scholarly journals Delivering sustainable crop protection systems via the seed: exploiting natural constitutive and inducible defence pathways

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1639) ◽  
pp. 20120281 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Pickett ◽  
Gudbjorg I. Aradottír ◽  
Michael A. Birkett ◽  
Toby J. A. Bruce ◽  
Antony M. Hooper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pest Management ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Lead Compounds ◽  
Planting Material ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Sustainable Crop Protection ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
On Farm ◽  
New Breeding Technologies

To reduce the need for seasonal inputs, crop protection will have to be delivered via the seed and other planting material. Plant secondary metabolism can be harnessed for this purpose by new breeding technologies, genetic modification and companion cropping, the latter already on-farm in sub-Saharan Africa. Secondary metabolites offer the prospect of pest management as robust as that provided by current pesticides, for which many lead compounds were, or are currently deployed as, natural products. Evidence of success and promise is given for pest management in industrial and developing agriculture. Additionally, opportunities for solving wider problems of sustainable crop protection, and also production, are discussed.

scholarly journals Participatory potato seed production: a breakthrough for food security and income generation in the central highlands of Ethiopia

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abebe Chindi ◽  
Egata Shunka ◽  
Atsede Solomon ◽  
W. Giorgis Gebremedhin ◽  
Ebrahim Seid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Potato Production ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Potato Seed ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Potato Varieties ◽  
Production Technologies ◽  
Sub Saharan

AbstractQuality seed is one of the major bottlenecks hampering the production and productivity of potato not only in Ethiopia but also in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since the 1970’s, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research has generated a number of improved potato production technologies such as improved varieties with accompanying agronomic practices, crop protection measures, postharvest handling techniques and utilization options. The developed technologies were promoted from 2013-2015 via technology promotion and popularization to the Wolmera, Adea-Bera and Ejere districts with the objective of creating awareness and up scaling of improved potato production and utilization technologies. The Potato Improvement Research Program and the Research and Extension Division of Holetta Research Center in collaboration with extension staff of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) undertake this activity. The farmers were selected and organized in Farmer Field Schools and all stakeholders were engaged before distributing potato seeds and planting on selected farmers’ fields for demonstrating of potato production technologies. A total of 899 farmers and 40 agricultural experts were trained and 27.7, 9 and 5.5 tons of quality seeds of Gudanie, Jalenie and Belete potato varieties, respectively, were delivered as a revolving seed with their recommended agronomic packages; this amount of seed covered 21.1 ha. A total of 16 farmer groups from Wolmera, 7 from Adea-Berga, and 11 from Ejere participated. They produced over 434 tons of relatively clean seed and constructed 8 diffused light stores. In addition to the demonstration of improved potato varieties, information dissemination was also an important component of the program to raise awareness for a large numbers of potato growers through farmers’ field days, pamphlets, and mass media. Each year about three field days were organized and more than 1500 pamphlets were distributed to farmers invited from neighboring districts and ‘Kebeles’ to enhance speed. Through this intervention farmers are now harvesting a yield of about 26-34 t/ha up from 8t/ha when they were using inferior quality potato seed; this has made the farmers in the intervention area more food secure especially during the usually food scarce months of August to October when cereal crops are generally yet to mature. The farmers are also getting additional income from the sale of excess potato and are able to better meet other necessary costs like school fees, for their children.

On-farm rice yield and its association with biophysical factors in sub-Saharan Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 85 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsuko Tanaka ◽  
Jean-Martial Johnson ◽  
Kalimuthu Senthilkumar ◽  
Cyriaque Akakpo ◽  
Zacharie Segda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rice Yield ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Biophysical Factors ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
On Farm

EVALUATING PYRETHROID ALTERNATIVES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF COTTON BOLLWORMS AND RESISTANCE IN CAMEROON

2009 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. ACHALEKE ◽  
M. VAISSAYRE ◽  
T. BREVAULT
Keyword(s):  
Pyrethroid Resistance ◽  
Resistance Management ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Cross Resistance ◽  
Cotton Production ◽  
Suitable Alternative ◽  
Early Peak ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Cotton Pest

SUMMARYIn sub-Saharan Africa, the bollworm complex, including Helicoverpa armigera, Diparopsis watersi and Earias spp., threatens the continued success of cotton production. Pyrethroid resistance in H. armigera led to serious crop losses while endosulfan, a suitable alternative to pyrethroids, was banned for cotton pest management. Five candidates with no cross-resistance to pyrethroids were evaluated in both on-station and on-farm trials from 2002 to 2006. Two applications were made at the early peak of H. armigera infestation in September, the period when pyrethroid use should be restricted for resistance management purposes. Results showed that, as expected, bollworm infestation consistently peaked from mid-September to mid-October. Spinosad, thiodicarb and emamectin-benzoate were the most suitable alternatives to reduce damage, regardless of the cotton bollworm species. Indoxacarb and lufenuron were less effective in controlling D. watersi. On-farm experiments confirmed the suitability of spinosad for control of pyrethroid-resistant H. armigera, particularly on late sown fields. These new chemistries offer control of bollworms which justify their relevance for pyrethroid resistance management in Cameroon and sub-Saharan Africa.

scholarly journals PPMaP: Reproducible and Extensible Open-Source Software for Plant Phenological Phase Duration Prediction and Mapping in Sub-Saharan Africa

Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 515
Author(s):  
Henri E. Z. Tonnang ◽  
Ritter A. Guimapi ◽  
Anani Y. Bruce ◽  
Dan Makumbi ◽  
Bester T. Mudereri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Plant Phenology ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Phase Duration ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Landscape Level

Understanding the detailed timing of crop phenology and their variability enhances grain yield and quality by providing precise scheduling of irrigation, fertilization, and crop protection mechanisms. Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) provide a unique opportunity to develop agriculture-related tools that enhance wall-to-wall upscaling of data outputs from point-location data to wide-area spatial scales. Because of the heterogeneity of the worldwide agro-ecological zones where crops are cultivated, it is unproductive to perform plant phenology research without providing means to upscale results to landscape-level while safeguarding field-scale relevance. This paper presents an advanced, reproducible, and open-source software for plant phenology prediction and mapping (PPMaP) that inputs data obtained from multi-location field experiments to derive models for any crop variety. This information can then be applied consecutively at a localized grid within a spatial framework to produce plant phenology predictions at the landscape level. This software runs on the ‘Windows’ platform and supports the development of process-oriented and temperature-driven plant phenology models by intuitively and interactively leading the user through a step-by-step progression to the production of spatial maps for any region of interest in sub-Saharan Africa. Maize (Zea mays L.) was used to demonstrate the robustness, versatility, and high computing efficiency of the resulting modeling outputs of the PPMaP. The framework was implemented in R, providing a flexible and easy-to-use GUI interface. Since this allows for appropriate scaling to the larger spatial domain, the software can effectively be used to determine the spatially explicit length of growing period (LGP) of any variety.

scholarly journals In Vitro, Ex Vivo, and In Vivo Activities of Diamidines against Trypanosoma congolense and Trypanosoma vivax

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Gillingwater ◽  
Christina Kunz ◽  
Christiane Braghiroli ◽  
David W. Boykin ◽  
Richard R. Tidwell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Trypanosoma Congolense ◽  
Tsetse Fly ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lead Compounds ◽  
Single Bolus Dose ◽  
Sub Saharan

ABSTRACT African animal trypanosomosis (AAT) is caused by the tsetse fly-transmitted protozoans Trypanosoma congolense and T. vivax and leads to huge agricultural losses throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Three drugs are available to treat nagana in cattle (diminazene diaceturate, homidium chloride, and isometamidium chloride). With increasing reports of drug-resistant populations, new molecules should be investigated as potential candidates to combat nagana. Dicationic compounds have been demonstrated to have excellent efficacy against different kinetoplastid parasites. This study therefore evaluated the activities of 37 diamidines, using in vitro and ex vivo drug sensitivity assays. The 50% inhibitory concentrations obtained ranged from 0.007 to 0.562 μg/ml for T. congolense and from 0.019 to 0.607 μg/ml for T. vivax. On the basis of these promising results, 33 of these diamidines were further examined using in vivo mouse models of infection. Minimal curative doses of 1.25 mg/kg of body weight for both T. congolense- and T. vivax-infected mice were seen when the diamidines were administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) over 4 consecutive days. From these observations, 15 of these 33 diamidines were then further tested in vivo, using a single bolus dose for administration. The total cure of mice infected with T. congolense and T. vivax was seen with single i.p. doses of 5 and 2.5 mg/kg, respectively. This study identified a selection of diamidines which could be considered lead compounds for the treatment of nagana.

scholarly journals Prototyping a Knowledge-Based System to Identify Botanical Extracts for Plant Health in Sub-Saharan Africa

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 896
Author(s):  
Pierre J. Silvie ◽  
Pierre Martin ◽  
Marianne Huchard ◽  
Priscilla Keip ◽  
Alain Gutierrez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Plant Health ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Pest Species ◽  
Knowledge Based System ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The One

Replacing synthetic pesticides and antimicrobials with plant-based extracts is a current alternative adopted by traditional and family farmers and many organic farming pioneers. A range of natural extracts are already being marketed for agricultural use, but many other plants are prepared and used empirically. A further range of plant species that could be effective in protecting different crops against pests and diseases in Africa could be culled from the large volume of knowledge available in the scientific literature. To meet this challenge, data on plant uses have been compiled in a knowledge base and a software prototype was developed to navigate this trove of information. The present paper introduces this so-called Knomana Knowledge-Based System, while providing outputs related to Spodoptera frugiperda and Tuta absoluta, two invasive insect species in Africa. In early October 2020, the knowledge base hosted data obtained from 342 documents. From these articles, 11,816 uses—experimental or applied by farmers—were identified in the plant health field. In total, 384 crop pest species are currently reported in the knowledge base, in addition to 1547 botanical species used for crop protection. Future prospects for applying this interdisciplinary output to applications under the One Health approach are presented.

scholarly journals Modelling the response of the PIF plantain seedlings to Tithonia diversifolia and clam shells treatments in the nursery

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cécile Annie Ewané ◽  
Thaddée Boudjeko
Keyword(s):  
Growth Promotion ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Tithonia Diversifolia ◽  
Black Sigatoka ◽  
Planting Material ◽  
Liquid Extract ◽  
Acclimation Period ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Chemical Inputs

AbstractThe seeds availability is the main constraint for the agricultural explosion in sub-Saharan Africa countries. In the case of plantain, there is a lack of seedlings in quantity, but also in quality. The advent of the PIF method was an excellent opportunity to improve the availability of plantain seeds, although the quality is not fully guaranteed. Indeed, the PIF plants produced have posed many problems during the acclimation period indicating a need for solutions to improve their quality. Recent researches done with five treatments using Tithonia diversifolia and clam shells have highlighted the improvement of the PIF seedlings quality in terms of growth promotion (biofertilizer action) and protection against black Sigatoka disease (biofungicide action). It seemed essential to determine the best model for robust PIF seedlings. The aim of this study was to analyse the different models that have enabled the production of improved PIF seedlings and to determine the best one. We have modelized the response of PIF seedlings to the different treatment’s protocols. It turns out that the best treatment to apply is T5 (T. diversifolia liquid extract), followed by T4 (T. diversifolia mulch). However, depending on the expected response in the PIF seedlings, all these treatments have proven to be impactful. Tithonia diversifolia liquid extract model is the best and in combination with clams, could be useful to boost the production at low cost and without chemical inputs of large amount of improved vigorous (clean and less susceptible) planting material, impacting thus the food security and poverty alleviation.

scholarly journals Priorities for Sweetpotato Research in Developing Countries: Results of a Survey

HortScience ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 1200-1206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith O. Fuglie
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Vitamin A Deficiency ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
Small Enterprise ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Planting Material ◽  
Sub Saharan

International institutions like the International Potato Center (CIP) strive to provide “global public goods” in the form of improved technologies applicable to large regions of the developing world. To identify priorities for sweetpotato improvement, CIP conducted a survey of knowledgeable scientists in developing countries to elicit their perspectives on the most important constraints facing poor and small-scale sweetpotato growers in their countries. Respondents scored productivity and other constraints according to their importance in the region or country where they worked. Mean and weighted mean scores were estimated to provide a group judgment of the most important constraints facing sweetpotato farmers in developing countries. The survey results showed that there are a few key needs facing farmers in all major sweetpotato producing areas, but there are other very important needs specific to certain regions. The needs that scored highest in all or most of the major sweetpotato producing areas in developing countries are: i) control of viruses (through varietal resistance, quality planting material, and crop management); ii) small-enterprise development for sweetpotato processing; iii) improvement in availability and quality of sweetpotato planting material; and iv) improved cultivars exhibiting high and stable yield potential. Some differences emerged, however, in priority needs of the two major centers of sweetpotato production: Additional priorities for sub-Saharan Africa include improved control of the sweetpotato weevil and cultivars with high β-carotene content to address vitamin A deficiency. For China, other top needs are: i) conservation and characterization of genetic resources; ii) prebreeding; iii) cultivars with high starch yield; and iv) new product development. The different sets of priorities reflect differences in the role of sweetpotato in the rural economy and also different capacities of the agricultural research system in these regions of the world. Compared with earlier surveys, there now seems to be a greater need for postharvest utilization research, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, partly reflecting a demand constraint due to the crop's status as an inferior food.

scholarly journals The Future of Low-emission Sustainable Cereal Intensification in SSA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kindie Tesfaye ◽  
Marloes van Loon ◽  
Hein ten Berge ◽  
Renske Hijbeek ◽  
Dawit Solomon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Management ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Ghg Emission ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Low Emission ◽  
Cereal Production ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Area Expansion

This brief summarizes results of three recent studies that assessed whether Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) can be self-sufficient in cereals (maize, rice, wheat, sorghum, and millet) while minimizing GHG emission by 2050 under different scenarios of intensification on existing cereal area, as opposed to crop land area expansion. The results from three studies suggest that intensification of cereal production with sufficient and efficient use of fertilizers could lead to the lowest GHG emissions among the scenarios studied in future cereal productions in SSA. However, this requires excellent agronomy, including the use of well-adapted cultivars, proper planting densities, good nutrient management and crop protection against weeds, pests, and diseases. It should also be noted that intensification of cereal production may also have additional benefits, including improving the economic profitability for smallholders in SSA.

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