International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
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Hydrological assessment of Haveli-based traditional water harvesting system for the Bundelkhand Region, Uttar Pradesh, India
Get PDFWater harvesting is a critical component of any ap-proach to alleviating India’s water crisis. Traditional rainwater harvesting systems are found in every region of the country. Haveli is one such system found in almost every village in the Bundelkhand region, Uttar Pradesh, India. A defunct Haveli in the Parasai–Sindh watershed of Jhansi district, Uttar Pradesh, was rejuvenated by providing a cement concrete core wall to the earthen embankment to address the problem of breaching, and the existing outlet was also expanded. This study was conducted from 2013 to 2019 to analyse the hydrology of the rejuvenated Haveli and to understand its impact on surface-water availability and recharging ground-water. The study period was divided based on long-term southwest monsoon (SWM) as wet (SWM > 20%), nor-mal (SWM ± 20%) and dry (SWM < 20%) years. It was found that the Haveli could harvest about 1.91–2.0 times, 1.13–1.72 times and 0.2 times its capacity during a wet, normal and dry year, respectively. There was a 1.41 m difference in hydraulic head between pre- and post-Haveli rejuvenation in a wet year, whereas, a normal year, the difference was 2.71 m
Two Dimensional Histogram based on Relative Entropy Thresholding for Crop Segmentation Using UAV Images
No full textRecently, Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based remote sensing has become a promising way in precision agriculture. Crop or plant segmentation from UAV images plays a vital role in monitoring crop growth. However, the extraction of crops under various illumination conditions is onerous. Numerous methods on segmentation were presented in the literature, out of which threshold-based methods are simple and easy to implement. Previous methods used for crop segmentation utilized complete information of pixels in an image resulting in improper segmentation. The use of local information about pixels can give accurate segmentation. In this work, we constructed a two-dimensional histogram utilizing the gray level of pixels and relative entropy of its neighboring pixels of an contrast enhanced image. The optimal threshold was obtained by minimizing relative entropy criteria. The crops were extracted using logical AND operator on segmented image and a * channel of CIELAB color space. The proposed method was evaluated on Sorghum and Pearl Millet datasets. The misclassification error, Dice coefficient, Jaccard Index were used to compare the performance of the proposed method, Otsu, and Kapur method. The performance analysis shows that the proposed approach achieved more accurate segmentation than other threshold-based methods
Impact of root architecture and transpiration rate on drought tolerance in stay-green sorghum
Get PDFSorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] yield loss due to terminal drought stress is common in semiarid regions. Stay-green is a drought adaptation trait, and a deeper understanding of stay-green-associated traits is necessary for sorghum breeding. We hypothesize that the stay-green trait in sorghum may be associated with the root architecture and transpiration rate under drought stress. The objectives were to (i) identify the relationship among stay-green-associated traits, (ii) compare the root system architecture and transpiration rate of stay-green (B35 and 296B) and senescent (BTx623 and R16) genotypes under drought stress, and (iii) quantify the impacts of reproductive stage drought stress on gas exchange and grain yield of stay-green and senescent genotypes. A series of drought experiments were conducted with these genotypes. Under drought stress, the stay-green genotypes had an increased total root length in the top 30–60 cm (18%) and 60–90 cm of soil (45%) than the senescent genotypes. In contrast, under progressive soil drying, stay-green genotypes had a decreased transpiration rate (9%) than senescent genotypes by an early (∼1 h) partial closure of stomata under high vapor pressure deficit conditions. The increased seed yield (43%) in stay-green genotypes is due to an increased photosynthetic rate (30%) and individual seed size (35%) than senescent genotypes. Overall, it is concluded that stay-green phenotypes had two distinct drought adaptive mechanisms: (i) increased root length for increased soil exploration for water and (ii) an early decrease in the transpiration rate to conserve soil moisture. Identifying genomic markers for these traits would accelerate drought-tolerant sorghum breeding
AMMI and GGE Stability Analysis of Drought Tolerant Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) Genotypes for Target Environments
Get PDFBackground
Chickpea is an important nutrient rich food legume cultivated mainly as rainfed crop in arid and semiarid regions of India. Due to changed climatic conditions incidence of frequent drought stress events are causing significant yield losses.
Methods
In order to identify superior and locally adaptable genotypes under rainfed conditions multi-environment chickpea evaluation trial was conducted in five environments with 50 genotypes during Rabi, 2021-2022 stability analysis for grain yield was performed by deploying the AMMI (Additive Main Effects and Multiplicative Interaction) model and GGE (Genotype and Genotype by Environment) biplot method with an aim to identify the high yielding stable chickpea genotypes.
Result
The AMMI analysis of variance for grain yield (kg ha-1) of 50 chickpea genotypes revealed significant genotype, environment and G×E interaction indicating the presence of variability among the genotypes and environments. The mean grain yield of 50 genotypes over environments ranged from 1296 kg/ha (G39) to 2222 kg/ha (G8). The genotype G24 exhibited high grain yield than mean yield with specific adaptability for the environment E2 (Palem). The results indicated that, environment E5 (Warangal) was identified as the best suited for potential expression of grain yield. Results of stability analysis revealed that genotype G17 exhibited high grain yield along with high stability across the locations with desirable mean performance
Identifying prospects and potential areas for introducing pearl millet stress-tolerant cultivars in Rajasthan, India: A geospatial analysis
Get PDFDryland crops are highly prone to various stresses such as water stress (drought) and heat stress. The identification
of stress-prone regions is crucial for effective and efficient implementation of appropriate solutions, such
as stress-tolerant crop varieties. This study was conducted in Rajasthan state located in North-western India. Rajasthan is predominantly a rainfed pearl millet ecosystem (>50 % during monsoon season) in India. The pearl millet productivity in Western Rajasthan is the lowest in India with a significant decline in its cultivated area. The present study tried to analyse the pearl millet cropping systems in various ecologies and identified the stressprone
areas by analysing the stress pattern from 2011 to 2020 which helps in targeting the stress tolerant cultivars.
The spatial distribution of pearl millet areas was mapped using Sentinel-2 time-series data and spectral matching techniques. The mapped pearl millet areas were well correlated with district-level statistics obtained from secondary sources. Application of geospatial techniques for monitoring changes in pearl millet cropped area
proves to be a cost-effective, and reliable approach. It also helps in assessing the cultivated area changes as well
as the quantification of yield losses caused by abiotic stresses such as drought and heat. Agricultural research
institutes, progressive farmers and line departments from the government can use these findings for better targeting
and introduction of climate SMART pearl millet technologies in the state. Introduction of resilient technologies
minimize the production risks faced by small and marginal farmer thereby reduces the crop income
negative deviations. Scaling-up of such technologies not only protects farmer’s livelihoods but also enhances the
food and nutritional security in the state
Gender differentiated adaptation strategies considering climate risk perceptions, impacts and socio-technical conditions in Senegal’s dry regions
Get PDFThis study analyses the gender-differentiated farmers’ perception of climate risk and its impact, access to climate information, and adaptation strategies with the aim to develop gender responsive climate adaptation pathways in Senegal’s dry regions. Study used data collected from 514 farm households through primary survey between May and June 2022 covering Kaffrine, Louga, and Thies sub-regions and multiple communes, including 5% women headed households and 12% women respondents. Through several interactions with key stakeholders, it became evident that while both men and women hold similar perceptions regarding climate risk and its impact on farming systems, women possess significantly less access to Climate Information Services (CIS) and Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies. The women farmers were found to be much more vulnerable to climate risks but often they rely on traditional coping mechanisms such as non-farm income through cottage activities, home gardening etc. rather than modern CSA technologies. Both men and women emphasized the importance of context-specific climate information to be shared with them. Barriers to climate adaptation, such as limited knowledge of CSA, inadequate resources, and dearth of timely climate information, were identified, underscoring the importance for community resilience. The Tobit regression analysis highlighted multifaceted determinants of households’ ability to adapt to climate change, emphasizing the roles of gender empowerment, education, access to CSA and CIS, and regional disparities. The study underscores the importance of understanding community perceptions and drivers of adaptive capacity, addressing barriers, and based on empirical evidence we propose a gender-responsive pathway to climate-resilient agriculture. These insights and proposed pathways can help policymakers and practitioners to navigate the complex terrain of climate change effectively. Finally, these findings underscore the need for informed policy interventions, tailored strategies and appropriate institutional interventions to address cultural barriers and enhance women’s role in farming decision making and access to CIS and CSA
Breeding high-protein pigeonpea genotypes and their agronomic and biological assessments
Get PDFProteins, inevitable for nutritional security of human beings and legumes, by far, are the cheapest source of this vital nutrient. The escalating prices and never halting population growth limit the per capita availability of protein-rich legumes. In view of limited land resource and need to grow other food crops, the greater protein harvests
are possible only by increasing the protein levels of popularly grown legumes. In this context, attempts were made for raising the protein content in pigeonpea [Cajanus
cajan (L.) Millsp.] through traditional plant breeding tools. For this, the high-protein trait was successfully transferred from wild relatives of pigeonpea to the cultivated types. In the derived inbred lines, the protein content was significantly enhanced from 20% - 22% to 28% - 30%. Two high-protein lines HPL 40 and HPL 8 also produced 2100 and 1660 kg/ha grain yield, respectively. This simply means that, in comparison with traditional cultivars, the cultivation of high-protein lines will provide additional 100 kg/ha of digestible protein to the farming family. This paper, besides describing the breeding procedures, also discusses the accomplishments of this breeding endeavour with respect to its various nutritional and biological properties
Triple layer hermetic bags for safe storage of dry Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) pods
No full textAflatoxin contamination is a major concern in dry chilli pods during storage, which renders chilli flakes, and chilli powder unsafe for consumption and unfit for trade. Traditional method of storage also results in both qualitative as well as quantitative losses. In our study, we evaluated Purdue improved crop storage (PICS) based triple layer hermetic bags (PICS triple bags) for their efficacy in safe storage of dry chilli pods. Four different types of storage bags including untreated jute bag, polythene bag, triple layer hermetic bag, and fungicide treated jute bag were tested for three different storage periods (2, 4, and 6 month). Results suggest that aflatoxin levels resulting from Aspergillus flavus infection were below detectable levels in chilli pods stored in PICS triple bags owing to the modified atmospheric conditions of hypoxia and hypercarbia conditions created inside the bags. Further, dry chilli pods stored in PICS triple bags for 2, 4 and 6 month recorded no loss in test weight (1000 seeds) and no change in moisture content, whereas significantly moisture loss was observed in remaining treatment bags. Germination percentage of the seeds from the PICS triple bags at 2, 4 and 6 month storage was highest (72%) compared to all other treatment bags. Overall, we conclude that the PICS triple bags were effective in safe storage of dry chilli pods by ensuring detrimental environment to Aspergillus flavus growth and preserved both qualitative and quantitative characteristics including test weight, moisture content, and per cent germination compared to other storage bags
Landscape-based nutrient application in wheat and teff mixed farming systems of Ethiopia: farmer and extension agent demand driven approach
Get PDFIntroduction: Adapting fertilizer use is crucial if smallholder agroecosystems are to attain the sustainable development goals of zero hunger and agroecosystem resilience. Poor soil health and nutrient variability characterize the smallholder farming systems. However, the current research at the field scale does not account for nutrient variability across landscape positions, posing significant challenges for targeted nutrient management interventions. The purpose of this research was to create a demand-driven and co-development approach for diagnosing farmer nutrient management practices and determining landscape-specific (hillslope, mid-slope, and foot slope) fertilizer applications for teff and wheat.
Method: A landscape segmentation approach was aimed to address gaps in farm-scale nutrient management research as well as the limitations of blanket recommendations to meet local nutrient requirements. This approach incorporates the concept of interconnected socio-technical systems as well as the concepts and procedures of co-development. A smart mobile app was used by extension agents to generate crop-specific decision rules at the landscape scale and forward the specific fertilizer applications to target farmers through SMS messages or print formats.
Results and discussion: The findings reveal that farmers apply more fertilizer to hillslopes and less to mid- and foot slopes. However, landscape-specific fertilizer application guided by crop-specific decision rules via mobile applications resulted in much higher yield improvements, 23% and 56% at foot slopes and 21% and 6.5% at mid slopes for wheat and teff, respectively. The optimized net benefit per hectare increase over the current extension recommendation was 333 at foot slopes and 64 at mid slopes for wheat and teff (average of 107 for wheat and teff), respectively. The results of the net benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR) demonstrated that applying landscape-targeted fertilizer resulted in an optimum return on investment (1.0 investment) while also enhancing nutrient use efficiency across the three landscape positions. Farmers are now cognizant of the need to reduce fertilizer rates on hillslopes while increasing them on parcels at mid- and foot-slope landscapes, which have higher responses and profits. As a result, applying digital advisory to optimize landscape-targeted fertilizer management gives agronomic, economic, and environmental benefits. The outcomes results of the innovation also contribute to overcoming site-specific yield gaps and low nutrient use efficiency, they have the potential to be scaled if complementing innovations and scaling factors are integrated
Uncovering natural allelic and structural variants of OsCENH3 gene by targeted resequencing and in silico mining in genus Oryza
Get PDFPlant breeding efforts to boost rice productivity have focused on developing a haploid development pipeline. CENH3 gene has emerged as a leading player that can be manipulated to engineer haploid induction system. Currently, allele mining for the OsCENH3 gene was done by PCR-based resequencing of 33 wild species accessions of genus Oryza and in silico mining of alleles from pre-existing data.
We have identified and characterized CENH3 variants in genus Oryza. Our results indicated that the majority CENH3 alleles present in the Oryza gene pool carry synonymous substitutions. A few non-synonymous substitutions occur in the N-terminal Tail domain (NTT). SNP A/G at position 69
was found in accessions of AA genome and non-AA genome species. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that non-synonymous substitutions carrying alleles follow pre-determined evolutionary patterns. O. longistaminata accessions carry SNPs in four codons along with indels in introns 3 and 6. Fifteen haplotypes were mined from our panel; representative mutant alleles exhibited structural variations upon modeling. Structural analysis indicated that more than one structural variant may be exhibited by different accessions of single species (Oryza barthii). NTT allelic mutants, though not directly implicated in HI, may show variable interactions. HI and interactive behavior could be ascertained in future investigations