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Confronting the climate crisis: Opportunity profile for climate services along the shrimp value chain in Bangladesh
No full text4 page
Automated in-season rice crop mapping using Sentinel time-series data and Google Earth Engine: A case study in climate-risk prone Bangladesh
No full textHigh-resolution mapping of rice fields is crucial for understanding and managing rice cultivation in countries like Bangladesh, particularly in the face of climate change. Rice is a vital crop, cultivated in small scale farms that contributes significantly to the economy and food security in Bangladesh. Accurate mapping can facilitate improved rice production, the development of sustainable agricultural management policies, and formulation of strategies for adapting to climatic risks. To address the need for timely and accurate rice mapping, we developed a framework specifically designed for the diverse environmental conditions in Bangladesh. We utilized Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 time-series data to identify transplantation and peak seasons and employed the multi-Otsu automatic thresholding approach to map rice during the peak season (April–May). We also compared the performance of a random forest (RF) classifier with the multi-Otsu approach using two different data combinations: D1, which utilizes data from the transplantation and peak seasons (D1 RF) and D2, which utilizes data from the transplantation to the harvest seasons (D2 RF). Our results demonstrated that the multi-Otsu approach achieved an overall classification accuracy (OCA) ranging from 61.18% to 94.43% across all crop zones. The D2 RF showed the highest mean OCA (92.15%) among the fourteen crop zones, followed by D1 RF (89.47%) and multi-Otsu (85.27%). Although the multi-Otsu approach had relatively lower OCA, it proved effective in accurately mapping rice areas prior to harvest, eliminating the need for training samples that can be challenging to obtain during the growing season. In-season rice area maps generated through this framework are crucial for timely decision-making regarding adaptive management in response to climatic stresses and forecasting area-wide productivity. The scalability of our framework across space and time makes it particularly suitable for addressing field data scarcity challenges in countries like Bangladesh and offers the potential for future operationalization
Situation report on Nepal’s agrifood systems: February 2024
No full textNepal registered a significant decline in poverty from 25.2 percent in 2010-11 to 20.3 percent in 2022-23 according to the just-released Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS) IV 2022-23. Data suggest that the incidence of headcount poverty is highest in Sudurpashchim Province (34.2 percent) and the lowest in Gandaki Province (11.9 percent). The overall decline that was measured, however indicates positive benefits accrued from economic development. In mid-January of 2023, year-on-year inflation in Nepal was to 5.3 percent compared to 7.3 percent a year ago. Food and beverage inflation experienced a decline of 1.5 percent in mid-January compared to the previous month. This decline in inflation is expected to provide some relief to net food purchasing families, particularly in urban and peri-urban areas. Nepal received NPR 733.22 billion (USD 5.5 billion)1 of remittances between mid-July and midJanuary, marking a 24.3 percent rise from the same period in the previous year. However, there was a notable 11.3 percent decline in remittances to NPR 120 billion (USD 901.4 million) in mid-January 2024 compared to last month, potentially signaling a decrease in future remittance trends that should be carefully monitored. Retail prices of cereals at both the national level and in the Western provinces remained stable compared to the previous month. However, there was a decrease in year-on-year vegetable and edible oil costs. On the other hand, the prices of milk, eggs, and fish increased compared to the same period last year. While these higher prices may benefit smallholder farmers, they could pose challenges for poor consumers who rely on purchasing these foods for access to animal-based proteins, minerals, and vitamins.12 page
Agronomic biofortification of genetically biofortified wheat genotypes with zinc, selenium, iodine, and iron under field conditions
No full textInherently low concentrations of zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), iodine (I), and selenium (Se) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grains represent a major cause of micronutrient malnutrition (hidden hunger) in human populations. Genetic biofortification represents a highly useful solution to this problem. However, genetic biofortification alone may not achieve desirable concentrations of micronutrients for human nutrition due to several soil- and plant-related factors. This study investigated the response of genetically biofortified high-Zn wheat genotypes to soil-applied Zn and foliarly applied Zn, I, and Se in India and Pakistan. The effect of soil-applied Zn (at the rate of 50 kg ha−1 as ZnSO4·7H2O) and foliar-applied Zn (0.5% ZnSO4·7H2O), I (0.04% KIO3), Se (0.001% Na2SeO4), and a foliar cocktail (F-CT: combination of the above foliar solutions) on the grain concentrations of Zn, I, Se, and Fe of high-Zn wheat genotypes was investigated in field experiments over 2 years. The predominantly grown local wheat cultivars in both countries were also included as check cultivars. Wheat grain yield was not influenced by the micronutrient treatments at all field locations, except one location in Pakistan where F-CT resulted in increased grain yield. Foliar-applied Zn, I, and Se each significantly enhanced the grain concentration of the respective micronutrients. Combined application of these micronutrients was almost equally effective in enhancing grain Zn, I, and Se, but with a slight reduction in grain yield. Foliar-applied Zn, Zn+I, and F-CT also enhanced grain Fe. In India, high-Zn genotypes exhibited a minor grain yield penalty as compared with the local cultivar, whereas in Pakistan, high-Zn wheat genotypes could not produce grain yield higher than the local cultivar. The study demonstrates that there is a synergism between genetic and agronomic biofortification in enrichment of grains with micronutrients. Foliar Zn spray to Zn-biofortified genotypes provided additional increments in grain Zn of more than 15 mg kg−1. Thus, combining agronomic and genetic strategies will raise grain Zn over 50 mg kg−1. A combination of fertilization practice with plant breeding is strongly recommended to maximize accumulation of micronutrients in food crops and to make significant progress toward resolving the hidden hunger problem in human populations
Climate shocks, impacts, responses, and adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers (Webinar session 13)
No full textHow are smallholders responding to climatic shocks in South Asia?: Need for an agrifood systems lens towards climate adaptation.Esha SarswatShreya ChakrabortyRadia RowshanTimothy J. KrupnikAvinash KishoreDarshini RaavindraPurnima Menon1:01:2
Genotype × environment interaction and grain yield stability of quality protein maize hybrids under stress and non-stress environments
No full textEvaluation of maize varieties under multiple environments, including drought and low nitrogen (N) stressed sites is an important breeding approach, to identify well adapted and stable maize varieties. This study was undertaken to identify new quality protein maize (QPM) hybrids that have good agronomic performance and assess the presence of genotype by environment (G × E) interaction and grain yield stability of QPM hybrids under different environment conditions. Forty-five hybrids, including two QPM, two non-QPM and one local check were evaluated across 34 environments under stress and non-stress conditions in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, and Malawi during 2018 to 2020. Additive Main Effects and Multiplicative Interaction (AMMI) and Genotype main effects plus G × E interaction (GGE) bi-plots were used for stability analysis. Environment, genotype and G × E interaction effects were significant for grain yield and other traits in all management conditions. The top yielding hybrids were 44 (QS7646) 12 (CZH15099Q) under optimum; 14 (CZH15142Q), 44 (QS7646) and 23 (CZH17192Q) under random stress; 9 (CZH142237Q) and 10 (CZH142238Q) under managed drought; and 14 (CZH15142Q) and 34 (CZH17203Q) under low N conditions. Among these, 10 (CZH142238Q) and 14 (CZH15142Q) were the most stable hybrids and can be recommended for release in sub-Saharan Africa to improve food and nutritional security of smallholder farmers who depend on maize. Kwekwe (KWE), Bindura (BIN), Chokwe (CHO) and Bako (BK2) were identified as the most discriminating and representative for optimum, random stress, managed drought and low N environments, respectively and help to identify superior hybrids
The wheat powdery mildew resistance gene Pm4 also confers resistance to wheat blast
No full textWheat blast, caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, threatens global cereal production since its emergence in Brazil in 1985 and recently spread to Bangladesh and Zambia. Here we demonstrate that the AVR-Rmg8 effector, common in wheat-infecting isolates, is recognised by the gene Pm4, previously shown to confer resistance to specific races of Blumeria graminis f.sp. tritici, the cause of powdery mildew of wheat. We show that Pm4 alleles differ in their recognition of different AVR-Rmg8 alleles, and some confer resistance only in seedling leaves but not spikes making it important to select for those alleles that function in both tissues. This study has identified a gene recognising an important virulence factor present in wheat blast isolates in Bangladesh and Zambia and represents an important first step towards developing durably resistant wheat cultivars for these regions.984–99
