Is investment in Climate-Smart-agricultural practices the option for the future? Cost and benefit analysis evidence from Ghana.

A majority of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries depend to a large extent on agriculture for food security and income. Efforts aimed at improving farm-related profitability are therefore important to improving livelihoods among smallholder farmers. In Ghana, for example, smallholder farmers that depend on agriculture face serious risks especially those related to climate change and variability and soil degradation.

Field-transcriptome analyses reveal developmental transitions during flowering in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz).

We characterized genes that function in the photoperiodic flowering pathway in cassava. Transcriptome analysis of field-grown plants revealed characteristic expression patterns of these genes, demonstrating that field-grown cassava experiences two distinct developmental transitions. Cassava is an important crop for both edible and industrial purposes.

NAC Candidate Gene Marker for and Interaction With QTL for Resistance to in Common Bean.

Genetic resistance is the primary means for control of (BGYMV) in common bean (). Breeding for resistance is difficult because of sporadic and uneven infection across field nurseries. We sought to facilitate breeding for BGYMV resistance by improving marker-assisted selection (MAS) for the recessive gene and identifying and developing MAS for quantitative trait loci (QTL) conditioning resistance.

Crop photoperiodism model 2.0 for the flowering time of sorghum and rice that includes daily changes in sunrise and sunset times and temperature acclimation.

Background And Aims: Daylength determines flowering dates. However, questions remain regarding flowering dates in the natural environment, such as the synchronous flowering of plants sown simultaneously at highly contrasting latitudes. The daily change in sunrise and sunset times is the cue for the flowering of trees and for the synchronization of moulting in birds at the equator.

VNTR Typing of the Bacterial Rice Pathogen Reveals the Coexistence of Several Diverging Lineages in a Single Field in Colombia.

is responsible for the panicle blight disease of rice. This disease is present worldwide and can result in significant drop in yields. To estimate the genetic diversity of the bacterial strains present in a rice paddy field in Colombia, we sampled 109 strains from infected panicles.

Genetic Analyses and Genomic Predictions of Root Rot Resistance in Common Bean Across Trials and Populations.

Root rot in common bean is a disease that causes serious damage to grain production, particularly in the upland areas of Eastern and Central Africa where significant losses occur in susceptible bean varieties. spp. and spp.

Near-infrared spectroscopy applications for high-throughput phenotyping for cassava and yam: A review.

The review aimed to identify the different high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) techniques that used for quality evaluation in cassava and yam breeding programmes, and this has provided insights towards the development of metrics and their application in cassava and yam improvements. A systematic review of the published research articles involved the use of NIRS in analysing the quality traits of cassava and yam was carried out, and Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Sciences and Google Scholar were searched. The results of the review established that NIRS could be used in understanding the chemical constituents (carbohydrate, protein, vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, moisture, starch, etc.

Identification of critical versus robust processing unit operations determining the physical and biochemical properties of cassava-based semolina (gari).

The gari-making process involves several unit operations (U.O.), some of which strongly influence the quality of the end product.

Rheological and textural properties of lafun, a stiff dough, from improved cassava varieties.

We studied the textural and rheological (viscoelastic) properties of fresh lafun dough, a fermented cassava product, and their changes during storage at 45 °C for 5 and 24 h, in order to determine after-cooking storability. Lafun flours were produced from three types of cassava varieties: seven improved white-fleshed varieties, seven improved provitamin A carotenoids (pVAC) varieties and two local white-fleshed varieties; and processed into lafun doughs. Pasting properties of the flours were assessed.

A review of cassava semolina (gari and eba) end-user preferences and implications for varietal trait evaluation.

The purpose of this review is to support breeders and food scientists by examining research carried out on end-user preferences for gari and its derived dough product, eba, in Africa. The review focused on gari regarding the physical and chemical composition of raw cassava roots, methods of storage, the composition of gari with or without enrichment, and the sensory evaluation of gari and eba. The primary sensory attributes identified to describe gari are colour, taste, texture, aroma and flavour.

Correlation of cooking time with water absorption and changes in relative density during boiling of cassava roots.

Consumers prefer cassava roots that cook quickly during boiling. Current methods to evaluate cooking time (CT) are slow and labour-intensive. This article describes improved protocols for assessing CT in roots.

Physicochemical and physiological changes during the ripening of Banana ( fruit grown in Colombia.

The physicochemical and physiological attributes of three contrasting commercial varieties of Dominico Harton (plantain), Guineo (cooking banana) and Gros Michel (dessert banana), were evaluated and statistically analysed during post-harvest ripening. Quality attributes differed markedly among varieties, both in fresh fruits and during ripening. Variety (V) had a significant effect ( < 0.

A review of varietal change in roots, tubers and bananas: consumer preferences and other drivers of adoption and implications for breeding.

This review of the literature on varietal change in sub-Saharan Africa looks in detail at adoption of new varieties of bananas in Uganda, cassava in Nigeria, potato in Kenya, sweetpotato in Uganda and yams in Côte d'Ivoire. The review explored three hypotheses about drivers of varietal change. There was a strong confirmation for the hypothesis that insufficient priority given to consumer-preferred traits by breeding programmes contributes to the limited uptake of modern varieties (MVs) and low varietal turnover.

Climate-smart cowpea adoption and welfare effects of comprehensive agricultural training programs.

Agricultural training programs remain one of the primary mechanisms for disseminating modern and climate-smart technologies with the aim to improve the welfare outcomes of smallholder farmers. With persistent low agricultural productivity in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), the content, effectiveness, and mode of delivery of training programs remain a debate. In this paper, we examine the adoption, productivity, and income effects of participating in a novel comprehensive agricultural training program (CATP) involving cowpea farmers in northern Ghana by using the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model.

Farmers' perceptions of navy bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production constraints, preferred traits and farming systems and their implications on bean breeding: a case study from South East Lowveld region of Zimbabwe.

Background: Navy bean is an important legume crop in Zimbabwe. Although its production in Zimbabwe is limited by multiple constraints including biotic, abiotic and socio-economic, there is no documented evidence. Thus, this study aimed at identifying farmers' production constraints, preferred traits and cultivars of navy bean, and strategies used to mitigate some of these constraints.

Estimating spatially distributed SOC sequestration potentials of sustainable land management practices in Ethiopia.

The sustainable land management program (SLMP) of Ethiopia aims to improve livelihoods and create resilient communities and landscape to climate change. Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration is one of the key co-benefits of the SLMP. The objective of this study was to estimate the spatial dynamics of SOC in 2010 and 2018 (before and after SLMP) and identify the SOC sequestration hotspots at landscape scale in four selected SLMP watersheds in the Ethiopian highlands.

Efficient -mediated Transformation of The Elite- Rice Variety Komboka.

Genetic transformation is crucial for both investigating gene functions and for engineering of crops to introduce new traits. Rice ( L.) is an important model in plant research, since it is the staple food for more than half of the world's population.

Genetic Architecture and Genomic Prediction of Cooking Time in Common Bean ( L.).

Cooking time of the common bean is an important trait for consumer preference, with implications for nutrition, health, and environment. For efficient germplasm improvement, breeders need more information on the genetics to identify fast cooking sources with good agronomic properties and molecular breeding tools. In this study, we investigated a broad genetic variation among tropical germplasm from both Andean and Mesoamerican genepools.

DNA fingerprinting reveals varietal composition of Vietnamese cassava germplasm (Manihot esculenta Crantz) from farmers' field and genebank collections.

A molecular analysis using informative SNP markers in 1570 clones of cassava from Vietnam reveals varietal composition from farmers' field and genebank collections Cassava is the most important smallholder cash crops in Southeast Asia and is especially used in industrial products. Yet, systematic genetic studies on molecular markers from Vietnamese germplasm have not been considered for breeding and conservation programs. We conducted a molecular analysis of 1570 clones of cassava germplasm from farms across six agro-ecological zones using informative SNP markers.

Phytosanitary Interventions for Safe Global Germplasm Exchange and the Prevention of Transboundary Pest Spread: The Role of CGIAR Germplasm Health Units.

The inherent ability of seeds (orthodox, intermediate, and recalcitrant seeds and vegetative propagules) to serve as carriers of pests and pathogens (hereafter referred to as pests) and the risk of transboundary spread along with the seed movement present a high-risk factor for international germplasm distribution activities. Quarantine and phytosanitary procedures have been established by many countries around the world to minimize seed-borne pest spread by screening export and import consignments of germplasm. The effectiveness of these time-consuming and cost-intensive procedures depends on the knowledge of pest distribution, availability of diagnostic tools for seed health testing, qualified operators, procedures for inspection, and seed phytosanitation.

Heat stress will detrimentally impact future livestock production in East Africa.

Climate change-induced increases in temperature and humidity are predicted to impact East African food systems, but the extent to which heat stress negatively affects livestock production in this region is poorly understood. Here we use ERA-Interim reanalysis data to show that the frequency of 'Severe/Danger' heat events for dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep, goats, swine and poultry significantly increased from 1981 to 2010. Using a multi-model ensemble of climate change projections for 2021-2050 and 2071-2100 (under representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.

Psychological Factors Influencing Pro-environmental Behavior in Developing Countries: Evidence From Colombian and Nicaraguan Students.

Identifying the determinants of human behavior is useful to adjust interventions and lead the civil society toward a stronger commitment to climate change (CC) mitigation and adaptation objectives, achieving greater support for successfully implementing environmental policies. Existing research has largely focused on case studies of pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) in developed economies but there is very little evidence for developing countries. This study provides estimations of the effect of internal factors, such as sociodemographic variables, and four psychological dimensions (CC knowledge, environmental attitudes, self-efficacy, and trust in sources of environmental information) on PEBs.