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Juniper Kiss (@GOESbyJuniper):

Juniper is a first-year PhD student at the University of Exeter working on controlling Fusarium wilt (Tropical Race 4) of bananas in Latin America with biocontrols. Prior to her PhD, she worked at CABI (Egham, UK) as a summer intern in 2013 and 2015 and visited CABI's Plantwise program in Nepal and Costa Rica. She gained her Plant Biology BSc (Hons) from Aberystwyth University in June 2019 and has worked for the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) as a Social Media Intern. She is interested in disease-suppressive soils and optimising biocontrols in the field using experiments and modelling against plant diseases and pests.

Dr Daniel Bebber (@DanBebber):

Dan is an ecologist, mainly working on fungal plant pathogens. He is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter and the Director of the MSc course in Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture. Prior to working at Exeter, he was the Head of Climate Change Research at Earthwatch based in Oxford. He joined Exeter in 2013, studying the global distributions of crop pests and pathogens in collaboration with Prof. Sarah Gurr and CABI. He is particularly interested in abiotic and biotic threats to tropical crops, currently focusing on bananas and coffee as those receive less research attention than major grains.

Background and Aims

Biological controls are viewed as environmentally friendly alternatives to chemical controls of plant diseases and pests. While publications report 60-90% disease or pest reductions in the greenhouse, biocontrols are considered to be unreliable in the field. Our aim is to identify sources of variation in experimental outcomes due to different setups and using different biocontrol groups. Here, we focus on biocontrols used against banana diseases and pests as regulations are becoming stricter on allowed chemical residues. A meta-analysis allows the comparison of multiple studies investigating the effect of biocontrols to identify different sources of variation (e.g. experimental setups, experiment length, biocontrol types) in experimental outcomes.

Methods

We conducted an English literature search on Web of Science and Scopus on 1 November 2019. The following two searches were used: banana AND (biological control OR biocontrol), and banana AND (pest OR disease) control within the title and abstracts of articles published from 2000. Articles reporting experiments using biological controls against banana pests and diseases were accessed to assess if the authors have reported standard deviations (S) of the mean measurements (X) of treatment and control groups and their sample sizes (N). Information on the banana cultivar, pest or disease name and pathovar name, experimental setup (in vitro, in vivo, greenhouse, field), name of biocontrol species and strain, biocontrol type (endophyte, mycorrhiza, plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium, PGPR and other), number of biocontrol strains, inoculum concentration, length of the experiment measurements were recorded. The online, free WebPlotDigitizer software was used to extract measurements from graphs with 0.01 accuracy. Hedges d was calculated in metafor R package for publication reporting S, X and N whilst for publications without S, we calculated response ratios which were not included in the quantitative meta-analysis. Weighted fixed and random effects along with Bayesian multi-level meta-analysis were carried out in metafor and brms R packages to understand the sources of heterogeneity in experimental outcomes.

Results / Outcomes

In total, we identified 91 publications with 1,093 observations on biocontrol experiments against banana pests and diseases from 26 countries. Most observations were reported for using Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (11.3%), Pseudomonas fluorescens (8.5%), B. subtilis (5.8%), Glomus mosseae (4.6%), and non-pathogenic Fusarium oxysporum (3.8%) biocontrol stains against 21 different banana diseases and pests. Most observations were from the greenhouse (40.5%) and in vitro experiments (33%) while field trials were rarer (22%) and only a few detached leaf or fruit essays were reported (4.6%). In total, 62 publications with 516 observations reported mean values with standard errors or variances which could be included in the quantitative meta-analysis.

The random-effects models with biocontrol types and experiment setups allowing residual heterogeneity to vary between publications explained a large amount of heterogeneity (56.95 – 78.42%). Experiment length was the only moderator which was not significant (Q_M = 1.63, P = 0.65, I²=69.6%). The Bayesian meta-analytic model found that overall, PGPR with mycorrhiza had the largest effect (95% CI 1.46 – 1.92) against all banana pests and diseases while endophytes had the smallest effect (0.6 – 1.01). Biocontrol field trials had smaller effects (0.47 – 0.69) compared to greenhouse setups (1.07 – 1.27) and experiments which recorded measurements after four months also showed much smaller effect sizes (0.35 – 0.6) than experiments which lasted for one to four months (1.01 – 1.22). Lastly, when banana plants were drenched with biocontrols, the effect sizes were larger (1.64 – 2.65) compared to dipping (0.68 – 1.07) and in vitro methods (0.25 – 0.6).

The multi-level Bayesian meta-analytic model investigated if biocontrol types had different effect sizes against different pests or diseases. Against nematodes, PGPR (0.5 – 1.16) and mycorrhiza (0.88 – 1.29) had smaller effect sizes compared to entomopathogens (1.43 – 2.69), endophytes (1.5 – 2.48). Against FOC, the mixture of PGPR with mycorrhiza (1.58 – 2.09) and mycorrhiza alone (1.13 – 1.62) had larger effects compared to PGPR (0.89 – 1.25), endophytes (0.39 – 0.81) and Chinese leek extract (0.22 – 0.46). Egger’s regression test found individual observations to be highly biased (z = 27. 368, P < .0001) as almost all publications reported significant results. Influence diagnostics were normal.

Conclusions

Our meta-analysis found that PGPR with mycorrhiza and mixtures of biocontrols generally have greater effects against banana pests and diseases while endophytes had the smallest effect in terms of diseases reduction or plant health promotion. The biocontrol’s effects were larger in controlled environments and in relatively shorter experiments, when the plants were drenched with biocontrol inoculums, suggesting that greenhouse experiments might be over-optimistic for predicting biocontrol efficiency under field conditions.

The inconsistent performance of biocontrols could be due to the loss of ecological competence (i.e. competition and survival), asynchrony between host and natural enemy, the presence of a non-target organism, poor dispersal or poor root colonisation. Mixtures of different biocontrol species had overall the largest effect against banana pests and diseases. Co-inoculating with biocontrol strains can allow multiple modes of action during the different stages of disease or pest life cycle and may increase consistency under different abiotic conditions.

We had to discard over half of the reported observations from 92 publications due to the lack of standard error or variance reporting. Publication bias was highly prominent across biocontrol studies, showing the need for increased transparency and an open-access database of non-significant biocontrol results.

Although the use of biocontrols provides an alternative means to control plant diseases and pests, it is clear that experimental designs need to be re-considered. This review focused on an intensively monocropped crop, bananas, which desperately need the development of alternative disease and pest controls. The review discussed what factors might lead to the unreliable nature of biocontrols in the field as the meta-analysis highlighted fundamental problems with controlled experiments. Standardised protocols of biocontrol experiments and a comprehensive online database of experimental outcomes need to be established which could provide a platform for transparency about non-significant results.

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Face book (Mian salman Ghaffar)

Background and Aims

Alternaria fruit rot (ALR) caused by Alternaria alternata is a serious threat to grape market values in Pakistan during post-harvest stages, such as during handling, storage, transportation and distribution respectively. The objective of this study is to determine the anti-fungal activities of plant essential oils against Alternaria alternata causing fruit rot of grapes. For this purpose, three selected plant essential oils (EOs) viz. Thyme (Thymus vulgare), Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) and Ginger (Zingiber officinale) essential oils at 0.06, 0.08 and 0.1 % concentrations were investigated by using different methods both under in vitro condition as well on grapes bunches against previously isolated culture of A. alternata designated as (Isolate ID. AA4PL1). Results showed that Plant (EO) of Thyme oil at all concentrations showed significant result to inhibit the mycelial growth (89.4, 92 and 96.2 percent) in contact assay method as well as 96.2, 97 and 98.2 % growth inhibition regarding fungal culture transfer (FCT) experiment while, in case of well diffusion method 32%, 41% and 48% growth inhibition was recorded at 7th day of incubation followed by Fennel (EO) and Gimger (EO) as compared to control that showed 0 % growth inhibition was measured. Moreover, results related to spore germination assay revealed that Thyme essential oil at 0.06, 0.08 and 0.1 % showed significant inhibition of germ tube length of A. alternata (140.8 µm, 77.5 µm and 34.1 µm) as compared to control in which germ tube length was recorded 250 µm respectively. Thyme (EO) was further evaluated for the presence of anti-fungal compounds viz. terpene, alkaloids, phenolic and saponins using standard protocols and found positive due to presence of all compounds. During the application of Thyme essential oil at 0.1 % concentration on fruit bunches for the determination of decaying percentage. The result showed 12.53% decay caused A. alternata on treated bunches up to six days of storage and control was 85.14% calculated. It was concluded that Thyme (EO) has a great potential to inhibit the growth of A. alternata and can be further used as a strong antifungal agent against this pathogen under in situ condition.

Methods

Materials and Methods

Collection of pathogenic fungal culture

In vitro screening of Aternaria alteranta by using Plant essential oils (EOs) Extraction of Plant Essential oils (EOs) through Soxhlet’s apparatus

In Vitro Contact Assay

Fungal culture transfer Experiment

Well diffusion technique

Spore Germination Assay

Qualitative phytochemical analysis of plant essential oils

Application of plant essential oil on grapes against A. alternata

Statistical analysis

Results / Outcomes

Results/ Outcomes

showed that Plant (EO) of Thyme oil at all concentrations showed significant result to inhibit the mycelial growth (89.4, 92 and 96.2 percent) in contact assay method as well as 96.2, 97 and 98.2 % growth inhibition regarding fungal culture transfer (FCT) experiment while, in case of well diffusion method 32%, 41% and 48% growth inhibition was recorded at 7th day of incubation followed by Fennel (EO) and Gimger (EO) as compared to control that showed 0 % growth inhibition was measured. Moreover, results related to spore germination assay revealed that Thyme essential oil at 0.06, 0.08 and 0.1 % showed significant inhibition of germ tube length of A. alternata (140.8 µm, 77.5 µm and 34.1 µm) as compared to control in which germ tube length was recorded 250 µm respectively. Thyme (EO) was further evaluated for the presence of anti-fungal compounds viz. terpene, alkaloids, phenolic and saponins using standard protocols and found positive due to presence of all compounds. During the application of Thyme essential oil at 0.1 % concentration on fruit bunches for the determination of decaying percentage. The result showed 12.53% decay caused A. alternata on treated bunches up to six days of storage and control was 85.14% calculated.

Conclusions

Plant essential oils (EOs) has an important role in the management of post-harvest diseases The results obtained in the current work illustrated that Thyme (EO) has anti-fungal activity against Alternaria alternata under in vitro as well as application on grapes So, it is interested to state that we can use Thyme oil as less harmful to environment and less expensive for controlling the A.alternata under field conditions.

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I'm Dr.Yacine Torche a new teacher at the University center of Mila in the north-east of Algeria.

Background and Aims

Salinity is one of the major abiotic stress factors limiting plant growth, metabolism and productivity. In the arid and semi-arid areas, it is mainly caused by the irrigation water which contains considerable amounts of soluble salts; the accumulation of salts into the top layer of the soil causing by over-irrigation; proximity to the sea and the capillarity rise of salts from underground water into the root zone due to excessive evaporation. In addition, high evaporation rate, poor water management and low rainfall could increase salinity levels in these areas. Salinity affects almost every aspects of the physiology and the biochemistry of plants and significantly reduces yield.

Common bean is one of the most important legume crops; it contains considerable amounts of protein, fiber, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, and represents nearly half of the consumed grain legumes worldwide. Being a glycophyte species, common bean sees its productivity drastically reduced at soils salinity levels more than 2 dSm⁻¹. Thus, finding resistant genes and producing new tolerant varieties will significantly increase crop yield and food safety.

Methods

A one-way diallel cross excluding reciprocals was made between four parents of common bean commonly cultivated in Algeria; the four parents and their six F₁ hybrids were planted in a randomized complete block design at the Tennessee State University greenhouse, USA. where three salinity levels were applied for all the genotypes (0; 50 and 100 mmol/L of NaCl) until the fructification stage. the phenotypic data for days to green and dry maturity; Leaf area; shoot, root, seed and total biomass weight were recorded.

DNA extraction was processed and 57 SSRs were used for the genotypic data, they cover the entire genome of our genotypes (2n = 22), 5 SSRs are located on each linkage group, except linkage groups 1 and 11 where 6 SSRs were deployed, the two chromosomes contain several loci linked to abiotic stress (water deficit) discovered in other studies. The analysis of polyacrylamide gels after electrophoresis of the different PCR products was carried out; the presence of the fragments was determined visually and entered into a binary data matrix: presence (1) or absence of bands (0). Using the matrix, a phylogenetic tree was constructed by Neighbor-Joining algorithm with 3000 bootstrap, and factorial analysis of the genetic matrix was proceed. In addition, a principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) was carried out to highlight the dissimilarities of the matrix. For each locus, the composition of the SSR alleles was determined for all the genotypes. The values ​​of the Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) was calculated, as well as the genetic diversity using the F-statistics which group together: the Shannon's diversity index, genetic diversity and the genetic distance of the population by Nei. These analyzes were performed through the Darwin version 6 genetic analysis program. The relation between phenotypic and genotypic data was quantified using the single marker analysis (SMA).

Results / Outcomes

All the statistical analyzes were highly significant for all traits studied and under saline and non-saline conditions. The Polymorphism information content (PIC) gives an estimate of the polymorphism within a locus by taking into account the number of alleles and the frequencies of these alleles; the average of the PIC was 0.41; the highest value (0.50) was recorded by six SSR markers. Furthermore, the major allelic frequency gives us good information on the mutations (or variations to a lesser extent) for the population studied with our SSRs. The highest major allelic frequency was noted by the microsatellite BM143 (0.79). The gene diversity index was between 0.34 and 0.5; whereas three populations show high polymorphisms.

Our results were highly significant, indeed for the parental genotypes, 14 SSRs were associated to the traits: days to green maturity and leaf area, while 5 SSRs showed a strong association to salinity tolerance in general, explaining up to 22% of the phenotypic variation in the offsprings. The markers identified in our study suggested a large number of QTLs associated with the traits under study and salinity tolerance, more, these results demonstrate the presence of significant genetic variability between the different parental genotypes and their hybrids. This variability can facilitate genetic improvement and generate salinity-tolerant hybrids; using such genetic material will significantly increase yield in saline regions.

Conclusions

In our study we noticed that where the two parents (Coco Nain) and (Améliore Roza) were involved in a cross, the resulting hybrids exhibit a relative tolerance, sometimes even greater than that of their respective parents, displaying highly significant heterosis; these hybrids are very promising for developing new salt-tolerant varieties.

Genetic analysis results demonstrated the significant genetic diversity of the populations resulting from diallel crosses, this diversity is essential for the emergence of resistant genes not only for salinity but for any other form of stress. Several SSRs were highly associated with the different traits of our study, this indicates that one or more QTLs are located on the part where the SSRs are located. The present results have revealed that several of the hybrids and populations obtained are very promising for use in breeding programs for common bean cultivars, and which have strong genetic potentials for salinity tolerance. In addition, the SSRs identified are very promising for other subsequent studies investigating in more depth the location and the extent of the QTLs associated with these traits.

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1. Dr. Sushanta Saha

Assistant Professor (Agril. Chem. & Soil Science)

Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya,

Kalyani, Nadia,West Bengal-741 235, India

2. Ms. Samanyita Mohanty

Research Scholar (Agril. Chem. & Soil Science)

Dept. of Agril. Chem. & Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture,

Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya,

Mohanpur, West Bengal- 741 252, India

3. Dr. Bholanath Saha

Assistant Professor cum Junior Scientist (Soil Science & Agril. Chem.)

Dept. of Soil Science & Agril. Chem.,

Dr. Kalam Agricultural College, Bihar Agricultural University,

Kishanganj, Bihar- 855 107, India

4. Dr. Swapan Kumar Mukhopadhyay

Professor (Agronomy)

Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya,

Kalyani, Nadia,West Bengal-741 235, India

Background and Aims

Rice–wheat cropping system (RWCS) is the central agricultural production system occupies about 13.5 million hectares of prime agricultural land over the Indian subcontinent consisting of countries namely, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan and accounting for one-fourth to one-third of total food grain production (Abrol et al. 1997; Ladha et al. 2003). This particular cropping system covers about one-third of the total rice cultivation and two-fifths of the total wheat cultivation in the Indian subcontinent (Sharma et al. 2019). Measuring soil quality index (SQI) would be helpful for the interpretation of data from different soil parameters (physical, chemical and biological) and manifest whether crop management and land use are having the desired effects on system productivity, environmental protection as well as health (Granatstein and Bezdicek 1992). Therefore, in the present study an attempt has been made to (i) quantify the long-term chemical fertilization and organic amendments addition on soil quality and crop productivity, (ii) screen physical, chemical and biological indicators of soil quality in a 30 years old long-term rice–wheat cropping system and (iii) establish an overall SQI by using these indicators relevant to rice-wheat cropping systems.

Methods

The long-term experiment was started in1986 on an Inceptisols at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal, India (23°40’ latitude, 89°52’ longitude and 9.5 m above mean sea level) under the new alluvial soil zone. The experiment involving rice var. IET 4094 (IET 1444 upto 1997) and wheat var. UP-262 (Sonalika up to 1994) was laid out in randomized block design (RBD) with four replications and consisted of the following six treatment combinations viz. T₁ – fallow, T₂ – control, T₃ – 100% RDF to both rice and wheat, T₄ – 75% recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) + 25% N through FYM to rice and 75% RDF to wheat, T₅ – 75% RDF + 25% N through paddy straw (PS) to rice and 75% RDF to wheat, T₆ – 75% RDF + 25% N green manure (GM) to rice and 75% RDF to wheat. The soil samples were collected from each of the six plots and analysis were made for the biological attributes (microbial biomass carbon and N, mineralisable C and N, activities of dehydrogenase, aryl sulfatase, acid and alkaline phosphatise, urease enzymes), chemical attributes (pH, EC, soil organic C and total C, available N, P and K, available Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and B) and physical attributes (bulk density, water holding capacity and water stable aggregates. Saturated hydraulic conductivity was computed by using a pedo-transfer function as proposed by Naskar et al. (2010). Following the analysis, the soil quality index (SQI) was assessed following three steps: (1) optimizing appropriate indicators for a minimum data sets (MDS) using principal component analysis (PCA), (2) scoring and weighting assignment of the indicators, and (3) integrating the indicator scores and weight to form a SQI.

Results / Outcomes

Results indicated that application of NPK fertilizers in combination with organic amendments particularly FYM significantly increased the rice equivalent yield (REY) as well as sustainability (sustainable yield index or SYI) of the system along with substantial improvement in the soil physical, chemical and biological properties compared to the control and other combinations. The value of the dimensionless SQI varied from 1.95 in the control plot to 3.13 in the NPK+FYM. A greater SYI and SQI in the NPK+FYM treatment suggested that organic amendment particularly FYM in combination with chemical fertilizers has an edge over GM and PS. Among all the indicators (thirty) under study, the four soil quality indicators selected as the minimum data set (MDS) i.e. available-N, soil organic carbon, available-B, aryl-sulfatase which contributed 23.9, 29.4, 24.3, 22.4 per cent, respectively to the SQI in NPK+FYM treatment. While for the control plot, the corresponding contributions for those indicators were 22.7, 36.5, 15.5 and 25.3% respectively. Considering the NPK+FYM as ideal treatment, then SQI would decline to the tune of 23.3% when FYM was excluded from the treatment; consequently without the addition of NPK fertilizers and organics, it was further observed that the SQI would decline by 37.7%. This indicates that conjoint applications of NPK fertilizers along with organics like FYM are very crucial for maintaining and improving soil quality of the long-term rice-wheat system. It was further observed that Avail-N, SOC and Avail-B together contributed substantially to the SQI and ranged from 74.8 to 77.7% in control and NPK+FYM, respectively. It is well established that Avail-N plays a pivotal role in controlling the yield of both rice and wheat. It helps to maintain plant vigour by encouraging the vegetative growth as well as root biomass (Shahid et al. 2013), which in turn increases the SOC level and influences a broad range of physical, chemical and biological soil properties and is considered the most critical soil quality indicator (Carter et al. 1999). Accordingly B is the most important micronutrient limiting growth and yield of rice-wheat system of the Indo-gangetic plains of India (Saha et al. 2019) and wheat is one of the highly sensitive crops to its deficiency. The enzyme Aryl sulfatase also significantly contributed to SQI which ranged from 25.3% in control to 22.4 and 26.7% in NPK+FYM and NPK treatments, respectively. According to Frankenberger and Dick (1983) and Dick (1994) soil enzyme activity is regarded as a key contributor to overall soil microbial activity and soil quality.

Conclusions

The study indicated that PCA and multiple regression analysis based MDS selection can be used to obtain a set of variables relevant to soil quality determination which had direct relationships with management goal i.e. yield. Chemical and biological attributes were more sensitive than physical attributes in indicating differences in soil quality index and system yield. Among all the organics, inclusion of FYM with chemical fertilizers proved to be most efficient in maintaining higher SQI and for enhanced sustainability and productivity of the system. Out of the 30 attributes, available-N, soil organic carbon, available-B and aryl-sulfatase were screened as key indicators for assessment of soil quality of the rice-wheat cropping system in the Lower-gangetic plains of India.

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Weixiao Liu, PhD. Associate professor. The research interests is the safety evaluation of genetically modified crops and their products. In recent years, several papers have been published in EMBO J., EMBO Rep.,Sci Rep., Nat Commun., Cell Res., Autophagy and other international academic journals.

Background and Aims

Cry proteins are produced by Bacillus thuringiensis as parasporal crystals at the time of sporulation and are toxic to a wide range of lepidopteran pests. Cry1C has been successfully used in genetically modified (GM) crops to confer a higher level of protection. Here, we describe a sensitive double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) developed to detect Cry1C in GM crops and their products.

Methods

The His-Cry1C protein was over-expressed and purified. Monoclonal antibodies were raised against the purified His-Cry1C protein from mouse ascites, purified by saturated ammonium sulfate precipitation and protein A-sepharose columns, and then characterized.

Results / Outcomes

A sandwich ELISA was developed using the 5E10-1C6 monoclonal antibody for capture and the biotin-labeled 3H3-1D2 monoclonal antibody for detecting the Cry1C protein. The linear detection range of the method was approximately 0.2ng/mL-12.5ng/mL, with a sensitivity of 0.792ng/mL.

Conclusions

This newly developed ELISA method provides a sensitive technique for determining the Cry1C content in GM crops and their products.

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Norma Soledad Erazo Sandoval was born in Riobamba, Ecuador, in 1962. She is a professional researcher and principal professor at Escuela Superior Politecnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH), Ecuador. She holds a bachelor degree in agronomy, a Master's degree in Sciences, mention in Sustaible Agriculture at at ESPOCH; in 2017 Dr. Erazo got a PhD degree on Environmental Sciences from the National University of San Marcos, UNMSM, Peru. She has been the Head of the Agronomy Engineering Department at ESPOCH since November 2016.

Magdy Mileni Echeverría Guadalupe was born in Riobamba, Ecuador, in 1963. She is a professional researcher and principal professor at Escuela Superior Politecnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH), Ecuador. She holds a bachelor degree in Chemistry at ESPOCH; a Master's degree in Sciences, mention in Environmental Management at UNACH; she got a PhD degree on Environmental Sciences from the National University of San Marcos, UNMSM, Peru. She has been the President of Research and Development Group for the Environment and Climate Change (GIDAC).

Juan Carlos Manzano Ocaña was born in Riobamba, Ecuador, in 1993. He is an engineer graduated in Agronomy at ESPOCH. Since 2017, he has been working as a Researcher Technician in the Research and Development Group for the Environment and Climate Change (GIDAC) in the Faculty of Natural Resources at ESPOCH.

Gabriela Rosero Obando was born in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, she is an engineer graduated in Environmental Biotechnology at ESPOCH. She has been working as a researcher since 2017 in the Research and Development Group for the Environment and Climate Change (GIDAC); she was an international student in Biological Sciences at Brock University, Canadá under the ELAP 2017.

Background and Aims

Tomato is one of the most important agricultural items in Chimborazo Province, it is grown in greenhouses in Chambo and San Luis; and in open fields in Pallatanga, due to different climatic zones. However, intensive monoculture and the application of agrochemicals have caused alterations in soil microbiota; it's reflected in the high rates of pests, diseases and reduction of natural enemies. The rhizosphere is considered the area of greatest activity and microbial diversity, where microorganisms guarantee the stability and productivity of different ecosystems.

The 1.5 million species of fungi constitute the second most diverse microbiota portion yet to be discovered. Fungal metabolic activities depend on the surrounding conditions, determined by the physicochemical properties of the soil and by the other organisms that share the habitat. Several research works have been conducted in recent years to learn about the different microbiomes associated with different plants in different places around the world.

In Ecuador, molecular studies for the identification of microscopic fungi with potential for biological control associated with the rhizosphere of crops are considered a relatively new issue. In this paper, the functions of all fungi species molecularly characterized in nine tomato agroecosystems were determined through an exhaustive collection of information from recent years, also determining the population relationship present in each agroecosystem.

Methods

Composite samples of 500 g soil were taken to the first 30 cm deep from each of the 9 agroecosystems. For the next generation sequencing (NGS) the soil sample was homogenized and 200 mg were taken for DNA extraction, following the 16S Metagenomic Sequencing Library Preparation Part # 15044223 Rev. B protocol and mass sequencing on Illumina's MiSeq platform.

From the taxonomic profiles a general list of the fungal species were characterized in each agroecosystem, which were properly investigated, based on the literature reported to date, using scientific articles, books and postgraduate theses.

Results / Outcomes

In nine tomato agroecosystems, 86 beneficial fungi were identified with potential applications in the areas: agriculture, food, environment, biotechnology, industry and medicine; 112 pathogenic fungi for animals, humans and plants and 97 non-defined use species. Fungi with biological control in the nine agroecosystems are shown in the next table.

TABLE 1. Fungi to biological control molecularly characterized at the species level

In Ecuador, this is the first review within the context of the molecular characterization of fungi associated with the tomato rhizosphere, expanding knowledge and offering alternatives to the use of native beneficial fungi that can be isolated by defined methodologies, the vast majority of fungi found in the rizosphere are culturable.

All agroecosystems show a population imbalance of fungi, with the prevalence of pathogens. Tthe greatest proportional imbalance appears in PG03, which may be related to the excessive application of agrochemicals for tomato production.

TABLE 2. Number of phyla, species and percentage of beneficial, pathogens and non-defined use fungi.

Conclusions

In the nine agroecosystems, pathogenic fungi prevailed with an average percentage of 40.37%, beneficial fungi with 31.14% and non-defined use species with 28.48%. Among the phytopathogens of economic importance associated with the tomato rhizosphere Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, Pyrenochaeta lycopersici, among others were highlighted. Thirty two species of fungi adapted to anthropogenic pressure were used in crop-farming activities as a biological control. The PG01 strain caused 100% nematode mortality under in vitro conditions; it shows enhanced performance as the most promising nematophage fungus for the formulation of a bionematicide.

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Abdul Rahman Nurudeen is a Postdoctoral Fellow - Agronomy for Africa Research into Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) project with International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. He is a Ghanaian and has a PhD (2018) and MSC (2011) in Soil Science from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology - Ghana. He has published in major agronomy journals such Agronomy Journal, Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems Journal, Agronomy-Basel Journal, Agriculture and Natural Resource Journal, Journal of Agricultural Science, African Journal of Agricultural Research. His research focus is on soil fertility and plant nutrition management.

Background and Aims

Maize is major stable crop in Ghana which is replacing millet and sorghum in northern Ghana. However, average yield of maize is low due to low and declining soil fertility. A two-year study was conducted in the northern savanna of Ghana to determine the effect of interceding cowpea in maize-based cropping system on maize grain yield, weed biomass and soil quality index during 2017 and 2018 cropping seasons.

Methods

A factorial treatment combination of time of interceding cowpea as living mulch and maize maturity-types were laid in randomized complete block design with four replications. The time of interceding the cowpea were: control, maize with cowpea planted on the same day, maize with cowpea planted at 1 week after maize and maize with cowpea planted at 2 weeks after maize. The maize maturity-types include: extra-early (Abontem; 80-day), early (Omankwa; 90-day) and medium (Obatanpa; 120-day). We measured maize grain yield, weed biomass and used principal component and correlation analysis to select minimum data set from the total data set of soil properties measured to calculate soil quality index in both cropping seasons.

Results / Outcomes

Interceding cowpea in maize-based cropping system significantly increased maize grain yield by 35% in 2017 and 37% in 2018 cropping seasons than the control. It also reduced (P < 0.01) weed biomass by 71% and 85% relative to the control in 2017 and 2018 cropping seasons respectively. The soil quality index for interceding cowpea as living mulch in maize-based cropping system increased by 50% and 100% compared with the control during both seasons respectively. The maize maturity-type had significant effect on grain yield in 2017 cropping season with the early maturity-type producing the highest grain yield.

Conclusions

The results suggest that small scale maize farmers should consider interceding cowpea as mulch in maize-based cropping system to increased maize grain yield, improve weed suppression and soil quality in northern savanna of Ghana and similar agro-ecologies in West Africa.

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Author 1. Dr. Bholanath Saha, Asstt. Prof. (Soil Science), Dr. Kalam Agricultural College, Bihar Agricultural University, Kishanganj, Bihar - 855 107, India

Author 2. Dr. Sushanta Saha, Asstt. Prof. (Soil Science), Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, West Bengal - 741 235, India

Author 3. Dr. Susmit Saha, Asstt. Prof. (Soil Science), College of Agriculture, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Burdwan Sadar, West Bengal - 713 101, India

Author 4. Dr. Vidya Bhushan Jha, Assoc. Prof. (Plant Breeding & Genetics), Dr. Kalam Agricultural College, Bihar Agricultural University, Kishanganj, Bihar - 855 107, India

Author5. Prof. Gora Chand Hazra, Professor (Soil Science), Directorate of Research, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, West Bengal - 741 235, India

Background and Aims

Widespread Zn and Fe deficiency in lowland rice fields not only hamper crop yield but also produce Zn starved food products derived from the grains. Such situation drives the population to poor Zn nutrition. Zinc deficiency in humans caused by inadequate dietary intake is a global health problem particularly in developing countries. Screening suitable cultivars with low phytic acid content may be the option to secure Zn bioavailability in human diets. Zinc loading in the cereal grains, however, can succeed through agronomic biofortification of Zn with some subsequent changes in other parameters like a possible depletion in Fe content, a reduction in phytate content and an increase in protein content. Our present study, therefore, hypothesized that application of Zn fertilizer in rice through basal and/or foliar is able to produce Zn dense grain associated with some alterations in Fe, phytic acid and crude protein. Furthermore, we premised a loss of Zn on processing of brown rice to milled rice (white rice) due to removal of aleurone and a part of embryo in the form of bran.

Methods

Field experiments were conducted during wet seasons of the consecutive two years (Kharif 2011and 2012) on an Aeric Endoaquept (pH 6.73) aimed to investigate the possibility of increasing Zn and Fe bioavailability in twenty six popularly grown rice cultivars (viz. locals, aromatics, HYVs and hybrids) in Indian Inceptisol by external application of Zn though soil and/or foliar means. The soil was clay loam in texture with i) neutral pH i.e. 6.73 (soil:water :: 1:2.5), ii) higher in oxidizable organic carbon i.e. 8.9 g kg^-1, iii) higher in DTPA extractable Fe, Cu and Mn content i.e. 215.8, 6.0 and 16.0 mg kg^-1 respectively, but iv) marginally deficient in DTPA extractable Zn content i.e. 0.7 mg kg^-1. The seeds of twenty six rice varieties with a wide genetic variation including two locals, four aromatic, seventeen high yielding varieties (HYVs) and three hybrids Harvested whole grains of rice cultivars were processed to brown rice and analysed for Zn, Fe, phytic acid and crude protein contents.

Results / Outcomes

Results showed that the concentration of native Zn in brown rice was higher in aromatic cultivars (32.0 mg kg^-1) followed by HYVs (29.3 mg kg^-1), locals (29.0 mg kg^-1) and hybrids (25.9 mg kg^-1). On an average, Zn concentration in brown rice of the tested cultivars varied from 22.9 mg kg^-1 to 79.7 mg kg^-1 with a mean value of 40.3 mg kg^-1. Results also showed that Zn content in brown rice varied significantly not only among the cultivars but also within the selected categories (local, aromatic, high yielding and hybrid). Application of Zn showed a significant variation within the categories and the enrichment of Zn was higher on its application through soil plus foliar than only soil. On an average, Zn concentration in brown rice increased to the tune of 17% and 95% upon Zn application through only basal and soil+foliar application respectively over control across the tested cultivars. Results showed that Zn application caused a decrease in phytic acid:Zn molar ratio to the magnitude of 64% upon soil plus foliar application of Zn, whereas 23% upon only soil application of Zn. Such decrease in phytate Zn molar ratio in brown rice was higher in HYV followed by locals, aromatics and hybrids thus increased the bioavailability of Zn in brown rice. It has been observed that such decrease was maximized with the cultivars GB2, GB1, PHB 71 and KRH 2 and PA 6444. Application of Zn fertilizers reduced the level of phytic acid in brown rice with a concomitant increase in Zn content. This, in turn, reduced the P/Zn molar ratio on Zn fertilization below 15:1 in all the rice cultivars tested to improve Zn bioavailability in human. An antagonistic effect was observed on the iron content in brown rice upon application of Zn. The decrease in iron concentration in brown rice was higher with soil plus foliar application of Zn than with only soil application.

Conclusions

Enrichment of rice with Zn through agronomic biofortification can be a good choice to overcome the problem. The aromatic and local rice cultivars are inherently rich in Zn. Zinc fertilization is an effective tool to increase grain Zn concentration and productivity of rice, particularly in the areas deficient in plant available Zn. Zinc application through soil and foliar caused a significant decrease in phytate/Zn as well as phytate/Fe molar ratio in brown rice with a few exception to improve Zn and Fe bioavailability in human.Thus it can be opined that application of Zn through soil plus foliar means could be a useful strategy to reduce the phytate:Zn molar ratio in brown rice and thus enhancing its bioavailability to the ultimate end users.

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Gopi Ramasamy heads the CABI center for South Asia as the Regional Director. As a development professional with over 20 years of experience in various institutions, he has been responsible for designing and implemeting development projects accorss the country

Vinod Pandit is a plant pathologist and leads the Plantwise Programme for South Asia. Previosly he has worked with premier trade insitutions in India including APEDA.

Kritika Khanna is a development professional with over 10 years of experience, having wokred in various institiuions including the World Bank and CIMMYT. Currently she works in the project development team of CABI and was also coordinating the ICT work mentioned in the abstract

Background and Aims

Agriculture continues to be an important sector and a major growth driver in India with a majority of the rural population dependent on it. Despite a five-fold increase in food grain production in the last 6 decades, India still shoulders a quarter of the global hunger burden. New challenges such as climate change induced uncertainty and new pests and diseases (incuding invasives such as Fall armyworm) continue to emerge and hamper the overall agriculture growth. Further, factors such as a declining natural resource availability, and increasing population burden continue to add to the complexity. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) in agriculture have the potential to increase the efficiency, productivity and sustainability of agriculture through provision of timely and cost-effective information at scale to a variety of stakeholders involved in the productionand trade pf agriculture commodities.

In this paper, we seek to illustrate the potential role of ICTs in food safety and connecting smallholder farmers to agriculture value chains. We argue that developing solution architecture, leveraging and innovating existing well established programmes can play a strong role to expose farmers to the much-needed agricultural information (i.e., preharvest and post-harvest information, pricing, weather conditions etc.) and improve transaction efficiencies. Information on quality aspects and market information is another lacuna currently faced by the Indian farmers that can be resolved by correct use of ICTs. Establishing a food traceability system is also crucial to bolster market /consumer level confidence and address the documentation and compliance requirements (including SPS) required under multinational and bilateral trade agreements. As a part of a small pilot, CABI tested an ICT platform that captured comprehensive geo-tagged information of farms and farmers and attempted to understand the potential of amalgamating ICT based platforms in an existing programme with an objective to ultimately strengthen value chains of safe food.

Methods

The approach was tested with 7 Farmer Producer Organizations each having a member base of approximately 1000 farmers each, with atleast 30% representation of women farmers in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu, India. A batch of 25 plant doctors were trained on the use of the tools, including field data collection and geo-tagging. The Plant Doctors then pilot tested the app in the field with 512 representative farmers selected through purposive random sampling, capturing detailed and geo-tagged farm and farmer information. This included comprehensive details of the farmer including socio-economic indicators. Farm details such as size, crops grown (past and current), soil information, varieties grown, cultivation practices, crop management practices (sowing dates, fertigation schedule etc.), details on livestock, use of implements etc. were captured. Post-harvest practices and product logistics were also analysed to understand the various transactions in the value chain and scope of digitization. Further, Plant clinics were also used for ground truthing and validation. The initiative provided useful insights on the potential of an auxiliary and complementary platform to an existing global programme - Plantwise as a central component to strengthen food safety and traceability at the field level on one hand and virtual aggregation and market access opportunities on the other.

Results / Outcomes

The study demonstrated the potential and role of ICTs backed by a robust field advisory system for facilitating market responsive production of safe food. The challenges and opportunities impacting trade on three major areas were identified: production of safe and quality food; supply continuity and logistics; and market responsiveness and alignment to demand. In terms of production of safe food and food quality, owing to low levels of awareness on food safety aspects and compliances; and the target market being only domestic, a demonstrated need for safe food was not existing. Thus, awareness creation by Plant Doctors was undertaken extensively. This also highlighted the role of Plantwise programme beyond pest and disease management and demonstrated its importance and relevance in promoting the production and trade of safe food. It is envisaged that the learnings would be incorporated in future projects. The logistics and current supply chains were also analyzed using geo-tagged data based on actual crops sown and current point of sales, showing real time data on crops at various stages for proper harvest planning and planned marketing. This also facilitated a map view of the harvested produce and facilitated logistic planning for the markets. Market confidence through establishment was also attempted through the establishment of a basic QR code based and FPO level traceability system. With the platform having both static and dynamic data, and through onboarding of various kinds of stakeholders, a preliminary connect between producers (FPO level) and buyers was also established.

Conclusions

ICT holds a strong potential in delivering development impacts at scale and bringing together the various stakeholders in agriculture value chains. While several barriers exist such as ICT illiteracy and willingness for adoption and information sharing, especially when there is no tangible incentive to do so; innovative mechanisms such as community-based approaches and high levels of youth involvement offer a promising solution for ICTs to function more effectively and deliver development impacts and transformations.

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Aditi Joshi is a PhD student in Nutrition at Kadi Sarva Vishwavidyalaya, LDRP - ITR. She is also working as the Assistant Professor in Swarrnim startup and innovation university. Her work consists in providing Food and Agriculture department to support Economic growth of country. she looks forward to learning more about sustainable smart Agriculture system with Deep Learning approaches and on other country practices, to get a better understanding of the international situation and be able to share the experience and knowledge.

Background and Aims

One of the greatest strength of the Indian Economy is Agriculture. According to the report of the Food and Agriculture department, approximately 70 percent of the population from rural India is totally dependent on Agriculture. Every year, India produces average 275 million tonnes of the food grain. One of the main sectors of Agriculture is Crops. The main purpose of this research is to develop an effective method for crop protection through technology.

Plant diseases often lead to crop damage. Some of the common causes of plant diseases are pathogenic agents. Some of the microorganisms responsible for the plants diseases are Fungi, Bacteria, Mycoplasmas, and Nematodes. While some of the common plants diseases are Anthracnose, Apple Scab, Black Knot, Bacterial Canker, Blossom End Rot, Brown Rot, Cedar Apple Rust, Clubroot, Corn Smut, Crown Gall, Damping off, Early Blight, Gray Mold, Leaf Curl & Spots, Rust, Powdery Mildew and etc. Some of the methods used to analyze the plant diseases are Polymerase Chain Reaction, Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization, Immunofluorescence, Flow Cytometry, Thermography and Fluorescence Imaging.

Research Objectives :

To design general-purpose model or optimum flow for the problem statements.

Design Crop Analysis algorithm

Plant extraction by analyzing the leaf colour

Pest identification & control treatment

To evaluate plant extraction based on colour indices.

Design plant nutrition and water level maintenance algorithm

To develop a novel Algorithm for insect pest identification in the various crop.

To provide a learning agent that can aid in taking decisions to make farming more efficient and profitable through technology.

Methods

Problem Analysis

Step 1: Plant Classification

Step 2: Health Analysis of the Plant through the photograph

Step 3: Water level of the plant and requirement

Step 4: Requirement of micronutrients for suitable Crop

Step 5: Types of possible diseases (It may vary based on the type of plants and also the season)

Step 6: Identification of Insect Pest infection in various crops

Agriculture is very important to the human continued existence and remains a key driver of many economies worldwide,
especially in underdeveloped and developing economies. There is an increasing demand for food and cash crops, due to the
increase in world population and the challenges enforced by climate modifications, there is an urgent need to increase plant
production while reducing costs.

To solve the above problems, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) algorithms, a deep learning technique extensively applied for crop image recognition, Identification of Insect Pest infection in various crops.

Results / Outcomes

Deep learning approach to learn discriminative features from crop images with classifiers for crop identification. From the experimental results, we justified that learning the features through CNN can provide better feature representation for crop images compared to hand-crafted features.

Conclusions

However, most of the farmers are unaware of those scientific method and often adopt naked eye method. Naked Eye approach is based on the telescopic or microscopic visual perception to determine the overall health of the plant. The downside of Naked Eye Approach is, it is often too late or hard to determine the disease at early stage and take appropriate action. In my opinion, through Artificial Intelligence approach it will be easier for farmers to determine the health of the crop, Pest insect identification in crops and they will also save time going through all the procedures and may save extra money. In addition, it is very expensive as it requires continuous monitoring by the experts. Hence, machine learning. A reliable prediction methodology is used for detecting various diseases of plant leaves caused by fungus, bacteria and virus. However, disease prediction using classification algorithms appears to be a difficult task as the accuracy varies for different input data.

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Dr. Kazam Ali, Biocontrol Research Officer, CABI - Pakistan

Abdul Rehman, Deputy Director Programme, CABI - Pakistan

Dr. Philip Weyl, Weed Biological Control Scientist, CABI - Switzerland

Background and Aims

Invasive alien species (IAS) pose a serious threat to food security, biodiversity, human and animal health and economic development. To combat the issues of IAS CAB International (CABI) has launched a unique, global programme “Action on Invasives”. Parthenium is invasive in Asia, eastern and southern Africa and Australia, causing severe economic losses.

Methods

Under AoI programme, CABI Centre in Rawalpindi, Pakistan are targeting the invasive plant Parthenium hysterophorus, using imported natural enemy Listronotus setosipennis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), a stem boring weevil. The weevil oviposits in flowers of P. hysterophorus and developing larvae tunnel in the stems, causing structural damage and wilting of weed. This weevil was imported to quarantine facility newly established at CABI Pakistan centre from Agriculture Research Council, South Africa for host range testing against the selected common crops of the asteraceae family.

Results / Outcomes

The host specificity tests of weevil are under studies against non-target plant species. The preliminary studies indicates that the weevil is safe for non-target plants as it reported no ovi-position in Cosmos, Merigold and Chrysanthemum plant species and a non-significant ovi-position in 10 hybrids of sunflower was noticed. The plants in which non significant ovi-position of tested bio-control agent were noticed are under larval development tests, which will be followed by risk assessment tests.

Conclusions

Based on these and other host range tests, permission will be obtained from relevant authorities for field releases of L. setosipennis in Pakistan. The release of stem boring weevil for the management of P. hysterophorus will prove an ecofriendly approach and will strengthen the bio-control programme in Pakistan.

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Abdul Rehman

Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International. Street 1A, Data Gunj Bakhsh road Rawalpindi, Pakistan. 46300

Background and Aims

A geospatial based study of the phenological behavior of Parthenium hysterophrous is obligatory to cope with its hazard and proliferation in the environment. This study was done in order to improve the methods for mapping the Parthenium using remote sensing technology.

Methods

Parthenium hysterophorus was sown in 6 phases with the interval of 2 weeks in order to capture the different phenological stages at the same time. A custom designed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) deployable multispectral camera capable of capturing high spatial resolution dataset and mid-range spatial resolution Sentinel 2 satellite were utilized to acquire multispectral imagery. The Sentinel-2 Satellite has a resolution of 10m x 10 m at best; therefore, the custom sensor was used to capture higher resolution dataset. The center wavelength of this sensor is aligned to the Sentinel-2 satellite thus we were able get high resolution images in the same frequency bands. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) were used to process the multispectral data from the UAV mounted sensor to produce the time series phenological maps. A correlation model was used to link the produced phenological maps with satellite based vegetation trends.

Results / Outcomes

As compared to a Support Vector Machine (SVM), a CNNs produced more accurate results.

Conclusions

The basic purpose of our study is to provide improved methods for mapping and monitoring the distribution of Parthenium in crops. Parthenium distribution data collected during the study will be available for use by policy makers for decision making in agriculture, livestock, and health.