Sustainable maize intensification through site-specific nutrient management advice: Experimental evidence from Nigeria

Miet Maertens Oyakhilomen Oyinbo Tahirou Abdoulaye Jordan Chamberlin (2023, [Artículo])

There is growing evidence on the impacts of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) from Asia. The evidence for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where SSNM developments are more recent and where conditions concerning soil fertility and fertilizer use differ importantly from those in Asia, is extremely scarce. We evaluate a SSNM advisory tool that allows extension agents to generate fertilizer recommendations tailored to the specific situation of an individual farmer’s field, using a three-year randomized controlled trial with 792 smallholder farmers in the maize belt of northern Nigeria. Two treatment arms were implemented: T1 and T2 both provide SSNM information on nutrient use and management, but T2 provides additional information on maize price distributions and the associated variability of expected returns to fertilizer use. We estimate average and heterogenous intent-to-treat effects on agronomic, economic and environmental plot-level outcomes. We find that T1 and T2 lead to substantial increases (up to 116%) in the adoption of good fertilizer management practices and T2 leads to incremental increases (up to 18%) in nutrient application rates, yields and revenues. Both treatments improve low levels of nutrient use efficiency and reduce high levels of greenhouse gas emission intensity, after two years of treatment. Our findings underscore the possibility of a more gradual and sustainable intensification of smallholder agriculture in SSA, as compared with the Asian Green Revolution, through increased fertilizer use accompanied by improved fertilizer management.

Randomized Controlled Trial CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION GREEN REVOLUTION FERTILIZERS GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

Effectiveness of R1-nj anthocyanin marker in the identification of in vivo induced maize haploid embryos

Manje Gowda Prasanna Boddupalli Kanwarpal Dhugga Vijay Chaikam (2023, [Artículo])

R1-nj Marker Embryo Rescue False Positives False Detection Rate False Negative Rate CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA DOUBLED HAPLOIDS MAIZE BREEDING PROGRAMMES INBRED LINES CROPS

Chapter 8. Wheat rusts: Current status, prospects of genetic control and integrated approaches to enhance resistance durability

sridhar bhavani Ravi Singh David Hodson JULIO HUERTA_ESPINO Mandeep Randhawa (2022, [Capítulo de libro])

Rust Resistance Race Specific Genes Adult Plant Resistance Genes Breeding Technologies CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA RUSTS DISEASE RESISTANCE ADULT PLANT RESISTANCE BREEDING TECHNOLOGY

Character association study in maize hybrids developed through integration of rapid cycle genomic selection and doubled haploid technology for heat stress tolerance

Prakash Kuchanur Ayyanagouda Patil Pervez Zaidi vinayan mt (2023, [Artículo])

Multi-Parental Synthetics Rapid Cycle Genomic Selection Phenotypic Correlation CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA MAIZE HEAT STRESS MARKER-ASSISTED SELECTION DOUBLED HAPLOIDS PHENOTYPIC VARIATION CLIMATE CHANGE

Does access to improved grain storage technology increase farmers' welfare? Experimental evidence from maize farming in Ethiopia

Hugo De Groote Bart Minten (2024, [Artículo])

Seasonal price variability for cereals is two to three times higher in Africa than on the international reference market. Seasonality is even more pronounced when access to appropriate storage and opportunities for price arbitrage are limited. As smallholder farmers typically sell their production after harvest, when prices are low, this leads to lower incomes as well as higher food insecurity during the lean season, when prices are high. One solution to reduce seasonal stress is the use of improved storage technologies. Using data from a randomised controlled trial, in a major maize-growing region of Western Ethiopia, we study the impact of hermetic bags, a technology that protects stored grain against insect pests, so that the grain can be stored longer. Despite considerable price seasonality—maize prices in the lean season are 36% higher than after harvesting—we find no evidence that hermetic bags improve welfare, except that access to these bags allowed for a marginally longer storage period of maize intended for sale by 2 weeks. But this did not translate into measurable welfare gains as we found no changes in any of our welfare outcome indicators. This ‘near-null’ effect is due to the fact that maize storage losses in our study region are relatively lower than previous studies suggested—around 10% of the quantity stored—likely because of the widespread use of an alternative to protect maize during storage, for example a cheap but highly toxic fumigant. These findings are important for policies that seek to promote improved storage technologies in these settings.

Hermetic Storage Randomised Controlled Trial CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA STORAGE PILOT FARMS SEASONALITY WELFARE MAIZE

Modeling the growth, yield and N dynamics of wheat for decoding the tillage and nitrogen nexus in 8-years long-term conservation agriculture based maize-wheat system

C.M. Parihar Dipaka Ranjan Sena Prakash Chand Ghasal Shankar Lal Jat Yashpal Singh Saharawat Mahesh Gathala Upendra Singh Hari Sankar Nayak (2024, [Artículo])

Context: Agricultural field experiments are costly and time-consuming, and their site-specific nature limits their ability to capture spatial and temporal variability. This hinders the transfer of crop management information across different locations, impeding effective agricultural decision-making. Further, accurate estimates of the benefits and risks of alternative crop and nutrient management options are crucial for effective decision-making in agriculture. Objective: The objective of this study was to utilize the Crop Environment Resource Synthesis CERES-Wheat model to simulate crop growth, yield, and nitrogen dynamics in a long-term conservation agriculture (CA) based wheat system. The study aimed to calibrate the model using data from a field experiment conducted during the 2019-20-2020-21 growing seasons and evaluation it with independent data from the year 2021–22. Method: Crop simulation models, such as the Crop Environment Resource Synthesis CERES-Wheat (DSSAT v 4.8), may provide valuable insights into crop growth and nitrogen dynamics, enabling decision makers to understand and manage production risk more effectively. Therefore, the present study employed the CERES-Wheat (DSSAT v 4.8) model and calibrated it using field data, including plant phenological phases, leaf area index, aboveground biomass, and grain yield from the 2019-20-2020-21 growing seasons. An independent dataset from the year 2021–22 was used for model evaluation. The model was used to investigate the relationship between growing degree days (GDD), temperature, nitrate and ammonical concentration in soil, and nitrogen uptake by the crop. Additionally, the study explored the impact of contrasting tillage practices and fertilizer nitrogen management options on wheat yields. The experimental site is situated at ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, representing Indian Trans-Gangetic Plains Zone (28o 40’N latitude, 77o 11’E longitude and an altitude of 228 m above sea level). The treatments consist of four nitrogen management options, viz., N0 (zero nitrogen), N150 (150 kg N ha−1 through urea), GS (Green seeker based urea application) and USG (urea super granules @150 kg N ha−1) in two contrasting tillage systems, i.e., CA-based zero tillage (ZT) and conventional tillage (CT). Result: The outcomes exhibited favorable agreement between the model’s simulations and the observed data for crop phenology (With less than 2 days variation in 50% onset of flowering), grain and biomass yield (Root mean square error; RMSE 336 kg ha−1 and 649 kg ha−1, respectively), and leaf area index (LAI) (RMSE 0.28 & normalized RMSE; nRMSE 6.69%). The model effectively captured the nitrate-N (NO3−-N) dynamics in the soil profile, exhibiting a remarkable concordance with observed data, as evident from its low RMSE = 12.39 kg ha−1 and nRMSE = 13.69%. Moreover, as it successfully simulated the N balance in the production system, the nitrate leaching and ammonia volatilization pattern as described by the model are highly useful to understand these critical phenomena under both conventional tillage (CT) and CA-based Zero Tillage (ZT) treatments. Conclusion: The study concludes that the DSSAT-CERES-Wheat model has significant potential to assess the impacts of tillage and nitrogen management practices on crop growth, yield, and soil nitrogen dynamics in the western Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) region. By providing reliable forecasts within the growing season, this modeling approach can facilitate better planning and more efficient resource management. Future implications: The successful implementation of the DSSAT-CERES-Wheat model in this study highlights its applicability in assessing crop performance and soil dynamics. Future research should focus on expanding the model’s capabilities by reducing its sensitivity to initial soil nitrogen levels to refine its predictions further. Moreover, the model’s integration with decision support systems and real-time data can enhance its usefulness in aiding agricultural decision-making and supporting sustainable crop management practices.

Nitrogen Dynamics Mechanistic Crop Growth Models Crop Simulation CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA NITROGEN CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE WHEAT MAIZE CROP GROWTH RATE SIMULATION MODELS

Sustainable urban mobility: An alternative for air pollution in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area

José Antonio Olivares Mendoza Clemente Hernandez-Rodriguez Luz Alicia Jimenez Portugal (2023, [Artículo, Artículo])

The objective of this paper is to evaluate whether the low-carbon transport strategy (subway, rapid transit bus system -Macrobús-, trolleybus, and shared bicycles) implemented in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (AMG) from 2000 to 2019 improves air quality. Sustainable urban mobility is the movement of people in cities in a way that generates the least impact on the environment. We analyze three actions of government intervention in the same sense. This is the first study for Guadalajara, the third-largest city in Mexico. We use robust Newey-West estimators and endogenously model pollution disruptions using the Bai Perron approach. Our results suggest that this type of public transport reduces SO2, NO2, O3, and CO, though we find an increase in PM10. We also identified that when the service of the first line of the Bus Rapid Transit was consolidated CO, O3 and PM10 decreased. In addition, the improvement in the connectivity of the bus network with the subway means that only NO2 diminished. Finally, the entry into operation of the shared bicycle program reduced PM10, while increasing O3 and in SO2. In short, sustainable urban mobility is an alternative to making the transit of people efficient, while mitigating air pollution in the AMG.

Contaminación del aire Transporte urbano Bicicletas compartidas Autobuses de tránsito rápido Metro CIENCIAS SOCIALES CIENCIAS SOCIALES Air pollution Urban transport Bus Rapid Transit

Principles of field experimentation

Berhanu Tadesse Ertiro (2023, [Objeto de congreso])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA FIELD EXPERIMENTATION EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN RANDOMIZED BLOCK DESIGN LATTICE DESIGN PLANT BREEDING

Caracterización fisicoquímica de suelo y agua para evaluar la salinidad en el acuífero La Misión, Baja California, México

Physicochemical characterization of soil and water to evaluate salinity in La Misión aquifer, Baja California, Mexico

Vanessa Inés González Riaño (2023, [Tesis de maestría])

El agua subterránea se considera uno de los recursos más importantes a nivel mundial en los sectores de agua potable y agricultura, sobre todo en regiones áridas y semiáridas donde no solo hay menos precipitación sino una elevada evaporación que podría afectar la salinización del suelo y el agua debido a su estrecha relación. El trabajo tiene como objetivo evaluar el tipo de salinidad en el acuífero La Misión, Baja California, a partir del análisis fisicoquímico de suelo y agua subterránea bajo la hipótesis de que existe una relación en la presencia de fases minerales salinas del suelo y las concentraciones de sales en el agua del acuífero. Para ello, se recolectaron y caracterizaron fisicoquímicamente 19 muestras de suelo y agua subterránea en temporada de estiaje (2022) y lluvias (2023) utilizando estadísticas multivariadas y análisis hidrogeoquímicos. Además, se analizaron las fases minerales presentes en el suelo con Difracción de Rayos X (DRX). Los resultados mostraron que el contenido de sólidos disueltos totales en el agua disminuye conforme los sitios se alejan de la línea de costa. De manera general y considerando la composición química de las aguas, éstas se clasifican como ligeramente salinas con pH entre 5.5 y 8.3, y temperaturas entre 15 y 40 °C. Los diagramas de Piper y Chadha mostraron que predominan dos tipos de facies hidroquímicas en el acuífero: Ca-Mg-SO4/Cl y Na-Cl y el diagrama de Gibbs muestra que prevalecen los procesos por meteorización de las rocas y evaporación (500% mayor que la precipitación media anual). De acuerdo con la conductividad eléctrica, pH, porcentaje de sodio intercambiable y la relación de adsorción de sodio en el agua, los suelos superficiales del acuífero en su totalidad son suelos no salinos y no sódicos, además, el análisis de DRX no detectó fases minerales salinas en el suelo. Finalmente, se encontró que la actividad agrícola, el uso de fertilizantes, el hidrotermalismo, la evaporación y la geología podrían estar causando la salinidad del agua subterránea en el área de estudio.

Groundwater is considered one of the most important resources of drinking water worldwide as well as the agriculture sectors, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Where there is not only less precipitation but also high evaporation rates that could affect soil and water salinization due to their close relationship. The objective of this work is to evaluate the type of salinity in La Misión aquifer, Baja California, based on the physicochemical analysis of soil and groundwater. Under the hypothesis that there is a relationship between the presence of saline mineral phases in the soil and the concentrations of salts in the aquifer’s water. For this purpose, 19 soil and groundwater samples were collected and physicochemically characterized during the dry season (2022) and rainy season (2023) using multivariate statistics and hydrogeochemical analysis. In addition, the mineral phases present in the soil were analyzed with X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The results showed that the content of total dissolved solids in the water decreases as the sites are farer from the coastline. In general, and considering the chemical composition of the waters, they are classified as slightly saline with pH between 5.5 and 8.3, and temperatures between 15 and 40 °C. The Piper and Chadha diagrams showed that two types of hydrochemical facies predominate in the aquifer: Ca-Mg-SO4/Cl and Na-Cl. The Gibbs diagram shows that rock weathering and evaporation processes prevail (500% greater than average annual precipitation). According to the electrical conductivity, pH, percentage of exchangeable sodium and the sodium adsorption ratio in water, the surface soils of the aquifer as a whole are non-saline and non-sodic soils. The XRD analysis did not detect saline mineral phases in the soil. Finally, it was found that agricultural activity, fertilizer use, hydrothermalism, evaporation and geology could be causing groundwater salinity in the study area.

hidrogeoquímica, Difracción de Rayos X, RAS, PSI hydrogeochemistry, X Ray Diffraction, ESP, SAR CIENCIAS FÍSICO MATEMÁTICAS Y CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA Y DEL ESPACIO CIENCIAS DEL SUELO (EDAFOLOGÍA) FÍSICA DE SUELOS FÍSICA DE SUELOS

Ramón López Velarde: la construcción del poeta nacional a partir de la recepción crítica de su obra (1912- 1960)

GUADALUPE MARISOL MANDUJANO SALGADO (2021, [Tesis de maestría])

"Este trabajo confronta analíticamente los discursos críticos publicados en torno a

Ramón López Velarde en un periodo de tiempo en el que, se estipula, se conformó su figura

como poeta y como identificación cultural asociada a las letras mexicanas de principios de

siglo XX."

López Velarde, Ramón, 1888-1921 -- Crítica e interpretación Literatura mexicana -- Historia y crítica -- Siglo XX Poetas mexicanos -- Siglo XX CIENCIAS SOCIALES CIENCIAS SOCIALES