Research Results
1. A molecular brake for root growth
Roots are essential for reaching water and nutrients to plants, for their anchorage to the ground, and also for their interacting and communicating with soil microorganisms. A shallower root with many root hairs is good for phosphate uptake, as phosphate is mostly found in the upper soil layers. Caroline Gutjahr of the TUM School of Life Sciences, Weihenstephan, Germany, and her team discovered a new gaseous hormone interaction that influences the growth of plant roots. If less of the gaseous hormone—caused by enhanced ethylene biosynthesis—is produced by the plant, the plant is stimulated to grow long roots and short root hairs. “If we understand more precisely how root growth is regulated at the molecular level and in coordination with environmental stimuli, we can cultivate crops that are better able to cope with unfavourable environmental conditions and thus produce yield even under stress,” the scientist said.
These studies reveal a connection between non-endogenous and ethylene signalling modules, which regulates the biosynthesis of ethylene to fine-tune root and root hair development, which in turn are important for seedling establishment at the beginning of the plant life cycle. Scientists hope to discover how these signalling pathways collaborate with the sensors that allow plants to perceive various environmental influences to adjust root growth in a way that benefits plant survival and yield.
For more, see https://phys.org/news/2020-10-molecular-root-growth.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter
Access the full paper at https://www.pnas.org/content/117/35/21757
2. Tomato plants communicate at a molecular level
Cuscuta, also known as dodder, is a parasitic vine that grafts to the host plant, using special suckers to obtain water, minerals, and carbohydrates. Volker Hegenauer of the University of Tübingen, Germany, working with researchers in Germany, the UK, and USA, discovered how tomato plants identify Cuscuta as a parasite. The plant has a protein in its cell walls that are identified as “foreign” by a receptor in the tomato. Although the infection generally goes undetected by the host, some species of tomato actively defend themselves by forming wooden tissue, which prevents the suckers from penetrating the plant.
In earlier research, biologists at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) discovered that these tomatoes possess a special receptor, the Cuscuta receptor (CuRe or Cr) 1, which triggers the defence mechanism. Using its receptor, the tomato can recognize the molecular pattern of a glycine-rich protein (GRP) of C. reflexa and identify the dodder as a pathogen, and it triggers the immune reaction as a result. Results showed that CrGRP comprises the molecular pattern with the characteristic Cysteine-residues that mark the plant parasite C. reflexa as an alien attacker to host plants with the cell surface receptor CuRe1. These findings of the molecular dialogue between host plants and attacking parasitic plants will help to understand resistance during plant-plant interactions and open new possibilities to improve resistance against Cuscuta spp., as well as to design resistance against parasitic plants in general.
For more, see https://phys.org/news/2020-10-tomato-molecular.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter
Access the full paper at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19147-4
3. New research sheds light on complex genetic and metabolic traits in plants
Numerous examples of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) have been discovered in plant genomes, but little is known about the formation of these important examples of gene organization. They are of interest because many of the BGCs reported in plants in recent years encode compounds of agricultural importance, as they confer disease resistance and drought tolerance. Zhenhua Liu and colleagues at the John Innes Centre, UK, following recent advances in sequence data for Arabidopsis thaliana and its relatives, studied the occurrence, nature, and evolution of plant BGCs. The large-scale analysis—focussing on the thalianol cluster (a tricyclic triterpenoid of unknown function) BGC—identified new genetic drivers that underly non-random gene organization. Researchers also identified chromosomal inversion as a molecular mechanism that may shuffle more distant genes into the cluster, thus enabling cluster compaction. Although the role of chromosomal inversions in evolution in animals has been extensively investigated, examples of these large-scale mutations in plants are rare.
Zhenhua Liu explains: “Our study is exciting because we uncovered genetic drivers—particularly chromosomal inversions—which likely play significant roles in the maintenance and diversification of plant BGCs. Our findings not only provide a fundamental understanding of how plant BGCs evolve, but also advance the prediction and identification of BGCs in complex plant genomes.” Next, the researchers plan to extend the analysis of other types of plant BGCs to investigate evolutionary dynamics, patterns, and forces that shape plant BGCs.
Access the full paper at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19153-6
4. Engineering drought-resistant crops with Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis
Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) evolved in arid environments as a water-saving alternative to C3 photosynthesis, and engineering more drought-resistant crops by introducing CAM into C3 plants is of great interest. Most plants, including some major crops such as rice, wheat, oats, and barley, use C3 carbon fixation, in which CO2 taken up during the day through stomatal pores in the leaf is used immediately in light-driven photosynthesis reactions. Nadine Töpfer of the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Germany, and colleagues analysed the potential for engineering drought-resistant plants by introduction of CAM. They used a sophisticated mathematical modelling approach to study the effects of introducing CAM photosynthesis, which is used by plants that can thrive in arid conditions, into C3 plants, which tend to thrive only in areas where sunlight intensity and temperatures are moderate and water is plentiful.
Using simulations across a range of temperature and relative humidity conditions, the authors investigated if full CAM or alternative water-saving methods can be more productive in settings where C3 crops are grown. It was found that (a) vacuolar storage capacity in a leaf is a major factor that limits water-use efficiency during CAM, and (b) the environmental conditions shape the occurrence of different phases of the CAM cycle. Mathematical modelling also identified an alternative CAM cycle that involves mitochondrial isocitrate dehydrogenase as a potential contributor to initial carbon fixation at night.
For more, see
Access the full paper at https://academic.oup.com/plcell/article/32/12/3689/6118593
5. Soil fungi act as a support network for trees, study shows
Social networks have important benefits, not only for humans but also for trees, thanks to their underground neighbours, a new study shows. Research by Joseph Birch and his colleagues at the University of Alberta, Canada, shows that the growth of adult trees is linked to their participation in fungal networks living in the forest soil. While ectomycorrhizal networks (EMN) are known to influence seedlings, their effect on adult tree growth remains unknown, and it may have important implications for forest responses to future climates. “Large trees make up the bulk of the forest, so they drive what the forest is doing,” said Joseph Birch.
The network also helps nutrients flow to resource-limited trees “like family units that support one another in times of stress,” Birch noted. Cores taken from 350 Douglas firs in British Columbia showed that annual tree-ring growth was related to the extent of fungal connections a tree had with other trees. It was found that the more connected an adult tree was, the more it had significant growth advantages, which meant the network could influence large-scale important interactions in the forest, like carbon storage. Such networks help trees grow faster, and they help sequester more carbon year after year. “Knowing whether fungal networks are operating the same way in other tree species could factor into how we reforest areas after harvesting them, and it could inform how we want to plant trees to preserve these networks,” Birch added. The study has important implications for considering the role of EMNs in influencing forest health and mitigating stress from environmental conditions.
For more, see https://phys.org/news/2020-10-soil-fungi-network-trees.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter
Access the abstract at https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2745.13507
6. Grafting tomato with epigenetically modified rootstock yields surprise
Does epigenetic variation have potential use in agriculture? To explore this question, Hardik Kundariya and Xiaodong Yang at the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, USA, grafted normal tomato plants on to tomato plants that have been manipulated a gene called MSH1—a gene in the mismatch repair family—to have the “stress memory”. They found that the novel grafted plants—consisting of rootstock epigenetically modified to “believe” it has been under stress—joined to an unmodified scion, or above-ground shoot, gave rise to progeny that is more vigorous, productive, and resilient than the parental plants. The tomato plant involved in the research produced seed that resulted in progeny that was, on average, 35% more productive. The MSH1 system provides a means to trigger epigenetic reprogramming in the plant. The MSH1 gene gave researchers access to the pathway controlling a broad array of plant resiliency networks.
The increase in productivity was a stunning outcome, and plants tended to be hardier, Sally Mackenzie, the corresponding author noted. “Everything we’re doing, any plant breeder in agriculture can do, and now we’ve shown on a large scale that it has agricultural value. It’s ready to go: a breeder could read about this and implement the system to improve his or her variety,” said Mackenzie. Large-scale field experiments show MSH1 grafting effects on tomato plant performance, heritable over five generations, demonstrating the agricultural potential of epigenetic variation. “Although we did this with tomato, it can be done with any plant,” she said.
Access the full paper at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19140-x
7. Paddy soil fertilization can help reduce the greenhouse effect
Climate change is a vital environmental issue for the twenty-first century, as it may significantly affect rice productivity and accelerate greenhouse gas emissions from the paddy ecosystem, a matter of great environmental concern. Cornelius Talade Atere at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hunan, China, and his colleagues studied the mechanism of carbon retention in the soils of rice paddies, which account for 40% of the natural atmospheric carbon absorption in the country. To determine the role of rice paddies in global warming, the processes that lead to the accumulation of organic carbon in the soil were studied, using the concentration of its isotopes.
Fertilizers consolidate the structural elements of the soil, and the number of large soil particles grows. Less dense soil fractions showed a 21-56% increase, and carbon retention in dust and clay grew by 24-49%. “We confirmed that fertilizers support organic carbon retention in the soil. Knowing this, we could better understand the processes that lead to the accumulation of soil carbon in rice paddies. These agricultural ecosystems already play an important role in world food security and now can also help us combat climate change,” added Yakov Kuzyakov, one of the authors.
Access the abstract at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0038071720302285?via%3Dihub
Potential Crops/Technologies/Concepts
1. Recycled water proves fruitful for greenhouse tomatoes
In the driest state in the driest continent in the world, South Australian farmers are acutely aware of the impact of water shortages and drought. So, when it comes to irrigation, knowing which method works best is vital for sustainable crop development. Potentially, several such areas around the world could use such a method. Researchers from the University of South Australia, led by Jeet Chand, show that water quality and deficit irrigation schemes each have significant effects on crop development, yield, and water productivity, with recycled wastewater achieving the best overall results. Testing different water sources on greenhouse-grown tomatoes, recycled wastewater outperformed both groundwaters, and a water mix of 50% groundwater and 50% recycled wastewater. “Water is an extremely valuable commodity in dry and arid farming regions, making efficient irrigation strategies and alternative water sources essential for agriculture production,” Chand says.
Deficit irrigation (DI) is a strategy commonly used by many farmers to minimize water use. Researchers found, not surprisingly, that the highest growth levels were achieved through 100% field capacity (FC), but mild water stress delivered positive water efficiency without significant yield reduction. Mild water stress (soil moisture content maintained at 80% FC) showed a positive effect on irrigation water-use efficiency (IWUE) without significant yield reduction, compared to the control. IWUE was at its maximum at 80% FC. A DI regime based on 80% FC could be an efficient irrigation strategy, particularly in water-limiting conditions. Recycled wastewater was superior among the three water treatments tested for achieving better crop growth, yield, and water productivity at the same DI level. Thus, by applying this particular deficit irrigation strategy with recycled wastewater, growers can save a considerable amount of water without a significant yield reduction.
Access the full paper at https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/7/297
2. Coffee is a better intercrop in rubber agroforestry systems
Rubber-based agroforestry systems have been established recently to provide a promising solution for the sustainable development of rubber cultivation. Researchers, led by Bin Yang from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in China, tried to characterize the water relations between rubber trees and the intercrops, through both spatial and temporal scales. They found that rubber trees exhibited weak plasticity in the depth of water uptake, relying on 0-20 cm soil water during both the dry and rainy seasons. All of the intercrops exhibited interspecific competition for shallow soil water with the rubber trees. Coffee seems to be an appropriate intercrop to rubber plantation because of its positive impacts on soil water availability.
The researchers found that coffee (Coffea arabica) better facilitated soil water availability for rubber than the other intercrops, suggesting its suitability as an intercrop for rubber trees. Alpina oxyphylla played a moderate role, while Amomum villosum aggravated the soil water deficit in the agroforestry practice. Given the differences observed in water relations, the introduction of woody crops rather than herbaceous crops can improve the resistance of rubber plantation to frequent drought stress in Southeast Asia.
Access the abstract at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378377420321405?via%3Dihub
3. More precise nitrogen recommendations for corn to help farmers, cut pollution
Cover crops are recommended in many regions of the world to help farmers in reducing the use of fertilizers and nutrient pollution. Similar is the case in Pennsylvania state, USA. However, the introduction of cover crops has also made it difficult for farmers to decide on the amount of nitrogenous fertilizer they should apply to meet their cash crop demands. Charles White, at the Pennsylvania State University, USA, found that on average, half of the nitrogen that is taken up by the corn crop is from the mineralization of nitrogen in soil organic matter. Things get even more complicated for farmers who use cover crops because the amount of nitrogen mineralized from cover crops depends on the species and how it is managed.
Cover crops can even tie up nitrogen and might require farmers to increase fertilizer for the following corn crop. Hence, corn yields from cover cropped treatments were used to calibrate the model to predict nitrogen supply from cover crop residue. The models are designed specifically to use soil and cover crop measurements that are easily accessible to farmers and agronomists, including soil organic matter concentration, soil texture, and cover crop biomass nitrogen content. The authors expect that these models are prototypes for a new generation of decision support tools that answer many of the shortcomings of current nitrogenous fertilizer recommendation systems, and they offer a novel step forward in fertility management.
Access the full paper at https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/agj2.20474
4. Cover crop could solve weed problems for edamame growers
For vegetable growers, weeds can mean lost income from reduced yield and foreign plant matter contaminating the harvest. But for many crops, particularly vegetable legumes, weed management options are very limited. Cover crops, such as cereal rye, reduce weed competition in grain soybean, but most vegetable legume growers have yet to adopt the practice due to the potential for reduced germination and yield in thick cover-crop residue. A new study from the University of Illinois and USDA Agricultural Research Service, by Nicholas Korres and colleagues, shows early-terminated rye could be a promising part of an integrated weed management program for some vegetable legumes, including edamame.
The researchers said that in general, the more the cover crop biomass, the better the weed suppression. Terminating rye at tillering and then planting edamame into the stubble was found a good solution, as the practice provided measurable weed suppression without harming the crop. Although early-terminated rye worked well in edamame, the cover crop didn’t eliminate the need for other weed control measures. The weed load was further reduced by using an herbicide, and the hand-weeding combination appears to be the most effective approach, as per Martin Williams II, corresponding author.
Access the abstract at https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/agj2.20349
5. UF scientists make a big stride toward greening-resistant citrus trees
University of Florida scientists achieved a major milestone in their quest to develop a citrus tree that resists greening by sequencing the genome of a fruit plant that is a close cousin to citrus trees. Based on several years of research, scientists believe they have found genes to lay the groundwork to make citrus more tolerant and even resistant to certain diseases, including citrus greening. “Very importantly, trifoliate orange and its hybrids have genes that can confer high tolerance to citrus greening and resistance to the Asian citrus psyllid, the insect that transmits greening to citrus,” said Zhanao Deng, a professor of environmental horticulture and senior author on the study.
It appears that because its high-quality, genome re-sequencing of trifoliate orange hybrid rootstock varieties will be easier, quicker, and more cost-efficient. Such a re-sequencing will enable development of new breeding tools, such as DNA marker-based selection, and genomic selection of new rootstock varieties with resistance and tolerance to citrus greening, citrus tristeza virus, and citrus nematodes. The new varieties might give higher yield and fruit quality. Citrus breeders want to introduce desirable genes from trifoliate orange into sweet orange, grapefruit, and other varieties. It took decades to produce the first citrus scion variety, but with this new information from genome sequencing, that timeline can be dramatically reduced.
For more, see https://southeastproduceweekly.com/2020/10/22/uf-scientists-make-big-stride-toward-greening-resistant-citrus-trees/
6. Vanilla cultivation under trees promotes pest regulation
The cultivation of vanilla in Madagascar provides a good source of income for smallholder farmers, but without trees and bushes, the plantations can be bereft of biodiversity. This results in increased pest attack from the decrease in predators. Agricultural ecologists from the University of Göttingen, led by Dominik Schwab, working with colleagues from the University in Antananarivo, Madagascar, investigated the interaction between prey and their predators in these cultivated areas. They used dummy caterpillars (made of plasticine) to assess predation rates and predator communities along a land‐use gradient. including unburned old‐growth and forest fragments, herbaceous and woody fallows after shifting cultivation with fire usage, as well as rice paddies.
Researchers found that the old‐growth forest and forest fragments exhibited the highest predation rates, which decreased with land‐use intensity. High forest cover in the surrounding landscape led to higher predation rates, while local structural parameters remained more important. The predator community was arthropod‐dominated across all land‐use types, with ants responsible for between 33% and 69% of all predation events. Overall predator composition in old‐growth and forest fragments differed from all other land‐use types. It was concluded that the forested habitats feature higher predation rates and different predator compositions than other land‐use systems, showing that the predator attention was highest both in the rainforest and in forest fragments, but decreased as the trees and bushes became fewer. Researchers concluded that while the establishment of tree‐rich agroforests on former fallow land is favourable for conservation ecosystem functioning, further forest transformation should be avoided.
Access the full paper at https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.13766
News:
1. Saving the climate from the ground up
Every year, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere increases by more than four billion tonnes, due to the human-made greenhouse gas CO2. Soil can bind large quantities of carbon in the long term. It has been estimated that if these four billion tonnes were instead sequestered in the Earth’s soils, the amount of carbon contained in the soil would grow by only 0.4% (maybe a bit too optimistic) annually. Prof Wulf Amelung and colleagues at the University of Bonn provide an outline of a strategy to effectively use the potential of soils in the fight against climate change.
For more, see https://phys.org/news/2020-10-climate-ground.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter
Access the full paper at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18887-7
2. The next generation of biodiversity conservation targets must aim higher than ever
Nearly three decades have passed since world leaders agreed to reverse biodiversity loss. It hasn’t gone according to plan. In 2020, a decade of biodiversity conservation targets ended well short of the goal line. The world needs to change strategies if we are to have any hope for biodiversity. A group of scientists, led by Sandra Díaz, University of Cordoba, Argentina, concluded that conservation targets need to be more ambitious. Perhaps one of the most important lessons is that biodiversity is not just pandas, polar bears, and pangolins, but the plethora of interwoven organisms living in ecosystems and harbouring tremendous genetic diversity.
For more, see https://phys.org/news/2020-10-biodiversity-aim-higher.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter
Access the abstract at https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6515/411
3. Wrinkled ‘super pea’ could be added to foods to reduce diabetes risk
A type of wrinkled ‘super pea’ may help control blood sugar levels and could reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, suggests a new study. The researchers at Imperial College, London, suggest that incorporating the peas into foods, in the form of whole pea seeds or flour, may help tackle the global type 2 diabetes epidemic. The study reveals that compared to eating smooth peas, wrinkled peas prevented ‘sugar spikes,’ where blood sugar levels rise sharply after a meal.
Access the abstract at https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-020-00159-8
4. Hybrid wheat: 7 years in the making
Global food security demands the development and delivery of new technologies to increase and secure cereal production without further expanding acreage. Wheat is an inbred plant, and hybrids hold the potential to deliver a major lift in yield and open a wide range of new breeding opportunities. Alternative methods, such as cytoplasmic systems or hand pollinations, restrict genetic combinations or seed production, which limits the testing of experimental hybrids in large-scale multi-environment trials. Work at Texas A&M and the University of Nebraska has been in progress over the last 6-7 years, and their latest study provides strong evidence for the utility of F2 yield data in selecting superior F1 hybrids.
For more, see https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2020/10/27/hybridized-wheat-7-years-in-the-making/
Access the abstract at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10681-020-02664-0
5. Evidence suggests more mega-droughts are coming
Mega-droughts—droughts that last two decades or longer—are tipped to increase, thanks to climate change, according to University of Queensland-led research. Understanding past climate variability is critical to informing debate of likely impacts of global warming on weather and climate, and on water resources. Researchers present a reconstruction of annual climate data, rounded off to the nearest decade, developed from speleothem (the secondary mineral deposits in caves), which spans the Eemian from 117,500 to 123,500 years BP—the most recent period in the Earth’s history when temperatures were similar to those of today. They present evidence for multi-centennial dry periods, interpreted as mega-droughts, and highlight the importance of understanding the causes of these in the context of a rapidly warming world, where temperatures now exceed or are projected to exceed those of the Eemian period.
For more, see https://phys.org/news/2020-10-evidence-mega-droughts.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter
Access the full paper at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-75071-z.pdf
6. New genetic tools for polyploid breeding
Plant breeders at Texas A&M AgriLife Research are collaborating with an international, interdisciplinary group of scientists to enhance a genetics toolset that could be very useful in breeding new varieties of polyploid plants such as potatoes, wheat, roses, turfgrass, etc. The researchers said current genomic tools are available for diploid crops such as apples, but the technology for polyploid crops has lagged. “The whole concept started with roses and expanded to include polyploid crops in general and changing the fact that all the technology out there is aimed at diploids. There has been some work on polyploids—alfalfa, potatoes, and roses—but nobody was working together. We want to bring in groups working on specific tetraploid crops and talk about developing software to work on a wide range of polyploids.” said David Byrne, AgriLife, Texas A&M University, College Station.
For more, see https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2020/10/22/agrilife-research-collaboration-could-be-game-changer-for-polyploid-breeders/
7. Researchers attempt to piece together the puzzle of tree species diversity
Questions about the origin of nature have fascinated humans since the dawn of culture. One phenomenon of particular interest is the high diversity of forests in the tropics, relative to those in the temperate zone. Researchers at the University of Regensburg, Germany, found ample evidence for conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) in local populations, but methodological limitations made it difficult to assess if CNDD scales up to control community diversity and thereby local and global biodiversity patterns. A combination of more robust statistical methods, new study designs, and eco-evolutionary models are needed to provide a more definite evaluation of the importance of CNDD for geographic variation in plant species diversity.
Access the abstract at https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/fulltext/S0169-5347(20)302639?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0169534720302639%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
8. FAO and the EU highlight the vital role of biodiversity in building sustainable food systems
Thanks to funding from the European Union (EU), FAO is currently supporting projects on the elimination of obsolete pesticide stockpiles and capacity development for improved pesticide management in Africa, for example. The Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme, implemented by FAO and partners and funded by the EU in 13 countries, aims to address both wildlife conservation and food security. The European Union also provided financial support to complement and strengthen the One Health approach, building on the existing Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme. It will also assist countries to build their capacities to predict zoonotic risks and to set up measures to prevent and mitigate those risks and their consequences on public health, food systems, and biodiversity.
For more, see http://www.fao.org/news/story/pt/item/1295173/icode/
9. Uneven agricultural productivity growth cause for concern
Total factor productivity growth varies widely across the world, leaving some countries more vulnerable to pandemic-scale outbreaks than others. The 2020 “Global Agricultural Productivity Report”— “Productivity in a Time of Pandemics,” released by the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, raises concerns about the resilience of agricultural systems in the face of pandemic-scale outbreaks that afflict people, crops, and livestock. This is below the target of 1.73% required to double agricultural output through productivity growth from 2010 to 2050, as set by the report’s Global Agricultural Productivity Index.
For more, see https://www.feedstuffs.com/news/uneven-ag-productivity-growth-cause-concern
10. Internet connectivity is the oxygen for research and development work
With a view to investigate challenges in information technology facing institutions in developing countries, Pete Goldsmith teamed up with two information communication technology (IT) experts at the University of Illinois, USA, to conduct an in-depth case study of IT infrastructure at the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute, a leading research station in Ghana. The results highlight the gaps between the needs of different categories of personnel and the available service; show connectivity gaps, provide specific and measurable benchmarks of the physical infrastructure, intranet services, and capacity of the ICT staff. The research team is currently expanding the study, collecting data from nine institutions and five networking organizations operating in three countries, to create a more robust picture of internet connectivity challenges and potential solutions across Africa.
For more, see https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201016145839.htm
Access full paper at https://ajfand.net/Volume20/No5/Goldsmith19385.pdf
11. Biodiversity monitoring programmes need a culture of collaboration
The lack of monitoring conservation programmes that cover a broad range of species often means that, in many countries, no clear assessments can be made about the status of biodiversity. Hjalmar S. Kühl and colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany, propose a framework within which decisions are not always made centrally, but together with various interested groups. “This self-organization can increase the participants’ motivation and thus ensure greater acceptance on the part of the respective interest groups and anchor the topic of biodiversity more firmly in the public consciousness,” says Kühl.
Organizing workshops and symposia could bring relevant stakeholders together to collaborate in developing appropriate incentives and the necessary technical requirements for the exchange of data, results, and analyses. The assistance and involvement of volunteers, participants in Citizen Science programs, and species experts from professional associations is indispensable in many cases.
Access the full paper at https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(20)30479-6?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2590332220304796%3Fshowall%3Dtrue
Events
1. ICCAIS – International Conference on Conservation Agriculture and Sustainable Intensification, 16-17 September 2021, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
2. ICAGSA – International Conference on Agricultural Genomics and Sustainable Applications, 23-24 September 2021, London, United Kingdom.
3. ICAGS – International Conference on Agricultural Genomics and Sustainability, 27-28 September 2021, Turkey.
4. ICRAAE – International Conference on Recent Advances in Agricultural Ergonomics, 26-26 October 2021, Bali, Indonesia.
5. ICCSAST – International Conference on Climate-Smart Agricultural Systems and Technologies, 04-05 November 2021, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
6. ICAMCB – International Conference on Agricultural Mechanization and Crop Breeding, 29-30 November 2021, Bangkok, Thailand.
Other Topics of Interest
1. Irrigation in India found to be increasing heat stress on people living there
2. Cornell unites science and policy to end hunger
For more, see https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2020/10/cornell-unites-science-and-policy-end-hunger
3. Artificial intelligence reveals hundreds of millions of trees in the Sahara
For more, see https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-10/uoc-air102020.php?s=08
Access the abstract at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2824-5
4. Agricultural subsidies: everyone’s doing it
For more, see https://www.globaltrademag.com/agricultural-subsidies-everyones-doing-it/
5. International group of scientists explain the advantages of using metabolic engineering to address hidden hunger
Access the full paper at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19020-4
6. Call to restore indigenous names for plants and animals
For more, see https://phys.org/news/2020-10-indigenous-animals.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter
Access the full paper at https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-020-01344-y
7. Researchers reveal US corn crop’s growing sensitivity to drought
Access the abstract at https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-020-00165-w
8. Swiss study shows that paying people to conserve biodiversity pays off
Access the full paper at https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10531-020-02069-4.pdf
9. Losing ground in biodiversity hotspots worldwide
For more, see https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-10/nuos-lgi102920.php
Access the abstract at https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/fee.2276
10. We’ve talked enough about biodiversity. Let’s try to save it now
For more, see https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/news/weve-talked-enough-about-biodiversity-lets-try-save-it-now-1984653
11. Biochar helps hold water, saves money
For more, see https://phys.org/news/2020-10-biochar-money.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter
12. Fungi add flavour to vanilla
For more, see https://phys.org/news/2020-10-fungi-flavor-vanilla.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter
13. Common liverwort study has implications for crop manipulation
Access the abstract at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-020-00784-y