This document discusses wheat production in Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA). It notes that wheat is the staple food for around 1 billion people in the region. While wheat covers 54 million hectares in CWANA, most countries import over half their wheat needs due to challenges like drought, disease, and increasing populations. The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) works to develop wheat varieties that are high-yielding, resilient to stresses, and improve farming techniques in the region through partnerships. ICARDA maintains a large gene bank and conducts shuttle breeding across locations in CWANA to develop and disseminate improved wheat technologies.
Wheat quality can be defined in terms of inherent quality attributes those under genetic control and seasonal quality attributes. One of the parameters of wheat quality is insect-damage.
The Push-pull technology is an innovation from ICIPE. It’s a pest management approach that uses repellent intercrops and an attractive trap plant. Pests are repelled from the food crop and attracted to a trap crop, simultaneously. It is mostly used to control Stemborer and Striga.
Combining ability studies for maize grain yield and other agronomic characters were carried out using
ten open-pollinated maize varieties and their 45 F1 hybrids in a Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth endemic
zone (Shonga) and non-endemic zone (Ilorin) in Kwara State, Nigeria, during the 2005 cropping season.
Both general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects for Striga related
characters such as Striga shoot counts, syndrome ratings, flowering Striga shoots and barren maize
plants were generally low, suggesting the role of additive and dominant gene action in tolerance to S.
hermonthica (Del.) Benth. Parents Acr 94 Tze Comp5 and Tze Comp3 C2 had significant (p < 0.05)
positive GCA effects for grain yield and other agronomic characters in both Striga endemic and nonendemic
environments respectively. Crosses Tze Comp3 C2 x Hei 97 Tze Comp3 C4, Tze Comp3 C2 x
Acr 94 Tze Comp5 and Ak 95 Dmr - Esrw x Acr 94 Tze Comp5 had significant (p < 0.05) positive SCA
effects for grain yield only in Striga endemic environment. These parents and hybrids appeared to have
gene pools for S. hermonthica tolerance that can be manipulated and used to develop promising
hybrids for early maturity and high grain yield across the Southern Guinea Savanna ecology.
Evidence at work: Country experience in the use of evidence in policy-making ...ExternalEvents
Evidence at work: Country experience in the use of evidence in policy-making on agricultural biotechnologies presentation by Jikun Huang, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
The ‘Push-Pull’ strategy is an innovation in pest management which uses a repellent intercrop and an attractive trap plant. Insect pests are repelled from the food crop and are simultaneously attracted to the trap crop. The repellent crop also attracts natural enemies. Push-pull effectively controls Striga and stemborers and improves soil fertility. > 96,000 farmers have adopted the technology in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Somaliland and Nigeria. 60% of adopters are women farmers because of its ease of use. The climate-smart push-pull technology has provided a relevant and effective agricultural innovation for cereal-livestock smallholders living in those areas. Push-Pull is addressing food security and livelihood of smallholders without requiring extra resources for crop protection and soil improvement without causing any ecological and social harm.
Wheat quality can be defined in terms of inherent quality attributes those under genetic control and seasonal quality attributes. One of the parameters of wheat quality is insect-damage.
The Push-pull technology is an innovation from ICIPE. It’s a pest management approach that uses repellent intercrops and an attractive trap plant. Pests are repelled from the food crop and attracted to a trap crop, simultaneously. It is mostly used to control Stemborer and Striga.
Combining ability studies for maize grain yield and other agronomic characters were carried out using
ten open-pollinated maize varieties and their 45 F1 hybrids in a Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth endemic
zone (Shonga) and non-endemic zone (Ilorin) in Kwara State, Nigeria, during the 2005 cropping season.
Both general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects for Striga related
characters such as Striga shoot counts, syndrome ratings, flowering Striga shoots and barren maize
plants were generally low, suggesting the role of additive and dominant gene action in tolerance to S.
hermonthica (Del.) Benth. Parents Acr 94 Tze Comp5 and Tze Comp3 C2 had significant (p < 0.05)
positive GCA effects for grain yield and other agronomic characters in both Striga endemic and nonendemic
environments respectively. Crosses Tze Comp3 C2 x Hei 97 Tze Comp3 C4, Tze Comp3 C2 x
Acr 94 Tze Comp5 and Ak 95 Dmr - Esrw x Acr 94 Tze Comp5 had significant (p < 0.05) positive SCA
effects for grain yield only in Striga endemic environment. These parents and hybrids appeared to have
gene pools for S. hermonthica tolerance that can be manipulated and used to develop promising
hybrids for early maturity and high grain yield across the Southern Guinea Savanna ecology.
Evidence at work: Country experience in the use of evidence in policy-making ...ExternalEvents
Evidence at work: Country experience in the use of evidence in policy-making on agricultural biotechnologies presentation by Jikun Huang, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
The ‘Push-Pull’ strategy is an innovation in pest management which uses a repellent intercrop and an attractive trap plant. Insect pests are repelled from the food crop and are simultaneously attracted to the trap crop. The repellent crop also attracts natural enemies. Push-pull effectively controls Striga and stemborers and improves soil fertility. > 96,000 farmers have adopted the technology in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Somaliland and Nigeria. 60% of adopters are women farmers because of its ease of use. The climate-smart push-pull technology has provided a relevant and effective agricultural innovation for cereal-livestock smallholders living in those areas. Push-Pull is addressing food security and livelihood of smallholders without requiring extra resources for crop protection and soil improvement without causing any ecological and social harm.
" Harnessing agricultural biotechnology for resilience to climate change: A l...ExternalEvents
" Harnessing agricultural biotechnology for resilience to
climate change: A lesson from water efficient maize for Africa
project" presentation by Yoseph Beyene, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Nairobi, Kenya
Pulses R & D in India by Dr. S K Datta, Deputy Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Presentation at The Pulses Conclave 2014 by India Pulse & Grains Association, IPGA
Green revolution in wheat was brought through the "Dwarfing genes". This document describes all relevant information about major dwarfing genes in wheat and the mechanism how they cause dwarfism.
Mini core collection – a means to enhance utilization of germplasmICRISAT
Plant genetic resources (PGR) are the basic materials for progress in crop improvement and an insurance against unforeseen threats to agricultural production. Greater use of germplasm in crop improvement is needed for sustainable conservation of genetic resources, to protect the natural ecosystems and simultaneously enhance agricultural production for food security.
Presentation delivered by Dr. Ian King (University of Nottingham, UK) at Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security. March 25 - 28, 2014, Ciudad Obregon, Mexico.
http://www.borlaug100.org
I shared this presentation with my Soil Fertility class last week (last week of August 2011). It is an updated version of earlier presentations that I have shared on roots.
"Factors that determine whether biotechnologies can have positive impacts on ...ExternalEvents
"Factors that determine whether biotechnologies can
have positive impacts on the livelihoods of smallholders: Examples from India" presentation by Narayan Hegde, BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune, India
Zerihun Tadele
Institute of Plant Sciences
University of Bern
30 - 31 August 2018. Gent-Zwijnaarde, Belgium. IPBO conference 2018: “Scientific innovation for a sustainable development of African agriculture”
The effect of cement as lime on rosette disease and cercospora leaf spot on g...AI Publications
Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is one of the world’s major food legume crops that is severely affected by early leaf spot and groundnut rosette disease in Sierra Leone. The recent decline in yields of groundnut in Sierra Leone has been associated with the low calcium application. Therefore, a study was conducted to assess the potential of cement as lime in ameliorating rosette disease problem and low yield of groundnut in Sierra Leone. This experiment was conducted under field conditions at Njala, Kori chiefdom. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with five (5) treatment of cement application (0, 50, 100, 200 & 400 kg/ha). Disease severity for the rosette leaf spot was assessed based on a 1-3 scale while cercospora leaf spot was 1-9 scale for 39 high yielding groundnut lines. The application of cement at 0, 50, 100, 200, & 400 kg/ha did not have any significant influence on the incidence and severity of rosette or cercospora diseases. However, the improved lines ICGV 1954, ICGV 7445, ICGV UGA 2, ICGV 10900, ICGV 6284, ICGV 7437, and ICGV 9407 produced significantly higher yields and good resistance to cercospora leaf spot and groundnut rosette disease and were selected as potential candidates for release and future breeding programs. This study showed that cement could not be used as a control for early leaf spot and rosette disease. Therefore, farmers should plant groundnut varieties that are resistant to cercospora leaf spot and rosette disease for higher yields.
Presentation delivered by Dr. Robert L. Paarlberg (Professor of Political Science, Wellesley College, USA) at Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security. March 25 - 28, 2014, Ciudad Obregon, Mexico.
http://www.borlaug100.org
Water Productivity Mapping (WPM) at various Resolutions (scales) using Remote Sensing - A proof of Concept Study in the Syr Darya River Basin in Central Asia - Xueliang Cai, Prasad S. Thenkabail, Alexander Platanov, Chandrashekhar M. Biradar, Yafit Cohen, Victor Alchanatis, Naftali Goldshlager, Eyal Ben-Dor, MuraliKrishna Gumma, Venkateswarlu Dheeravath, and Jagath Vithanage
" Harnessing agricultural biotechnology for resilience to climate change: A l...ExternalEvents
" Harnessing agricultural biotechnology for resilience to
climate change: A lesson from water efficient maize for Africa
project" presentation by Yoseph Beyene, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Nairobi, Kenya
Pulses R & D in India by Dr. S K Datta, Deputy Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Presentation at The Pulses Conclave 2014 by India Pulse & Grains Association, IPGA
Green revolution in wheat was brought through the "Dwarfing genes". This document describes all relevant information about major dwarfing genes in wheat and the mechanism how they cause dwarfism.
Mini core collection – a means to enhance utilization of germplasmICRISAT
Plant genetic resources (PGR) are the basic materials for progress in crop improvement and an insurance against unforeseen threats to agricultural production. Greater use of germplasm in crop improvement is needed for sustainable conservation of genetic resources, to protect the natural ecosystems and simultaneously enhance agricultural production for food security.
Presentation delivered by Dr. Ian King (University of Nottingham, UK) at Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security. March 25 - 28, 2014, Ciudad Obregon, Mexico.
http://www.borlaug100.org
I shared this presentation with my Soil Fertility class last week (last week of August 2011). It is an updated version of earlier presentations that I have shared on roots.
"Factors that determine whether biotechnologies can have positive impacts on ...ExternalEvents
"Factors that determine whether biotechnologies can
have positive impacts on the livelihoods of smallholders: Examples from India" presentation by Narayan Hegde, BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune, India
Zerihun Tadele
Institute of Plant Sciences
University of Bern
30 - 31 August 2018. Gent-Zwijnaarde, Belgium. IPBO conference 2018: “Scientific innovation for a sustainable development of African agriculture”
The effect of cement as lime on rosette disease and cercospora leaf spot on g...AI Publications
Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is one of the world’s major food legume crops that is severely affected by early leaf spot and groundnut rosette disease in Sierra Leone. The recent decline in yields of groundnut in Sierra Leone has been associated with the low calcium application. Therefore, a study was conducted to assess the potential of cement as lime in ameliorating rosette disease problem and low yield of groundnut in Sierra Leone. This experiment was conducted under field conditions at Njala, Kori chiefdom. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with five (5) treatment of cement application (0, 50, 100, 200 & 400 kg/ha). Disease severity for the rosette leaf spot was assessed based on a 1-3 scale while cercospora leaf spot was 1-9 scale for 39 high yielding groundnut lines. The application of cement at 0, 50, 100, 200, & 400 kg/ha did not have any significant influence on the incidence and severity of rosette or cercospora diseases. However, the improved lines ICGV 1954, ICGV 7445, ICGV UGA 2, ICGV 10900, ICGV 6284, ICGV 7437, and ICGV 9407 produced significantly higher yields and good resistance to cercospora leaf spot and groundnut rosette disease and were selected as potential candidates for release and future breeding programs. This study showed that cement could not be used as a control for early leaf spot and rosette disease. Therefore, farmers should plant groundnut varieties that are resistant to cercospora leaf spot and rosette disease for higher yields.
Presentation delivered by Dr. Robert L. Paarlberg (Professor of Political Science, Wellesley College, USA) at Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security. March 25 - 28, 2014, Ciudad Obregon, Mexico.
http://www.borlaug100.org
Water Productivity Mapping (WPM) at various Resolutions (scales) using Remote Sensing - A proof of Concept Study in the Syr Darya River Basin in Central Asia - Xueliang Cai, Prasad S. Thenkabail, Alexander Platanov, Chandrashekhar M. Biradar, Yafit Cohen, Victor Alchanatis, Naftali Goldshlager, Eyal Ben-Dor, MuraliKrishna Gumma, Venkateswarlu Dheeravath, and Jagath Vithanage
Potential yields and yield gaps in wheat: the bases of wheat yield progressCIMMYT
Presentation delivered by Dr. Tony Fischer (CSIRO, Australia) at Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security. March 25 - 28, 2014, Ciudad Obregon, Mexico.
http://www.borlaug100.org
Conservation agriculture for resource use efficiency and sustainability BASIX
The Green Revolution era focused on enhancing the production and productivity of crops. New challenges demand that the issues of efficient resource use and resource conservation receive high priority to ensure that past gains can be sustained and further enhanced to meet the emerging needs. Extending some of the resource-conserving interventions developed for the agricultural crops are the major challenges for researchers and farmers alike. The present paper shares recent research experiences on resource conservation technologies involving tillage and crop establishment options and associated agronomic practices which enable farmers in reducing production costs, increase profitability and help them move forward in the direction of adopting conservation agriculture.
Genome-wide association study (GWAS) technology has been a primary method for identifying the genes responsible for diseases and other traits for the past ten years. GWAS continues to be highly relevant as a scientific method. Over 2,000 human GWAS reports now appear in scientific journals. Our free eBook aims to explain the basic steps and concepts to complete a GWAS experiment.
Marker assisted whole genome selection in crop improvementSenthil Natesan
Mapping and tagging of agriculturally important genes have been greatly facilitated by an array of molecular markers in crop plants. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) is gaining considerable importance as it would improve the efficiency of plant breeding through precise transfer of genomic regions of interest (foreground selection) and accelerating the recovery of the recurrent parent genome (background selection). MAS has been more widely employed for simply inherited traits than for polygenic traits, although there are a few success stories in improving quantitative traits through MAS
Presentation delivered by Dr. Hans-Joachim Braun (Global Wheat Program, CIMMYT) at Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security. March 25 - 28, 2014, Ciudad Obregon, Mexico.
http://www.borlaug100.org
Presentation by Aly Abousabaa from ICARDA at the Breeding Advantage event on the sidelines of COP23.
More information about the event series: https://bit.ly/AgAdvantage
Presentation by Andy Jarvis from CCAFS at the Breeding Advantage event on the sidelines of COP23.
More information about the event series: https://bit.ly/AgAdvantage
Adoption and impact of climate smart maize varieties on total maize productio...IFPRIMaSSP
This study estimates the impact of drought tolerant (DT) maize varieties on food security in southern Africa. DT maize varieties are a promising technology that can help smallholder farmers adapt to drought risks. Even though DT maize varieties have shown better yield potential under experimental conditions, their impact on smallholder farms across the region has not been evaluated. We use new household data (collected in 2015) from surveys of 2,995 farm households in five countries (Angola, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) to measure the impact of DT maize varieties on food security. We use households past five-year experience of drought as an instrumental variable that triggers the decision to adopt DT maize varieties and an endogenous switching regression to correct for the endogeneity of the DT adoption in estimating maize production. We also evaluate whether a household tends to be more food secure after growing a DT maize variety. Our results show that households that grew DT maize varieties had 600 kg/ha more maize than households that did not grow the DT maize varieties. Given a household of four people, with human maize consumption averaging 91 kg per capita per year, this additional maize provides an extra 1.6 months of food. Given the region's vulnerability to climate change, DT maize varieties prove to be an important adaptation option. We, therefore, recommend that governments in southern Africa promote DT maize varieties to reduce household vulnerability to climatic risks and improve food security.
Abstract
More than 300m people below the poverty line in developing countries depend on root, tuber and banana crops for food and income, particularly in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) is working globally to harness the untapped potential of those crops in order to improve food security, nutrition, income, and climate change and variability resilience of smallholder production systems. RTB is changing the way research centres work and collaborate, creating a more cohesive and multidisciplinary approach to common challenges and goals through knowledge sharing, multidirectional communications, communities of practice, and crosscutting initiatives. Participating centres work with an array of national and international institutions, non-governmental organisations, and stakeholders’ groups. RTB aims to promote greater cooperation among them while strengthening their capacities as key players. Because the impact of RTB research is highly dependent on its adoption by users, the programme’s research options are designed and developed together with partners, clients, and other stakeholders, and are informed by their needs and preferences. Climate change will have multiple impacts on poverty and vulnerability. Recent studies by the World Bank suggest that one of the most significant routes for this impact will be through increased food prices, which may undo progress in poverty reduction and will make achieving Sustainable Development Goals increasingly difficult. This underlines the urgency of investment in mid- to long-term strategic research to improve climate resilience. The presentation looks at progress in understanding the current trends and forecasting the changes that may occur to guide research; it examines some of the critical issues that will face potato and sweetpotato farmers; and ends with a plea for climate-smart research and breeding. And though this includes many of the things we already do, we need to do them faster, better, and smarter.
"Role of international collaboration towards improving crop productivity in the context of climate change and food security in Central Asia – an overview" presented by Ram C. Sharma and Jozef Turok at Regional Research Conference “Agricultural Transformation and Food Security in Central Asia”, April 8-9, 2014, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Transforming Maize-legume Value Chains –A Business Case for Climate-Smart Ag...CIMMYT
CIMMYT Senior Cropping Systems Agronomist Christian Thierfelder presented on climate-smart agriculture in southern Africa in a webinar titled Climate Resilient Agriculture Success Stories – Making a Case for Scale Up.
Earliest Galaxies in the JADES Origins Field: Luminosity Function and Cosmic ...Sérgio Sacani
We characterize the earliest galaxy population in the JADES Origins Field (JOF), the deepest
imaging field observed with JWST. We make use of the ancillary Hubble optical images (5 filters
spanning 0.4−0.9µm) and novel JWST images with 14 filters spanning 0.8−5µm, including 7 mediumband filters, and reaching total exposure times of up to 46 hours per filter. We combine all our data
at > 2.3µm to construct an ultradeep image, reaching as deep as ≈ 31.4 AB mag in the stack and
30.3-31.0 AB mag (5σ, r = 0.1” circular aperture) in individual filters. We measure photometric
redshifts and use robust selection criteria to identify a sample of eight galaxy candidates at redshifts
z = 11.5 − 15. These objects show compact half-light radii of R1/2 ∼ 50 − 200pc, stellar masses of
M⋆ ∼ 107−108M⊙, and star-formation rates of SFR ∼ 0.1−1 M⊙ yr−1
. Our search finds no candidates
at 15 < z < 20, placing upper limits at these redshifts. We develop a forward modeling approach to
infer the properties of the evolving luminosity function without binning in redshift or luminosity that
marginalizes over the photometric redshift uncertainty of our candidate galaxies and incorporates the
impact of non-detections. We find a z = 12 luminosity function in good agreement with prior results,
and that the luminosity function normalization and UV luminosity density decline by a factor of ∼ 2.5
from z = 12 to z = 14. We discuss the possible implications of our results in the context of theoretical
models for evolution of the dark matter halo mass function.
Cancer cell metabolism: special Reference to Lactate PathwayAADYARAJPANDEY1
Normal Cell Metabolism:
Cellular respiration describes the series of steps that cells use to break down sugar and other chemicals to get the energy we need to function.
Energy is stored in the bonds of glucose and when glucose is broken down, much of that energy is released.
Cell utilize energy in the form of ATP.
The first step of respiration is called glycolysis. In a series of steps, glycolysis breaks glucose into two smaller molecules - a chemical called pyruvate. A small amount of ATP is formed during this process.
Most healthy cells continue the breakdown in a second process, called the Kreb's cycle. The Kreb's cycle allows cells to “burn” the pyruvates made in glycolysis to get more ATP.
The last step in the breakdown of glucose is called oxidative phosphorylation (Ox-Phos).
It takes place in specialized cell structures called mitochondria. This process produces a large amount of ATP. Importantly, cells need oxygen to complete oxidative phosphorylation.
If a cell completes only glycolysis, only 2 molecules of ATP are made per glucose. However, if the cell completes the entire respiration process (glycolysis - Kreb's - oxidative phosphorylation), about 36 molecules of ATP are created, giving it much more energy to use.
IN CANCER CELL:
Unlike healthy cells that "burn" the entire molecule of sugar to capture a large amount of energy as ATP, cancer cells are wasteful.
Cancer cells only partially break down sugar molecules. They overuse the first step of respiration, glycolysis. They frequently do not complete the second step, oxidative phosphorylation.
This results in only 2 molecules of ATP per each glucose molecule instead of the 36 or so ATPs healthy cells gain. As a result, cancer cells need to use a lot more sugar molecules to get enough energy to survive.
Unlike healthy cells that "burn" the entire molecule of sugar to capture a large amount of energy as ATP, cancer cells are wasteful.
Cancer cells only partially break down sugar molecules. They overuse the first step of respiration, glycolysis. They frequently do not complete the second step, oxidative phosphorylation.
This results in only 2 molecules of ATP per each glucose molecule instead of the 36 or so ATPs healthy cells gain. As a result, cancer cells need to use a lot more sugar molecules to get enough energy to survive.
introduction to WARBERG PHENOMENA:
WARBURG EFFECT Usually, cancer cells are highly glycolytic (glucose addiction) and take up more glucose than do normal cells from outside.
Otto Heinrich Warburg (; 8 October 1883 – 1 August 1970) In 1931 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology for his "discovery of the nature and mode of action of the respiratory enzyme.
WARNBURG EFFECT : cancer cells under aerobic (well-oxygenated) conditions to metabolize glucose to lactate (aerobic glycolysis) is known as the Warburg effect. Warburg made the observation that tumor slices consume glucose and secrete lactate at a higher rate than normal tissues.
The increased availability of biomedical data, particularly in the public domain, offers the opportunity to better understand human health and to develop effective therapeutics for a wide range of unmet medical needs. However, data scientists remain stymied by the fact that data remain hard to find and to productively reuse because data and their metadata i) are wholly inaccessible, ii) are in non-standard or incompatible representations, iii) do not conform to community standards, and iv) have unclear or highly restricted terms and conditions that preclude legitimate reuse. These limitations require a rethink on data can be made machine and AI-ready - the key motivation behind the FAIR Guiding Principles. Concurrently, while recent efforts have explored the use of deep learning to fuse disparate data into predictive models for a wide range of biomedical applications, these models often fail even when the correct answer is already known, and fail to explain individual predictions in terms that data scientists can appreciate. These limitations suggest that new methods to produce practical artificial intelligence are still needed.
In this talk, I will discuss our work in (1) building an integrative knowledge infrastructure to prepare FAIR and "AI-ready" data and services along with (2) neurosymbolic AI methods to improve the quality of predictions and to generate plausible explanations. Attention is given to standards, platforms, and methods to wrangle knowledge into simple, but effective semantic and latent representations, and to make these available into standards-compliant and discoverable interfaces that can be used in model building, validation, and explanation. Our work, and those of others in the field, creates a baseline for building trustworthy and easy to deploy AI models in biomedicine.
Bio
Dr. Michel Dumontier is the Distinguished Professor of Data Science at Maastricht University, founder and executive director of the Institute of Data Science, and co-founder of the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) data principles. His research explores socio-technological approaches for responsible discovery science, which includes collaborative multi-modal knowledge graphs, privacy-preserving distributed data mining, and AI methods for drug discovery and personalized medicine. His work is supported through the Dutch National Research Agenda, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, Horizon Europe, the European Open Science Cloud, the US National Institutes of Health, and a Marie-Curie Innovative Training Network. He is the editor-in-chief for the journal Data Science and is internationally recognized for his contributions in bioinformatics, biomedical informatics, and semantic technologies including ontologies and linked data.
Introduction:
RNA interference (RNAi) or Post-Transcriptional Gene Silencing (PTGS) is an important biological process for modulating eukaryotic gene expression.
It is highly conserved process of posttranscriptional gene silencing by which double stranded RNA (dsRNA) causes sequence-specific degradation of mRNA sequences.
dsRNA-induced gene silencing (RNAi) is reported in a wide range of eukaryotes ranging from worms, insects, mammals and plants.
This process mediates resistance to both endogenous parasitic and exogenous pathogenic nucleic acids, and regulates the expression of protein-coding genes.
What are small ncRNAs?
micro RNA (miRNA)
short interfering RNA (siRNA)
Properties of small non-coding RNA:
Involved in silencing mRNA transcripts.
Called “small” because they are usually only about 21-24 nucleotides long.
Synthesized by first cutting up longer precursor sequences (like the 61nt one that Lee discovered).
Silence an mRNA by base pairing with some sequence on the mRNA.
Discovery of siRNA?
The first small RNA:
In 1993 Rosalind Lee (Victor Ambros lab) was studying a non- coding gene in C. elegans, lin-4, that was involved in silencing of another gene, lin-14, at the appropriate time in the
development of the worm C. elegans.
Two small transcripts of lin-4 (22nt and 61nt) were found to be complementary to a sequence in the 3' UTR of lin-14.
Because lin-4 encoded no protein, she deduced that it must be these transcripts that are causing the silencing by RNA-RNA interactions.
Types of RNAi ( non coding RNA)
MiRNA
Length (23-25 nt)
Trans acting
Binds with target MRNA in mismatch
Translation inhibition
Si RNA
Length 21 nt.
Cis acting
Bind with target Mrna in perfect complementary sequence
Piwi-RNA
Length ; 25 to 36 nt.
Expressed in Germ Cells
Regulates trnasposomes activity
MECHANISM OF RNAI:
First the double-stranded RNA teams up with a protein complex named Dicer, which cuts the long RNA into short pieces.
Then another protein complex called RISC (RNA-induced silencing complex) discards one of the two RNA strands.
The RISC-docked, single-stranded RNA then pairs with the homologous mRNA and destroys it.
THE RISC COMPLEX:
RISC is large(>500kD) RNA multi- protein Binding complex which triggers MRNA degradation in response to MRNA
Unwinding of double stranded Si RNA by ATP independent Helicase
Active component of RISC is Ago proteins( ENDONUCLEASE) which cleave target MRNA.
DICER: endonuclease (RNase Family III)
Argonaute: Central Component of the RNA-Induced Silencing Complex (RISC)
One strand of the dsRNA produced by Dicer is retained in the RISC complex in association with Argonaute
ARGONAUTE PROTEIN :
1.PAZ(PIWI/Argonaute/ Zwille)- Recognition of target MRNA
2.PIWI (p-element induced wimpy Testis)- breaks Phosphodiester bond of mRNA.)RNAse H activity.
MiRNA:
The Double-stranded RNAs are naturally produced in eukaryotic cells during development, and they have a key role in regulating gene expression .
Richard's entangled aventures in wonderlandRichard Gill
Since the loophole-free Bell experiments of 2020 and the Nobel prizes in physics of 2022, critics of Bell's work have retreated to the fortress of super-determinism. Now, super-determinism is a derogatory word - it just means "determinism". Palmer, Hance and Hossenfelder argue that quantum mechanics and determinism are not incompatible, using a sophisticated mathematical construction based on a subtle thinning of allowed states and measurements in quantum mechanics, such that what is left appears to make Bell's argument fail, without altering the empirical predictions of quantum mechanics. I think however that it is a smoke screen, and the slogan "lost in math" comes to my mind. I will discuss some other recent disproofs of Bell's theorem using the language of causality based on causal graphs. Causal thinking is also central to law and justice. I will mention surprising connections to my work on serial killer nurse cases, in particular the Dutch case of Lucia de Berk and the current UK case of Lucy Letby.
Slide 1: Title Slide
Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Slide 2: Introduction to Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Definition: Extrachromosomal inheritance refers to the transmission of genetic material that is not found within the nucleus.
Key Components: Involves genes located in mitochondria, chloroplasts, and plasmids.
Slide 3: Mitochondrial Inheritance
Mitochondria: Organelles responsible for energy production.
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA): Circular DNA molecule found in mitochondria.
Inheritance Pattern: Maternally inherited, meaning it is passed from mothers to all their offspring.
Diseases: Examples include Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) and mitochondrial myopathy.
Slide 4: Chloroplast Inheritance
Chloroplasts: Organelles responsible for photosynthesis in plants.
Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA): Circular DNA molecule found in chloroplasts.
Inheritance Pattern: Often maternally inherited in most plants, but can vary in some species.
Examples: Variegation in plants, where leaf color patterns are determined by chloroplast DNA.
Slide 5: Plasmid Inheritance
Plasmids: Small, circular DNA molecules found in bacteria and some eukaryotes.
Features: Can carry antibiotic resistance genes and can be transferred between cells through processes like conjugation.
Significance: Important in biotechnology for gene cloning and genetic engineering.
Slide 6: Mechanisms of Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Non-Mendelian Patterns: Do not follow Mendel’s laws of inheritance.
Cytoplasmic Segregation: During cell division, organelles like mitochondria and chloroplasts are randomly distributed to daughter cells.
Heteroplasmy: Presence of more than one type of organellar genome within a cell, leading to variation in expression.
Slide 7: Examples of Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Four O’clock Plant (Mirabilis jalapa): Shows variegated leaves due to different cpDNA in leaf cells.
Petite Mutants in Yeast: Result from mutations in mitochondrial DNA affecting respiration.
Slide 8: Importance of Extrachromosomal Inheritance
Evolution: Provides insight into the evolution of eukaryotic cells.
Medicine: Understanding mitochondrial inheritance helps in diagnosing and treating mitochondrial diseases.
Agriculture: Chloroplast inheritance can be used in plant breeding and genetic modification.
Slide 9: Recent Research and Advances
Gene Editing: Techniques like CRISPR-Cas9 are being used to edit mitochondrial and chloroplast DNA.
Therapies: Development of mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) for preventing mitochondrial diseases.
Slide 10: Conclusion
Summary: Extrachromosomal inheritance involves the transmission of genetic material outside the nucleus and plays a crucial role in genetics, medicine, and biotechnology.
Future Directions: Continued research and technological advancements hold promise for new treatments and applications.
Slide 11: Questions and Discussion
Invite Audience: Open the floor for any questions or further discussion on the topic.
Richard's aventures in two entangled wonderlandsRichard Gill
Since the loophole-free Bell experiments of 2020 and the Nobel prizes in physics of 2022, critics of Bell's work have retreated to the fortress of super-determinism. Now, super-determinism is a derogatory word - it just means "determinism". Palmer, Hance and Hossenfelder argue that quantum mechanics and determinism are not incompatible, using a sophisticated mathematical construction based on a subtle thinning of allowed states and measurements in quantum mechanics, such that what is left appears to make Bell's argument fail, without altering the empirical predictions of quantum mechanics. I think however that it is a smoke screen, and the slogan "lost in math" comes to my mind. I will discuss some other recent disproofs of Bell's theorem using the language of causality based on causal graphs. Causal thinking is also central to law and justice. I will mention surprising connections to my work on serial killer nurse cases, in particular the Dutch case of Lucia de Berk and the current UK case of Lucy Letby.
Central & West Asia and North Africa: Where Wheat Improvement Matters
1. Mahmoud El Solh
Director General
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas
Central & West Asia and North Africa:
Where Wheat Improvement Matters
Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security
Wheat Science, prospects and Perspective
CENEB-CIMMYT, Cd. Obregon, Mexico
27 March, 2014
2. Outline
1. Why Wheat Matters in CWANA?
2. Main drivers of increased Wheat
Productivity in the past;
3. Current challenges facing Wheat
Production in CWANA;
4. The role of ICARDA in generating and
promoting Wheat Technologies in
collaboration with Partners;
5. Bridging the Yield Gap and the Impact of
Improved Wheat Technologies in Selected
Countries;
6. Partnerships, Future Emphasis/Looking
Ahead.
3. Wheat is the staple food crop of
strategic importance in the region;
The region is home to almost a
billion people;
Wheat in CWANA covers about 54
million ha which is ~ 50% of the
wheat production area in the
developing world;
The highest wheat per capita
consumption is in Morocco (220 kg
per capita per year)
Lifting wheat subsidies led to
social unrest and riots in Egypt,
Morocco, Jordan and other
countries;
Except for Kazakhstan, Syria
(before 2011), and Turkey all
CWANA countries are wheat
importers;
Egypt is the largest wheat importer
(imports up to 10 million tons)
CWANA
1. Why Wheat Matters in CWANA?
5. Wheat = 37% of total food supply (calories) in MENA
Average annual per capita consumption:
• North Africa (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) = 174 kg
• Middle East = 158kg
• Total MENA = 166kg
• World average = 66kg
Currently, the region imports more than half its
wheat needs, at an increasing cost
Wheat: the staple food
in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region
6. 0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Yield(t/Ha)
Area(MHa)
Production(Mt)
Year
Area Production Yield
CWANA, with average area of 54 million ha, covers 50% of
the wheat production area in the developing world
CWANA Wheat Area, Production and Yield
9. Crop Prospects and Food Situation, April 2008 FAO.
Impact of food price increases on balance trade
In CWANA countries
10. Impact of the Food Crisis
Most CWANA countries are moving from food self reliance to self sufficiency
11. Adoption of input responsive semi-dwarf widely adapted
wheat varieties (Dr Norman Borlaug varieties);
Adoption and application of inputs (fertilizer, irrigation water,
herbicides, etc.);
International Wheat Improvement Network and Capacity
Development (CIMMYT and ICARDA);
Increase in international prices of wheat;
Favorable policy environment and government subsidies;
And to a lesser extent change in wheat area;
2. Main Drivers of Increased Wheat Yield in the Past
12. Water scarcity and more frequent
drought;
Soil degradation;
Reduced supply and increasing
cost of inputs e.g. fertilizers, fuel
etc.;
Climate Change & Global warming;
Emerging pests and diseases;
Increasing demand for energy
(biofuel);
Increasing world population:
8 billion in 2030 ; 9.2 billion in 2050
Tends in Wheat Production Area and Yield
in the World & CWANA, 1961-2010
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
1961
1966
1971
1976
1981
1986
1991
1996
2001
2006
yield(t/ha)
Area(Millha)
CWANA Area (ha) World Area (ha)
CWANA Yield (t/ha) World Yield (t/ha)
3. Current challenges for increasing wheat production
in CWANA
13. Relative change of mean annual precipitation 1980/1999 to 2080/2099, scenario A1b, average of 21 GCMs
(compiled by GIS Unit ICARDA, based on partial maps in Christensen et al., 2007)
Relative change of mean annual precipitation
1980/1999 to 2080/2099
14. Abiotic stresses
• Drought
• Heat
• Cold
• Salinity
• Pre-harvest loses including
sprouting
• Lodging
Biotic stresses
• Yellow rust
• Stem rust
• Leaf rust
• Fusarium
• Septoria
• Tan spot
• Common bunt
• Root rots
• Hessian Fly
• Russian Wheat Aphid
• Sunn Pest
• Weeds
Major Production constraints in CWANA Countries
16. Production loss of cultivar Achtar : 100,000 ton
Monetary: $ 30 m US dollars
Estimated Yield loss in Gereck : 40%
Monetary loss : > $52 m US dollars
Syria: Cham 8, Cham 6 : 30-80 % yield loss
Ethiopia : Attila (Kubsa): 40-70% yield loss
Recurrence of Stripe/Yellow Rust in CWANA
17. 4. The role of ICARDA in generating and promoting
Wheat Technologies in collaboration with Partners
18. Conservation and use of genetic diversity of crops and wild relatives of
importance to dry areas;
Crop genetic improvement: through plant breeding/biotechnology and
improved crop management of winter cereals, food legumes and forage crops;
Plant protection through resistance/tolerance to biotic stresses and IPM
practices;
Enhancing water productivity and integrated sustainable water management;
Diversification and sustainable intensification of production systems;
Resilience of production systems in marginal lands of dry areas;
Conservation agriculture: conservations of soil moisture and reducing cost of
production and energy use;
Social, economic and policy research and institutional innovations and
support;
Capacity development & networking.
36 Years of Experience in Basic and Applied Research
in Non-Tropical Dry Areas
19. • High yield potential and broad adaptation;
• Durable resistance/tolerance to major diseases and insect pests;
• Tolerance to Drought, heat, cold and salinity;
• Grain quality;
• Capacity building of NARS and Networking
ICARDA Wheat Genetic Improvement Program
Objectives
20. Taxon Number of accessions
Wheat 37,816
Barley 28,999
Wild Cereals/Wheat
wild relatives 8242
Faba bean 12,585
Lentil 10,889
Chickpea 14,544
Wild Lens and Cicer 929
Forage legumes 31,719
Forage and range
species 7611
Total 153,334
ICARDA Gene Bank Holdings
21. • Classification and targeting major environments;
• Shuttle breeding;
• Biotechnological Tools including Marker assisted selection;
• Mining desirable genes and the use of wide crosses involving wild
relatives (Synthetics) for desirable traits;
• Screening for durable resistance/tolerance to diseases and insect
pests in hot spots;
• Multi-location testing;
Approaches to increase wheat breeding efficiency
22. Syria
Tel Hadya*
Lebanon
Terbol
Morocco
Merchouch
Egypt
SidsEthiopia
Kulumsa
Turkey
Ankara
Izmir
Sudan
Wad-
Medani
ICARDA’s Key Locations for Wheat Shuttle Breeding
Terbol (Lebanon): Adaptation, yield
potential, seed multiplication, off-
season rust, international nurseries.
Merchouch (Morocco): Rainfed
wheat, drought tolerance, insect
resistance, virology.
Kulumsa (Ethiopia): Stem
Rust(Ug99), Stripe Rust, Fusarium,
Septoria.
Sids (Egypt): High input irrigated
wheat, yield potential, earliness.
Wad-Medani (Sudan): Heat
tolerance, earliness (short season
wheat).
Ankara (Turkey): International
Winter Wheat Program (IWWP).
Izmir (Turkey): Wheat rusts with
emphasis on stripe/yellow rust,
international Trap Rusts Nurseries. * Activities currently suspended in Tel Hadya, Syria
23. FIGS - Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy
Link environmental data to collection sites
Adapted from diagram by
D T F Endresen (NGB)
Choose accessions from that
environments that would
impose a selection pressure
for a given trait:
e.g.: for heat tolerance, select
material from environments
where there is a high
selection pressure
Gene Mining Using FIGS
24. Sunn pest – first time in bread wheat
RWA resistance – new genes inditified
Hessian fly - resistance to US bio-type
Powdery mildew – 2 new functional genes
Salinity – 20% of salinity set showed resistance compared to
only 3% of core set
Drought – FIGS accessions performed better than core set
FIGS Results: Success Verified & Impact
25. About 732 wheat landraces and wild
relatives have been identified through
FIGs approach and were screened for
resistance to Stripe Rust and
Septoria for two years (2011-2012).
As shown in this Figure: 9 genotypes
of T. monococcum; 12 genotypes of T.
timopheevii; 94 genotypes of T.
turgidum and 15 genotypes of T.
aestivum have been identified with
high level of resistance to both Stripe
Rust and Septoria diseases.
These genotypes are being used in the
pre-breeding program for gene
pyramiding.
Triticum
aestivum ,
15
Triticum
timophee
vii , 12
Triticum
turgidum,
94
Triticum monococcum 9
Wheat accessions with high of combined resistance
to Stripe Rust and Septoria, 2011-2012.
26. Y irr; Y RF; YR; * < 0.01
Source: Tadesse, 2013
Association mapping for Yield Potential, Drought
Tolerance and Stripe Rust Resistnce
27. Synthetics have exponentially increased genetic
diversity in wheat
• Increased yield under drought and favorable
irrigated conditions ;
• Multiple disease resistance
• Leaf, stem, and yellow rusts
• Yellow Leaf Spot (= tan spot) resistance
• Nematode resistance
• Septoria leaf blotch resistance
• Insect pests tolerance e.g. Sunn pest,
Russian Wheat apphids
• Tolerance abiotic Stresses
• Drought tolerance
• Heat tolerance
• Salinity tolerance
• Pre-harvest sprouting tolerance
After introducing a novel DD genome (Ae.
tauschii), now work starting on using novel AABB
genome (T. dicoccoides and T. dicoccum) in new
synthetics.
Contribution of Synthetic Wheat
28. (Syria) (Syria) (Lebanon)
Source: Ogbonnaya et al. 2010
Grain Yield of Synthetic Bread Wheat Genotypes
against recurrent parent , Cham 6.
29. Parent Variety Yield t/ha
% recurrent
parent
Cham 6*2/SW2 1.6 147
Cham 6*2/SW2 1.5 138
Cham-6 1.10 100
Attila-7 1.3 -
Yield of “synthetic derivatives” compared to parents
under drought stress. (Tel Hadya 2008 -- 211 mm)
Wheat crossed with wild relatives:
Synthetic wheat, tolerance to excessive drought
30. T. boeoticum
T. urartu
T. dicoccoides
yellow rust resistance
leaf rust resistance
earliness
high productive tillering
spike productivity
plant productivity
plant height
drought tolerance
Sunn pest resistance
Russian wheat aphid resistance
Septoria tritici resistance
Ae. speltoides
probably different from Yr15
New sources for desirable traits for wheat
through wide crosses with wild relatives
33. Effects > 15 million ha in West
and Central Asia & Eastern
Europe;
Sunn pest injects enzyme that
decomposes grain gluten, vital
for bread baking;
If 2-3% of a grain lot is infested,
entire wheat lot is ruined with
respect to baking quality
IPM: Sunn Pest in wheat
34. • Hand collection of Sunn pest
in overwintering sites
• Use of insect-killing fungi in overwintering
sites
• Enhancement and
conservation of egg
parasitoids/predators
• Genetic resistance
at early vegetative stage
Sunn Pest IPM Options in wheat
36. Heavy yellow
rust infestation
wheat in West
Asia in 2010
Black stem rust
(Ug 99)
infestation in
Ethiopia &
Kenya
Surveillance & Resistance to Rust Diseases
38. Released varieties resistances
to black stem and yellow rust
in Ethiopia
Resistances to new races of
yellow rust in West Asia
in 2010
Resistance to Rust Diseases in Wheat
39. ICARDA implemented regional and
bilateral projects with focus to promote
the development and dissemination of
wheat varieties resistant to Stripe and
Black Stem (Ug99) Rusts:
• USAID Famine Fund (Egypt, Ethiopia,
Pakistan)
• Three bilateral projects in Ethiopia
(USAID), Iraq (USAID) and Pakistan
(USDA)
Fast track
testing and
release
Accelerated
seed
multiplication
Popularization
/demonstration
Scaling-out of
technologies
Strengthening
NARS Capacity
Farmers
Fast Track Variety Release and Accelerated Seed Multiplication
and Delivery of Rust Resistant Varieties
40. 1. Wheat rust resistant varieties released by Egypt (2), Ethiopia (8)
and Pakistan (9)
2. Amount of certified seed of rust resistant varieties produced by
NARS (in collaboration with CIMMYT and ICARDA) and
distributed;
• Egypt: 15,725 MT sufficient to plant 9% of wheat area, 2011/12;
• Ethiopia: 27,000 MT sufficient to plant 10% wheat area, 2012/13;
• Pakistan: 42,750 MT sufficient to plant 5% of wheat area,
2011/12
3. Popularization and promotion of rust resistant varieties reaching
close to 5,000 farmers every year
4. Farmer-based seed production in rainfed areas of Pakistan (6
districts planted 17.22 ha of 7 varieties and produced 56.18 MT
at an average profit of $348/ha)
USAID Famine Fund (2009-12):
Egypt, Ethiopia and Pakistan
41. Both formal and informal approaches used in accelerated seed production and
distribution of rust resistant varieties developed by NARS in collaboration both
CIMMYT and ICARDA with public-private partnership:
• NARS (federal and regional) produced about 6,021 MT seed of rust resistant
wheat varieties and successfully distributed for different purposes;
• About 815 MT seed distributed directly to farmers which was planted on
5,660 ha producing 18,718 MT potentially sufficient to plant 127,377 ha;
• About 19,877 farmers (7.3% women) reached benefitting 119,262 HH
members through on-farm seed production, technology scaling-out and
emergency seed relief;
• Farmer seed associations and public and private sector produced a
combined 5526 MT seed for further seed multiplication;
• Public and private sector distributed a combined 85,943 MT seed of rust
resistant varieties sufficient to plant 572,956 ha of wheat area in 2012/13.
Rapid Deployment of Rust Resistant Varieties
(2011/12-): Ethiopia
44. Wheat Productivity Enhancement Program (2011-): Pakistan
• 2600 MT seed of promising lines/new varieties produced under pre- and post
release seed multiplication (148 MT of exclusively Ug99 resistant lines/varieties)
and provided to public and/or private seed companies;
• 284 MT seed was produced with farmers in dryland areas of Punjab and KPK with
average net returns from seed activities of $337/ha;
• 494 MT seed produced from popularization and demonstration of new rust
resistant (164.8 MT exclusively Ug99 resistant varieties) with net return of
$227/ha.
HSAD strengthening wheat seed system (2013-14): Iraq
• A total of 5904 MT seed of high yielding and stress tolerant wheat
varieties were multiplied by NARS and large-scale seed producers:
• 1.31 MT seed of pre-release (11 promising lines) ;
• 2200 MT breeder and foundation seed (13 varieties) produced by
NARS with resistance to yellow rust;
• 3703 MT registered and certified seed (6 varieties) produced by
seed companies with resistance to yellow rusts.
Enhancing Wheat Productivity in Pakistan and Iraq
46. 1977 - 2013 Recent years
Crop
Developing
Countries
Industrialized
Countries
All
Countries
Barley 186 31 11
Durum Wheat 111 14 9
Bread Wheat 230 6 6
Chickpea 110 31 2
Faba Bean 54 6 3
Lentil 101 16 5
Forages 31 2 1
Peas 9 0 0
Sub-Total 814 106 37
Total 920 37
Estimated Net Benefit = about US $850 m / year
Improvement Varieties Released by NARS Partners
Using ICARDA Germplasm
376
47. High yield potential
Tolerance to abiotic stresses:
- Drought
- Heat
- Cold
- Salinity
Resistance/tolerance to biotic stresses
- Diseases
- Insect pests
- Parasitic weeds
Desirable Traits of Varieties Released
48. Variety
Name
Type Cross/Pedigree
Year of
Release
Country
SIDS-13 SBW KAUZ//TSI/SNB 2010 Egypt
HOGGANA SBW PYN/BAU//MILAN (= ETBW 5780 2011 Ethiopia
SHORIMA SBW UTQE96/3/PYN/BAU//MILAN 2011 Ethiopia
HULUKA SBW UTQE96/3/PYN/BAU//MILAN 2011 Ethiopia
KARIM SBW T.AEST/SPRW//CA8055/3/BACANORA86 2011 Iran
GOUMRIA-3 SBW VEE#7/KAUZ 2013 Sudan
GIZIL BUGDA FWW SAULESKU41/SADOVO1 2009 Azerbaijan
CHUMON FWW CADET/6/YUMAI13/5/NAI60/3/14.53/ODIN//CI13441/CANON 2012 Tajikistan
TACICAR FWW OR F1.158/FDL//BLO/3/SHI4414/CROW 2012 Tajikistan
BUNIYODKOR FWW DORADE-5//KS82117/MLT 2012 Uzbekistan
RIJAW FWW
PATO/CAL/3/7C//BB/CNO/5/CAL//CNO/SN64/4/CNO//BAD/C
HR/3/KL../6/SABALAN
2011 Iran
HUMA
FWW PYN/PARUS/3/VPM/MOS83-11-4-8//PEW/4/BLUGIL 2011 Uzbekistan
MUKYE
DW STJ3//BCR/LKS4/3/TER-3 2012
Ethiopia
ACHOURI
DW MRF1/STJ2//GDR2/MGNL1 2012 Algeria
BANI SUEF 4
DW IANZEN 1 2008 Egypt
Recently released wheat cultivars by NARSs
in collaboration with ICARDA
51. Yield potential of newly developed durum genotypes
at ICARDA durum breeding program
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
Miki1 OuaserlOuasloukos
Ouaserl
Aghrass2Amedakul1 Haurani (Landrace) Korifla (Impr)
Kg/ha
Yield Potential of recently developed Durum Wheat
genotypes at ICARDA
52. 5. Bridging the Yield Gap
and Impact of Improved Wheat Technologies
53. Actual farm yields of wheat in the CWANA region are
far below their potential.
Evidence shows that productivity can be increased
substantially;
If production of wheat is to exceed population growth
rates, yields must increase further.
Limited scope for expansion in area
Future increases in production must come from
sustainable intensification of wheat-based production
system.
Wheat Productivity in CWANA Region
54. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Algeria Egypt Ethiopia Morocco Syria Turkey
Countryyield(tha-1)
Real (Average 2007/2011; FAOSTAT) Experimental
6. Wheat Yield Gap Analysis in Selected Countries
55. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Experimental
Station Yield
Potential Farm
Yield
Actual Farm
Yield
Yield Gap II
Yield Gap I
Biological constraints
• Variety
• Water
• Weeds
• Diseases and insect pests
• Soil Fertility
• Soil Problems e.g. salinity
Socioeconomic constraints
• Input availability
• Costs and returns
• Credit
• Prices
• Tradition and altitudes
• Knowledge
• Input availability
• Institutions and Policies
Tons/ha
Example, Wheat in Tunisia
Bridging the Yield Gap in Wheat
Progressive
Farmers Yield
Traditional
Farmers Yield
Experimental
Station Yield
56. Morocco
Syria
(rainfed)Gap Analysis
Settat-Berrechid
(rainfed)
Tadla
(irrigated)
Gap 1 (kg/ha) 1028 2115 1655
Gap 2 (kg/ha) 2228 3825 2520
Gap 1 (%) 88% 45% 82%
Gap 2 (%) 192% 82% 125%
Gap 1 = difference between average farmers’ yield and research
station/on-farm demonstration yield
Gap 2 = difference between average farmers’ yield and simulated
potential yield
Wheat yield gap analysis: Morocco and Syria
57. Gaps between national average yields and progressive farmers yields
Wheat Yield Gap in Syria
58. Formerly a wheat importer, the country (before the
unfortunate developments that started in 2011) was
self-sufficient, and even an exporter of wheat (1-2
million tons) in reasonable good rainy seasons.
Between 1991 and 2004 wheat production rose
from 2.1 million to 4.5 million tons, with a
combination of new high-yielding varieties (1/3),
supplemental irrigation technology (1/3) and more
inputs (1/3) with supportive government policies.
Impact of Bridging the Yield Gap in Syria
60. Socio-economic & policy,
and institutional support
Sustainable
Natural resource
management and
inputs
Crop & livestock
genetic improvement
Integration at field
and farmers levels
The integrated approach involving the three pillars
of sustainable agricultural intensification
61. I R I I R I R I
Participating
Farmers
8.1 2.4 4.9 3.7 2.6 6.3 2.7 6.0
Non
Participating
Farmers
6.3 1.9 4.4 2.4 2.2 5.6 2.1 4.6
Ave. increase (%) 22 21 11 58 20 13 23 30
Max yield 9.1 3.2 6.5 5.6 4.2 8.2 3.7 8.8
Average Yield Increase= 25 %
Maximum Yield Increase= 75 %
Egypt Yemen Morocco Sudan Syria Tunisia
Impact of Bridging Yield Gap in Wheat in Selected
Countries under Rainfed (R) and Irrigated Systems
Food Security Project: 2011/2012
66. Average wheat productivity in 2009/2010 and 2012-
2013 in Al-Sharkia Governorate:
It was 6.2 t/ha in 2010 and reached 7.2 t/ha in 2013;
It was less than the national mean by 7% in 2010 and
higher by 4% in 2013;
National Productivity was 6.5 t/ha in 2010 and it
reached 6.7 t/ha in 2013.
Project on "Enhancing Food Security in Arab Countries", March 2014
Impact of Large Scale On-Farm Demonstration in Egypt
67. Egypt:
Based on the results obtained in Al-Sharkia Governorate,
National Campaign for improvement of wheat followed the Al-
Sharkia approach for the dissemination of technologies: more
than 1000 demonstration fields on improved wheat
production technologies were planted during 2011-2012 and
2012 -2013 seasons in 22 Governorates in addition to the
Governorate of Al-Sharkia which was used a pilot project site
in Egypt. This expansion effort was supported by national
funds amounting to 8.7 million EGP (about 1.300,000USD) in
3 years.
Tunisia:
The approach is being replicated in other wheat producing
provinces based on the efficient extension methodology
developed by the project in the country.
Spillover of Food Security Project Model
69. All the work done by ICARDA in wheat is aligned under the
Wheat CRP (CRP3.1) led by CIMMYT and in collaboration with
CIMMYT and
National Agricultural Research Systems;
Advanced Research Institutes;
IFAD, FAO and Other UN Organizations;
Civil society organizations including NGOs;
Private Sector;
Donors.
Partnerships and Institutional Linkages7. Partnerships and Collaborators
70. Establish/strengthen multi-disciplinary regional & international
cooperation & networking through the Wheat CRP;
Strengthen the consortium on hybrid wheat and innovative research
to enhance yield potential including C4 wheat, N-fixing wheat;
Strengthen the use of biotechnological tools including Genomic
Selection (GS) approaches;
Sustainable intensification of wheat based systems;
Strengthen and promote IPM options;
Promote further Conservative Agriculture in dryland systems;
Enhancing water use efficiency through deficit and supplemental
irrigation and modernization of irrigation systems;
Improve access to improved seeds through effective seed production
& delivery systems (formal & informer; public and private);
Capacity development of NARS partners & Networking.
7. Future Emphasis/Looking Ahead
71. ICARDA Site identification team, 1975: Dr Norman Borlaug, Official
from Syrian Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Bob Havner, Dr Jit Srivastiva
and Mr Faek Bahady
History of ICARDA’s birth, 1975