| 1. |
- Klatt, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Enhancing crop shelf life with pollination
- 2014
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Ingår i: Agriculture & Food Security. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2048-7010. ; 3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Globally, high amounts of food are wasted due to insufficient quality and decay. Although pollination has been shown to increase crop quality, a possible impact on shelf life has not been quantitatively studied. Results: We tested how shelf life, represented by fruit decay, firmness and weight, changes as a function of pollination limitation in two European, commercially important strawberry varieties. Pollination limitation resulted in lower amounts of deformed fruits. Whereas 65% of wind-pollinated fruits were deformed, open pollination resulted in only 20% deformed fruits. During storage, the proportion of decayed fruits increased in relation to the degree of deformation. In the variety Yamaska, 80% of the fruits with high degrees of deformation decayed after four days, whereas in the variety Sonata, all highly deformed fruits had already decayed after three days. Fruit weight decreased independent from the degree of deformation. However, strongest deformations resulted in a generally lower fruit weight in Sonata, whereas in Yamaska, also medium deformed fruits had a lower weight than highly deformed fruits. Effects of deformation on firmness declines were mostly variety dependent. Whereas firmness declined similarly for all degrees of deformation for Yamaska, highly deformed fruits lost firmness fastest in Sonata. Conclusions: Our results suggest that crop pollination has the potential to reduce food loss and waste in pollinated crops and thus to contribute to global food security. However, this relationship between pollination and food waste has so far been almost completely ignored. Future pollination research should therefore focus not only on yield effects but also on crop quality. A more comprehensive understanding of how pollination can benefit global food security should lead to a more efficient crop production to help meeting future food demands.
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| 2. |
- Husenov, Bahromiddin, et al.
(författare)
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Breeding for wheat quality to assure food security of a staple crop: the case study of Tajikistan
- 2015
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Ingår i: Agriculture and Food Security. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2048-7010. ; 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: This study evaluated options and obstacles to strengthening food security through breeding a staple crop in a developing country, using the case of quality of bread wheat in Tajikistan as an example. Methods: Three wheat varieties and 19 breeding lines were collected from two field trial locations included in the Tajik wheat breeding programme. Grain protein composition as a measure of quality was determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Payne scores were calculated in order to predict quality. Results: There was high variation between and high heterogeneity within several lines and varieties in relation to protein composition. Differences between the same varieties/lines at different locations were also observed. The number of grains analysed from each variety/line allowed prediction of quality, and the majority of materials analysed showed high Payne scores. Based on Payne scores and cluster analyses, a group of varieties/lines with high quality was identified as interesting for further breeding. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the importance of improving wheat maintenance breeding and early generation seed production and of developing suitable screening methods for quality to secure food supply in developing countries such as Tajikistan.
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| 3. |
- Leke, Walter Nkeabeng, et al.
(författare)
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Begomovirus disease complex: emerging threat to vegetable production systems of West and Central Africa
- 2015
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Ingår i: Agriculture and Food Security. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2048-7010. ; 4
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Vegetables play a major role in the livelihoods of the rural poor in Africa. Among major constraints to vegetable production worldwide are diseases caused by a group of viruses belonging to the genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae. Begomoviruses are plant-infecting viruses, which are transmitted by the whitefly vector Bemisia tabaci and have been known to cause extreme yield reduction in a number of economically important vegetables around the world. Several begomoviruses have been detected infecting vegetable crops in West and Central Africa (WCA). Small single stranded circular molecules, alphasatellites and betasatellites, which are about half the size of their helper begomovirus genome, have also been detected in plants infected by begomoviruses. In WCA, B. tabaci has been associated with suspected begomovirus infections in many vegetable crops and weed species. Sequencing of viral genomes from crops such as okra resulted in the identification of two previously known begomovirus species (Cotton leaf curl Gezira virus and Okra yellow crinkle virus) as well as a new recombinant begomovirus species (Okra leaf curl Cameroon virus), a betasatellite (Cotton leaf curl Gezira betasatellite) and new alphasatellites. Tomato and pepper plants with leaf curling were shown to contain isolates of new begomoviruses, collectively referred to as West African tomato-infecting begomoviruses (WATIBs), new alphasatellites and betasatellites. To study the potential of weeds serving as begomovirus reservoirs, begomoviruses and satellites in the weed Ageratum conyzoides were characterized. Sequence analyses showed that they were infected by isolates of a new begomovirus (Ageratum leaf curl Cameroon virus) that belong to the WATIBs group, a new betasatellite (Ageratum leaf curl Cameroon betasatellite), an alphasatellite and two types of defective recombinants between a begomovirus and an alphasatellite. Putative recombinations were detected in begomovirus genomes for all four plant species studied, indicating that recombination is an important mechanism for their evolution. A close relationship between the begomoviruses infecting pepper and tomato and A. conyzoides and the detection of the same alphasatellite in them support the idea that weeds are important reservoirs for begomoviruses and their satellites. With this high diversity, recombination potential and transmission by B. tabaci, begomoviruses and ssDNA satellites pose a serious threat to crop production in West and Central Africa.
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| 4. |
- Madalla, Noel, et al.
(författare)
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Farmers' preferences for East African highland cooking banana 'Matooke' hybrids and local cultivars
- 2023
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Ingår i: Agriculture & Food Security. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2048-7010. ; 12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundAn understanding of farmers' preferences of new banana cultivars and their characteristics is critical for developing and selecting cultivars that meet consumer needs. Therefore, phenotypic selection in a genetically variable population remains an important aspect of plant breeding.MethodsThe participatory varietal selection approach for preference ranking was used on 31 'Matooke' secondary and primary triploid hybrids and local banana cultivars evaluated between 2016 and 2019 in Uganda and Tanzania to investigate how farmers' preference attributes could help breeders identify superior cultivars. The quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The qualitative data from farmers' focus group discussions (FGDs) were described using content analysis. The Mann–Whitney U test and Wilcoxon's signed-rank test were used to confirm the difference in farmers' preferences between groups.ResultsFarmers' approaches for defining characteristics were multivariate, and their preferences varied by site and country. Large fruit, a large bunch, market acceptability of the banana bunch, a sturdy stem, and an attractive appearance of the banana plant were the characteristics most preferred by farmers in Tanzania and Uganda. Tanzanian farmers preferred large bunches over other characteristics like bunch marketability and robust stem. Large fruit, drought tolerance, a strong stem, and phenotypic similarity to local cultivars were prioritized by Ugandan farmers. Both men and women farmers were more concerned with production-related characteristics, but the former valued marketing-related characteristics more, while the latter preferred use-related characteristics. Their preferences did not differ statistically, but the relative importance assigned by each group to the selected attributes was different.ConclusionFarmers' varietal preferences are frequently based on some assumed requirements, resulting in cultivar rejection or non-adoption. Therefore, determining the value attributed to each characteristic by various farmer groups is crucial in developing 'Matooke' banana cultivars with desired attributes that will boost the rate of adoption on-farms. Breeding initiatives that establish a system of integrated approaches and rely on thorough diagnosis of both production and consumption characteristics will best serve farmers' diverse preferences. To accomplish this, planning for varietal improvement initiatives at various levels—including internationally, regionally, nationally, and locally—would require a strong participatory structure that is gender inclusive.
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| 5. |
- Nasrin, Sultana, et al.
(författare)
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Drivers of rice production: evidence from five Sub-Saharan African countries
- 2015
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Ingår i: Agriculture & Food Security. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2048-7010. ; 4:12, s. 1-19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: In spite of considerable rice production gains over the past 50 years, Sub-Saharan Africa is becoming increasingly dependent on rice imports as demand is outpacing domestic supply. The serious economic and social strains caused by this have urged national leaders to address production deficits. The aim of this article is to analyse and discuss the drivers behind recent changes in rice production in Africa South of the Sahara, focusing on Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Mozambique. Considering the period 2002–2008, we model production performance and changes in production amongst 317 rice-growing households using multilevel and longitudinal data. We evaluate and discuss the role of three key processes: the role of commercial drivers, farm technology and macro-level conditions. Results: We show that until 2002, production was driven by a combination of the three key processes considered, while during the period 2002–2008, production increases were primarily associated with area expansion and commercial drivers. This suggests that production lately has been more driven by processes of extensification than intensification. We also note that in none of the periods considered, the share of the state budget allocated to agriculture had a significant effect on production and that recent developments do not give any obvious support for an Asianstyle state-driven Green Revolution in rice in Sub-Saharan Africa. Conclusions: The role of commercialization in explaining changes in production suggests that policies strengthening food staple markets in the sub-continent hold great potential for driving rice production in the near future. Due to the scarcity of available land, the possibilities of further growth in the rice sector are limited without an intensification of production. Hence, farmers also need to access new farm technology, and positive development of rice production would in turn contribute to an improvement of food security.
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| 6. |
- Ortiz Rios, Rodomiro Octavio
(författare)
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Farmers’ rice knowledge and adoption of new cultivars in the Tillabéry region of western Niger
- 2015
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Ingår i: Agriculture and Food Security. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2048-7010. ; 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Tillabéry is the main rice growing region of Niger, and it includes both irrigated and lowland rice. Rice production has stagnated due to several factors this research investigated through farmers’ eyes. Methods: Semi-structured group discussions were carried out in 14 villages in which 153 farmers, after giving their informed consent, were individually subjected to a questionnaire, and farmers’ fields and storage facilities were visited. Results: Fields were larger in private irrigation and lowland agrosystems compared to those in public irrigation schemes. The local farmers’ union was the only formal seed dissemination system. Farmers exchanged seed as well as did re-seeding of leftovers from the previous harvest. They indicated Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) and bacterial leaf blight (BLB) as the most prevalent biotic stresses in the irrigated agrosystems, but the RYMV-susceptible cultivars IR1529 and ‘Waihidjo’ are still the most popular varieties. Floods, birds, and hippopotamuses were the most damaging agents in lowland agrosystems where the landrace ‘Degaulle’/D5237 was the preferred cultivar. Conclusions: Rice farmers in the region of Tillabéry were aware of the RYMV, could provide good descriptions of its symptoms, but could not establish the real causes of the disease nor its relationship with insects’ prevalence and other cultural practices. However, traditional management strategies were implemented to reduce RYMV epidemics. This situation showed that farmers in the region of Tillabéry were willing to face RYMV epidemic outbreaks while growing their preferred rice cultivars. Good seed availability and absence of seed policy at the time of this study were also detected as bottlenecks in rice production increase in Tillabéry
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| 7. |
- Ortiz Rios, Rodomiro Octavio
(författare)
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Plant breeding for organic agriculture: something new?
- 2015
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Ingår i: Agriculture and Food Security. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2048-7010. ; 4
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The role of both organic (OF) and conventional (CF) farming remains open to debate particularly when related to food security and climate change. Targeting plant breeding for OF can contribute to reduce its yield gaps vis-à-vis CF. Currently, the cultivars produced for CF are also used in OF, however, it is unreasonable that all lines bred for CF will always perform well in OF. Nonetheless, plant breeding goals for OF and CF converge at aiming for high productivity, host plant resistance or tolerance to biotic and abiotic factors, and high resource-use efficiency. Likewise end-use quality and local adaptation may be more important for OF as the resource recycling and quality of the inputs that are used vary from region to region, even though OF practices are highly regulated. This article provides an overview on organic plant breeding (OPB) with a perspective from conventional plant breeding, highlights the main traits, their source of variation, and what methods and tools are available for their breeding. It concludes listing some organic crop breeding achievements and providing an outlook on what needs to be done for OPB.
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| 8. |
- SUNILKUMAR, BINDU, et al.
(författare)
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Identification of discrepancies in grain quality and grain protein composition through avenin proteins of oat after an effort to increase protein content
- 2016
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Ingår i: Agriculture & Food Security. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2048-7010. ; 5:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Oat prolamin (avenin) is a family of proteins that contain several polymorphic components. The highinterspecific variability of avenin among cultivars, electrophoretic patterns have been used for grain protein comparisonand species relationships. Therefore, the present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of environment onavenin constitution following an effort to increase protein content of oat using different approaches.Results: The avenin electrophoretic patterns of 25 samples resulting from 20 oat cultivars and 5 mutated oat linesgrown or developed in different fields and greenhouses were compared. Quantification of total proteins and SDSPAGEanalysis of avenin protein extracts were carried out. Different pattern of avenin allele in electrophoretic gelallowed the comparison within and between groups. This analysis shows that the cultivars obtained from Swedishfields had differences in the number of alleles compared with the parental cultivar, so were not stable across sites. Thestudy revealed that oats treated with nitrogen and the selected mutated lines showed increase in protein concentration,with consistent avenin loci to the parental line, so these lines are now being used as potential candidates fordeveloping high-protein oat lines in the future.Conclusions: Our results provide useful information, on the stability of modifications, for breeders aiming to increasingthe content and nutritional value of oat protein. The study will increase our knowledge in the stability of differentmodifications and thus to accordingly select oat lines with stable and improved nutritional values.Keywords: Avenin, Mutation, Nitrogen, Geographical location, Electrophoresis
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| 9. |
- Wahab, Ibrahim, et al.
(författare)
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"The maize is the cost of the farming, and cassava is our profit": Smallholders' perceptions and attitudes to poor crop patches in the Eastern region of Ghana
- 2022
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Ingår i: Agriculture & Food Security. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2048-7010. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundCrop yields are lowest in sub-Saharan Africa compared to other regions, and this is true even for such an important staple crop as maize. Persistence of patches of low crop vigour side-by-side to patches with healthier maize crops has been shown to significantly contribute to low yields on smallholdings. Farmers' perspectives on the presence of such poor patches are important as far as their on-farm investment attitudes are concerned. We analyse maize yield levels and farmers’ perspectives of their production levels in two farming communities in rural Ghana.ResultsWe find substantial potential for yield improvements; while local attainable yields (average of the yields attained by the top 10% of farmers in each village) were 4.4 t/ha and 3.6 t/ha, average crop cut yields were 2.0 t/ha and 2.4 t/ha for Asitey and Akatawia, respectively. As much as 62% of the maize fields in both study locations were unable to reach the respective average village yield level. From the photo-elicitation interviews, the general attitude of smallholders to the presence of poor patches is that of indifference. We find contradictions in farmers’ perceptions and attitudes towards low yields. While more than half (54%) perceived they were getting adequate yields relative to their expectations, an even greater proportion (88%) of farmers interviewed aver that their plots could yield much more. Similarly, a significant majority (63%) did not attempt to remedy the poor patches even though the same proportion perceive that it is worth it to invest in yield-improving inputs.ConclusionsFarmers in such contexts view investments in fertilizers on their farms as too risky. As alternatives, they would rather invest their already limited resources in non-farm ventures. Farmers opt for yield optimization rather than maximization and this has important implications for diversification off the farm. These findings have important implications for smallholder households’ ability to meet their subsistence needs and for efforts to reduce yield gaps on small farms particularly in resource-poor contexts.
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