International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
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Indian agriculture: The route post-CoP 26
Get PDFIndia’s pledge of Panchamrit (five-fold strategy) to fight climate change, announced during the 26th Conference of the Parties (CoP26) at Glasgow, Scotland, has caught global attention. The country’s new commitments include reaching 500 giga-watt (GW) of non-fossil fuel energy capacity by 2030; producing 50 per cent of energy requirements via renewable energy sources by 2030; a reduction of 1 billion tonnes of carbon by 2030; reducing the carbon emission intensity of the GDP by 45 per cent by 2030; and most importantly, achieving the target of net-zero emissions by 2070.
A basket of agreements was signed by groups of countries during the Glasgow Summit. Here, we focus our discussions on agriculture and food systems and how India should prepare and act to fight the challenge of climate change in light of CoP26.
As many as 26 countries signed the Sustainable Agriculture Policy Action Agenda at the summit to set a course of action to protect food systems and prevent loss of biodiversity against climate change. The countries laid down their commitments with a pledge “to use land sustainably and put protection and restoration of nature at the heart of all”.
India did not sign the agenda as its Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), one of the missions within the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), is already operational to deal with the issue of climate change in the agriculture sector.
At the present inflection point, when the agricultural sector in these countries, and for that matter across the planet, is threatened by the adversities brought by climate change, these initiatives seem to be a good way to reinvigorate efforts to promote and practice sustainable agriculture technologies.
While Indian agriculture is adversely impacted by the vicissitudes of climate change, the sector also is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As per the Third Biennial Update Report submitted by the Government of India in early 2021 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the agriculture sector contributes 14 per cent of the total GHG emissions (energy 75.01 per cent; industrial process and product use 8 per cent; and waste 2.7 per cent, as per 2016 data).
Within the sector, 54.6 per cent of GHG emissions were due to enteric fermentation, followed by 17.5 per cent from rice cultivation, 19.1 per cent from fertiliser applied to agricultural soils, 6.7 per cent from manure management, and 2.2 per cent due to field burning of agricultural residues. Therefore, effective mitigation measures and appropriate adaptation technologies must be taken to reduce GHG emissions from the agriculture sector.
India’s approach has been a balancing act between growth and sustainability in its climate change policies and it is leading the developing nations to place agriculture in the ongoing negotiations. The National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture, as part of National Action Plan on Climate Change for more than a decade now, has focused to make Indian agriculture sustainable, considering likely risks arising from climate variability.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research and International Agricultural Research Centres of the CGIAR system (a France-headquartered public agricultural innovation network), including International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), have developed climate smart agricultural technologies and approaches to assist the agricultural sector to be less vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change
Annual Report 2021
Get PDFICRISAT’s key achievements in 2021 range from being awarded the prestigious Africa Food Prize to being acknowledged for our innovative work in water conservation and soil health, developing varieties and seed systems to winning a corporate social responsibility award for our partners in watershed management
Seed Yield Stability Assessment of Chickpea Genotypes Through AMMI and Bi Plot Analysis
No full textBackground: Development of variety with high yield potential is the major objective of crop improvement program, which can be achieved by improving selection efficiency with estimating stability parameters. An elite crosses and popular varieties of twelve chickpea genotypes were evaluated for assess seed yield stability under four designated locations (Kalaburagi, Bidar, Raichur, and Sirguppa) during 2019-20.
Methods: All the experiments were conducted in randomised complete block design with three replications. The interaction analysis (AMMI ANOVA) indicates large variations for seed yield due to highly significant (p<0.01) environment and genotype, thus the genotypes were diverse with large sum of squares for their seed yield and environment.
Result: The differential response of chickpea genotypes for seed yield across the environments was observed. IPCA1 and IPCA2 together captured 4.27 per cent of the interaction mean squares. JG11 x WR315 (F7)-57 and ICCV 191106 showed higher average yields and adaptable to favourable environments. Based on AMMI bi-plot analysis, genotypes (JG11 x WR315 (F7)-57, JG11) and (JAKI 9218, RGV 203) were stable and unstable respectively. Similarly, best performer genotypes and three mega environments were noticed through the analysis. Environments (Kalaburagi, Sirguppa) were found with most selective for seed yield estimation. In terms of seed yield stability, the genotypes (JG11 x WR315 (F7)-57, JG11 and JG11 x WR315 (F7)-49) were the best among all
Identification of pearl millet genetic resources having resistance against leaf blast caused by Pyricularia pennisetigena for hot and arid environments of Western India
Get PDFPearl millet is an important rainfed crop cultivated to meet food and fodder requirements in hot and arid environments of Western India. Productivity of the crop has dramatically enhanced in the region by adoption of early hybrids having resistance against down mildew disease
Nutrient management may reduce global warming potential of rice cultivation in subtropical India
Get PDFAgricultural practices contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; therefore, it is essential to modify the production technologies. We analyzed decadal variation in CO2 and CH4 over a major rice cultivating area in subtropical India using GOSAT satellite data, which shows a sturdy increase. Furthermore, we carried out long- term field experiments with different nutrients management in the research farm to validate CERES–Rice (Crop Environment Resource Synthesis) and DNDC (De-nitrification and Decomposition model) models. The variations in Global warming potential per kg rice grain production over 90 years (2005–2095) are also projected. This study used a simulation technique to predict the rice yield using CERES–Rice and GWP using the DNDC model for three varied nutrient management treatments: chemical fertilizer (CF) at full (100%) recommended level (CF100), organic fertilizer using vermicompost at full recommendation (VC100), and integration of organic and chemical fertilizer (VC50 + CF50). The CF100 treatment showed the highest rate of increase in GWP as 0.014 and 0.021 kg CO2eq kg-grain seaso
Pearl Millet Aquaporin Gene PgPIP2;6 Improves Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Transgenic Tobacco
Get PDFPearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L) R. Br.] is an important cereal crop of the semiarid
tropics, which can withstand prolonged drought and heat stress. Considering an active
involvement of the aquaporin (AQP) genes in water transport and desiccation tolerance
besides several basic functions, their potential role in abiotic stress tolerance was
systematically characterized and functionally validated. A total of 34 AQP genes from
P. glaucum were identified and categorized into four subfamilies, viz., plasma membrane
intrinsic proteins (PIPs), tonoplast intrinsic proteins (TIPs), nodulin-26-like intrinsic
proteins (NIPs), and small basic intrinsic proteins (SIPs). Sequence analysis revealed
that PgAQPs have conserved characters of AQP genes with a closer relationship
to sorghum. The PgAQPs were expressed differentially under high vapor pressure
deficit (VPD) and progressive drought stresses where the PgPIP2;6 gene showed
significant expression under high VPD and drought stress. Transgenic tobacco plants
were developed by heterologous expression of the PgPIP2;6 gene and functionally
characterized under different abiotic stresses to further unravel their role. Transgenic
tobacco plants in the T2 generations displayed restricted transpiration and low root
exudation rates in low- and high-VPD conditions. Under progressive drought stress,
wild-type (WT) plants showed a quick or faster decline of soil moisture than transgenics.
While under heat stress, PgPIP2;6 transgenics showed better adaptation to heat
(40C) with high canopy temperature depression (CTD) and low transpiration; under
low-temperature stress, they displayed lower transpiration than their non-transgenic
counterparts. Cumulatively, lower transpiration rate (Tr), low root exudation rate, declined
transpiration, elevated CTD, and lower transpiration indicate that PgPIP2;6 plays a role
under abiotic stress tolerance. Since the PgPIP2;6 transgenic plants exhibited better
adaptation against major abiotic stresses such as drought, high VPD, heat, and cold
stresses by virtue of enhanced transpiration efficiency, it has the potential to engineer
abiotic stress tolerance for sustained growth and productivity of crops
Decadal variations in CO2 during agricultural seasons in India and role of management as sustainable approach
Get PDFGenetic variation in CaTIFY4b contributes to drought adaptation in chickpea
Get PDFChickpea production is vulnerable to drought stress. Identifying the genetic components underlying drought adaptation is crucial for enhancing chickpea productivity. Here, we present the fine mapping and characterization of ‘QTL-hotspot’, a genomic region controlling chickpea
growth with positive consequences on crop production under drought. We report that a non-synonymous substitution in the transcription factor CaTIFY4b regulates seed weight and organ size in chickpea. Ectopic expression of CaTIFY4b in Medicago truncatula enhances root growth under water deficit. Our results suggest that allelic variation in ‘QTL-hotspot’ improves pre-anthesis water use, transpiration efficiency, root architecture and canopy development, enabling high-yield performance under terminal drought conditions. Gene expression analysis indicated that CaTIFY4b may regulate organ size under water deficit by modulating the expression of GRF-INTERACTING FACTOR1 (GIF1), a transcriptional co-activator of Growth-Regulating Factors.
Taken together, our study offers new insights into the role of CaTIFY4b and on diverse physiological and molecular mechanisms underpinning chickpea growth and production under
specific drought scenarios
Innovation in the Breeding of Common Bean Through a Combined Approach of in vitro Regeneration and Machine Learning Algorithms
Get PDFCommon bean is considered a recalcitrant crop for in vitro regeneration and needs a repeatable and efficient in vitro regeneration protocol for its improvement through biotechnological approaches. In this study, the establishment of efficient and reproducible in vitro regeneration followed by predicting and optimizing through machine learning (ML) models, such as artificial neural network algorithms, was performed. Mature embryos of common bean were pretreated with 5, 10, and 20 mg/L benzylaminopurine (BAP) for 20 days followed by isolation of plumular apice for in vitro regeneration and cultured on a post-treatment medium containing 0.25, 0.50, 1.0, and 1.50 mg/L BAP for 8 weeks. Plumular apice explants pretreated with 20 mg/L BAP exerted a negative impact and resulted in minimum shoot regeneration frequency and shoot count, but produced longer shoots. All output variables (shoot regeneration frequency, shoot counts, and shoot length) increased significantly with the enhancement of BAP concentration in the post-treatment medium. Interaction of the pretreatment × post-treatment medium revealed the need for a specific combination for inducing a high shoot regeneration frequency. Higher shoot count and shoot length were achieved from the interaction of 5 mg/L BAP × 1.00 mg/L BAP followed by 10 mg/L BAP × 1.50 mg/L BAP and 20 mg/L BAP × 1.50 mg/L BAP. The evaluation of data through ML models revealed that R2 values ranged from 0.32 to 0.58 (regeneration), 0.01 to 0.22 (shoot counts), and 0.18 to 0.48 (shoot length). On the other hand, the mean squared error values ranged from 0.0596 to 0.0965 for shoot regeneration, 0.0327 to 0.0412 for shoot count, and 0.0258 to 0.0404 for shoot length from all ML models. Among the utilized models, the multilayer perceptron model provided a better prediction and optimization for all output variables, compared to other models. The achieved results can be employed for the prediction and optimization of plant tissue culture protocols used for biotechnological approaches in a breeding program of common beans
Lipid profile variations in high olecic acid peanuts by following different cooking processes
No full textHigh oleic acid (OA) peanut seed (PS), contains a higher ratio of oleic acid (C18:1) compared to general PS, which is favored by consumers due to its health benefits. However, comprehensive lipid metabolite profiles of high-OA PS, once they have been processed via domestic cooking methods, have never been produced. To establish a scientific guide for the selection of the most appropriate processing method for high-OA PS, lipidomics was performed to identify 706 lipid metabolites in high-OA PS following boiling, baking and frying, between the three groups, 75, 175 and 242 lipid metabolites were differentially expressed respectively. Additionally, 46 glycerolipids with C18:1 molecular were observed in the lipid profiles of the treatment groups compared to the raw sample. Further evaluation of seven lipid peroxides and six antioxidant status of each testing group suggested that boiled PS retained the highest levels of lipids and antioxidant activity. Following these findings, boiling appears to be an appropriate processing method when attempting to conserve the beneficial substances found in the PS. Finally, the levels of major free fatty acids present in high-OA PS, were jointly quantified by conventional methods (GC-MS) and lipidomic analysis. FA/C16:0 levels were similar, FA/C18:0, FA/C18:1 displayed opposite results, FA/C18:2 levels increased following frying and FA/C18:3 levels were down regulated once the PS was boiled. This indicates that GC-MS is a potential method of validation for the results of lipidomic analysis. Conclusively, this in depth understanding of lipid content in relation to domestic cooking methods has provided a foundation for the processing of high-OA peanut products