CIAT Book Chapters

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/35701

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 2026

Participation in agricultural research planning
(Book Chapter, 2001-01) Sperling, Loiuse; Ashby, Jacqueline A.
The shifting structure of agricultural R&D: Worldwide investment patterns and payoffs
(Book Chapter, 2018) Pardey, Philip G.; Alston, Julian; Chan-Kang, Connie; Hurley, Terrance; Andrade, Robert Santiago; Dehmer, Steven; Lee, Kyuseon; Rao, Xudong
Agricultural climate risk management and global food security: Recent progress in South East Asia
(Book Chapter, 2020-11) Kouadio, Louis; Rahn, Eric
Phaseolus beans
(Book Chapter, 2020-05) Rao, Idupulapati M.
Phaseolus species responses and tolerance to drought
(Book Chapter, 2020) Polania, Jose A.; Chater, Caspar C. C.; Covarrubias, Alejandra A.; Rao, Idupulapati M.
N2O emissions from managed soils, and CO2 emissions from lime and urea application
(Book Chapter, 2019) Hergoualc'h, Kristell; Akiyama, Hiroko; Bernoux, Martial; Chirinda, Ngonidzashe; Prado, Agustin del; Kasimir, Åsa; MacDonald, James Douglas; Ogle, Stephen Michael; Regina, Kristiina; Weerden, Tony John van der
Grassland
(Book Chapter, 2019) McConkey, Brian; Ogle, Stephen Michael; Chirinda, Ngonidzashe; Kishimoto, Ayaka W. Mo; Baldock, Jeffrey; Trunov, Aleksandr
Cropland
(Book Chapter, 2019) Ogle, Stephen Michael; Wakelin, Stephen John; Buendia, Leandro; McConkey, Brian; Baldock, Jeffrey; Akiyama, Hiroko; Kishimoto, Ayaka W. Mo; Chirinda, Ngonidzashe; Bernoux, Martial; Bhattacharya, Sumana; Chuersuwan, Nares; Goheer, Muhammad Arif Rashid; Hergoualc'h, Kristell; Ishizuka, Shigehiro; Diaz Lasco, Rodel; Pan, Xuebiao; Pathak, Himanshu; Regina, Kristiina; Sato, Atsushi; Vázquez Amabile, Gabriel; Wang, Changke; Zheng, Xunhua
Generic methodologies applicable to multiple land-use categories
(Book Chapter, 2019) Ogle, Stephen Michael; Kurz, Werner A.; Green, Carly; Brandon, Andrea; Baldock, Jeffrey; Domke, Grant; Herold, Martin; Bernoux, Martial; Chirinda, Ngonidzashe; Ligt, Robert de; Federici, Sandro; Garcia-Apaza, Emilio; Grassi, Giacomo; Gschwantner, Thomas; Hirata, Yasumasa; Houghton, Richard A.; House, Joanna Isobel; Ishizuka, Shigehiro; Jonckheere, Inge; Krisnawati, Haruni; Lehtonen, Aleksi; Kinyanjui, Mwangi James; McConkey, Brian; Næsset, Erik; Niinistö, Sini M.; Ometto, Jean Pierre; Panichelli, Luis; Paul, Thomas; Petersson, Hans; Reddy, Shanti; Regina, Kristiina; Rocha, Marcelo Theoto; Rock, Joachim; Sanz Sanchez, Maria José; Sanquetta, Carlos; Sato, Atsushi; Somogyi, Zoltan; Trunov, Aleksandr; Vázquez Amabile, Gabriel; Vitullo, Marina; Wang, Changke; Waterworth, Robert Michael
Remote Sensing and Climate Data for Targeting Landscape Restoration in Africa
(Book Chapter, 2019) Tamene, Lulseged D.; Le, Quang Bao; Sileshi, Gudeta W.; Aynekulu, Ermias; Kizito, Fred; Bossio, Deborah A.; Vlek, Paul L.G.
Tackling land degradation and restoring degraded landscapes require information on areas of priority intervention, since it is not economically and technically possible to manage all areas affected. Recent developments in data availability and improved computational power have enhanced our understanding of the major regional drivers of land degradation and possible remedial measures at different scales. In this study, we have used land degradation hotspots, which were identified using satellite and climate data covering the period of 1982–2003 (Vlek et al. 2010). We then simulated the potentials of different management measures in tackling land degradation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Scenario analysis results show that about 14 million people can benefit from the application of sustainable land management (e.g., integrated soil fertility management, conservation agriculture, and soil and water conservation) techniques targeted to improve the productivity of croplands. Fallowing degraded areas and allowing them to recover (e.g., through exclosures and agroforestry) could improve land productivity. However, this intervention requires appropriate and improved methods that can accommodate the needs of about 8.7 million people who utilize those “marginal” areas for crop production or livestock grazing. This chapter presents the benefits of utilizing long-term satellite data to analyze the potentials of targeted land management and restoration measures for improving land productivity in SSA. This approach and framework can also be used to design suitable land-use planning for the restoration of degraded areas and to perform detailed cost-benefit and trade-off analysis of various interventions.
The Governance of Agrobiodiversity
(Book Chapter, 2019-04-30) Visser, Bert; Brush, Stephen B.; Aistara, Guntra A.; Andersen, Regine; Jäger, Matthias; Nemogá, Gabriel; Padmanabhan, Martina; Sherwood, Stephen G.
Agrobiodiversity relates to humans and their environments. It is the result of interactions between humans and nature, and thus is simultaneously social and biological by nature. Without humans, agrobiodiversity would not exist. Seeds, as carriers of major agrobiodiversity components, are not mere material objects that exist outside of social relations: they are also sociobiological artifacts embedded in these relations. The multifaceted, highly dynamic realities of agrobiodiversity mean that those interested in questions of governance need to understand the limitations and political implications of the complementary and sometimes contradictory instrumental and relational perspectives on seeds; that is, the understanding of seeds as a production input or as the subject of a social network, in which agrobiodiversity brings together production and social linkages. International instruments aim to provide a legal basis for mediating competing interests and methodologies. In addressing governance, the global framing of these instruments refl ects the dynamics of agrobiodiversity in global socioeconomic and environmental changes. From the earliest recognition of the potential value of crop diversity, crop genetic resources were treated as public goods in the public domain. Breeding companies have opposed this treatment. Breeders sought exclusivity and reward for their creative activities in using genetic resources to create novel varieties. Governance of agrobiodiversity—defi ned by a set of relationships that infl uences the access to and conservation, exchange, and commercialization of agrobiodiversity—refl ects underlying value systems. Confl icting approaches (e.g., “stewardship” vs. “ownership” approaches) toward governance based on divergent value systems and rationales can be distinguished. It is important to identify the actors involved, from local to global, to understand the power dynamics that infl uence the interactions among these various actors and their ability to infl uence or control the management of agrobiodiversity. The governance of agrobiodiversity and the power dynamics involved are increasingly crucial in the context of rapidly changing farming and food systems, especially in the context of globalization, migration, and urbanization. This chapter elaborates an emergent research agenda, focusing on aspects of power relations in agrobiodiversity governance, agrobiodiversity and food systems, nutrition, taste and health, and the governance of genetic information.
Drought Resistance of Common Bean Water Spending and Water: Saving Plant Ideotypes
(Book Chapter, 2019) Polania, Jose A.; Rao, Idupulapati M.
Drought Resistance of Tropical Forage Grasses: Opening a Fertile Ground for Innovative Research
(Book Chapter, 2019) Cardoso Arango, Juan Andrés; Rao, Idupulapati M.
Impact of drought-tolerant maize and maize–legume intercropping on the climate resilience of rural households in Northern Uganda
(Book Chapter, 2019) Shikuku, Kelvin Mashisia; Mwungu, Chris Miyinzi; Mwongera, Caroline
Seventy percent of all economic losses in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are solely attributed to droughts and floods. A considerable challenge for policy in SSA, therefore, relates to identifying and promoting options that could address climatic shocks. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA)—an approach seeking to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and enhance resilience of households while reducing emissions of greenhouse gases—is an appropriate option. Using a panel dataset from 655 rural households in northern Uganda, this study assessed the effect of two increasingly promoted CSA technologies (drought-tolerant (DT) varieties of maize and maize–legume (M-L) intercropping) on resilience to climatic shocks (drought and unpredictable rainfall). Resilience was estimated using a theory-based approach consistent with recent literature. Two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression with limited information on maximum likelihood was then employed to infer causal effects. Using the Foster–Greer–Thorbecke analogy of head count index, we estimate that approximately 10% of the sample households were resilient to climatic shocks in 2017. Estimates from the 2SLS showed that resilience increased by about 9% points, on average, for adopters of DT maize in isolation and 28% points for adopters of a combination of DT maize and M-L intercropping but decreased by about 10% points when farmers practiced M-L intercropping in isolation. Kinship networks increased the likelihood to implement the CSA technologies, whereas prolonged periods of food shortage discouraged adoption. The study discusses policy implications of the results.
Paying the Rent: How Endophytic Microorganisms Help Plant Hosts Obtain Nutrients
(Book Chapter, 2019) Johnston-Monje, David; Castillo-Avila, Diana Katherine; Raizada, Manish N.; Becerra López Lavelle, Luis Augusto
Since plants first colonized land, endophytic bacteria and fungi have been inside them, contributing to their hosts' survival and evolution. Endophyte ecology is an active field of study seeking to understand principles of host strain selection and microbial provenance; although most plants were believed to take up endophytes from soil, transmission through seed or vegetative propagation are also important. This review discusses endophyte contributions to plant nutrient use efficiency (NUE) and their existing or potential applications to agriculture. Endophyte mechanisms to improve plant NUE include formation of extra-root hyphae for nutrient absorption; stimulating root growth; altering plant metabolism to promote nutrient uptake; fixing nitrogen; altering root exudates; colonizing rhizospheres and modifying soil chemistry directly, or even being digested by the root. Although many endophytic strains have been discovered, commercial endophytic inoculants are still mostly limited to arbuscular mycorrhizae, rhizobia, Azospirillum, Pseudomonas and Clavicipitaceous fungi sold in the form of infected grass seed. Wider adoption of endophyte products has been prevented by cheap fertilizer alternatives, unpredictable inoculant responses to host genotype or environmental conditions, competition from endogenous microbes, and poor inoculant establishment and persistence; technical difficulties that new plant microbiome ventures will have to overcome if they are to succeed. There is significant potential to improve agriculture if new strains continue to be discovered, mechanistic understanding of plant-microbe interactions increases, both endophytes and their hosts are genetically enhanced, relevant lab and greenhouse screens can be developed, and methods of effective formulation and deployment are engineered. Novel genes and metabolites from endophytes represent an additional largely untapped resource for future agricultural biotechnologies.
Agrobiodiversity and Feeding the World: More of the Same Will Result in More of the Same
(Book Chapter, 2019) Herforth, Anna; Johns, Timothy; Creed-Kanashiro, Hilary M.; Jones, Andrew D.; Khoury, Colin K.; Lang, Timothy; Maundu, Patrick; Powell, Bronwen; Reyes García, Victoria
Food systems large and small around this planet are changing more quickly and more profoundly than ever before in human history. If the same processes and priorities continue, we can expect more of the same results: the last fifty years of a productionist paradigm have resulted in increased production of a small set of calorie-dense crops, increased calorie availability, and increased global homogeneity of diets, while environmental sustainability, human health, and equity issues remain unresolved. Food system sustainability is threatened by soil erosion, fertilizer pollution, water overuse, tropical forest degradation, climate change, and genetic uniformity in agricultural production. Meanwhile, access by all to healthy, diverse, and safe food choices is far from realized, and food-related noncommunicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease are now epidemics as the world increasingly partakes in a diet high in sugar, fat, and salt. There is reason for hope, as eaters on every continent are demanding healthier, more diverse, safer food. This chapter argues that agrobiodiversity will help to improve sustainability, equity, and nutrition outcomes in food systems. We briefl y review the current evidence on the linkages between agrobiodiversity and sustainability, equity, and human health and nutrition, differentiating between linkages at different geographical and temporal levels. We next identify research gaps in understanding the impact of agrobiodiversity on health. Because of the urgent need for action to create more sustainable, just, and nutritious food systems, we further propose tasks for the public sector as well as strategic alliances that support agrobiodiversity’s contributions to sustainability, equity, and human nutrition.
Using a Tri-Isotope (13C, 15N, 33P) Labelling Method to Quantify Rhizodeposition
(Book Chapter, 2019-03-30) Stevenel, Pierre; Frossard, Emmanuel; Abiven, S.; Rao, Idupulapati M.; Tamburini, F.; Oberson, A.
Belowground (BG) plant resource allocation, including roots and rhizodeposition, is a major source of soil organic matter. Knowledge on the amounts and turnover of BG carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) in soil is critical to the understanding of how these elements cycle in soil-plant system. However, the assumptions underlying the quantification and tracking of rhizodeposition using isotope labeling methods have hardly been tested. The main objectives of this chapter were to (i) review the different plant labeling techniques for each of the three elements; (ii) describe a novel method for the simultaneous investigation of C, N, and P rhizodeposition in sand; and (iii) test the methodological assumptions underlying quantification of rhizodeposition. Stable 13C and 15N isotopes were widely used to study rhizodeposition of plants either separately or in combination, while P radioisotopes (32P, 33P) were used to investigate root distribution. The combination of the 13CO2 single-pulse labeling with the simultaneous 15N and 33P cotton-wick stem feeding effectively labeled Canavalia brasiliensis roots and facilitated the estimation of rhizodeposited C, N, and P input from root systems. However, the isotope distribution was uneven within the root system for all three elements. Additionally, we observed a progressive translocation from shoot to roots for 15N and 33P over 15 days after labeling, while the 13C tracer was diluted with newly assimilated non-enriched C compounds over time. Younger root sections also showed higher specific activities (33P/31P) than the older ones. The relatively high 33P radioactivity recovered in sand right away at the first sampling was attributed to an artifact generated by the stem feeding labeling method. Overall, our results suggest that the assumptions underlying the use of isotope methods for studying rhizodeposition are violated, which will affect the extent of quantification of rhizodeposition. The consequences of nonhomogeneous labeling of root segments of different age require further investigation. The use of a time-integrated isotopic composition of the root is recommended to not only account for temporal variation of isotopes but also to improve the method of quantifying plant rhizodeposition.
Conservation and Use of the North American Plant Cornucopia: The Way Forward
(Book Chapter, 2019) Khoury, Colin K.; Greene, Stephanie L.; Williams, Karen A.; Kantar, Michael B.; Marek, Laura F.
The pages of this extensive book document the potential of a great many North American plants to enhance the productivity, sustainability, and nutritional quality of crops or to be further developed into important cultivated species in their own right. But this potential can only be realized if the plants are adequately conserved to ensure their survival and availability for research, invested in to promote their development, and marketed so as to be attractive to producers and consumers. We outline some of the key steps needed to boost the conservation and use of our regional cornucopia. In situ and ex situ conservation of North America’s useful plants are being accomplished by a variety of institutions with different mandates, but habitat destruction and other threats to wild populations continue to negatively impact many species. Information sharing, coordinating efforts, filling research gaps for wild plants, and increasing support for conservation will be necessary to more comprehensively safeguard these plants and to make them available for use. Technologies enabling more efficient exploration of the diversity within these species are rapidly advancing and offer the potential to contribute to quick advances in improvement of cultivars, but considerable further research and partnerships are needed to generate and share the results widely. Marketing of new crops can take advantage of the increasing public interest in diverse and nutritious foods, learning from successful collaborations between producers, researchers, and consumers. As a whole, North America already possesses a strong foundation from which the conservation and use of its flora can be enhanced. This includes many protected areas, strong conservation institutions, innovative research, and the willingness to collaborate across fields, institutions, and borders. There are still many silos that need to be broken down and reorganized through innovative partnerships to better conserve and benefit from the North American cornucopia. But given the incredible diversity of interesting and useful plants in the region, the remarkable efforts for many decades by many organizations to care for these plants and share them with humanity, and the increasing public interest in more diverse, healthy, and resilient food and agricultural systems, there is reason for hope.
Wild Beans (Phaseolus L.) of North America
(Book Chapter, 2019) Dohle, Sarah; Berny Mier y Teran, Jorge Carlos; Egan, Ashley; Kisha, Theodore; Khoury, Colin K.
The wild relatives of the five domesticated species of bean (Phaseolus L.) are widely distributed across the tropics and subtropics of the New World, with taxa extending from the Canadian border to Argentina, and on the Caribbean Islands, Bermuda, and the Galapagos Islands. Mesoamerica holds the largest concentration of species, particularly in the highlands of central Mexico, northward along the Sierra Madre Occidental, and south to Chiapas. The progenitors and close relatives of all five domesticates are also concentrated in this region. Plant breeding involving the use of wild relatives has almost entirely been directed toward the improvement of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), the most widely cultivated species, and successful contributions have mostly come from its progenitor (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and a few other taxa. Wild relatives are considered to possess novel useful genetic variation that has not yet been fully explored. A number of wild Phaseolus are rare endemics that are threatened in their natural habitats and are insufficiently protected in situ. Significant ex situ collections of wild Phaseolus are maintained at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System, within the Sistema Nacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos para la Alimentación y la Agricultura (SINAREFI) Conservation Centers Network in Mexico, and at the Botanic Garden Meise, Belgium. Unfortunately, over 26% of Phaseolus taxa are not represented at all in these ex situ conservation facilities, and another 29% are represented by less than ten accessions, making over half of the species highly underrepresented in genebanks. Further efforts to enhance the protection of vulnerable species in their natural habitats, and further collecting to fill critical gaps in germplasm collections, are warranted.
Targeting Research towards Achieving Food Security in an Era of Climate Change
(Book Chapter, 2018) Campbell, Bruce M.; Dinesh, Dhanush; Huyer, Sophia

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