Knowledge Management Portal

The presence of pollinating insects in crop fields is an essential factor for agricultural production and pollinator conservation. Agricultural intensification has been identified as a driver of pollinator decline over the last decades and challenges the efficiency of pollination. Several approaches are used to support pollinators and their ecosystem services, notably reward-based wildflower strips. ‘Farming with Alternative Pollinators’ (FAP) aims to attract and sustain pollinators using marketable habitat enhancement plants (MHEP) in the field borders instead of wildflowers. These MHEP are selected in conjunction with farmers. We tested here whether the FAP approach increases diversity and abundance of flower visitors in melon fields in a semi-arid landscape in Morocco. Moreover, we examined whether MHEP increase flower-visitor abundance in melon flowers. We recorded a total of 1330 insect specimens including 573 specimens of wild bees. Lasioglossum malachurum was the major flower visitor in melon and several MHEP. As flower-visitor abundance and diversity in FAP fields were higher than in control fields, we conclude that FAP can be a valuable approach for pollinator protection in agro-ecosystems; 16.5% of wild bees and wasps showed spillover from the field borders to the melon fields.

Community Visioning for Agroecological Practices and Transition Pathways in the Tunisian Agroecological Living Landscape "Kef-Seliana Transect".

With current trends of increasing population, decreasing arable land, and a low yearly increment rate of cereal productivity, Nepal has an annual deficit of >1.3 million tons of edible rice, wheat, and maize. This indicates the urgent need for demand-led agricultural interventions for improving cereals productivity for food security. Crop simulation models and DSS tools have potential to predict potential yields, identify yield gaps, and help make decisions for improved crop, nutrient, water and pest management. Models can assess the impact of climate change, and help develop adaptation and mitigation measures to lesses the impact of climate change. To date, no review work has been conducted on the potential applications of crop simulation models and their relevance in Nepal. The objective of this chapter is to review and synthesize the relevant studies on the development and application of crop simulation models for major cereal crops: rice, wheat, and maize. We reviewed around 95 published papers and reports from South Asia and Nepal available in Scopus, SpringerLink, and ScienceDirect using the Google search engine. Analysis revealed that yield gaps (potential minus farmers' field yields) of 4.9–9.0, 3.1–6.9, and 4.5–12.5 t ha−1 exist in rice, wheat, and maize crops, respectively. For achieving self-sufficiency in cereal grains, the average national productivity of rice, wheat, and maize needs to be increased to 5.7, 3.9, and 4.9 t ha−1, respectively by 2030. Based on the review, climate change has both positive and negative consequences on cereal production across all agro-ecological zones. Crop simulation models have been applied for enhancing crop productivity and exploring adaptation strategies for climate change resilience. Models can generate various recommendations related to biophysical factors: crop, water, tillage, nutrient, and pest management, crop yield, and weather forecasting. Furthermore, models have shown the potential to determine the effects of climate change on crop productivity across a range of environments in Nepal. In conclusion, crop simulation models could be useful decision support tools for policy planning and implementation, increasing efficiency in research, prioritizing research and extension interventions for increasing crop yields, and the way forward to achieve food and nutritional security and some of the Sustainable Development Goals (particularly #1, #2 and #13).

More than 1,300 pests and pathogens threaten crops globally, with an estimated economic impact of around $540 billion annually. The severe damage inflicted by introduced pests and pathogens represents a serious threat to food systems and biodiversity. Unregulated germplasm transfers and exchanges have been recognized as an essential pathway for spreading pests and pathogens through human collection and distribution activities (moving pests between geographies and introducing them into new regions where they did not exist before). The spread of pests has increased dramatically in recent years through the agricultural trade and unintentional movement of infected living materials (e.g. infected seed, tissue culture materials), climatic factors (e.g. wind, rainfall), and insect or other vectors. Therefore, extreme care is required to ensure that the exchanged germplasm is pest-free. The Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR) have established Germplasm Health Units (GHUs) to guarantee the safe movement of plant materials, along with compliance with the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) procedures and the International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) applied by National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) to prevent the introduction and control the spread of pests along with plants or plant products. To safeguard countries from quarantine risks (e.g. transmission of insect pests, pathogens and weeds) associated with the movement of germplasm, ICARDA’s GHUs follow a regulatory and quarantine program working in close collaboration with competent institutions where ICARDA has platforms for crop breeding, germplasm multiplication, evaluation and genetic resources. ICARDA’s GHUs are responsible for the monitoring, clearance and documentation of safe germplasm movement at the center, and share the updated technology with NPPOs in the host countries and farmers. To produce high-quality and healthy seed, farmers should apply the following practices at different crop stages: (i) before planting, planting in regions with minimum disease pressure, properly applying crop rotations, using certified seed, avoiding local or unknown seed sources, etc.; (ii) during crop establishment, undertaking field inspections to eradicate infected plants as soon as observing abnormal symptoms, applying pesticides at the most appropriate timing to prevent pest emergence, implementing weed control, etc.); and (iii) at the end of the season, using good harvesting machines and seed cleaning techniques, applying fumigation, ensuring good storage conditions, etc.). Additionally, farmers should be encouraged to collaborate by delivering samples for testing, from their fields and harvested materials, to the official authorities at the end of the season. In the case of detecting new emerging pests, it is the farmer’s responsibility to notify NPPOs of any unusual symptoms or signs in the field, and they should follow the instructions of NPPOs, especially in case of eradication. Moreover, trading infected seed and keeping them as planting material for the next season should be prohibited. The farmer is the connector between the plant and NPPOs to identify any unknown symptoms or signs in the field, conduct regular field visits to observe the plant health status, and take action in case of any invasive new pest. To ensure reports from farmers on pest outbreaks are as timely, honest and transparent as possible, proper communication channels and support mechanisms (i.e. lowering the economic loss in case of yield losses due to pest outbreaks) need to be put in place, establishing a sense of collaboration.

In Morocco, the intensive use of agricultural land coupled with irregular precipitation is a serious threat to the country’s food security. Conservation agriculture especially no-tillage (NT) system has shown an important result in the semi-arid regions of Morocco, but its dissemination to other, more humid, agro-ecological zones (precipita tion > 350 mm) is still low. For this purpose, a field experiment under NT system has been installed since 2004 in the Zaer Plateau (Central Morocco) to study the adaptation of this system to the irregular rainfall compared to a conventional tillage (CT). Yields (grain and biomass) of crops (wheat and lentil) under NT and CT were analyzed and compared over the years of study. The ANOVA test showed that yields over the seven years were significantly different and that both crop yields under NT system were greater than or equal to those under CT system even though lentil is more vulnerable to extreme climate events under CT and NT systems. Unlike NT, yields under CT were significantly correlated with the rainfall amount received during the crop cycle. This indicates the dependence of CT precipitation, whereas NT is more adaptable to the irregularities of the climate in the study area.

Barley leaf rust caused by Puccinia hordei (Ph) is one of the major limiting biotic stresses of barley production worldwide and causes yield losses of up to 60%. A diversity panel of 316 barley genotypes (AM2017) composed of released cultivars, advanced breeding lines and landraces was screened for Ph resistance at the seedling stage using two isolates (SRT-SAT and SRT-MRC), while the adult plant stage resistance screening was conducted at the disease hotspot location of Sidi Allal Tazi (SAT) for the cropping seasons of 2017 and 2019. The phenotypic responses were combined with 36,793 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using the general linear model (GLM), mixed linear model (MLM), settlement of MLM under progressively exclusive relationship (SUPER), multiple-locus MLM (MLMM), fixed and random model circulating probability unification (FarmCPU), and Bayesian-information and linkage-disequilibrium iteratively nested keyway (BLINK) in GAPIT3, and MLM (K+Q), MLM (K+PCA), and GLM (Q) models in TASSEL to identify genomic regions linked to Ph resistance. Fourteen barley genotypes were resistant (R) at the seedling stage to both Ph isolates, SRT-SAT and SRT-MRC, and twelve genotypes were either resistant (R) or moderately resistant (MR) at the adult plant stage, whereas only one genotype was resistant at the seedling stage, and moderately resistant at the adult plant stage. The genome scan revealed 58 significant marker trait associations (MTA) among which 34 were associated with seedling resistance (SR) and 24 with adult plant resistance (APR). Common genomic regions conferring resistance to Ph were identified at both stages on chromosome 2H (106.53 cM and at 107.37 cM), and on chromosome 7H (126.7 cM). Among the 58 MTA identified, 26 loci had been reported in previous studies, while the remaining 32 loci were regarded as novel. Furthermore, the functional annotation of candidate genes (CGs) adjacent to 36 SNP markers with proteins involved in disease resistance further confirms that some of the SNP markers from our study could be associated with Ph resistance in barley. The resistant barley genotypes and some of the SNP markers from this study with high R2 and additive effects can be converted into high-throughput functional markers for accelerated selection and pyramiding of leaf rust resistance genes in North African barley germplasm.

The meeting was organized by CIP and ICARDA to prioritise genetic innovation product profiles and demand creation for newly released varieties and to work out a participatory multistakeholder process for local seed businesses of less commercial crops. The meeting was held in a conference room with online participation by CIP and ICARDA representatives, who delivered the presentations for the participants and were actively engaged in the discussion. From the Uzbekistan side, the meeting was attended by representatives of different state and academic institutions and INGOs. Up to 30 people participated in the meeting. During the meeting, the simultaneous English-Russian-Uzbek translation was organised for all presentations, as well as for the discussion and Q&A sessions.

As the SKiM Project concludes, focus is increased in documenting the approaches, resources needed, and conditions towards successful project results turnover, and takeover of the initiative by stakeholders. This Exit Strategy for Sustainability of Knowledge Management Strengthening Interventions presents what SKiM has delivered towards ensuring project results are taken up by stakeholders, and that these takeover institutions are able to maintain their new level of KM capabilities more independently. The objectives of this document are: 1. To elaborate the enabling conditions that facilitate the sustainability of SKiM Project results by takeover institutions; 2. to present the knowledge and information resources available to the project stakeholders as they implement processes within a better knowledge management competency level; 3. to outline the activities within the scope of SKiM implementation; 4. to present adminstrative and logistic phasing out exercises.