scholarly journals Agroforestry Heritage Systems as Agrobiodiversity Hotspots. The Case of the Mountain Oases of Tunisia

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4054 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Santoro ◽  
Martina Venturi ◽  
Sihem Ben Maachia ◽  
Fadwa Benyahia ◽  
Federica Corrieri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Landscape Structure ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Fruit Trees ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Agricultural Systems ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Traditional Agricultural Practices

Traditional agricultural systems are receiving increasing attention at the international level due to their multifunctional role. The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) aims to identify agricultural systems of global importance, preserve landscape, agrobiodiversity and traditional knowledge and apply the principles of dynamic conservation to promote sustainable development. Biodiversity associated to traditional agricultural practices is particularly important, especially in difficult environments, like traditional oases, for ensuring food and nutrition to local communities. We documented landscape and biological diversity associated with traditional agricultural practices in three traditional oases in Tunisia, through a landscape analysis based on land-use survey, and an assessment of cultivated species. Results show that the landscape structure is dominated by agricultural land uses and characterized by a high level of diversification. Agrobiodiversity is high: we identified 20 varieties of date palm, 21 species of fruit trees, 21 vegetable species and two fodder crops. Results highlighted that traditional oases, as other agroforestry and agricultural heritage systems, continue to play a crucial role in maintaining genetic resources and agrobiodiversity. Farmers who, all over the world, still cultivate applying traditional practices are the main actors that practice a real conservation of genetic resources and diversity by maintaining traditional cultivars and a diversified landscape structure. Our methodology, based on the combined assessment of land uses and agrobiodiversity, can be replicated in other agricultural heritage systems to evaluate and measure possible transformations and identify the best strategies for their preservation.

scholarly journals Past, Present, and Future of Fruit Germplasm Exploration

HortScience ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-204
Author(s):  
Kim E. Hummer
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Remote Communication ◽  
Fruit Species ◽  
Wild Fruit ◽  
Food And Agriculture

The fruits of the earth have healed, nurtured, and intrigued humanity throughout history. Cultivated fruit species have complex genome that will continue to require the input of novel genetic resources. Prospecting for wild fruit species will continue. The global nature of science and commerce will drive the demand to expand available genetic resources for fruit improvement. New technologies will enable future explorers to reach remote sites and species. Recent advances, such as geopositioning and remote-communication devices, will be used to a greater degree for targeting specific collection sites and documenting records of origin. The sovereignty of countries over their plant genetic resources, as specified by the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, will continue to be a cornerstone for negotiating bilateral agreements and plant exchange. Although this could be considered a limitation to plant exploration in some situations, global strategies now in conceptual infancy will be developed to encourage and support ex situ preservation and continued plant exchange for long-term conservation and humanitarian benefit.

scholarly journals Urban sprawl into the Niagara Region: the effect of urban encroachment on agriculture seen through the use of remote sensing applications and landscape metrics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Leigh-Anne Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Urban Sprawl ◽  
Landscape Metrics ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Sensing Applications ◽  
Remote Sensing Applications ◽  
Landsat 5 Tm

The Niagara Region contains land that is ideal for agricultural practices. This thesis strives to illuminate whether or not urban growth in the Niagara Region is a detriment to agricultural land use. Using Landsat 5 TM and 8 OLI-TIRS satellite imagery, spatial statistics, called landscape metrics, will be utilized to determine growth and loss of urban and agriculture land uses. Satellite imagery will be classified based on researched methods in order to create land class maps. These maps will then be utilized for landscape metrics using the Patch Analyst extension for ArcMap. Change detection methods will also be observed. The above methods will be done for the overall landscape of the Niagara Region. This study will find that agriculture in the Niagara Region is changing and endeavors to highlight how urban sprawl is part of the cause. Fragmentation will be discussed as part of the issues due to urban sprawl.

scholarly journals Urban sprawl into the Niagara Region: the effect of urban encroachment on agriculture seen through the use of remote sensing applications and landscape metrics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Leigh-Anne Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Urban Sprawl ◽  
Landscape Metrics ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Sensing Applications ◽  
Remote Sensing Applications ◽  
Landsat 5 Tm

The Niagara Region contains land that is ideal for agricultural practices. This thesis strives to illuminate whether or not urban growth in the Niagara Region is a detriment to agricultural land use. Using Landsat 5 TM and 8 OLI-TIRS satellite imagery, spatial statistics, called landscape metrics, will be utilized to determine growth and loss of urban and agriculture land uses. Satellite imagery will be classified based on researched methods in order to create land class maps. These maps will then be utilized for landscape metrics using the Patch Analyst extension for ArcMap. Change detection methods will also be observed. The above methods will be done for the overall landscape of the Niagara Region. This study will find that agriculture in the Niagara Region is changing and endeavors to highlight how urban sprawl is part of the cause. Fragmentation will be discussed as part of the issues due to urban sprawl.

scholarly journals Conservation and Sustainable Use of PGRFA in Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Muhamad Sabran ◽  
Puji Lestari ◽  
Mastur Mastur
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
National Level ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Agriculture Development

<p>The high diverse of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) in Indonesia needs to be conserved for sustainable use to achieve food security despite a still growing population. Therefore, database and information system which could add value to the PGRFA have been developed by many international initiatives and conventions which impact to national level. Two international agreements that Indonesia intensively involved to govern access and share the benefit arising from the use of the valuable PGRFA are the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the Nagoya Protocol of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. Agriculture development in Indonesia, however, is still faced many challenges. This review described and discussed the high biodiversity in Indonesia, utilization and conservation of PGRFA, supporting regulation and policy on PGRFA along with the progress of database and information system. Overall, promoting conservation and the sustainable use of PGRFA is a key goal of various national, regional, and global efforts, initiatives, and agreements governing them for human well-being.</p>

scholarly journals Farmers’ Rights and Digital Sequence Information: Crisis or Opportunity to Reclaim Stewardship Over Agrobiodiversity?

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Wynberg ◽  
Regine Andersen ◽  
Sarah Laird ◽  
Kudzai Kusena ◽  
Christian Prip ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Sequence Information ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Way

Contestations about the way in which digital sequence information is used and regulated have created stumbling blocks across multiple international policy processes. Such schisms have profound implications for the way in which we manage and conceptualize agrobiodiversity and its benefits. This paper explores the relationship between farmers’ rights, as recognized in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and the dematerialization of genetic resources. Using concepts of “stewardship” and “ownership” we emphasize the need to move away from viewing agrobiodiversity as a commodity that can be owned, toward a strengthened, proactive and expansive stewardship approach that recognizes plant genetic resources for food and agriculture as a public good which should be governed as such. Through this lens we analyze the relationship between digital sequence information and different elements of farmers’ rights to compare and contrast implications for the governance of digital sequence information. Two possible parallel pathways are presented, the first envisaging an enhanced multilateral system that includes digital sequence information and which promotes and enhances the realization of farmers’ rights; and the second a more radical approach that folds together concepts of stewardship, farmers’ rights, and open source science. Farmers’ rights, we suggest, may well be the linchpin for finding fair and equitable solutions for digital sequence information beyond the bilateral and transactional approach that has come to characterize access and benefit sharing under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Existing policy uncertainties could be seized as an unexpected but serendipitous opportunity to chart an alternative and visionary pathway for the rights of farmers and other custodians of plant genetic resources.

Earthworms and agricultural systems: Status of knowledge and research in Canada

2003 ◽  
Vol 83 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 265-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Tomlin ◽  
C. A. Fox
Keyword(s):  
Species Distribution ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Agricultural Systems ◽  
Soil Biodiversity ◽  
Soil System ◽  
Earthworm Species

Since the ratification of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, there has been increased interest in issues related to biodiversity, particularly with respect to soil biodiversity and the influence of agricultural practices. This paper is one of a series of papers contributing to a state of the art review initiated by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on the status of soil biodiversity research in Canada, particularly with respect to agroecosystems. The objectives of this paper are to provide an overview of earthworm species distribution in Canada by province and territory, and to review research that illuminates our understanding of the ecological relationships of earthworms in agricultural systems. Most Canadian earthworm species are considered exotics having generally been dependent on human activity for their introduction and dispersal throughout the Canadian landscape. Twenty-seven earthworm species have been identified so far in Canada; of these, eight species are native to North America. Suggestions for future research on earthworm biodiversity within an agricultural context are discussed including: the need for increased spatial and temporal information on earthworm distributions across Canada, particularly with respect to Canada’s varied agroecosystems and landscapes; information on the ecology of earthworms with respect to their contributions to the soil system and their interactions with other soil fauna; the need for ecosystem process models relating earthworm contributions to soil structure formation and transport of materials and nutrients within the soil system; and the need to determine threshold levels of earthworm species associations in order to optimise effectively their contributions to soil quality and plant growth. To facilitate these studies, expansion of taxonomic expertise and capability across Canada will be required. Key words: Earthworms, agroecosystems, ecology, species distribution, soil biodiversity

Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture: Legal and Institutional Frame and New Perspectives

2011 ◽  
pp. 41-76
Author(s):  
Irene Superina
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
International Protection ◽  
International Treaty ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Research Sector

This document begins by describing and analysing the international institutional framework, within which both the Convention on Biological Diversity (Cbd), the Trip's about international protection of intellectual property and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Itpgrfa) had been originated. The regimes on access and benefit sharing applying to Pgrfa's (plant genetic resources for food and agriculture) are looked into in detail. Then, the new proposal under finalization within Cbd (Cbd Abs) is analized, which could become effective very soon. Finally, a particular focus is put on the research sector on Pgrfa's and how it has been treated and regulated. In connection to this, Itpgrfa 2001 is compared with the forthcoming new Cbd Abs regime, that could open new scenarios and new perspectives for this sector.

scholarly journals Leveraging agroecology for solutions in food, energy, and water

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcia DeLonge ◽  
Andrea Basche
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
The United States ◽  
Agricultural Systems ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Food Energy

Global agriculture is facing growing challenges at the nexus of interconnected food, energy and water systems, including but not limited to persistent food insecurity and diet-related diseases; growing demands for energy and consequences for climate change; and declining water resources, water pollution, floods and droughts. Further, soil degradation and biodiversity loss are both triggers for and consequences of these problems. In this commentary, we argue that expanding agroecological principles, tools, and technologies and enhancing biological diversity can address these challenges and achieve better socioeconomic outcomes. Agroecology is often described as multi- or transdiscplinary, and applies ecological principles to the design and management of agricultural systems through scientific research, practice and collective action. While agroecology has roots in the study of food systems, agricultural land use has many direct and indirect linkages to water and energy systems that could benefit from agroecological insights, including use of water resources and the development of bio-based energy products. Although opportunities from the science and the practice of agroecology transcend national boundaries, obstacles to widespread adoption vary. In this article, we therefore focus on the United States, where key barriers include a shortage of research funds, limited supporting infrastructure, and cultural obstacles. Nevertheless, simply scaling up current models of agricultural production and land use practices will not solve many of the issues specific to food related challenges nor would such an approach address related energy and water concerns. We conclude that a first critical step to discovering solutions at the food, energy, water nexus will be to move past yield as a sole measure of success in agricultural systems, and call for more holistic considerations of the co-benefits and tradeoffs of different agricultural management options, particularly as they relate to environmental and equity outcomes.

scholarly journals Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues related to access and use of genetic resources

2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (01S) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pratibha Brahmi ◽  
Vandana Tyagi
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Intellectual Property Rights ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Genetic Material ◽  
Convention On Biological Diversity ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Nutritional Security

Genetic Resources (GR) refer to genetic material of actual or potential value. Use of GR refers to the process of researching their beneficial properties and using them to increase scientific knowledge and understanding, or to develop commercial products. There is continuous search for newer resources to meet the future demands that arise with the emergence of new diseases, abiotic stresses, climate change, and enhanced demand for food and nutritional security. GR are exchanged and searched continuously for specific traits to improve yields and nutritional value in crops and animal genetic resources. Every nation is concerned with acquisition of diverse and superior germplasm for conservation and utilization. The rapid advancements in the fields of molecular biology, biotechnology and bioinformatics, led to the emergence of new legal, political and technological regimes regulating access to GR. Three international negotiations impacted the access to GR, these are the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) as part of the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). The regulation regarding access to GR, increasing application of IPRs and the vast potential of biological wealth yet to be tapped through bio-prospecting and genetic engineering, has placed greater demands on nations to adjust to the changing scenario of GR management. Currently access to GR is under the provisions of CBD and access to GR is based on mutually agreed terms (MAT), subject to prior informed consent (PIC). In response to CBD, India enacted the Biological Diversity Act (BDA), 2002 and established the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) in 2003. Access to PGR from India is therefore regulated by BDA, 2002. The Nagoya Protocol which entered into force from October 2014 defines the international regime within the framework of CBD to promote and safeguard the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources. The paper discusses these agreements in detail with reference to access and use of GR.

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