women and ethnic minority smallholder farmers through improved agro---climate information in South-East Asia (Elisabeth Simelton)The ACIS (Agro-climate information in South-East Asia) project is enabling farmers to act on weather information and agricultural advice. One of the evolving questions is how to ensure that ACIS is flexible as dissemination processes and availability are constantly changing. So far, the project has demonstrated examples of how evolving online forecasts will change the way forecasts access weather information. The main challenges of the project have been rigid institutions that are unwilling to share data, uncertainty in the forecasting, and the participatory processes have a long establishing time.This project aims to develop and disseminate maps of hotspots of climate-sensitive diseases (CSDs), a real-time prediction system for CSDs, and a weather-based forecast for aflatoxin mitigation in Vietnam. So far, new knowledge on CSDs has been developed including human disease patterns associated with climate variability and new data on animal and plant diseases for the first time in Vietnam. The reliability of risk maps and prediction models for application have been a challenge for the project. The farmers have limited resources and knowledge to be able to implement the tools developed.Develop Index insurance for drought-prone maize and bean-based farming systems in East Africa to enhance farmer adoption of climate-adapted germplasm (Jon Hellin)CIMMYT and IRI are working with CCAFS to develop and test a scientifically-validated design of drought insurance, bundled with climate-adapted germplasm in East Africa and Nigeria. Appropriate index insurance products will be developed with farmers, insurers, re-insurers and seed companies.By 2019, the project will enable drought insurance to be delivered to 400,000 farmers in droughtprone areas in East Africa. The insurance will be bundled with climate-adapted maize and bean varieties and delivered to farmers through seed supply chains. One of the largest difficulties has been the absence of effective communication between stakeholders, which likely arises from a lack of opportunity to come together to identify commonalities. Stakeholders meeting more regularly to identify commonalities would help to expand index insurance to cover more farmers.Climate Services for Agriculture: Empowering Farmers to Manage Risk and Adapt to a Changing Climate in Rwanda (Desire Kagabo)The goal of the Climate Services for Agriculture in Rwanda project is to benefit nearly one million farmers by 2019 and transform Rwanda's rural farming communities and national economy through climate services and improved climate risk management. In the first year, the project has utilized different methods of communicating with the farmers including the decentralized agriculture extension model, intermediary organizations, radio/television, and a multi-disciplinary and participatory approach (PICSA). Issues to overcome during the project are the need to develop a monitoring and evaluation tool that captures changes and informs on key lessons, the poor collaboration between institutions that use climate services, and the differing viewpoints of the meteorological agencies on the importance given to developing tools.Climate Information Services for increased Resilience and productivity in Senegal (CINSERE) (Robert Zougmore)The CINSERE project plans to develop and scale out useful climate services to help improve the livelihood, resilience, and farm productivity of the beneficiaries. In particular, the project targets beneficiaries of the Feed the Future project (Naatal Mbay, Yajeenda, COMFISH and ERA). New methods and technologies, such as interactive voice messages, are planned in order to achieve these objectives. The main challenges have been downscaling climate information, appropriate methodology for IBI products development, and developing appropriate impact assessment tools.Overview of the Phase 2 Flagship research agenda and overarching hypotheses.Phase I of CCAFS ends in December 2017 after six years of activities. Prior to the science meeting, the proposal for Phase II had been developed and submitted to the consortium. Workshop participants were asked to review the proposal in advance of the meeting. The discussion around the proposal allowed for comments and questions about the proposed activities and targets for the next five years of CCAFS. Below is a summary of the key points that came from the group discussion.Target investment in climate services. The target of $150 million being invested in climate services informed by CCAFS research was discussed. There are major funders that will be targeted in order to work toward this goal. A plan is needed to make sure this goal is being appropriately tracked.Climate Smart Villages. It was pointed out that Climate Smart Villages (CSVs) are going to continue in Phase 2 and will be scaled up. CSV activities will help strengthen the evidence around flagship activities.Engaging with other CRPs. CCAFS is a cross cutting CRP. There was discussion that the team needs to show the links with some of the other CRPs. A good starting point would be to use the links to people engaged in other CRPs as an effective way to promote cross learning. CCAFS benefits from having activities across the globe, which allows cross-learning among regions and countries. This allows a comparison of what works and does not work in specific contexts.Access to historical data. Many of the presenters said there is still an issue with access to historical data for forecasting and access to crop models. For a limited program with limited funds, should there be a focus on use cases? Are there areas where we can show how we overcome these use issues? The flagship can use these as examples of how you can use this information and technology successfully.How have we advanced the knowledge, methodology, practice, evidence so far?A priority that came out of the research project presentations was the need to focus more on how to use each other's tools. There is a lot of synergy that can be gained. One of the areas within the CG that has been effective is the rural household surveys. As many as five centres are using the same tool.Another example of this is the need for improved links between the early warning and the climate services. In Vietnam, there was an El Niño this year, so it was advised that farmers use drought tolerant seeds. However, the farmers did not have access to the seeds. The seeds needed to be developed two years beforehand in order to distribute. Although the early warning was there, farmers are not always able to take action. Early warning must be linked to the services or the interventions will not be effective. CCAFS work should be fed into researchers in other CRPs because we do not work directly with capacity building of seed companies. There may be existing links to the seed companies within our network.An important step moving forward will be to synthesize what the flagship has learned by working together on writing papers. This will develop the knowledge base.What can climate science offer to adaptation planning?A keynote presentation was given by Dr. Lisa Goddard, Director of the IRI. The purpose of the presentation was to discuss what climate science can offer to adaptation planning. Following Dr.Goddard's presentation, there was a \"marketplace\" session on tools and methods used by different researchers. Attendees were selected in advance to present on tools they have developed and are using in their work.Dr. Goddard shared that we need shorter time scales and more regionalized information in development work. However, station density is lacking in many parts of the world. Our goals should be understanding the past, putting present in context, and looking forward with relevant information.Getting the right pattern of sea surface temperatures is critical for getting the right regional climate response. Man-made factors add complexity to projections. Climate scientists need to be more involved in how adaptation decisions are made. It is important that forecasts are verified before using in development work. Many high-resolution datasets offered to the adaptation and development communities seem to focus more on provision of answers and access, than understanding response and risk. Expert communities must work together to better account for the opportunities and limitations in each of our data and models.The following is an overview of the tools and methods shared during the marketplace session.WheatCam is a smartphone application developed by IFPRI that runs on the Android operating system. The application allows the user to take repeated pictures of the same location during the same time-period within a day. The geo-referenced pictures are automatically uploaded to a remote server once mobile service or Wi-Fi is available. After a picture is taken, the user is prompted to answer a quick survey with questions related to the picture. Answers to these questions are also uploaded to a remote server. The application also allows communicating with users via messages.WheatCam is currently being used in the implementation of Picture Based Insurance, an innovative agricultural insurance product. Picture Based Insurance is being piloted in India among wheat farmers in the states of Haryana and Punjab. The product has been underwritten by HDFC Ergo Insurance Company to provide coverage to 750 farmers during Rabi 2016/17 season. Farmers take pictures three times a week of their insured plots and provide basic information on weather shocks and agricultural practices. Reference poles have been installed on the insured plots to make sure that pictures are capturing the same location from the same angle in order to estimate crop height during the season. WheatCam makes possible frequent data collection that will be used to estimate crop losses and determine insurance pay-outs. Pictures will be used as evidence, among other factors, to determine whether farmers burned rice residue at the end of Kharif 2016. This is key as the project is analysing the potential interplay between access to agricultural insurance and adoption of climate smart technologies.To achieve success, the strengths, weaknesses, and goals of index insurance must be understood quantitatively and intuitively by a wide range of stakeholders, from remote sensing scientists, to bankers, to smallholder farmers. For this nearly impossible task, the Financial Instruments (FI) Sector Team at IRI has developed participatory processes that are directly embedded in software design algorithms to build robust insurance solutions that are informed, understood and demanded by endusers. In this way, the design involves the iterative communication of quantitative information and intuitive design innovations between all stakeholders. Through these exercises with target farmer groups in the field, the FI Sector team captures information specific to micro-level needs, main characteristics of potential clients and potential implementation schemes adequate to the target group and their modus operandi. IRI's participatory processes have played a key role in defining the relationship between the climate risks and associated losses, to support development of index insurance products for dozens of projects around the world, covering millions of vulnerable people with highly demanded, quickly scaling, impactful products.A sociological gender toolkit for assessing insurance and climate services (HelenThe design of an index insurance product can be deceptively complex, even for \"simple\" phenomena such as drought or low rainfall. An index must find the \"best\" relationship between the insured phenomena and damages, also taking into account climate trends, spatial scale, farmer practice, data availability, product understanding and statistical robustness. Yet products must also be designed quickly and efficiently for a variety of locations. In recent years, a variety of tools have become available including crop modelling and remote sensing, which make the situation even more complex.The aim of this work is to assess some of these tools on index design, providing a guide to how different approaches might be useful in insurance design. This guide includes: The IRI Data Library is a powerful and freely accessible online data repository and analysis tool that allows a user to view, analyze, and download hundreds of terabytes of climate-related data through a standard web browser. The Data Library offers free access to hundreds of high-value datasets and provides the tools and training to perform analysis and inform decisions. The Data Library compiles raw climate, geophysical, health and agriculture data from numerous providers and formats into a common framework that makes powerful cross-disciplinary research and analysis possible. The climate, socio-economic, and geophysical datasets from the Data Library represent a compilation of sources and scales, available at different resolutions. Climate data includes historical and projected precipitation levels, sea, surface and air temperatures, and models, forecasts and simulations. Physical datasets include information on ice, hydrology, topography and oceanography. Socio-economic datasets feature information on population, disease incidence, food security, crop yields and energy use. Maproom mapping tools allow users to select and manipulate certain variables to create custom spatial visualizations of regions, timeframes, and subjects of interest.ENACTS (Enhancing National Climate Services) is an approach led by IRI in partnership with CCAFS and others to develop the capacity of African meteorological agencies (NMHS) to produce high quality gridded historic data sets and a range of derived information. A set of derived historic, monitored and rudimentary forecast products is made available through online Maprooms that provide statistics of interest as maps, and the ability to produce a range of graphs for any user-selected pixel or administrative polygon. As a result, eight African countries now have complete rainfall and temperature data records going back several decades and provide online access to a range of products, for every 4km pixel. Because NMHS generally have much more data than are available in the public domain, the quality of their gridded data sets is far better than what any advanced research institute outside of their country can produce. CCAFS is working with IRI to expand the suite of products tailored to the needs of agriculture, including developing seasonal forecasts of the expanded set of agriculturally important variables downscaled onto the same 4 km grid.The CCAFS Regional Agricultural Forecasting Toolbox (CRAFT) is a framework for running multiple crop simulation models under a unified user interface and for spatial aggregation of the simulated results into interactive thematic maps. CRAFT consists of three main components: a user-friendly client application, a spatial database that contains all input and output data required for the models, including crop management, soil, weather, and climate data, and an integrated GIS object, which is used for the visualization of gridded results using thematic maps. CRAFT is designed to use spatial data schemes through the use of either 5 arc minute or 30 arc minute resolution grids.  (1986-2015).PICSA is an approach that helps small-scale farmers to plan and make better decisions regarding their crop, livestock, and other livelihood activities. It enables farmers to use climate information, both historical graphs and forecasts, and to identify and explore enterprise and management options that best suit the resources they have and the conditions in which they operate. Participatory tools, such as participatory budgets, enable farmers to consider the practical implications of different practices.PICSA is implemented by trained field staff and farmer volunteers working with existing farmer groups. PICSA was implemented in northern Ghana in 2015 within the CASCAID project.Approximately 6,000 households were trained by 60 field staff and farmer volunteers, indicating that the approach can be used at scale. A survey of 416 of these farmers found that 97% had made changes (e.g. changed crop variety) and that, on average, each farmer made 3.2 changes and shared information with five other farmers. PICSA has been successfully used in eight countries at various scales and there is the scope to significantly scale up.After learning about the Flagship 2 projects and tools, a discussion was held to brainstorm knowledge synthesis topics around collaborative topics. Eight topics were initially suggested:1. How do farmers use agroclimatic information? 2. Index Insurance 3. Prospects for handling insurance and climate services 4. Gaps to upscaling climatic information's \"last mile\" 5. Analyzing cost benefits 6. Early warning system (animal diseases, food security surveillance, crop diseases) 7. Synthesis of methods and approaches of climate information 8. Case studies from several projects of good use of climate information and insurance These eight suggestions were condensed into three topics. The resulting topics developed in this discussion were Participatory climate communication work, Climate information tools, and Insurance.Participants selected group leaders for each topic and joined a group based on their interests.The groups worked together to develop a plan for the work following the meeting. The first topic, Participatory climate communication work, was a review and evaluation of evidence regarding return on investment in climate information services. The purpose of this article is to characterize the relationship between the costs and benefits of investment in climate information services. This paper will review a series of five cases studies of climate information services and, for each, will evaluate: the information chain, who benefits and how, and what are confounding factors affecting the evaluation of return of investment climate information services. The second topic is advances in climate forecasting and early warning systems in agriculture. The paper will cover the concept of climate forecasting and early warning systems in agriculture, agricultural production and food security early warning systems, crop disease early warning systems, and livestock/zoonotic disease early warning systems. The third topic was the scaling up of index insurance models and lessons learned from the portfolio of index insurance projects.Vanessa Meadu gave a talk on how to best use communications tools to share the work being done.Ms. Meadu advised that communication should be for outcomes and about outcomes. Collaboration is key to communication -everyone has a role to play. One of the key objectives of communications is to increase uptake of CCAFS outputs. We can do this by promoting CCAFS science and building awareness and understanding of CCAFS knowledge among key next user groups. It is important to inform global and national policies and initiatives on climate change, agriculture and food security.Communications will enable CCAFS researchers to strengthen relationships with strategic partners and funders. If we encourage learning and sharing of information we can improve impact of communications. Sharing our work will help the institution to demonstrate accountability by building awareness of the program results. One key way to do this would be to work towards making all CCAFS knowledge products Open Access.There are common challenges to communicating about CCAFs work. It is important to use appropriate language and messaging and to focus on the impact pathway. Also, some policy makers and members of the public do not believe in our science. The information must be relevant to what our users need and presented through the correct channels. Following Ms. Meadu's presentation, the attendees selected one of three discussion groups on communications: 1) Infographics; 2) Pitching to media and talking to journalists; 3) Blogging for impact. _ Researchers at regional offices do spend extensive time communicating with governments but other researchers need to be proactive and share materials and information on research and projects.Work at the country-level can also showcase skills to country-level funders. Many implementing agencies are at the country level, such as ministries. An example was given with IRI in Uruguay, where ministries saw value in IRI work, which led to a funding opportunity.In particular, development banks must be engaged at the regional level. This is also the case with the GCF. For other donors, such as USAID, mechanisms at the regional level are less straightforward.While researchers can look to regional offices for links to partners, CCAFS is also the natural home for making links across regions on topics, such as insurance.Communication and branding: There is a constant need to be aware of the need to brand CCAFS products. While CGIAR centers have individual identities, researchers should be thinking of how to cultivate a cohesive CCAFS identity as well.There was discussion around administrative, planning, and budgeting issues, as well as focus on substantive issues that could be explored further.On substantive topics, the following was discussed:PICSA: The Agroclimas group would like to implement PICSA in Colombia. Questions were raised regarding how flexible the model is and whether there should be a process to learn from and adapt PICSA. Further discussion with the University of Reading is required on this.Gender: There is a general need for support on a gender strategy as well as questions on who to look to for support on these issues. There is a new point person on gender and she can the first point of contact. Researchers should also look to their individual center, which often has gender expertise. If there is a need for more funds for gender programming, researchers should be contacting Jim Hansen.Evidence: There is a gap in evidence in many projects. This should be built in to interventions. There are some methodological issues around evaluation, especially ex ante evaluation of projects. One of the paper topics identified was on evidence. It was also stressed that the climate smart villages should be a place to implement and generate evidence. Should more be put into the villages? This should be considered.Early Warning/Safety Nets: Efforts are now being made to get a foot in the door on these topics. It is important not to lose focus on them even though they are included in other flagships.Food Security: There is sometimes a tendency to forget about food security.Public/Private Partnerships: Increased focus on partnerships is necessary. Discussion focused on whether the climate smart villages should also showcase these partnerships. It was stressed that the villages are intended to also include these types of partnerships, with dialogue across scales.These partnerships are key to many programs, such as the big data project, insurance projects, and Agritech. There is space for more dialogue and discussion on public/private partnerships.A discussion was held on how to remain a community following the conclusion of the meeting.Working groups were suggested in different sectors. CCAFS communications recommends staying in touch with the communication team at each project's institutional home. These outputs can be used later in newsletters. An alternative suggestion from the communications team is to list Project Leader information on the CCAFS website with information about their areas of expertise. However, it can be challenging to keep track with changes in project leadership. A Flagship LinkedIn group was suggested for everyone to use and keep in touch.The first Flagship newsletter was well received and seen to be useful beyond CCAFS. Webinars could also be useful as topics arise. High-quality webinars are a way to bring knowledge to funders, outcome partners. They can also be used to exchange knowledge, methods, and tools. Joint planning across projects under the flagship has been useful in the South-East Asia region. It could be potentially useful with these projects. In the future, the flagship hopes to hold a meeting every other year.The Flagship 2: Climate Services and Safety Nets Science Meeting proved to be a useful opportunity for collaboration and knowledge sharing across projects. The presentations -from summaries of work to cross-cutting discussions -gave participants the opportunity to discuss cross-project fertilization, how to improve their projects, and how to improve collaboration across the flagship. Such discussions and subsequent activities will help the flagship reach its intended outputs and outcomes. Project leaders were able to learn from each other as well as gain valuable insight into seasonal forecasting from Dr. Lisa Goddard. The participants found the relationship building and information presented in the meeting valuable, and many plans were put in place for continued collaboration. 1) How can we understand gaps and opportunities related to the communication and use of agro-climatic information? 2) How can we improve climate and food security indicators in planning, monitoring and decision-making? 3) How cam we combine climate forecasts + crop models and characterizing climaterelated risks? 1) Understanding rainfall predictability at seasonal scales in Colombia and Honduras as a stepping stone for providing reliable information services 2) Improvements in the selection of predictor areas for seasonal statistical forecasting and automation of seasonal forecasts (R-CPT) 3) Local technical agro-climatic committees (LTACs): a stakeholder-driven approach to improve use of seasonal forecasts and decision making at local levels 4) RClimTool: a tool for end-to-end assessment of weather station data 1) Delays in implementation related to changes in Guatemala's government, 2) Understanding and predicting the onset of the rainy season \"onset indices\" can be challenging; 3) Ensuring that agro-climate forecasts reach large audiences (scale up) in time so farmers can use them Capacitating African Smallholders with Climate Advisories and Insurance Development (CASCAID) (P46) (Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger) 1) What are the best CS options and how can these options be scaled? 2) What tools are most effective for improved crop monitoring and yield forecasting? 3) What are the capacity strengthening and communication mechanisms for CS options? 3) What climate information do smallholders need? 4) How can insurance better target and impact inequalities across gender and social groups in smallholder settings? 1) Developed climate-smart agricultural portfolios most likely to benefit from climate services and scaling up principles; 2) Improved crop monitoring and yield forecasting through a range of tools and data 3) Created an online database to improve availability, access and use of climate information 4) Building tools to link agro-meteorology and insurance and building toolkit for gender-sensitive insurance design 1) Lack of local climate data and definition of climate-related concepts in local languages 2) Improved crop monitoring and yield forecasting requires capacity and quality data; 3:) Capacity strengthening, communication mechanisms, and institutionalization of PICSA across different projects; 3) Linkages between insurance and agro-meteorology projects Appendix 3: Research Project Summaries"}

main/part_2/0374740879.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a2da753d3c07891bc323f349c2ebf303","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/22534048-81bd-4603-b227-27967d76bc87/content","id":"933011874"},"keywords":["Wheats","Triticum","Triticales","Hordeum vulgare","Cereal crops","Varieties","Germplasm","Documentation","Information Processing","Databases AGRIS category code: C30 Dewey decimal classification: 633.1047 Triticum aestivum ssp. vu/gare Triticum aestivum ssp. vulgare (bread wheat) cv. Tern"],"sieverID":"18cf775c-4d55-4666-9559-f43db43b20a3","content":"The following quotations were translated, courtesy Dr. Sufi M. Ahmed, from a book Characteristics of Crop Varieties published in Bangla in 1985 by the seed certification agency of the Government of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council. BD Akbar BAW-43 \"The line was introduced from CIMMYT Mexico. Its pedigree is Ron x Tob \"s\" CM 7705-3M-l Y-2M-2Y-OY-OJO, and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute developed the variety by selection. It is very high yielding and gives as much as 4200 kg/ha with irrigation. On 29 March 1983, the National Seed Board recommended it for cultivation under both irrigated and nonirrigated conditions. The grain is white and bold. Except for the coastal belt of the southern region, it can be cultivated throughout Bangladesh. Sowing may be done up to the middle of December. The variety is resistant to all diseases of wheat, and it is now being grown by farmers.\"BO Ananda BAW-18 \"The line was introduced from CIMMYT Mexico in 1975. The cross/pedigree is Kal/Bb CM26992-30M-300Y-500M-OY-OJA-OJA. The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute developed the variety by selecting in segregating generations. Except for the coastal belt of the southern region, it is recommended for cultivation throughout Bangladesh under both irrigated and non-irrigated conditions. The variety is resistant to leaf rust, loose smut and other diseases. The time of sowing is from the first week of November to the first week of December.Sustainable cereal production on farmers' fields: that is the ultimate measure of the impact of CIMMYT's research. Its achievement requires a combination of effective technologies and the most appropriate seeds. Over the years, much of the Center's effort has been devoted to breeding and selection, and CIMMYT can now claim that its germplasm is to be found in the genealogy of many -perhaps most -of the wheat and triticale cultivars that are offered by public and private seed suppliers throughout the world.CIMMYT germplasm is also widely represented in the maize that is grown in many countries, especially the tropical countries. However, the concept of a 'cultivar', which is well established for self-pollinating plants, needs a different interpretation when applied to outcrossing species. Within a few seasons, what is introduced intermingles with what is already there. While many authorities announce 'cultivars' and 'varieties' of maize, these are more likely to have numbers than names, and a mere listing would fall far short of representing the impact of CIMMYT's maize program. For maize, more sophisticated indicators are needed; thus this compilation deals only with the Triticeae.Normally, a cultivar is released or registered by a national authority for use in a particular country or jurisdiction. In many countries, the release or registration is the occasion for publishing an announcement and, while most announcements give the parentage of the cultivar, some also explain where and when the crosses were made and how the selection was carried out. Often such a publication gives the results of trials and the reasons for the adoption of the cultivar.Name a cultivar, and we should be able to find -and, when appropriate, to cite -the relevant national announcement; this is the authentic source for information about the characteristics of the cultivar. But tens of thousands of cultivars have been named in the Triticeae and, to be manageable, our list needed to have a precise scope: we are interested in those publications that contain a narrative, even if only a word or two, in which the authors link the development of their cultivars to the programs of CIMMYT.Similarly, and again to comprehend a national breeder's perspective, we are also interested in synoptic works -'country reviews' -that take note of CIMMYT's contributions in the context of an evolving national breeding program.1) The announcement of an individual cultivar is eligible for listing if it explicitly acknowledges CJMMYT's role in the development of the cultivar or if that role has been acknowledged, albeit separately, in another publication that has met the rules of admissibility and has also been included in this compilation.2) A 'country reviei-v' is eligible for listing if it originated with responsible national authorities and if it specifically identifies cultivars as having been developed with the cooperation with CIMMYT.CIMMYT was set up in 1966, and nothing published before that date is included in this compilation. Hence this is not the place to identify the first announcements of the varieties that triggered the 'Green Revolution'. Those varieties figure in this compilation to the extent that CIMMYT has continued the work of its antecedent organizations, thus building on the achievements of the Rockefeller Foundation and its partners in Mexico and other countries. And, by a literal application of the rule of admissibility. we are able to allow a little flexibility: thus, even when the actual work was done before 1966, we include later announcements if the authors use the name 'CIMMYT' in their acknowledgements.Finally, because this compilation focuses on publications, it does not provide a complete list of the cultivars produced from CIMMYT germplasm. If there was no national publication to announce a cultivar, there is no entry in the following pages. Indeed, even when there is a publication announcing a cul ti var that has CIMMYT germplasm in its genealogy, it is listed here only if national scientists have seen the role of CIMMYT as significant enough to require a mention in the announcement itself or in a country review.As indicated in the Introduction, some announcements in Parts I-IV do not mention CIMMYT by name, but they are included because CIMMYT's contribution to the development of the cultivar has been acknowledged in another publication included in this compilation. In these cases, the entry for the announcement is followed by the symbol @ and the prefix for the item where the acknowledgement can be found (either in a country review or in an announcement of the same cultivar but in another country).Authors whose names are marked with an asterisk(*) are those indicated in the publication as having -or having had -an affiliation with CIMMYT.When a national authority names a cultivar in honor of a staff member of CIMMYT, the dedication is quoted at the end of the entry, see: While some of the listed items were published in major scientific journals, many are from relatively obscure sources. However, a copy of every document is held in the CIMMYT Library and is available for consultation. Persons who are unable to visit the CIMMYT Library are advised to apply to their own librarians. Wherever possible, we have given AGRIS numbers to assist those who use these numbers for filing their collections of reprints and reports. Librarians unable to meet the needs of their clients are invited -in the last resort -to contact the compiler for copies of individual items from this list.Recognizing that, from a span of 34 years, there are probably many more items that could have met the rules of admissibility (page l ), the compiler earnestly solicits the cooperation of colleagues in bringing these to his attention. Please [email protected] -or send copies to him in care of the CIMMYT Library.The compiler says THANK YOU ..... The successive editions of this list could not have been prepared without the help of many people:... former and present colleagues in CIMMYT's Scientific Information Unit and Library, especially Patricia Villarreal and Juan Carlos Mendieta .... others at CIMMYT who -whether in the past or more recently -lent me their documents, made photocopies, or let me rummage in their collections.             . 79"}

main/part_2/0434820571.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"944ab009f112f2e443f5c7dfa0fccbe7","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e9e9c84a-822c-437f-8c8f-703543e52eff/retrieve","id":"-308114802"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"9d329590-1205-4af3-9e20-954c497c18ef","content":"Référence exacte : Garrett, K.A. 2024. Fiche descriptive de l'outil Analyse des réseaux d'impact (INA). Lima (Pérou). Programme de recherche du CGIAR sur les racines, tubercules et bananes (RTB).1. Objectif : analyser les scénarios afin d'évaluer les résultats des systèmes semenciers. Ces potentiels scénarios sont : (a) les stratégies de gestion visant à lutter contre la propagation d'un agent pathogène dans les systèmes semenciers et ayant pour but améliorer la disponibilité ou l'accès à certaines variétés de cultures ; (c) les stratégies de gestion des structures et des résultats spécifiques au genre, et (d) les stratégies générales visant à optimiser les résultats des systèmes semenciers.2. Niveau : applicable à un ensemble de résolution et d'étendue. Résolution : Les noeuds de réseau peuvent être des agriculteurs ou des pays. Étendue : la priorité peut être accordée à un village ou à un pays.3. Utilisateurs de l'outil : les scientifiques et les analystes qui conçoivent, appliquent ou évaluent les systèmes semenciers. Les personnes de différents niveaux d'expérience en matière de programmation peuvent utiliser INA.4. Résultats de l'outil : une analyse de scénario répondant aux questions clés identifiées par le groupe de recherche, et de nouvelles données pour définir la priorité des études sur le terrain.5. Participants aux productions : les scientifiques et les analystes, la vulgarisation, les décideurs politiques et les bailleurs de fonds.6. Taille minimale de l'échantillon : on peut ajuster l'analyse en fonction de la taille de l'échantillon, des données plus limitées résultant en une analyse plus spéculative, et plus de données résultant en une plus grande précision.7. Ressources : a. Élaboration de scénarios en vue de l'évaluation : les groupes de recherche identifient les questions les plus importantes et conçoivent des scénarios pour évaluer ces questions. b. Accès ou collecte des données initiales appropriées (soit en réalisant une enquête, soit en utilisant des données collectées précédemment). c. Analyse de réseau : les estimations de la structure des réseaux clés sont évaluées pour comprendre les réseaux individuellement et pour alimenter l'INA. d. Analyse des scénarios : analyser les résultats de chaque scénario dans des simulations informatiques répétées. On peut recourir à l'analyse de sensibilité et à la quantification des incertitudes pour déterminer les paramètres les plus importants du système, lesquels pourraient faire l'objet de futures études sur le terrain.e. Interactions itératives liées aux études de terrain : l'analyse des scénarios génère de nouvelles hypothèses que l'on peut tester sur le terrain, tandis que les données recueillies au cours d'autres études de terrain fournissent de nouvelles estimations des paramètres pour la phase suivante des analyses de scénarios. f. Intégration de modèles de dégénérescence des semences, pour certaines questions : intégrer le risque de maladie au niveau des noeuds individuels, en fonction de facteurs tels que le climat et la résistance aux maladies.8. Calendrier : avant, pendant et après une étude ou une intervention ou application d'un nouveau système semencier.9. Échéance : l'analyse préliminaire, après la collecte et l'organisation des données, peut durer une semaine seulement, tandis que l'étude approfondie peut prendre quelques mois, voire un an si les collaborateurs souhaitent publier les résultats.10. Étapes : a. Élaboration de scénarios pour l'évaluation : les groupes de recherche identifient les questions les plus importantes et conçoivent des scénarios pour évaluer ces questions. b. Accès ou collecte des données initiales appropriées (soit en réalisant une enquête, soit en utilisant des données collectées précédemment). c. Analyse de réseau : l'on effectue les estimations de la structure des réseaux clés afin de comprendre les réseaux individuellement et pour alimenter l'INA. d. Analyse des scénarios : analyser les résultats de chaque scénario dans des simulations informatiques répétées. On peut recourir à l'analyse de sensibilité et à la quantification des incertitudes pour déterminer les paramètres les plus importants du système, lesquels pourraient faire l'objet de futures études sur le terrain. e. Interactions itératives liées aux études de terrain : l'analyse des scénarios génère de nouvelles hypothèses que l'on peut tester sur le terrain, tandis que les données recueillies au cours d'autres études de terrain fournissent de nouvelles estimations des paramètres pour la phase suivante des analyses de scénarios. f. Intégration de modèles de dégénérescence des semences, pour certaines questions : intégrer le risque de maladie au niveau des noeuds individuels, en fonction de facteurs tels que le climat et la résistance aux maladie.11. Quelles méthodes peut-on associer à l'outil : les enquêtes ou autres méthodes de collecte de données (telles que décrites dans le guide de l'utilisateur sur le traçage des semences), et la modélisation.12. Genre : est capable d'évaluer dans quelle mesure un système apporte des avantages aux participants, en fonction de leur sexe, par exemple la probabilité d'accès et la disponibilité (niveau 1 de parité : le genre constitue un facteur important dans cet outil, mais cela ne constitue pas la raison principale de son utilisation).13. Guide de l'utilisateur : Garrett, K.A. 2021. User guide to impact network analysis (INA). Lima (Pérou). Programme de recherche du CGIAR sur les racines, tubercules et bananes (RTB) Guide de l'utilisateur RTB No. 2021-4. https://doi.org/10.4160/9789290605768"}

main/part_2/0454464349.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"fbc6475d298fb15e0e9a1ded5b6037a2","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/4b59517b-ddc3-4dd8-b0b1-074a6370b598/content","id":"202764109"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"64acb131-17ad-46dd-a336-2ddb3282fa8a","content":"de Maiz y Trigo, International (together \"CIMMYT\"), not-for-profit organizations, as of December 31, 2000 and 1999, and the related combined statements of activity and cash flows, expressed in United States dollars, for the years then ended. These financial statements are the responsibility of CIMMYT's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.We conducted our audits in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of CIMMYT as of December 31, 2000 and 1999, and the results of its activities and its cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) financial guidelines contained in the 1/ Accounting Policies and Reporting Practices\" manual, which conform with the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.Our audits were made for the purpose of forming an opinion on the basic financial statements taken as a whole. The data presented as supplementary information in Exhibits 1 to 4, expressed in United States dollars, is presented for purposes of additional analysis and is not a required part of the basic financial statements. This information has been subjected to the auditing procedures applied in our audit of the basic financial statements and, in our opinion, is fairly stated in all material respects in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole. March 13,2001 CIMMYT® (www.cimmyt.org)isaninternationallyfunded.nonprofit.scientific research and training organization . Headquartered in Mexico, CIMMYT works with agricultural research institutions worldwide to improve the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of maize and wheat systems for poor farmers in developing countries. It is one of 16 food and environmental organizations known as the Future Harvest Centers. Located around the world, the Future Harvest Centers conduct research in partnership with farmers, scientists, and policymakers to help alleviate poverty and increase food security while protecting natural resources. The centers are supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research(CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org).whosemembersincludenearly60countries.private foundations, and regional and international organizations. Financial support for CIMMYT's research agenda also comes from many other sources, including foundations, development banks, and public and private agencies.------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The accompanying notes are an integral part of these Combined Statements of Activity.Centro Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents: Beginning of the yearThe accompanying notes are an integral part of these Combined Statements of Cash Flows. Prior to 1999, core restricted and special project pledges, which are often for more than one year, were treated somewhat differently. The uncollected portion of the pledge 5was not recognized as a receivable and consequently was not recorded as income. An account receivable was created and income recorded only when expenses were incurred under the grant. This treatment matched revenues and expenses in accordance with the level of activities carried out under the grant.This accounting policy permitted ClMMYT to distinguish between income and amounts pledged in core-restricted and special project grants. This is necessary since these grants often cover more than one year's activities or contain carry forward provisions in cases of underexpenditure.Beginning in 1999, C1MMYT changed its proced ure for recording restricted and special project pledges and began recording all pledges when notification is received . However, at the end of the period the amount of any income recorded for which the expenses have not yet been incurred is recorded as an expense with an accrual for \"committed funds\" (see Note 3-h). This new procedure has no effect on the statement of activity.Beginning in 1999, CIMMYT began recording \"in-kind\" contributions (comprising research staff and research infrastructure and facilities) in its total revenues. For 2000, this amounted to 1,467 (1,462 in 1999).C1MMYT is also granted special projects for which there is a third party collaborator to execute the project activities. For 2000, special projects including these collaborators amounted to 402 (278 in 1999).  .10,143,311 in 1999) and Ps.8,314,193 (Ps.7,811,286 in 1999), respectively, which were included in the Statement of Financial Position at their US dollar equivalents, resulting from applying the year-end exchange rate.During 2000, the value of the Mexican peso compared to the US dollar decreased from Ps.9.50 to Ps.9.60 (it increased from Ps.9.90 to Ps.9.52 in 1999). The translation effect for 2000 was 158 (102 in 1999). As of March 13,2001, the date of issuance of these financial statements, the exchange rate was Ps.9.66 per US dollar and the unaudited Mexican peso position was similar to that at year-end.Note 5: Net Assets. According to the CGIAR accounting guidelines, net assets consist of balances such as operating funds, capital-related funds and funds set up for special purposes. The largest fund is the one related to the total investment in property, plant, and equipment, which is analyzed in Exhibit 3.In   The columns\" Grant Period\" and• Grant Pledged\" are for information only. "}

main/part_2/0491907206.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"8899366c36c34d9c3853398e000cb416","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/865bba1a-c0b5-4965-a809-b0845f0dbbce/retrieve","id":"-1586160080"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"53a3f000-8699-453b-8b04-c1d6a2e1dd9c","content":"Ce dossier sur l'innovation présente un ensemble de procédures opérationnelles standardisées (POS) visant à opérationnaliser la gouvernance polycentrique à échelles multiples (MPG) en utilisant des options d'adaptation transformatrice (TAO). L'objectif : améliorer la résilience systémique contre le changement climatique. Ces procédures traitent de l'identification des caractéristiques transformatrices des options d'adaptation, des institutions impliquées dans un système de MPG et du cadre d'évaluation de l'influence de la gouvernance ex ante des TAO sur l'amélioration de la résilience climatique par le biais de diverses dimensions d'impact intermédiaire. Une telle évaluation peut aider à l'allocation d'investissements dans des composantes potentielles de gouvernance afin d'assurer des résultats intermédiaires améliorés, conduisant à des résultats durables dans le domaine de la résilience climatique et du bien-être rural.Résultats Produits  Cette section présente deux études de cas pour analyser les POS des TAO visant à renforcer la résilience climatique. Tableau 1. Caractéristiques de transformation d'une intervention d'adaptation visant à passer à des cultures à haute valeur ajoutée et tolérantes à la sécheresse dans le système d'irrigation de Sina, Maharashtra, Inde.Les AO apportent des changements dans une petite zone afin de développer un système de production à plus forte valeur ajoutée.Les AO passent d'un système de production à faible valeur ajoutée à un système de production à plus forte valeur ajoutée avec des cultures arboricoles.Les AO envisagent l'irrigation conjointe (eaux de surface et eaux souterraines) dès la conception, et non par défaut.Les AO peuvent modifier le système de culture à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur de la zone de commandement du canal.À l'échelle du système Les AO seront une solution pour les systèmes d'irrigation qui manquent d'eau dans un bassin fluvial.Les AO vont créer des revenus durables (avec les cultures fruitières) pour les agriculteurs, même au cours des années de sécheresse.    Les CMC envisagent une restructuration de la gestion des systèmes de cascades. À l'heure actuelle, les CMC ont une représentation auprès de diverses institutions gouvernementales, le Département du développement agraire étant l'organisme directeur. Les leaders locaux sont les principaux décideurs en matière de gestion de l'eau et de l'agriculture, avec des institutions gouvernementales et non gouvernementales agissant en tant qu'observateurs et médiateurs en cas de conflit, ou en tant qu'acteurs permettant / apportant des services de soutien.Les AO peuvent renforcer l'exploitation et la maintenance, qui constituent actuellement le principal goulot d'étranglement, des systèmes de cascades de réservoirs à un niveau supérieur.Les CMC sont un concept innovant pour intégrer la gestion des cascades de réservoirs, qui autrement fonctionnent de façon isolée, en ignorant les liens avec les réservoirs en amont et en aval.Les CMC peuvent influencer la gestion non seulement des réservoirs individuels, mais aussi des réservoirs au sein du système de cascades à différentes échelles. "}

main/part_2/0502061087.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"a3b948059c5fd7a0f025b4503e9f360f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e9baa788-ccf3-4cb6-bc3c-18c5de78a6e5/retrieve","id":"826672401"},"keywords":["Rice systems","agronomic performance","economic profitability","crop establishment","crop diversification","sustainable management","lowland"],"sieverID":"c937cd08-7aef-4c81-8d2b-3fa565e7cadb","content":"This work was carried out by the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) as part of the CGIAR initiative, Transforming Agri-Food Systems in West and Central Africa (TAFS-WCA), and has not been independently peer-reviewed. Responsibility for editing, proofreading and layout; of the opinions expressed and all responsibility for editing, proofreading, formatting, and any errors lies with the authors and not with the institutions involved.Rice plays a crucial position as a staple food in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (Dossou-Yovo et al., 2022;Rodenburg and Saito, 2022). Its annual consumption has seen a substantial rise, exceeding 100 kg per capita, attributed to population growth and evolving dietary patterns (Seck et al., 2012;Dossou-Yovo et al., 2022). Projections indicate that by 2028, SSA is anticipated to rank second globally in annual per capita rice consumption, following Asia (OECD-FAO, 2019).Despite this, the need for a 130% increase in production by 2035 to meet demand highlights a significant yield gap (Seck et al., 2013).The existing discrepancy between potential and actual yields in SSA, with 2 t/ha compared to 8 to 10 t/ha in Asia and Egypt, underscores the challenge faced by the region (AfricaRice, 2011).Asia currently covers 47% of the demand shortfall in SSA (Arouna et al., 2021;Asaia et al., 2021). Previous studies attribute this low yield to suboptimal crop management practices (Saito et al., 2018;Dossou-Yovo et al., 2020). Therefore, there is a call for sustainable intensification and diversification of rice systems to bridge the yield gap and enhance rural livelihoods (Rodenburg and Saito, 2022).Lowland ecosystems, covering 3.6% of SSA area (Dossou-Yovo et al., 2017), serve as the primary environments for intensive rice production. The prevalent conventional method (PTR) in lowland rice systems offers benefits like weed suppression and nutrient availability but demands substantial water, labor, and energy inputs, incurring high costs and delaying subsequent crop planting (Johnson and Mortimer, 2005;Chauhan and Opena, 2012). This poses challenges for smallholders, predominantly poor farmers.The introduction of new technologies focusing on crop establishment, residue and water management, with an emphasis on soil conservation and cost-effectiveness, presents a crucial challenge for researchers, governments, and agricultural stakeholders (Ghelichkhan et al., 2018).Encouraging a transition from single to double cropping per year, as well as the adoption and development of vegetable crops, mirrors practices in China and South Asia, demonstrating the evolving landscape of agricultural production (Penot et al., 2015;Kumar, 2020;Devkota, 2020).However, there is limited literature on the sustainable performance of such systems in Asia, and comprehensive evaluations of cost-benefit parameters are lacking in Africa.This study, focusing on the assessment of different crop establishment, residue management, diversification options and tillage systems on rice yield and profitability in lowlands with the aim to reduce production gaps and farmers' income.The field experiment spanning from 2019 to 2021 took place in the irrigated rice lowland area at the M'bé location (7°53'58'′ N, 5°3'3'33'′W), which is part of the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) in central Côte d'Ivoire. The climate in this region is tropical, characterized by two dry seasons from November to March and from July to August, along with two rainy seasons from April to June and from September to October. Eight agricultural practices were examined, including rice cultivated once a year under transplanting (T1), rice cultivated twice a year under transplanting (T2), rice cultivated three times a year under transplanting (T3), rice-bean rotation under transplanting (T4), rice-rice-bean rotation under transplanting (T5), rice-bean rotation under wet direct seeding (T6), rice-rice-bean rotation under dry direct seeding (T7), and rice-rice-bean rotation under no-till (T8) in randomized complete block design with three repetitions. The rice variety used is Wita 9, and the legumes are beans (cowpeas).The system rice-rice-rice under transplanting (T3) exhibits the highest average annual yield in rice grains (9.79 t. ha-1). However, it requires more water, resulting in a lower water use efficiency (4.2 kgha-1mm-1) compared to other systems. The rice PTR system (T1) registers the lowest average annual grain yield (4.47 t. ha-1) and rice equivalent yield (4468.5 kg/ha). In contrast, the rice-rice-bean (T5) PTR system demonstrates superior performance with a rice equivalent yield (REY), rice equivalent system yield (SREY), system productivity efficiency, and water use efficiency of 3.7 t. ha-1; 4851.4 kg/ha; 11474.4 kg/ha; 24 kg/ha/day; and 9.3 kgha-1mm-1, respectively.The average rice grain yields are lower under T8, T7 and T6. Among the direct seeded practices, the Wet DSR direct seeder outperforms the dry seed drill (Dry DSR), which, in turn, surpasses the No-till Dry DSR. In conclusion, better performance was achieved with the dry seeder than the one sown in the pot.The rice-rice-rice under transplanting had only a 19 higher average grain rice yield compared to the rice-rice-cowpea under transplanting. The grain yield of the different system was in the order of PTR rice-rice-rice > PTR rice-rice-bean > PTR rice-cowpea > PTR rice-rice > Wet DSR > Dry DSR > No-till Dry DSR > PTR rice.Combining all practices, the rice-rice-bean PTR system proves to be the most profitable with a gross yield of 3427.2 USD/ha and a net yield of 2313.8 USD/ha. Additionally, it generates the highest profit (2.1 USD) for each unit of USD invested. In general, diversification systems show a higher cost-benefit ratio despite their lower grain yields. On the other hand, the intensive ricerice PTR monoculture system, despite its cumulative yield performance and high gross profit, exhibits a low return on investment. Integration of cowpea into the system significantly improved the performance of the system with 42 and 48% contributions to the system rice equivalent yield and net benefit, respectively.The study aimed to evaluate the impact of crop establishment, residue management, and diversification on grain yield, and profitability lowland rice systems in Côte d'Ivoire. Over the period from 2021 to 2023, eight agricultural practices were examined, including rice cultivated once a year under transplanting (T1), rice cultivated twice a year under transplanting (T2), rice cultivated three times a year under transplanting (T3), rice-bean rotation under transplanting (T4), rice-rice-bean rotation under transplanting (T5), rice-bean rotation under wet direct seeding (T6), rice-rice-bean rotation under dry direct seeding (T7), and rice-rice-bean rotation under notill (T8). Data on yields, incomes, and production costs were collected and utilized to calculate the system rice equivalent yield, system productivity efficiency, water use efficiency, and system net benefit. The rice-rice-bean rotation under transplanting exhibited the highest values system rice equivalent yield, productivity efficiency, water use efficiency, and net benefit, which were 157%, 13%, 66%, and 184% higher than those of the rice cultivation once-a-year, respectively.The study suggests that the rice-rice-bean rotation under transplanting could be recommended to producers to improve yield, benefits of rice systems in lowlands."}

main/part_2/0508366060.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"3a3eb942d37405920aa7fcb7ade392e9","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/424d805f-00e1-4ca5-a6aa-9cdc7f6891f5/retrieve","id":"-799997851"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"ba3208eb-76fb-4144-b1c5-eb774bb94053","content":"In the Municipality of Guinayangan, Quezon, agriculture and marine produce provide income for most of its residents. With a land area of 22,800 hectares, this third-class municipality has a population of 41,669. It is bound by the Ragay Gulf in the east and lies 255 kms away from Metro Manila. The area is composed of hills, mountains, and seas. Fifteen of its 54 barangays are located along the coastal shore (Municipality of Guinayangan, 2002). The tropical climate sees a temperature of 23°C to 33°C, with the hottest months being March to May and coolest months being December and January. The highest precipitation is received between September and January. The wettest month is October, which averages at 405mm whilst the driest month is April, which averages at 78mm (Climate Data, 2012). Agriculture is the primary land use and covers almost 74% of the total area, 85% of which is devoted to coconut production. However, fish production holds a significant role within the coastal barangays (Municipality of Guinayangan, 2002). The diverse topography of the area presents a variety of challenges across the municipality and unique interventions are required for each individual farm.Climate change poses risks across the globe for those reliant upon agriculture, with developing nations suffering the consequences on a greater level (Morton, 2007). In recent years, the dry seasons have increased in length, with rice production being limited to only one season in Guinayangan. Increasing and varied temperatures have made crops more vulnerable to failure; production levels have decreased resulting in food security being threatened (IIRR, 2016).The Philippines experiences 20 -25 typhoons annually, with 283 events hosted between 1996 and 2015, has been listed in the top 5 of the Climatic Risk Index (Kreft, Exkstein and Melchoir, 2017). In November 2013, the Philippines experienced one of the most powerful and destructive events to date, Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). The category 5 typhoon made landfall six times, resulting in over 6,000 deaths and USD $3 billion of total losses (IIRR, 2015).With the threat of climate change, IIRR's program increases the adaptive capacities of small farmers, with the most vulnerable -women and youth farmers -being targetted. This involves applying approaches that build farm resilience and embody climate smart agricultural methods that address food security in a sustainable, environmentally friendly manner. The main objective of the project looks at developing an evidence-base for sustainable outscaling of climate resilient agricultural practices to enhance livelihood, resilience, and adaptive capacities. CCAFS and the Department of Agriculture (DA), through its Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), supported this initiative to demonstrate that small livestock are a socially relevant and economically profitable project for the poor, especially women. Key aims within this include:   The widespread destruction within Guinayangan highlighted the vulnerability of the farmers to the climatic conditions that deeply affect the crops they rely on for basic needs. The crops they produced prior to Typhoon Rammasun (coconut, banana, corn, and vegetables) were unable to survive and sustain their livelihoods; the coconut trees took 1-2 years to recover before being able to produce nuts again (Dalusag, 2014). Livestock production emerged as a relatively resilient form of agriculture.Livestock production not only provides households with a reliable food source but it enables an easy and productive source of income. Livestock have particular benefits for women, providing them with a low labour and easily manageable economic asset. The tolerance of native pigs to differing environments is known to be considerably higher than that of commercial or imported breeds of pigs. Reproduction and growth of native breeds are consistent even when experiencing adverse conditions. Compared to the other breeds, native pigs are more resistant to common parasites, pests, and diseases, making them an asset of high value and reliability.With the prospects of future climatic events and challenges, the value of livestock is emphasised as climate smart. The capital investment required to begin raising native pigs is small, as are the required inputs in terms of housing and feeding.The native pig is favoured for the popular Filipino roasted pig dish 'Lechon'. The meat of native pigs is considered tastier, crispier, and leaner than imported and commercialized breeds. More nutritional value is held, with higher protein content but lower fat and cholesterol (D.O.A, 2015). This means the market demand and value of the native pig promotes their production and benefits to smallholder farms. They are able to generate a steady income, provide insurance through diversification for when other crops may fail, increase household food security while providing an option for consumption when necessary.The introduction of native pigs combined with environmentally friendly methods of production and maintenance works towards a number of the objectives. One of the main advantages of raising native pigs is the lack of external inputs required, which lowers production costs while equally contributing to mitigation by utilising locally produced materials and therefore lowering carbon footprints.Before the assets in the form of a starter stock of live animals can be received, beneficiaries must prove their interest by constructing housing or pens for the pig at their own cost. This doesn't have to involve any costs if local sources and readily available materials from their farms are utilized. An intensive garden must be established first if appropriate crops are not already being grown.Native pig production increases productivity of farms by presenting an extra commodity that adds to the income sustainability of the beneficiaries. The methods implemented promote environmental concern through mitigating elements. Through this, sustainability is emphasised as carbon footprints are reduced, decreasing their addition with the oncoming climatic changes. Farmer knowledge and capacities are developed not only in terms of practices but equally for value addition, market structures, and food systems. This will allow for adaptions in anticipation of future alterations and changes. Nutritional aspects of native pig production are also highlighted, promoting the use of meat and feed crops within household diets.The pig production project promotes the use of climate smart methods which require minimal economic input yet produce significant returns when converted to cash. Sourcing all inputs locally or from their own farms includes regenerative aspects, promoting the health and productivity of other areas of the farm.Many consider keeping pigs as an expensive practice because commercial feeds are costly, are subject to availability, and produce lower quality meat. In contrast, farms with small capital and minimal knowledge on appropriate and beneficial methods grow their pigs on scavenging and kitchen waste. Through developing an intensive feed garden, the risks associated with reliance upon commercial feeds are reduced along with expenditures.Compared to other livestock production options, pigs, chickens, and ducks are low-emission (greenhouse gases, especially methane) options. With alternative feeds, these emission levels can be further reduced. Menus of feed options are prepared using totally available materials. This includes grains, root crops, oil cake or copra, and legumes.Farmers who provide housing structures for their livestock tend to accumulate higher capitals than those who let their pigs roam freely. Housing provides an element of protection from weather conditions and the risk of the pigs contracting diseases is lowered (D.O.A, 2015). Cement and hollow blocks used for walls and floor are common. However, utilizing local, readily available construction materials, such as bamboo, reduces expenditures while providing an appropriate housing structure that ensure cooler temperature due to improved ventilation.Organic methods of bedding are promoted due to a number of benefits. Through utilizing low cost and easily accessible materials such as coconut husks, soils, rice hull, dried leaves, and saw dust, a deep bed flooring system can be developed. These heavily reduce the smell and consequently the flies, promote the health of the pigs, and provide farms with a source of natural compost whilst providing the pigs with a comfortable and stimulating environment. This is particularly effective in areas of higher elevation with good drainage (D.O.A, 2015). Other methods utilising similar materials also have positive effects however the deep beds are thought to be the most effective with the highest amount of benefits.Vaccination and antibiotic use on native pigs are considerably less than that of commercial breeds. Initially, all piglets require vaccinations. After this, minimal input is required for native breeds due to their resistance to common diseases, pests, and parasites. Some farmers purchase herbal supplements for their pigs, which cost lower. There are eight veterinarians across the 54 barangays in Guinayangan who provide the vaccinations and medical help for swine. These veterinarians also partake in their own native pig production effort.The native pig production element of the wider project ran through a course of different phases of exposure for the farmers. The initial intervention took place in 2013 in Barangay Arbismen whereby alternative feeds were introduced initially with commercial white breed pigs. This was done so in order to enable farmers to adjust to the new methods and encourage them to make the switch to native breeds with alternative feeds.Initially, only six farmers were involved and each were provided with 1 white pig each. A production and propagation center was also developed by one household who was already raising pigs in Barangay Arbismen. Testing began on feeding methods. The pass on scheme was also required from those receiving white pigs. By 2015, 14 new farmers had benefitted from this and were also practicing the low input methods.Throughout 2015, native pigs began to be introduced to three barangays. These were distributed to seven farmers in Barangay Arbismen, five in Barangay Capuluon Tulon and five in Barangay Ermita. Contact was made with the National Swine and Poultry Research Center where technical expertise and breeding stocks were secured. Two native breeds were provided, Kalinga and BT Black. It was hoped that through introducing alternative practices in various stages, the farmers would be able to adapt and sustainably gain their own knowledge on the most effective ways of feeding and producing the pigs. A new breeding centre was developed in Barangay Capuluon Tulon. A third native breed was introduced in 2017, the Macalelon, into this second breeding center, meaning three species are now available in the area.A number of benefits have been accessed by the beneficiaries through introducing low input methods of pig production. Income generation has been secured as a result of the climate resilience of native pigs, which in turn has resulted in food security. Economic hindrance to food access is reduced. Health, nutrition, and general improvements to standards of living are noted.It is now widely accepted that native pigs are a reliable, climate smart method of ensuring that a source of income is always available. The tolerance of these pig breeds to the climatic conditions and variations in the area means their survival rates are higher than that of the commercial pig. In order to avoid stunting, commercial feed is advised for the first month. This costs between Php 1,000 and 1,300. However, through utilising an intensive feed garden after this period, inputs remain low and can result in savings of up to Php 6,500 over five months until the pig is ready to be sold. Due to the pass on scheme, the dates the beneficiaries began producing native pigs varies greatly, however, even the more recent farmers have grown their single sow asset into a commercial base of an average of eight sows, with some now housing up to 12.After 45 days, whole pigs can be sold. Commercial pigs are usually worth between Php 90 to Php 120 per kilogram, but native pigs can be sold at Php 120 per kilogram and can weigh up to 50 kg. Additional market value can be added through the processing of the commodity. If butchered, the meat is worth at least Php180 per kg and Php 250 per kg if processed into lechon. Comparing the income generated through native pig production to that of other commodities, beneficiaries found this to be the most worthwhile, generating the most income for the least cost and investment of time.Aside from the increase in food security due to the ability to generate a reliable income from native pigs, the protein rich commodity can be utilized by the farming families providing them with extra nutritional value. In times of climatic stress, the high survival rates of native pigs means there is always a source of food that can also be sold when necessary.Whilst other crops may fail during extreme weather events (typhoons, strong winds, droughts), the resilience of the native pig means its survival rates are high, especially compared to the commercial pig, and will provide a reliable source of both food and income. The use of natural resources such as coconut husks as bedding and an intensive feed garden, are not only adaptions to climate change but also work towards mitigating the effects.Other rice-based and alternative feed crops are continuously being tested for both resilience and meat quality. This ensures that a source of food will be available not only for the livestock but equally for farmer consumption despite the changing climatic conditions.Through building an asset base and generating additional income, beneficiaries have seen an increase in their resilience. They are now able to bounce back quickly from severe weather events and maintain an income. Income now goes further than providing everyday essentials for the families by covering constructions costs, medical expenses, and school expenses. Many of them now have disposable income available to purchase non-essential household products, such as household furniture.Farmer Learning Groups (FLGs) provide the beneficiaries with a platform of knowledge exchange and allow for any breakthroughs in the action research to be shared, distributed and implemented by others in the community. Of the 13 FLGs in Guinayangan, two are focussed on low external input pig production. In Barangay Arbismen, the group has 36 members while the group in Barangay Ermita has 24 members. These groups are predominantly compromised of women, who mostly tend to the livestock (pigs, ducks, and chickens).The Participatory Technology Development (PTD) taking place within these FLGs are centred around learning how to use locally produced feeds and growing of high quality forage and feed gardens. Combinations of feed varieties are tested in order to gain knowledge regarding production of the best meat quality. Variations of rice brands and taro are currently being tested to see which produces healthy pigs with the leanest meat and least fat content.The pass on scheme requires individual farmers to have contact with one another and spread their assets throughout the community. The beneficiaries are proud of their progress and are eager to share this not only with family members and neighbors, but to other barangays as well. Many are going out to recruit new members themselves and are approaching potential farmers in the hopes of expanding their FLGs.Seven farmers in Barangay Arbismen were originally involved in PTD for alternative feeds and proved the viability of the methods in question.If IIRR's aim of relieving thousands of households from poverty is to be achieved, the solutions need to be spread to a greater number of households across a wider geographical area. With reference to the requirements of the native pig beneficiaries, IIRR has ensured that this is done to some extent by the farmers themselves, promoting sharing and exchanges of commodities for the benefit of the wider community. For commercial pigs, the pass on scheme of the original farmers in Barangay Arbismen reached four different barangays already. Forty-seven additional farmers have benefitted from receiving a commercial pig to produce. All of the original beneficiaries have shared their assets with at least 2 other farmers, many of whom have then gone on to also share the assets they accumulated from the pig to at least one additional farmer.After realising and experiencing the benefits of rearing native pigs through the use of low input methods, the farmers are keen and eager to share these with others and expand their learning group.The households became empowered through their increased income yet was the women who were impacted the most. As native pig production is primarily the responsibility of the women within the households, they are the ones earning the extra income and consequently gained power and control over where to spend it. They are more inclined to invest it on childhood development, specifically on child education, medical expenses, and food. For some women, it was their native pig production that allowed the family to be able to afford treatment for their husbands, of which they were both extremely proud and grateful.Lechon was previously thought of by the farmers as an expensive food and unaffordable for them. Now, lechon is prepared for special occasions and festivities, empowering the community through the increase of their social status.Another one of the main benefits highlighted by the beneficiaries was their ability to send their children to school. Through this, the children are able to increase their future potential and be able to provide and contribute to their family income and not fall into the hardships experienced by their parents. In November 21, 2018, IIRR facilitated a business planning workshop for the group. The activity was attended by 14 male and 41 female members from 17 barangays. The farmers identified two products: selling live native pigs to traders and selling roasted pig (lechon). To do that, a holding facility was identified to raise piglets up to three months and sell it outside of town. The group will also sell roasted pigs every Saturday, which is the market day in Guinayangan. The group also elected a business management team (BMT) that will run the businesses. Tasking was identified among the functional posts such business manager, purchasing officer, arm manager, lechonero, marketing officer, bookkeeper, and cashier.At its core, the native pig production element of the project was aiming to provide farming families with a secure source of income utilizing low input and climate smart methods of feeds, housing, and maintenance. Through establishing feed gardens and utilising local materials for housing, the commodity which was once seen as expensive to produce was proven to be viable and of benefit to farming communities. Income is secured due to the hardy nature of the native pigs, whose survival rates are much higher than other crops and breeds, meaning even during extreme events food will always be obtainable. This increased income has also allowed for health expenditures, children's education, and general livelihood improvements to occur within households and across barangays, bringing the beneficiaries together as a community. Few challenges remain that can be easily addressed, such as the promotion of the project to ensure further scaling out, maintaining the market linkages for the pigs being produced, and providing processing training, which will hopefully see the inclusion of the meat within the regular diets of the households. Low input native pig production meets the project aims as the productivity of the farms is increased, the sustainable methods consider environmental impacts, the capabilities of the farmers have increased dramatically, and the risks against climate threats and uncertainty have been reduced. The income being produced is sustainable since the pigs are able to continue production even in the face of extreme conditions, meaning households always have means of securing food, thus increasing their food security.Overall, the beneficiaries see their inclusion in the project as a blessing that helped them improve so many aspects of their lives that they are very proud of. They only hope that these benefits can also be felt throughout their community.\"Katulad ko na nasa bahay lang at walang trabaho, kung hindi ako didiskarte tulad ng pagaalaga ng baboy ay talagang maghihirap kami,\" (I'm mostly at home without work, so if don't find other means of earning, like raising pigs, our family will fall in poverty.) said Eustacia Sarabia, a 50 year old farmer who lives in the village of Arbismen in Guinayagan, Quezon. Her husband Ronel Sarabia, 47, is working in Laguna as a construction worker.Eustacia, or Nanay Tacing as she is fondly called, looks after her differently-abled mother and three children who are in elementary and college. Her family's main source of income is planting rice on a half hectare land owned by her mother and planting small coconut trees for copra. Nanay Tacing shares the land with her five siblings and they take turns every 45 days in harvesting coconut. However, the income they earn from selling crops is not enough to sustain the family's daily needs, even with the money Ronel sends for the children's school fees, boarding house rent, and others. Add to that, Guinayangan has been experiencing drought for the past four years. Farmers cannot plant rice, thus negatively affecting their income.In January 2017, Nanay Tacing tried to raise native pigs through the pass on scheme of the Arbismen learning group. She received a piglet from a farmer and she raised the pig until it gave birth. She was very lucky to have 12 piglets on the first farrowing. She passed 2piglets to other farmers and grew the remaining 10 piglets for about 4 months. In September 2018, she sold nine heads for Php3,300 each, with each pig averaging 30 kg. Her family and relatives consume done pig during the birthday of her child. She used 30% of her income from the pigs to buy materials for the repair of their house such as iron, gravel and cement and 70% was used for schooling fees. She now has another 12 new pigs from the second farrowing, which she plans to sell during the oncoming vacation and holidays.stories from"}

main/part_2/0508458184.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"bdadf0194812ba80d8dd474d93ebd8ef","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/933c25a7-b89e-4fa2-a819-ec40d21f9270/retrieve","id":"-1454582453"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"d5e6d7b1-40c0-4245-a605-2b04383c94fc","content":"A Genetic Algorithm (GA) was developed in a context of discrimination, jointly with the PLS1 method : this method is called selGAmPLS.   "}

main/part_2/0508962310.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"9196ae3163209ac6fddc3bc1bd440a52","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a2e60277-bccd-41a4-b3ca-6dd955fef708/retrieve","id":"2107136161"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"599e2de7-cb84-4dd0-96d4-e1b2a1515a60","content":" Populations of pastoral societies consume a variety of foods. These products may be of animal or vegetable origin or manufactured goods  They have several products of animal origin which come most often from their own farms or at least available in their immediate surroundings  The issue of food related public health is managed by Government bodies. There is sometimes interdepartmental competence conflicts in management of inspection activities (Ministry fisheries and animal husbandary, Ministry of trade, Ministry of tourism, Ministry of Health, District), especially in Côte d'Ivoire. In Côte d'Ivoire there is an absence of implementing order for the law 96-563 of 25 July 1996 related to the health inspection of animal source food  Site of Tambacounda was chosen due to its proximity to Mali and also in relation to the size of his herd of small ruminants.The site of Dakar was chosen with respect to its proportion of consumption of small ruminant meat. Criteria of selection of sites  Farmers were offered vitamins and dewormers for their animals as compensation for their time to participate in the survey Integrated rapid assessment included a qualitative assessment using participatory appraisals  8 RIA with consumers (6-8 consumers in each village)  8 RIA with producers (6-8 producers in each village)  8 Focus group discussions (6-12 women with children up to 5 years in each selected study communities)Focus group discussion GD with women Small ruminants' blood sampling  Small ruminants' blood samples (n=384) were collected from households in Tambacounda and Dakar using a proportionate sampling taking into account the size of herds of small ruminants in each of 4 villages of Dakar and each 4 villages of Tambacounda. Sera were tested in competition ELISA (PPR) and EAT (buffered antigen test) + Fc: complement fixation (ovine brucellosis, Brucella melitensis). Raw and grilled meat sampling Another cross-sectional conducted in 40 dibiteries out of 80 in by a simple random sampling using the list of dibiteries of Dakar provided by the ministry of livestock.A cross-sectional study conducted in slaughterhouses of Dakar and Rufisque and in two slaughter in Dakar.  The overall prevalence was 72%.The tests were performed with anti-antibody Brucella melitensis and we have not found a positive case of brucellosis. Links between animal feeding and human foodFarmers generally give to their animals, household food scraps such as couscous or rice that are popular in the region, but also peanuts, sugar, salt, and even made tea. Animals are usually kept in the household to be sold for income. Part (especially sheep) is consumed during ceremonies and celebrations. Meat consumed in the household is usually beef bought in the market. Relationship between livestock keeping and livestock eating  Goat is generally rarely consumed. Cow's milk as opposed to small ruminants is a food that plays a vital role in the diet of children under 5 years and those 5 to 12 years and is recognized by consumers for its nutritional benefits especially for patients and children who are under 5. The method of food preservation is related to the financial capacity of families. For some families, refrigerators and freezers can preserve foods and prevent them. Others use traditional methods which can be summarized in three steps: cooking, salting and drying. Risk management to food of animal origin Result"}

main/part_2/0525159581.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"401dd065cd2ac4e4a0374c78d995c91c","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/e40b5604-04c1-4054-9e0c-e68bd4901b25/retrieve","id":"1097807033"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"86d28193-c045-489c-9865-ced2aad967d3","content":"Transfer of Technology Models (TOTEMs) are focussed educational tools providing relevant information and distance training on one specific area of bamboo/rattan management, processing or utilization. They are a means of technology transfer between similar regions throughout the world, with the emphasis on South-South transfer for livelihood development. They enable those involved in the management and use of bamboo and rattan resources to more efficiently and effectively develop and use skills relating to these resources.TOTEMs are primarily intended as practical information resources and teaching aids for those at the local extension level in their communities, who can utilize them to assist local community development. Each TOTEM consists of a detailed written report of the technology, a PowerPoint presentation, a film, and, where relevant, a set of technical photographs. They also include information on target users, financial analyses of sample set-ups from the partner country preparing the report and information on where to source particular technologies (such as equipment). The TOTEM thus provides all the information required for establishing similar technologies within interested countries and regions.• The report contains all the technical details of the particular processes involved, as well as other relevant information for establishing the technology such as costs of business establishment, running costs and cash flows.• The PowerPoint presentation contains details of the relevant technologies and their applications, and is intended to provide an overview of the potential of the technology for development.• The film provides a visual guide to the processes involved and helps to bring them alive in the minds of the learners.The different parts of the TOTEM are targeted at slightly different audiences, via the local extension workers. The report and film are intended to be the main means of extension to the individuals and communities who will implement the technology and who will directly benefit from it. The PowerPoint presentation is primarily intended as a tool for the extension worker to sell the technology and its role in development to those who provide the infrastructural, policy and financial support for its implementation, such as government departments, donors and NGOs. There is considerable flexibility, however. Local extension workers will be able to incorporate the TOTEMs in their own work as they wish and adapt and develop them to suit their particular requirements and conditions. This TOTEM on the bamboo flooring manufacturing unit has been produced by Zhang QiSheng and Xu Bin at Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China. The report part of this TOTEM describes the technology for producing and establishing shoot-producing plantations for rural development in regions where bamboo is available as a raw material. It is intended to be used in conjunction with the illustrative film included in this TOTEM packageThe first part of the report introduces the technology, discusses its development attributes, its benefits and its applicability. The second part of the report provides detailed information on theLaminated bamboo flooring is a unique flooring material. The natural grain of the bamboo shows up clearly and is very attractive. The flooring is resistant to moisture, pressure and damage. It is flexible, lasts longer than wood flooring and is cheaper. It also acts as a sound insulator.Laminated bamboo flooring is produced by splitting bamboo culms into thick sections or sheets. These are then coated with resin, assembled into units three layers thick and then pressed firmly together in a hot press. After curing the pieces are trimmed to shape and painted or varnished.Bamboo flooring boards are very popular worldwide and markets are developing in Japan, Europe and North America. In China there are over 100 manufacturers producing about 10 million square metres per year (ten square kilometres!).The unit will provide employment for unskilled, semi-skilled and technically trained people in the rural communities in which it is established. The unit will also promote the further use of bamboo resources and the sustainable management of bamboo plantations and natural bamboo stands.The machinery for a unit producing 40, 000 m 2 of bamboo floor per year will cost approximately USD $366, 000 and each square metre costs $12.4 to manufacture. In addition to the substantial start-up capital required a sustainable supply of bamboo culms will be required, along with a stable workforce.Sympodial bamboo flooring is a type of decorative flooring. It is a high quality product that can be used widely and has a large consumer market. It has many advantages, such as its smoothness, stability, resistance to wear, sound insulation, resistance to dampness, pressure resistance, and flexibility. The bamboo floor has a soft and natural lustre, and maintains the natural gloss and grain of the bamboo culm. Bamboo flooring is exceptional and unique and very attractive.In order to meet increasing demands for wood-based products, many forests have been over-harvested in recent years. Developing non-tree wood alternatives is one means of solving the problem. Sympodial bamboos grow fast, produce a high yield and can become fully rejuvenated within a few years of cutting. Bamboo is a perfect substitute for some wood based products. Bamboo is highly suited to the production of flooring. Bamboo flooring has some excellent advantages over wood flooring, such as its high strength and size stability, and its special decorative effects, so it is popular and has a large market potential in China, Europe, Japan and North America.The main development attributes of the technology are as follows:• Provides employment and income generation for rural people • Increases the use of natural bamboo resources and promotes timber substitution • Improves living standards of the rural communities in which it is establishedThe main advantages of the technology are:• Bamboo flooring is more attractive than wood flooring • It is cheaper to produce and hence the retail price is cheaper • Bamboo flooring is more marketable due to its production from renewable bamboo resources.There are rich sympodial bamboo resources in the tropics and subtropics and the unit may be established anywhere throughout these regions. Once the bamboo forest is mature culms can be harvested every year. The unit is especially suitable for areas where bamboo plantations are desirable for the restoration of degraded forests or wastelands such as abandoned shifting cultivation areas, or where bamboos can be grown to reduce soil erosion, particularly on steep slopes in high rainfall areas. Bamboo can thus play an important role in raising the productivity of degraded land and in protecting the environment and forest ecology.The main target group are the people that will be employed by the unit. The unit will require unskilled, semi-skilled and technically trained personnel and these can all be recruited from the community in which the unit is established. If established as a community cooperative then all members of the community will benefit. Another target group are the local bamboo cultivators who will benefit from the increased area of plantations and demand for bamboo culms that the unit will generate.The essential requirements for a successful bamboo flooring manufacturing unit are:The bamboo flooring unit is a commercially and socially effective means of processing bamboo into quality flooring materials. It has significant potential for income and welfare improvement for poor rural people both in the unit itself and in its forward and backward linkages. In addition, by using bamboo as a substitute for wood timber it reduces environmental degradation due to the overharvesting of timber trees. The unit requires considerable start-up capital and may be best established with the guidance of state agencies or NGOs. The detailed process is as follows: The processing procedure is as follows:Sympodial bamboos with large diameter culms are suitable for manufacturing flooring (e.g. Dendrocalamus giganteus Munro. D. barbatus Hsueh et D.Z. Li and D. membranaceus Munro). Culms with a diameter at breast height of over 10 cm should be harvested when four years old. The culms are first crosscut into sections of the desired length (the floor length plus an additional 11-13.5cm) and the sections are then cut into slips of the same width (25 cm, 30 cm or 35 cm). Bamboo sheet is produced after planing the slips to the same width, thickness and length.Because bamboo can not be cut in some seasons (eg. spring), the factory should store some dried bamboo sheets according to its manufacturing capability. Boiling is a key procedure in the manufacturing of floors. It removes some water-soluble extracts and at the same time can add insecticides and preservatives if these are included in the boiling mixture. Bamboos are usually boiled for about 3-4 hours.After being boiled all the bamboo sheets are piled up in the drying kiln (80 0 C) for 4-5 days. If the sheets have been carbonised, they are removed when the moisture content reaches 14-25%. The moisture content of other dried sheets is reduced to 5-8%.At present, there are the two main ways for color treatment: bleaching and light carbonisation. In bleaching, the bleaching agent solution can be brushed onto the surface of the bamboo sheets, and the bleaching agent, such as H 2 O 2 , can be added to the water during boiling. In carbonization, high temperature and moisture are required to treat bamboo sheets in a closed container. Steam at 0.3 MPa is passed into the container for 40-120 minutes. Then the sheets are taken out and piled up to dry to 5-8% moisture content. After finishing the sheets are planed to a thickness variation allowance of 0.2mm.Sheets are then selected to weed out faulty sheets and to reduce the colour differences among the sheets, so that finished floor has an even colour.Urea-formaldehyde (UF) adhesive is usually used to bond bamboo sheets. The solid content of UF adhesive is above 60%, the viscosity is 30-50 Pa.S and the free formaldehyde content is below 0.5%. Modifiers can be added to UF adhesive to improve its properties, or an alternative adhesive can be used. The hot pressing method is used to seal the sheets together as floorboards. A twodimensional single open hot press is required with heat provided by steam or high frequency heating. Place the laid-up sheets in the hot press, add a few press stops between each lay-up and then apply the heated pressure. If the heat source is steam a steam pressure of 1.0MPa is required. The pressure of the hot press should be 1.5-2.0MPa, the temperature of the hot press plates should be 105-110 0 C, and the pressing time required is 1.1-1.2 minutes per millimeter of thickness of lay-up. If high-frequency heating is used, 5-minutes is sufficient.The following procedures are the same as for the manufacture of wood floors. The back and one side of the blank of bamboo floor should be manufactured to be the datums plane from which all measurements will be taken. Then the longitudinal tongue-groove and the back slots should be moulded. The next process is manufacturing the transverse tonguegroove.Initial sanding is done with an 80 grit belt sander. Final sanding is with a 180 or 240 grit belt sander so the blank surface is smooth and level. All these procedures are in preparation for painting.UV-cured paint is usually used for painting. Several undercoats are painted on the upper face of the floor with one final topcoat. The sides and the rear receive only one coat. "}

main/part_2/0529927091.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"3f8898cd-067d-4096-a7e1-19d1c04ba49b","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}

main/part_2/0552497422.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"10ec7529-6bd0-4733-b7d3-4c4de9bc1c5c","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"}

main/part_2/0567661178.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"811a262da8a85815388a66c8604409de","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://repository.cimmyt.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/aff82d22-be82-41f0-8339-e1747323d74c/content","id":"-1931087749"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"17389bec-706b-4da7-a3bb-c11cab90715a","content":"Groundwater depletion is becoming a global threat to food security, yet the ultimate impacts of depletion on agricultural production and the efficacy of available adaptation strategies remain poorly quantified. We use high-resolution satellite and census data from India, the world's largest consumer of groundwater, to quantify the impacts of groundwater depletion on cropping intensity, a crucial driver of agricultural production. Our results suggest that, given current depletion trends, cropping intensity may decrease by 20% nationwide and by 68% in groundwater-depleted regions. Even if surface irrigation delivery is increased as a supply-side adaptation strategy, which is being widely promoted by the Indian government, cropping intensity will decrease, become more vulnerable to interannual rainfall variability, and become more spatially uneven. We find that groundwater and canal irrigation are not substitutable and that additional adaptation strategies will be necessary to maintain current levels of production in the face of groundwater depletion.Groundwater is a critical resource for food security, providing 40% of the world's irrigation (1). Millions of farmers depend on groundwater irrigation to help produce 40% of the world's agricultural production, including a large proportion of staple crops like rice and wheat (2). Yet, groundwater reserves are becoming rapidly depleted in many important agricultural regions across the globe (3). While the extent of current and projected groundwater depletion is well documented (4,5), the potential impact of this depletion on food production remains poorly quantified. Furthermore, it is unclear whether there are any adaptation strategies that may reduce the projected negative impacts of groundwater depletion on agricultural production. Yet, such information could help identify which adaptation strategies should be prioritized in which regions to ameliorate and avoid large production losses in the areas most at risk for groundwater depletion.It is especially critical to quantify the impacts of groundwater depletion on crop production in India-the world's largest consumer of groundwater-where groundwater provides 60% of the nation's irrigation supply (1,2). Tube well construction has rapidly increased since the 1960s across India, allowing farmers to increase cropping intensity, or the number of seasons when crops are planted in a given year, by expanding production into the largely dry winter and summer seasons (6). This increase in cropping intensity is credited for much of the food production gains achieved over the past 50 years across India. However, because of high rates of extraction, aquifers are rapidly becoming depleted across much of India, with the northwest and south predicted to have critically low groundwater availability by 2025 (fig. S1) (4,7,8). This is of concern given that India produces 10% of global agricultural production and is the second largest producer of wheat and rice (9,10). Furthermore, a majority of India's rural population, approximately 8% of the world's population, depends on agriculture as a primary livelihood, and a reduction in agricultural production will negatively affect household welfare (11,12).Very few studies have attempted to quantify the potential impacts of groundwater depletion on agricultural production in India. To date, efforts have largely relied on modeling approaches (13,14), which necessarily make assumptions about the relationship between groundwater use and crop productivity. With such an approach, it is difficult to account for real-world constraints that may reduce the efficiency of groundwater use, such as inefficient pumps and the inability of some farmers to irrigate at full capacity. Accounting for these limitations is particularly critical in regions like India, where water use efficiency is low and extremely heterogeneous across the country (15). Only one previous study (16) has incorporated empirical data on the relationship between irrigation use, crop production, and groundwater depletion. However, because of data limitations, this study relied on coarse district-level agricultural census statistics that do not distinguish between whether a crop is irrigated by groundwater or other sources, like canals. Thus, to date, it has not been possible to empirically estimate the association between groundwater use, crop production, and groundwater depletion, which is critical for accurately estimating the potential production losses that may occur when overexploited groundwater is lost.We overcome previous challenges to empirically estimate the impacts of groundwater loss on agricultural production by using a novel satellite data product that we developed that measures winter cropped area, the key determinant of cropping intensity, at fine spatial resolution (1 × 1 km 2 ) across India (Fig. 1) (17). We link these data with high-resolution village-level census data on the amount of shallow well, deep well, and surface water irrigation in each village. We focus on winter cropped area because almost all farmers plant crops during the monsoon season (18,19), few farmers plant crops during the dry summer season (19), and winter agriculture is primarily dependent on groundwater for irrigation (2). We also assess the effectiveness of a potential supply-side government policy, namely, expanding canal irrigation to regions that are facing severe groundwater depletion. We focus on this potential adaptation strategy because canal expansion is being widely promoted by the Indian government as a way to deliver irrigation water to regions with dwindling groundwater resources (20)(21)(22)(23). By using high-resolution data on irrigation and agricultural production, we are able to directly link measures of crop production with specific types of irrigation infrastructure, providing information about their relative efficacies. In addition, because the efficacy of groundwater and canal irrigation likely varies across the country depending on local investments in infrastructure and on a region's climate and geology, these highresolution data allow us to quantify this heterogeneity.Using these high-resolution data, we empirically estimate what losses to production may occur if farmers lose access to critically depleted groundwater in the future and how effective canal expansion may be as an adaptation strategy. Specifically, we ask the following: (i) What is the relative influence of groundwater versus canal irrigation on winter cropped area and its resilience to rainfall variability across India? (ii) Do these effects vary regionally? (iii) What are the effects of irrigation source on spatial patterns of winter cropped area, a measure of irrigation equity across villages? and (iv) What may be the impacts on winter cropped area if critically depleted regions lose access to groundwater and transition to using canal irrigation? The results of this study offer insights into the food and livelihood security of millions of people and into the impacts of groundwater depletion and potential adaptation strategies in other regions dependent on aquifers at risk of depletion.To identify whether canal irrigation can serve as an adequate substitute for groundwater irrigation, we examined the relative influence of India's three main irrigation types on winter cropped area: dug wells (dug or sunk wells that primarily draw water from shallow depths <30 m), tube wells (drilled bore holes that primarily draw water from deeper depths >30 m), and canals [man-made delivery channels of diverted surface water; (15)]. We consider shallow groundwater sources, drawn from dug wells, and deeper groundwater sources, drawn from tube wells, separately in our analyses. Losing access to tube wells due to groundwater depletion is of particular concern as this irrigation source typically has the largest storage capacities and provides an annual irrigation output that is much greater than shallower wells (15). To assess the relative association between dug well, tube well, and canal irrigation and winter cropped area, we ran linear regressions where we restricted our analyses to villages that only had one type of irrigation source, and we treated irrigation type as a categorical variable. Doing this allowed us to assess whether each irrigation type had a statistically different effect compared with tube wells, when tube wells were selected as the reference category (Fig. 2, A to D), and with dug wells, when dug wells were selected as the reference category (Fig. 2, E to H). This analysis allowed us to isolate the individual effect of each irrigation source on winter cropped area without the possibility of multiple irrigation sources confounding our results. We also included an interaction term between annual rainfall and irrigation source to examine the sensitivity of winter cropped area to interannual rainfall variability based on irrigation type.Across India, we find that tube well irrigation use is associated with a higher likelihood that farmers plant crops in the winter growing season (Fig. 2A), a higher proportion of cropped area in villages growing a winter crop (Fig. 2B), a lower coefficient of variation in cropped area (Fig. 2C), and less sensitivity of cropped area to monsoon rainfall variability when compared with the use of canal and dug well irrigation sources (Fig. 2D and table S1). Specifically, our regression results show that farmers in canal-irrigated villages are 52% less likely to plant a winter crop than farmers in tube well-irrigated villages (Fig. 2A). Furthermore, farmers in canal-irrigated villages who do plant a winter crop have only 78% (or 22% less) of the winter cropped area found in similar tube well-irrigated villages (Fig. 2B). By comparison, we find no significant differences between the association of winter cropped area and dug well versus canal use (Fig. 2, E to H, and table S2). These results and all subsequent results are robust to the inclusion of a suite of biophysical and socioeconomic factors as controls to cross-sectional regressions (table S3), state as a fixed effect in all cross-sectional regressions, village as a fixed effect in panel regressions, and clustered SEs at the district scale in all regressions to account for spatial autocorrelation across villages. To test for robustness of these analyses, we ran additional tests in which district was included as a fixed effect and irrigation source was defined in multiple ways, such as including villages that use multiple sources of irrigation and defining irrigation as a continuous variable instead of a categorical variable (tables S1, S2, and S4). We find that the results from these robustness checks are qualitatively similar to the main results presented in this paper.To examine potential heterogeneity in the relative efficacy of canals versus groundwater across India, we conducted the same analyses described above but for each state individually. We find that the associations between tube well, dug well, and canal irrigation and winter cropped area vary greatly across the country, with some regions showing little differences (e.g., western Indo-Gangetic plains), some regions showing greater cropped area associated with tube well irrigation (e.g., northwest India), and some regions showing greater cropped area associated with canal irrigation (e.g., South India; Fig. 3). Results for the tube well (Fig. 3, A to D, and table S5) and dug well (Fig. 3, E to H, and table S6) analyses were largely similar in sign across the country, although coefficients from the dug well analyses were often smaller in magnitude and insignificant, further suggesting that canals perform similarly to dug wells across much of the country.Groundwater may lead to a more equitable distribution of irrigation across villages than canals, as the creation of wells is more decentralized than large-scale canal projects (24). In addition, previous studies have suggested that farms located downstream of storage reservoirs within a canal network receive less water (25) due to reduced downstream water flow caused by unregulated water use upstream, seepage, and evapotranspiration (26). We therefore examined whether canal irrigation is associated with increased spatial heterogeneity in cropped area compared with tube well and dug well irrigation. If villages have equal access to irrigation, we expect that there will be little variation in cropped area across villages. However, if villages have unequal access to irrigation, there will likely be large differences in cropped area across villages resulting in larger spatial heterogeneity. We find that distance to canal is strongly associated with less cropped area and greater sensitivity to rainfall variability in canal-irrigated villages (table S7). This suggests that while canals may be a viable form of irrigation for those who live near canals, they may lead to more unequal access to irrigation across villages on February 24, 2021 http://advances.sciencemag.org/ compared with wells, with negative impacts for those who live farther from canals. We also calculated the coefficient of variation in mean cropped area across space within districts for all villages that were irrigated by canals, tube wells, or dug wells. We find that increased area under canal irrigation is associated with a significant increase in the coefficient of variation of cropped area across villages (table S7), suggesting that canal irrigation may lead to increased spatial heterogeneity and a less equal distribution of cropped area within a given district compared with groundwater irrigation.Canal irrigation cannot substitute for groundwater irrigation in critically depleted regions Last, we estimated what changes to winter cropped area may occur if farmers lose access to tube and dug well irrigation in critically depleted regions. These critically depleted regions (fig. S1C) are defined as areas that currently have long-term declines in groundwater depth (fig. S1A) and are expected to face the highest levels of groundwater stress in 2025 (fig. S1B) according to the Central Ground Water Board, India's national government agency that monitors groundwater (7). Specifically, these regions (i) are facing long-term groundwater depletion trends, as defined using multidecade well depth data from 20,000 wells across the country (table S8), and (ii) will face low future water availability, as defined using hydrological model simulations parameterized using these well data (see Materials and Methods for more details) (5, 7). The critically depleted regions (fig. S1C) largely align with those found in previous independent studies that empirically examine where water tables are falling across India (5) and are projected to face continued depletion in 2050 using econometric and hydrological model simulations (16). We find that approximately 13% of the villages in which farmers plant a winter crop are located in these critically depleted regions, and these villages may lose 68% of their cropped area in the future if access to all groundwater irrigation is lost. If we consider what these losses mean for national production, we find that national winter cropped area may decrease by 20% if farmers lose access to all groundwater in these critically depleted regions. Our results suggest that these losses will largely occur in northwest and central India (Fig. 4A). This scenario serves as an upper bound for the potential impact of groundwater depletion on winter cropped area across India, because it assumes that farmers that draw water from deep alluvial aquifers will choose not to irrigate due to increased drilling and pumping costs, salinization has occurred in coastal aquifers due to salt water intrusion, and shallow hard rock aquifers are not adequately recharged because of low rainfall, leading to 100% loss of groundwater in these critically depleted regions.We next assessed how much of this loss may be mitigated if farmers who currently use wells in critically depleted regions will switch to using canal irrigation. This scenario provides an upper bound for the potential replacement capacity of canals, given that it is the most optimistic scenario where there are no infrastructural or physical limitations to expanding canal irrigation to all fields currently irrigated by groundwater. We find that winter cropped area may decrease by 21.5% in critically depleted regions using coefficients for the difference in cropped area between well-and canal-irrigated villages in all-India analyses (Fig. 2, A, B, E, and F) and by 24% using coefficients from state-by-state analyses (Fig. 3, A, B, E, and F). If farmers will switch to using canal irrigation, we estimate that national winter cropped area may decrease by 6.33% using all-India coefficient values (Fig. 2, A and B) and by 7.05% using coefficients from state-by-state analyses (Fig. 3, A and B). These estimates were also calculated using 95% confidence intervals (values range from 3.3 to 8.0%) and similarly show that switching to canal irrigation will likely lead to reductions in winter cropped area nationwide. Specifically, losses will be largest in northwest and central India, and any potential gains from switching to canal irrigation in South India are not enough to offset these large losses (Fig. 4, B and C). These results largely align with those found in previous studies that have estimated the impacts of groundwater depletion on crop production, although we find larger losses in central India than do existing studies [e.g., (13,16)]. These results suggest that switching to canal irrigation can partially compensate for losing access to critically depleted groundwater but cannot match current levels of production. This is particularly true for villages that are primarily irrigated by tube wells (Figs. 2 and 3).Greater irrigation access, driven by the expansion of tube wells, has been the primary driver of India's impressive food production gains over the past 50 years. This expansion has led to India becoming the largest consumer of groundwater worldwide and to severe groundwater depletion in many parts of the country. Despite the widespread knowledge that groundwater depletion is occurring and will likely have large negative ramifications for food security, the extent of crop production loss and whether there are any viable adaptation strategies remain unknown. Yet, such information is critical for identifying successful policy interventions that will help India maintain production levels in the face of groundwater depletion. Using a novel high-resolution dataset on cropping intensity, irrigation access, and groundwater depletion, we empirically estimate the potential impacts of groundwater depletion on agricultural production across India, and we find that these effects are large. Specifically, groundwater depletion may reduce cropping intensity by up to 20% across all of India and by up to 68% in the regions projected to have low future groundwater availability in 2025. These large projected losses are of concern given that India is one of the largest agricultural producers worldwide, and over 600 million farmers depend on Indian agriculture as a primary source of livelihood.While canals are being promoted as an alternative irrigation source and as a supply-side adaptation strategy to falling groundwater tables, our results show that switching to canal irrigation has limited adaptation potential at the national scale. We find that even if all regions that are currently using depleted groundwater for irrigation will switch to using canal irrigation, cropping intensity may decline by 7% nationally and by 24% in the regions projected to have low groundwater availability. In addition to losses in overall production, we find that switching to canal irrigation will likely increase the sensitivity of agricultural production to rainfall variability and increase disparity in irrigation access across villages. Such reductions in production are of concern given that reduced irrigation access has been shown to be associated with reduced household income (27,28), increased rural poverty (20,29), and reduced household dietary diversity (30). These results highlight the importance of groundwater irrigation for Indian agriculture and rural livelihoods and that simply providing canal irrigation as a substitute irrigation source will likely not be enough to maintain current production levels in the face of groundwater depletion.We find that canal irrigation may serve as a viable substitute for groundwater irrigation in certain parts of the country despite having limited capacity as an adaptation strategy at the national scale. Specifically, canal irrigation is associated with equal crop production as groundwater irrigation in the western Indo-Gangetic plains and with increased crop production in South India. This variation in canal efficacy is likely due to differences in aquifer geology, irrigation policies and subsidies, and historical investment in irrigation technologies. For example, in the western Indo-Gangetic plains, there has been a long history of investment in canals, resulting in higher irrigation output compared with canals in other parts of India (31). In South India, wells are not as high yielding as in other parts of the country because they are drilled into shallow hard rock aquifers that deplete and replete annually, making wells perform similarly to canals (32). While canals have the potential to adequately serve as a substitute irrigation source in South India, this region will likely not be able to compensate for potential losses to production projected in Central and North India (Fig. 4, B and C). This is because South India produces a small fraction of the nation's winter crop (Fig. 1), and the entirety of India's wheat is planted in Central and North India during the winter growing season (33,34), suggesting that there may be large reductions in national wheat production if farmers switch away from groundwater to canal irrigation in the future. This is of concern given that India is the second largest producer of wheat globally (10), and wheat provides approximately 20% of household calories across the country (35).This study highlights the critical importance of groundwater for agriculture in India and that additional adaptation and policy strategies are needed along with canal expansion to cope with impending groundwater loss. For example, policies that reduce the demand for groundwater, such as switching to less water-intensive cereals, could be one way to reduce pressures on existing groundwater reserves (36). In addition, policies that promote increased field-level water use efficiency, such as the adoption of water-saving technologies like sprinkler and drip irrigation, may help use what limited groundwater resources are left more effectively (37). Last, policies could target ways to increase the efficiency of canals across India. Previous studies have suggested that current canal irrigation efficiency is suboptimal (25) and could likely be increased at relatively low cost. Our results highlight that the trade-offs between using groundwater versus canal irrigation must be considered when designing local to national policies to address the looming threat of groundwater depletion on agricultural production. Transitioning to using canal irrigation in most regions of India will not be sufficient, and simultaneous water conservation investments will have to be made to encourage farmers to switch to less water-intensive crops and improve field-level water use efficiency to maintain current production levels in the face of falling groundwater tables.We compiled several different datasets on crop production (from remote sensing estimates of winter cropped area), irrigation (from the Indian government's minor irrigation census), socioeconomic and biophysical controls (from the Indian government's census statistics), and future groundwater availability (from the Central Ground Water Board of the Indian government) for each village in India. Each dataset is described in the \"Datasets\" section below. We then ran linear regressions to estimate the relative difference in cropped area between tube well-, dug well-, and canal-irrigated villages. We also examined the impact of canal irrigation on equity of cropped area across villages. These methods are described in the \"Statistical analysis\" section. Last, we simulated what future losses to crop production may be if farmers in areas with critically depleted groundwater will lose access to groundwater, and how much of this loss could be ameliorated if farmers will transition to using canal irrigation. These methods are described in the \"Scenario analysis\" section.Data were collated at the village scale by compiling several different datasets. Village winter cropped area, which was used as the dependent variable in all analyses, was calculated by extracting the mean annual winter cropped area produced by Jain et al. (17) to the village scale using village-level boundaries from ML Info Map. Irrigation data were compiled from the third Minor Irrigation Census (2001) and the Village Amenities Survey (2012) produced by the Indian Government Ministries. Because of changes in village, district, and state names across these datasets, we were able to match 60% of all villages in India across these three datasets, reducing our sample size from 568,990 villages to 341,834 villages. We used information from both irrigation datasets to define irrigation type for each village, which also helped ensure that the type of irrigation used in each village was constant from 2001 to 2012 (the majority of our study period). Irrigation was defined differently in each dataset, with the 2001 dataset including detailed information on all minor irrigation structures but missing information on medium and major projects, and the 2012 dataset including information on all irrigation used in a village, without differentiating between groundwater sources (e.g., tube well versus dug well). Therefore, we defined tube well villages as those that (i) had only tube well irrigation in 2001 and (ii) had only well irrigation in 2012. Dug well villages were defined as those that (i) had only dug well irrigation in 2001 and (ii) had only well irrigation in 2012. Canal villages were defined as those that (i) only had canal irrigation in 2012 and (ii) had no well irrigation in 2001. Additional socioeconomic, demographic, and biophysical data were used from different data sources (table S3). Distance to canals was calculated using the nearest distance algorithm in QGIS and a shapefile on global canals produced by the Digital Chart of the World (2009).We log transformed cropped area in all regressions to achieve normality; original values ranged from 0 to 100, so 1 was added before conducting log transformations. To examine the relative influence of groundwater versus canal irrigation on cropping intensity, we ran eight sets of regressions (tables S1 and S2). The dependent variables in each regression were (i) a binary variable if the village was ever cropped between 2000 and 2016, (ii) mean cropped area from 2000 to 2016 that represents persistent cropped area across villages, (iii) the coefficient of variation in cropped area from 2000 to 2016 for each village, and (iv) annual cropped area estimates in all regressions that examined the sensitivity of cropped area to rainfall variability (the interaction between irrigation type and annual monsoon rainfall). Four sets of regressions used tube wells as the reference irrigation source (table S1), and four sets of regressions used dug wells as the reference irrigation source (table S2) to identify the differential impact of canals on each type of well. We also ran these same regressions for each state by subsetting the data to include only villages within a given state (tables S5 and S6). To ensure that the associations we observed between irrigation and cropped area could be attributed to a specific irrigation source, we restricted all analyses to villages that only have one type of irrigation during our study period. All analyses were done using R Project Software unless otherwise noted.To analyze the impact of irrigation type on the spatial heterogeneity of cropped area, we ran three different regressions (table S7). First, for only canal-irrigated villages, we ran regressions that examined the relationship between distance to the closest canal and mean cropped area from 2000 to 2016. Second, we examined the association between distance to canal and sensitivity to rainfall variability by using annual cropped area estimates as our dependent variable and interacting distance to canal with annual monsoon rainfall. Last, we examined the association between the coefficient of variation in mean cropped area across villages for both canal-and well-irrigated villages and the percentage of the district that is under canal irrigation. This analysis identifies whether increased area under canal irrigation results in increased spatial heterogeneity in cropped area, suggesting increased inequity in irrigation access across villages. To reduce issues of endogeneity in all analyses, we included a large number of biophysical (e.g., soil type) and socioeconomic (e.g., household assets) confounding factors as controls in all crosssectional analyses (table S3). Furthermore, we included state as a fixed effect in all cross-sectional regressions and village as a fixed effect in panel regressions. To reduce the effect of spatial autocorrelation, we also clustered SEs at the district scale in all regressions. Last, we ran two robustness checks for all India-wide regressions, either including a district fixed effect or expanding our village sample to include villages that use irrigation from multiple sources (tables S1, S2, S5, and S6). In addition, we ran a robustness check where we defined our independent irrigation variable as the area under each irrigation type (in hectare; table S4). The sign, magnitude, and significance of results remain similar with these robustness checks. P value and sample size are reported in the associated tables for each regression in the Supplementary Materials. Formulas for the main regressions presented in this paper and the structure of our datasets are outlined in table S9.Last, to estimate the impacts of losing access to groundwater irrigation and transitioning to canal irrigation on national winter crop production, we identified whether a village was located in a \"critically depleted region,\" which was defined using two criteria, both of which a village had to meet. The first was that the village was located in a block (administrative below district) that has been classified by the Indian Government's Central Groundwater Board (CGWB) as one where long-term trends from in situ well data suggest groundwater depletion (semicritical, critical, and overexploited blocks; fig. S1A). The CGWB identified these long-term trends using data from 20,000 empirically measured test wells across India from 1998 to the present. Groundwater depletion was defined using at least 10 years' worth of well data, in which at least 10 to 20 cm of water level decline has occurred in the premonsoon and/or postmonsoon period (5). In addition, we identified whether the village was located within a district that is projected by the CGWB to have low to low-medium availability of groundwater in 2025 (fig. S1B). These regions were defined as having low future availability based on projected available volume, given net annual groundwater availability, projected demand for domestic and industrial uses in 2025, and gross irrigation draft of current groundwater (5). We independently verified that \"critically depleted\" blocks had significantly deeper well depths (14.15 m versus 8.84 m) and greater depletion rates [loss (0.99 m/ year) versus gain (0.58 m/year)] than those categorized as \"safe\" using data from the 20,000 test wells collected by the CGWB (table S8). We compared these critically depleted regions with regions defined as groundwater depletion hot spots in previous studies [e.g., (3)(4)(5)] and found that the regions largely align, although other studies have estimated more depletion in northeastern India (5) and Gujarat (3) than does our study.We focused on all areas under groundwater irrigation, either from tube wells or dug wells, for our scenarios. Percentage of cropped area under tube well and dug well irrigation was extracted from the minor irrigation census dataset. Because we could only match approximately 60% of villages using minor irrigation data at the village scale, we used information on percentage of area under dug and tube wells at the district scale, which allowed us to match and use the full village dataset (n = 568,990) for our scenario analysis. For the scenarios in which access to groundwater irrigation is lost with no replacement, we subtracted the cropped area under tube and dug well irrigation in critically depleted regions from the original total national cropped area. For the scenarios in which these areas are replaced with canal irrigation, we used the coefficients for canal irrigation derived from our national-level analyses (tables S1 and S2) and state-specific analyses (tables S5 and S6) to assess the relative effect of canals compared with tube wells and dug wells on cropped area. We applied coefficients for both whether a farmer ever plants a winter crop or not (Figs. 2, A and E, and 3, A and E) and the change in cropped area when a winter crop is planted (Figs. 2, B and F, and 3, B and F). If state-level results did not exist because of limited irrigation data in that state, we used the all-India value for that state. We then subtracted the total cropped area produced under these scenarios from the original total national cropped area. To derive confidence intervals around these cropped area loss estimates, we also applied the lower and upper 95% confidence intervals for both the beta coefficient of canal irrigation for whether a village was cropped or not and the beta coefficient of canal irrigation for the percentage of cropped area in a given village.By using real-world production data, we were able to account for the complex institutional, economic, and social factors that determine realistic productivity estimates (38). This approach builds on previous work that has estimated the impacts of future climate change on irrigation access and crop production using model simulations (13), which often model crop production using assumptions of farmer behavior and decision-making. Our use of high-spatial resolution estimates of agricultural production instead of census statistics available at the district level enabled our study to overcome some limitations of previous studies. Village-level data allowed us to directly link a single irrigation source with its associated agricultural production, which is not possible to do using district-level data because both groundwater and canal irrigation are used within a single district. These high-resolution data also allowed us to examine the relative influence of groundwater and canal irrigation on the spatial heterogeneity of crop production across villages, which cannot be modeled using district-level data. Such analyses are critical for understanding the potential impacts of groundwater depletion on equity. Last, high-spatial resolution data allowed us to examine variation in the relative efficacy of groundwater versus canal irrigation across different states in India, which is important as our results showed that there is heterogeneity in efficacy across the country.Our study was constrained to rely on cross-sectional irrigation data to estimate the association between irrigation source and winter cropped area because annual panel data on irrigation amount and source do not exist at the village-scale across India. However, we reduced the effect of endogeneity in our analyses by accounting for a suite of biophysical and socioeconomic variables (table S3) and included state fixed effects (and district fixed effects as a robustness check) to further reduce the effect of omitted variable bias. Our scenario analysis makes several assumptions. First, we assume 100% loss of access to critically depleted groundwater; however, it is likely that some farmers will maintain some access as water tables decline, either by paying higher costs or using annually refilled shallow aquifers. Work by Dar et al., however, supports the assumption that farmers will lose access to irrigation as groundwater tables fall as they found that groundwater depletion is associated with reductions in winter on February 24, 2021 http://advances.sciencemag.org/ Downloaded from cropped area across India. Second, we assume that canal irrigation will be able to reach all farmers that currently have access to well irrigation, yet there are likely physical and infrastructural constraints to expanding canal irrigation at such a scale. Third, we did not incorporate potential recharge to groundwater that may occur if canals are expanded, although previous work has shown that canal expansion will do little to reduce stress on overexploited aquifers (16). Fourth, our winter cropped area data do not distinguish between crop types, and it is possible that farmers are adapting to groundwater depletion by switching to less water-intensive crops; if this occurs, we likely would see smaller shifts in cropped area as groundwater tables fall because farmers are instead adjusting their crop portfolios. Last, we did not consider how increases in groundwater withdrawal in some parts of the country may be able to offset the effects of groundwater depletion in other parts of the country. For example, studies have suggested that eastern India (i.e., Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal) may be able to become the future bread basket of India as groundwater in this region has not been overexploited, and tube well infrastructure can be further developed. We find, however, that during the time period of our study, while area under groundwater irrigation increased in eastern India, we did not see an associated increase in winter cropped area (fig. S2). This suggests that, to date, increased groundwater irrigation in eastern India has not compensated for groundwater losses elsewhere, although it is possible that it may do so in the future, especially in states that are heavily investing in groundwater infrastructure such as Bihar. Our scenario analysis should be interpreted as an estimate of the maximum impact of future groundwater depletion and the maximum effectiveness of a canal expansion policy."}

main/part_2/0579645739.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"92b9900c6ca9e3e6a178bca5e7b33d5f","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/a83dfbaa-99ce-4ce7-bf86-3114445fd502/retrieve","id":"1844477689"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"00a3d3a7-3431-413b-b9c3-48b54a36b482","content":"The common bean Phaseolus vulgaris is one of the most important legumes, grown by smallholder farmers in Malawi. Farmers usually grow a wide range of bean varieties that vary tremendously in grain size, colour, shape and plant growth habit. Over the years, a lot of effort has been put in research for development to improve bean varieties, so that farmers have access to better and more productive bean varieties. Such efforts have translated into release of several bean varieties, 9 by Bunda and 8 by Chitedze, which add on to framers own landrace varieties. It is a known fact that farmers grow a wide range of varieties, and that part of their produce is sold in the markets, but very little is known about consumer preferences, which influence choice of beans in the market. It is also a known fact that bean varieties have different characteristics that could in one-way or another determine their attractiveness to consumers. This study was therefore undertaken to assess some of the social factors that determine choice of beans on the market, and how that relates to price of beans.The study was conducted between March and April 2004, which was soon after bean harvest. A two-stage cluster sampling approach was applied. The first stage involved purposively targeting the major bean markets, mainly in southern and central parts of the country (Fig 1). The second stage involved bean traders who were randomly selected and where possible taking into consideration the presence of wholesale and retail merchants. A total of 74 bean merchants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire, to capture such information as:1. Factors that influence the choice of bean in the market 2. Factors that influence the price of beans and sales volumes 3. Information sharing between traders and producersTraders used different names for the same variety depending on location, for instance Napilira which is red mottled in colour was also called Kachiyata (or simply Chiata), where as the common red kidney bean was referred to as Phalombe or Chimbamba or Thyolo, depending on which market one visited (Table 1). The majority of traders were dealing with sorted beans by variety, except 12% of the merchants. The market places were dominated by only 3 bean varieties, which were traded by more than 50% of the merchants: Phalombe (77%), Nanyati (72%) and Napilira (65%).The majority of the traders (64%) mentioned Phalombe as the bean type that is highly demanded on the market followed by Nanyati (34%) and Napilira (20%) (Table 2.). At least 50% of the merchants at Lizulu, Chigwirizano, Chimbiya, Mitundu, Lilongwe-Central, Mwanza, Muloza, Thondwe and Zomba markets reported that Phalombe had the highest demand. The exceptions were Area 23 market where Nanyati was mentioned by 80% of the traders. The majority of the traders (ranging from 39-41%) mentioned grain colour, cooking time and taste as some of the factors that influenced demand for beans on the market (Table 3). Traders were however, not very clear on what type of taste consumers preferred, as taste is difficult describe -but were quick to say consumers liked beans with 'good' taste. This means that taste subjectively influenced consumers' choice of beans, based on their perceptions of 'good taste'. Further probing revealed that most consumers liked Phalombe because it is dark red in colour. When cooked, this bean variety provides a deep red bean sauce which makes a good contrast with the white maize based dish, a staple food commonly consumed in Malawi. Although traders reported that bean varieties with short cooking time, sold faster, there was no consensus to which specific variety had less cooking time. Some traders mentioned Phalombe to cook fast while others were of the opinion that Phalombe did not cook fast at all. Some traders frequently mentioned Nanyati as one of the varieties that cooked fast.Other traders (24%) indicated that sometimes consumers have to choose what is available on the market. For example, although Phalombe was the most preferred bean type, it was not readily available on the markets. In this case, consumers were compelled to purchase other varieties that were available. Bean prices varied within and across markets as well as across the bean types based on preference. Some of the bean types captured at the merchants sales depots were Nanyati, Napilira, Phalombe and Khaki. Khaki beans had the highest average wholesale price of US$0.50/kg followed by Phalombe at US$0.46/kg. Last on the list was Napilira, which had the cheapest average selling price of US$0.36/kg. In general, the wholesale prices ranged from US$0.30/kg to US$0.80/kg across the varieties. The study revealed that price of beans mainly depended on availability (57%). However, some variety characteristics such as cooking time, grain colour and taste also influenced price of the bean varieties (Table 4). Estimates of monthly sales volumes of beans were obtained from wholesalers. This information confirmed that there were no direct relationships between preference for specific bean types and volumes of sale. It was the availability that in turn was associated to the sales volume. Napilira, which was the 3 rd most preferred type but had the highest average sales volume, about 8800 kg in a month (Figure 2). Traders attributed this mainly to its high yielding ability, which made the variety to be the most abundant on the market at the time of harvest. Thus merchants had no choice but to trade the varieties that were readily available in the market. Over half of the merchants (about 68%) reported that they did not pass information to farmers about the highly demanded bean varieties. Some merchants perceived that passing such information to producers was a waste of time because they thought producers were already aware. Others expressed the fear that passing such information to producers would make them demand higher farm-gate prices for the beans.The choice of beans in the market is influenced by grain colour, which is usually associated with consumers' prior knowledge of such factors as familiarity, cooking time and taste of the variety. Phalombe was the most popular variety, but scarce and highly priced. Price of beans in the market was mainly influence by supply and demand principles, although social factors like cooking time and grain colour were associated with price. The relatively new variety in the market, Napilira released in 1995 was the most abundant and cheapest on market at harvest time. There was evidence from the study that traders did not share much market information on highly demanded bean types with producers (farmers) for fear that farmers would demand higher prices for their commodity. This results in shortage of highly demanded bean types, resulting in high prices for such bean types. Thus there is need to bring traders and farmers together so that there is proper linkage between production and markets."}

main/part_2/0585112957.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"7137a1bf341fed2288080354a15711b3","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/36beb823-eb26-4b12-b269-33bb23ded780/retrieve","id":"1567216122"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"251c8d21-1345-48d1-9aa8-0a0f7bcb55ca","content":"These trials were evaluated in the various countries and several field books have been received from partners for running comprehensive statistical analyses. The results of these analyses will be used to write a report that will be shared with partners to help them select high yielding and stress resilient maize varieties and hybrids for further testing in national performance and participatory on-farm trials.Outcome story for communications use: Regional trials have been used as vehicles to channel elite maize varieties, inbred lines and hybrids to partners in and outside West and Central Africa. In 2018, several sets of regional trials were organized and dispatched to partners in 10 countries. Amongst the elite open pollinated maize varieties, inbred lines and hybrids included in these trials, many were new products. These trials were evaluated in the various countries and several field books have been received from partners for running comprehensive statistical analyses. The results of these analyses will be used to write a report that will be shared with partners to help them select high yielding and stress resilient maize varieties and hybrids for further testing in national performance and participatory on-farm trials."}

main/part_2/0591179118.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"092d1cb2617f39c8c94ebc5896138bae","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/196b2064-c804-4739-8836-987c654d0cc0/retrieve","id":"535346664"},"keywords":["Farmers' perception","variety development","abiotic stress","potato cultivation"],"sieverID":"d2962bb9-2eb2-44bc-a368-114c946836be","content":"The socio-economic information on variety development and abiotic stresses of potato cultivation at farm level are scarce in Bangladesh. Therefore, an attempt was made to assess farmers' perceptions about variety development and different abiotic stresses on potato cultivation. Primary data were collected from 240 potato farmers of Bogra and Chittagong district. The study revealed that Granula, Cardinal, and Lalpakri were the most preferred potato varieties in Bogra, while Diamant and Dohazari were the dominant varieties in Chittagong. Most farmers (70.87%) believe that the current potato yield (21.5-22.67 t/ha) can be further increased through introducing new HYVs. Drought and heat were two important limiting factors towards achieving the higher levels of potato yield. High yielding ability was considered as the most desirable varietal character and this was opined by almost 92.1% respondents, followed by drought resistant (61.13%), proper late blight control (58.75%), availability of adequate fund (57.77%), heat tolerant (53.60%), early maturity (61.5%), and good demand (44.5%) for HYV potatoes, whereas good test (81.7%), higher price (69.6%) and good storability (65.2%) were reported for local varieties. Low yield, susceptible to diseases, late maturity and low demand were the reasons for abandoning some potato varieties in the past. Dohazari variety for Chittagong and Lalpakri for Bogra have higher levels of tolerance against abiotic stresses. Finally, early maturity followed by drought tolerance, heat tolerance, and salinity tolerance were important attributes farmers wanted in new potato varieties.Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the most important food as well as vegetable crops in Bangladesh and is being cultivated throughout the country. Bangladesh ranked 11 th in the world in terms of potato production in 2008-09 (Hossain and Miah, 2010). In 2010-2011, about 8326.39 thousand metric tons of potatoes have been produced devoting 460.40 thousands hectares of land in 1 Agricultural Economics Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur, Bangladesh. 2 International Potato Center (CIP), Liaison Office, Pusa Campus, New Delhi, India, 3 Tuber Crops Research Centre, BARI, Gazipur1701, Bangladesh. Bangladesh (BBS, 2011). The area and production of potatoes are increasing day by day due to its higher demand and profitability (Fig. 1). The annual growth rates of area, production, and yield of potato were estimated at 7.64%, 10.57%, and 2.94% in the last decade (2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011), respectively (BBS, 2011).Potato has multi-purpose uses and provides nutrients and plenty of carbohydrates. Since potato is consumed as a popular vegetable, it helps stabilize the vegetables market round the year through its adequate supply (Moazzem and Fujita, 2004). It is one of the productive crops that can play significant role in ensuring food security in Bangladesh since it can help to widen the food supply base and thereby help to minimize the risk of serious food shortages in the tropics and sub-tropics. Bangladesh Government has been trying to diversify food habits and encouraged potato consumption to reduce pressure on cereals especially on rice. So, potato is becoming an important food for ensuring food security in Bangladesh. Climate change is now widely recognized as a phenomenon which is threatening for current way of life on the earth. During 2005, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan faced temperatures 5-6°C above the regional average (UNDP, 2008). The average warming in annual temperature in the Himalaya and its vicinity between 1977 and 1994 was 0.06 ºC per year (Shrestha et al., 1999). Climate related changes are observed in precipitation patterns, temperature, high intensity floods, cyclones, landslides, erosion, and increased sedimentation in Bangladesh. Therefore, it raises serious concerns for developing countries like Most farmers in Bangladesh produce potato at a subsistence level. They are also vulnerable to climate change since the production of potato is highly sensitive to various abiotic stresses including temperature and soil salinity. It is adversely affected by high temperature during tuber initiation (Basu and Minhas, 1991) and tuber bulking (Minhas and Devendra, 2005) stages. In India, potato production is estimated to fall during 2020 and2050, respectively, by 19.65% and44.90% in Karnataka;18.23% and 31.77% in Gujarat;13.02% and 24.59% in Maharashtra;and 9.65% and 16.62% in Madhya Pradesh (Singh et al., 2008). Many parts of Bangladesh, especially in Barind areas (drought prone) are also facing the problem of temperature fluctuation. Further, the saline areas of the country are also vulnerable to crop production including potato. So there is an urgent need to develop varieties suitable for growing under varied temperature and salinity. Developing heat, drought, and saline tolerant potato varieties will not only enhance production but may also extend its cultivation to non-traditional potato areas.However, the socio-economic farm level information and farmers' perception on variety choice and abiotic stresses on potato cultivation are quite limited in Bangladesh which is very much important to the researchers and policy makers for the development of heat, drought, and saline tolerant potato varieties for attaining food security in the near future.It is also important to assess the nature and magnitude of farmers' awareness about the harmful impacts of future abiotic stresses in potato cultivation. Taking into consideration of all these facts, the present study was undertaken with the following objectives.i. to find out the types of potato varieties using by the farmers and their farm level yields;ii. to assess farmers' perceptions on variety development and abiotic stresses about potato cultivation;iii. to recommend some policy guidelines for developing stress tolerant potato varieties.Sampling technique: Multi-stages sampling technique was adopted to select sample respondents for the study. At the first stage, two potato growing districts, namely Bogra and Chittagong were selected purposively. Bogra district represents the drought prone areas, whereas Chittagong district represents the heat and saline areas of Bangladesh. In the second stage, four Upazilas from Bogra district and two Upazilas from Chittagong district were also purposively selected consulting with both local extension personnel and potato scientists.Considering the resource limitations, only two Upazilas from Chittagong district were selected. In the third stage, one agricultural block from each selected Upazila was selected for household survey. In the final stage of sampling, a total of 240 potato farmers (6 blocks x 40 samples), taking 40 farmers from each block were chosen from the list of potato growers following simple random sampling method irrespective of farm category for interview.A pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect primary data and information from potato farmers during October 2010. Relevant information of the studied Upazilas were obtained from local DAE offices. A team of experienced scientists and trained enumerators collected primary data and information through interviewing the sampled potato farmers.The collected data were edited, summarized, and analyzed based on various categories of potato farmers i.e. marginal (cultivated area 0.202-0.603 ha), small (cultivated area 0.607-1.008 ha), medium (cultivated area 1.012-3.032 ha), and large (cultivated area >3.036 ha). In most cases, simple descriptive statistics and accounting methods were adopted to analyze the collected data.Farm level use of potato varieties: Both modern and indigenous potato varieties are being cultivated in the study areas. However, substantial dissimilarity of using potato varieties was observed in Bogra and Chittagong. In Bogra, the highly adopted varieties were Granula, Cardinal, Diamant, Ruma, and Lalpakri, whereas Diamant and Dohazari varieties were found to me in Chittagong areas.In the case of HYV, the highest percentage of farmers in all categories (59.6%) cultivated Granula variety followed by Cardinal and Diamant. On the other side, nearly 40% farmers used Lalpakri and 33.3% farmers used Dohazari as indigenous potato varieties (Table 1).The productivity of potato depends on many factors, such as varietal character, use of appropriate amount of inputs, intercultural operations, disease and insect-pest management, and local weather variables.Change in any factors results in the change of potato yield. Area and variety-wise potato yields are presented in Table 2. The average yield of HYV potato was higher than that of local variety. In 2009-2010, the average per hectare yield was estimated at 22.67 for Granula, 21.50 for Diamant, and 22.57 for Cardinal. On the other hand, the average per hectare yield of local variety was 16.74 for Ruma, 15.312 for Pakri, and 16.27 for Dohazari. It was observed that the average yields of HYV and local variety potatoes in 2008-2009 were much lower compared to the yields observed in 2009-2010 (Table 2). The main reason behind this lower yield was opined to be bad weather, especially the occurrence of drought. However, the average national yield was 13.06 tons per hectare during 2008-2009(BBS, 2009)).Yield enhancing attributes: An attempt was made to analyze farmers' opinions on whether potato yield on their farms could be increased and results have been presented in Table 3. A total of nineteen factors relating to crop management and enabling environment, which can contribute towards increasing the yield of potato were analyzed. All the respondent farmers believe that it is possible to increase the yield of potato. The highest proportions of farmers (70.87%) believe that the current potato yield can be further increased through introducing new high yielding potato varieties. Other closely perceived factors were drought resistant potato varieties (61.13%) followed by proper late blight control (58.75%), availability of adequate fund (57.77%), heat tolerant variety (53.60%), training on potato cultivation (52.23%), and adequate quantity and timely availability of fertilizers (50.45%). Importance index of these factors, ranging from 1 (low) to 5 (high) was the highest for high yielding new potato varieties (3.11) followed by drought resistant potato varieties (2.23), availability of adequate fund (2.28), adequate quantity and timely availability of fertilizers (2.13), etc. The analysis also reveals that marginal farmers put higher stress on having adequate availability of fund and new high yielding varieties. Both medium and large category farmers put the highest emphasis on having drought tolerant potato varieties and proper late blight control (Table 3). Good and bad varietal characters: Potato farmers were found to grow different types of HYVs and indigenous potato varieties in the study areas. They were asked to name three most important good and bad characters of their cultivated potato varieties. In the case of HYV potato, the highest desirable varietal character was high yield (92.1%) followed by early maturity (61.5%), good demand/price (44.5%), and desirable tuber size (34.8%). On the other hand, good test (81.7%), higher price (69.6%), good storability (65.2%), and good colour (30.5%) were important desirable characters of the local variety (Table 4).Respondent farmers also mentioned undesirable qualities of their cultivated varieties. The highest proportion of farmers (78.8%) opined that poor storability was the worst character of HYV potato, which was followed by bad taste (71.9%), low price (36.7%), and susceptible to late blight (27.2%). For local variety, the undesirable characters were reported to be low yield (75.2%), bad tuber size (58.3%), late maturity (56.5%), and susceptible to late blight (36.1%).Due to some negative perceptions, some respondent farmers in Bogra district abandoned five potato varieties comprising three HYVs and two local varieties. On the other hand, farmers in Chittagong so far abandoned only one variety. Low yield and susceptible to diseases were reported to be common reasons for abandoning these varieties as shown in Table 5. Late maturity was another important reason for which some farmers in all study areas abandoned Diamant, Cardinal, and Pakri varieties. Low demand/price was reported to be a vital reason for abandoning Diamant variety in Chittagong district. It is important to state that the potato varieties those were abandoned by some responding farmers are still popular and widely cultivated varieties in the study areas.Preference of potato varieties: Respondent farmers were asked to give preference on the four available future potato varieties against abiotic stresses. The likely future varieties will be heat tolerant, drought tolerant, saline tolerant and early bulking in nature. Respondent's preferences were analyzed and presented in Table 6. It was observed that the farmers of all categories showed very high level of preference (score 4.46) toward the variety having early maturing character. Among the three characters of abiotic stresses, respondent farmers expressed the highest level of preference (score 3.58) for drought tolerant variety followed by heat tolerant (score 2.85) and saline tolerant variety (score 1.49) in the near future. Note: Level of preference (range 1 to 5): Very low =1; Low = 2; Medium = 3; High = 4; Very high =5Response on abiotic stresses: Heat, drought, and salinity are very important abiotic stresses for crop production. With exposure to higher temperature, potato plants show increase vegetative growth without converting carbohydrates into tubers (Minhas and Devendra, 2005). Drought is responsible in general disturbance in plant health. Plant becomes weak and more susceptible to other biotic and abiotic stresses. The higher level of salinity in the soil is also detrimental to potato cultivation.Bogra District represents the drought area and Chittagong district represents the heat and saline areas of Bangladesh. Respondent farmers faced to some extent these abiotic stresses during potato production. Therefore, potato farmers were asked to express their opinions on these three abiotic stresses. The respondent farmers in all categories believed that drought and heat were important two limiting factors towards achieving the higher levels of yield (Table 7). A lower proportion (score 2) of respondents pointed out salinity as abiotic stress to the potato crop. However, the higher proportion of marginal and small farmers regarded drought as a potential threat to their potato crop. Since ground water level was reported to be decreasing year after year in the study areas, the cost of digging tube wells will be very high in the near future.Respondent farmers were also interviewed to give their perceptions on the abiotic tolerance capacity of their cultivated potato varieties. In this respect, they pointed out two local varieties namely Dohazari for Chittagong district and Lalpakri for Bogra district which have higher levels of tolerance against abiotic stresses compared to other local and HYV potatoes. Cardinal and Diamant varieties were reported to be more or less similar level of tolerance against (score 2) abiotic stresses (Table 8). ii. The most desirable varietal characters of HYV potatoes were high yield, early maturity, and good market demand. Similarly, good test, higher price, and good storability were important characters for local variety.iii. Low yield, susceptible to diseases, late maturity and low demand were the reasons for extinction of some potato varieties in the past.iv. Among others, drought and heat were the two important factors causing lower yield of potato. Drought was, especially a potential threat for marginal and small farmers.v. Dohazari variety for Chittagong and Lalpakri for Bogra has higher levels of tolerance against abiotic stresses. Besides, early maturity followed by drought tolerance, heat tolerance and salinity tolerance were the important attributes farmers wanted in new potato varieties.Development of abiotic stress tolerant varieties: Potato production is highly sensitive to various abiotic stresses including temperature and soil salinity. Development of heat, drought and saline tolerant varieties enhance potato production and extend its cultivation to non-traditional potato areas. Therefore, breeders should assign higher importance to develop abiotic stress tolerant potato varieties for combating future climate threats.T.aman-Potato-Boro is the dominant cropping pattern in Bogra district. Most farmers cultivate Boro rice after harvesting of potato. Therefore, they show very high level of preference toward the variety having early maturing character. So breeders should give much emphasis to develop a number of early maturing potato varieties having late blight resistant character.Development of new varieties having better storability: Most small and marginal farmers have poor access to cold storage facility due to small quantity of produces and financial inability. They have to sell their potatoes to middlemen immediately after harvesting with lower price. Therefore, development of new varieties having better storability at home condition will be highly beneficial to the poor potato farmers.Availability of irrigation water: Higher proportion of marginal and small farmers considered drought and heat to be potential threat for their future potato crops. In the study area entire irrigation is through DTW and STW. They have to buy water from others since digging tube well needs higher cost. Besides, irrigation charge is very high and sometimes unavailable when required. Therefore, the government should encourage cooperative tube wells through establishing self help groups of the farmers providing them financial assistance.The farmers of all categories believe that their current potato yield can be further increased through providing training on production technologies. Therefore, the DAE should arrange and provide hand-on training for the potato farmers on production technologies on a regular basis.Availability of seed and fertilizer: Majority of the farmers also perceived that their potato yield can be further increased through making seed and fertilizers timely available and inexpensive. So, the government should take appropriate steps to make these inputs available and economic to the farmers."}

main/part_2/0600761412.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":null,"keywords":null,"sieverID":"add19af4-d713-44ef-8646-1d4474513c16","content":"\n\n"}

main/part_2/0603194171.json

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{"metadata":{"gardian_id":"2fa64c76ab72cb4891261ab898b2e6bf","source":"gardian_index","url":"https://cgspace.cgiar.org/rest/bitstreams/f9c7e695-f185-4469-bd5c-f13b36966c05/retrieve","id":"655549876"},"keywords":[],"sieverID":"524b4632-0688-4c4c-88e0-cb76f2eb11b2","content":"To implement its 2030 research and innovation strategy, the CGIAR is developing a series of initiatives designed to achieve a world with sustainable and resilient food, land, and water systems that deliver more diverse, healthy, safe, sufficient, and affordable diets, and ensure improved livelihoods and greater social equality, within planetary and regional environmental boundaries. CGIAR Initiatives are major, prioritized areas of investment that bring capacity from within and beyond CGIAR to bear on well-defined, major challenges. Sustainable Animal Productivity for Livelihoods, Nutrition and Gender inclusion is the focus of an initiative being developed by ILRI, ICARDA and other partners.Still at an early stage, this initiative aims to enable one million livestock producers -especially women and youth -in 6 countries to engage in inclusive value chains and achieve sustainable productivity gains resulting in improved livelihoods.Given the importance of livestock in the lives and livelihoods of its people and the commitment of public and private actors to transform food systems through livestock, Ethiopia is one of six countries identified as a potential partner country for this initiative. To 'ground' and improve the proposed initiative, this meeting was convened to guide the initiative design team as they formulate the key interventions and work packages to be delivered. Specifically, to improve the current proposal outline by: 1. specifying which elements and work packages are highest priority for Ethiopia; 2. identifying missing elements that must be included for it to best serve Ethiopia's situation; 3. providing feedback to strengthen the proposed approach and framework; 4. identifying the interests of key national actors in different work packages.-Water considerations are included-but need to see how we will collaborate with partners on the ground -Focus on sustainability and livelihoods -A good number of beneficiaries -Research issues on processes of AI systems -what could be an effective system to put in place to reach the necessary farmers -Nutrition -production of milk and eggs is very important. The growing culture of consuming animal protein.-Strong focus on internal feed production possibilities.-Dairy sector consideration is a strong point. Pure dairy cattle are less than 2% of total local livestock share improving that will be good in improving the number of dairies -Feed improvement is very important. Promoting forages will be very crucial.-Partner engagement and looking for more partnerships for better scale-up -Building on the identified priorities/ongoing work. Not starting from scratch.-Initiative supports 10 yr strategy of MoA and aligns with it. Issues of productivity of livestock got high attention -It addresses the entire VC, not just genetics/feed like previous initiatives -With a cluster system, opportunity to upscale later to other regions -Old approach was piecemeal (feed/genetics/health) but this is a full technology packaging that will be scaled up -Scaling element within SAPLING-to ensure the impact is greater, not just die out after pilot.-Need more investments in livestock and these approaches that are working directly with farmers are needed, hence this additional project is a great initiative -The project is in line with exiting government plans -Being in one CGIAR will aid in pooling human capacity for implementation of the packages/project components-Put infrastructure in the place where feeds are being produced -Better education on consumers for better diet -who would do that? -Gap on the technical capacity of AI technicians -improve that. Facility problems on nitrogen production -train farmers on accurately detecting heat for timely AI (taking on time to AI technician). -Clarify if the focus is on research or development? What is the scaling strategy? Need to clarify the scaling strategy -For dairy, a duration of 3 years as a time to produce high productive cows, maybe too ambitious -Feed is very critical. The available feed cannot be used efficiently. Ploughing and traction activities. Introduce an efficient tracking system. The available feed is given to oxen and unproductive animals -19 litres of milk is quite a difference -lots of limitations in production issues. Raw material prices, managing imports and exports. Intensify the producers to produce big quantities to satisfy the demand in the country. Support policymakers and consult with policymakers -for decisions on exports and what to remain the country -Role of engagement of national institutions not indicated. Scaling with working packages -real volume of work. modality of SAPLING -how scaling will be done -a lot of investment and money involved -SAPLING -focus on income generation. Creating wealth for the youth group -un-employment for the youth. Animals with shorter -chicken and small ruminant. -One region does not seem to be integrated. AA has huge potential for dairy/poultry, better to include those 2 regions -I recommend poultry and dairy in different sectors/clusters. If the effort is scattered, the impact will be limited. Areas are important for poultry, others for dairy. better to follow a cluster approach -Intervention relies on land availability for dairy/poultry. Land use is a critical constraint. Lack of supporting land-use policy for livestock activities -Degree of participation of the private sector? hard to link small farmers to markets. Will it bring profit? -Extension system has a 1 size fits all approach that does not work for LS. Need for ES to accommodate AgroEcology, resources, comparative advantage. -Its a little bit ambitious in the outcomes listed -they may be a little difficult to achieve -List partners clearly with the anticipated roles for each -the Ethiopian partners -May be difficult to see limitations now -but there is too much ambition in improving production and productivity -The gender balance target at 50% may not be realistic.-Dairy -more productive animals. Target on high producing animals with the appropriate package -feed, health and market. How to increase the proportion of productive animals -Lay down the groundwork for the approach of high producing animals -how to produce 50% dairy genetics -Improving AI -increasing productive crossbreed animals. Building capacity of technicians, improve facilities available for AI. Improve production of nitrogen, help in facilities having more nitrogen. Use irrigate forages --Improve the efficiency of AI use -for genetic improvement. Producing more than 50% crossbreeds, appropriate animal taking care -AI -more of development aspect -promote and implement it properly. The capacity of -liquid nitrogen and technicians. Work of Ministry of Agriculture. -Feed production and marketing must be addressed and given priority.-Produce 50% high breeds. AI accompanied by appropriate management technics.-additional regions could be added: the pastoral system for small ruminants needs to be addressed (Somali, Afar, South). AA for dairy/poultry, Sidama for dairy/poultry/small ruminants -Look into the rural areas and peri-urban areas rather than focus on the conventional way of identifying locations -Need to build on work that has been going on in existing regions even as a guide in identifying new regions -Sidama region-Dairy is a good choice! -Scaling -link to private entrepreneurs. Protein source foods price is doubling because of feed cost. -Extension approach -research brings efficient processes from other countries -introduce them.Behaviour change of farmers. -Should beef be included? People who have prioritized might not have looked at that. -New dams and aquaculture, issue of fisheries getting huge attention. Can fish be added? Pb:only WorldFish works on fish, ILRI/ICARDA have no experience. But signal interest WF -What about camels for pastoralists? Milk/meat/income -There exists the private sector actors in feeds but they can be engaged -Dairy, chicken sheep and goat are important but given domestic demand and Ethiopia's comparative advantage for export, there is a need to consider fattening -the cow-calf beef type of approach would be a big advantage for the communities, -Women and youth can be engaged to enhance their income and contribute to national growth as well -Poultry value chain -layers and broilers -layers are more pronounced -but it can be retained as is -poultry value chain -Feed is critical -it can be considered as a separate value chain to help/enhance overall value chains performance.Chat feedback: Why livestock matter -Asrat Tera: because it is a livelihood -Berhanu Admassu: means of survival -Fekede Feyissa: Because it is expected to contribute to livelihoods -Isabelle Baltenweck to Everyone: producing milk, eggs and meat.. and manure for the soil! -Siboniso Moyo: For nutrition, livelihoods, income -Habtamu Yesigat: food, draft animal, asset (saving), -Barbara Rischkowsky ICARDA: livestock is the basis for the livelihoods of many people and an important contribution to healthy diets -Fekede Feyissa: Farm power -Sileshi Bekele to Everyone: Why livestock matter for Ethiopia-For all economic & social life...job creation, nutrition… -Daniel Temesgen: very Near to the people -Berhanu Belay: Capital accumulation -Mourad Rekik to Everyone: Can someone imagine agriculture in Ethiopia without livestock.A huge sector -Tadele Mirkena to Everyone: It is a means of livelihood to more than 90% of the people directly or indirectly and it is the basis of agriculture. -Kebede Habtegiorgis: Because it is a source of food for many -Okeyo Mwai, ILRI Nairobi: Because Livestock contributes to millions of Ethiopian's livelihoods, in terms of animal source foods, farm power, income and foreign exchange earnerChat feedback -during the presentation -Fekede Feyissa to Everyone: How the \"one CGIAR\" system will affect performance/operation of the CGIAR as compared to the past??? -Isabelle Baltenweck: the objective is to streamline operations and help researchers from different centres work more easily with each other -Isabelle Baltenweck to Everyone: as Barbara is just saying, there will be more details provided at a later date. -Aynalem Haile, ICARDA: As Barbara is saying we also reform the organizational structure to make us effective in the delivery of technologies and be cost-effective -Tadele Mirkena to Everyone: WP4 & 5 look more of a strategy rather than a work package.-Asrat Tera: Please don't forget Sidama region with huge potential -Fekede Feyissa to Everyone: What was in the master plan has now been replaced by the \"10 years perspective plan\". So, reference should be made to this?? -Asrat Tera: That is a path for sustainability -Sileshi Bekele to Everyone: What about job creation innervations? -Aynalem Haile, ICARDA: Thanks Fekede. I borrowed the info from the master plan. Is the 10 year plan available for public -Fekede Feyissa: We should make sure that we will be referring to and contribute to the livestock development targets planned for the coming 10 years Chat feedback: Advice for the team is -Fekede Feyissa: Refer to the 10 years perspective livestock development plan and align the initiative -Siboniso Moyo to Everyone: Clarify roles and responsibilities from the beginning.-Getnet Assefa: Work on Behavioural change -Daniel Temesgen: be innovative -Asrat Tera: synergy -Berhanu Belay: Reveal Livestock is an employment opportunity through collaboration -Yohannes Girma: Stakeholder management -Tadele Mirkena: Focus on biosecurity to ensure One Health whatever the commodity -Mourad Rekik: think about all the system actors -Edmealem Shitaye: Focus on specific commodity -Okeyo Mwai, ILRI Nairobi: Keep fully engaged at all stages -Mengistu Woldehanna: persuading farmers -Yohannes Girma: Alignment with the MOA 10 years perspective plan"}