EverCrop aims to develop improved farming systems for the crop-livestock zone incorporating perennials. It addresses constraints to adopting perennials and develops tools to evaluate their role. Experiments are conducted across rainfall zones to determine the productivity and tradeoffs of incorporating perennials into low rainfall cropping systems. Research includes modelling fodder shrub growth, measuring saltbush and Rhagodia preisii performance across landscapes, and evaluating summer-growing grasses to fill feed gaps in the Victorian Mallee.
C:\Fakepath\M Gadberry Arkansas Evaluationof Hay Wastenacaa
1. The study evaluated hay waste from three common hay feeding methods: unprotected bales (UNP), bales processed in a grinder-mixer and fed in tires (PRO), and bales fed in rings (RNG).
2. Hay waste was significantly lower for PRO (0.09%) compared to UNP (42%). RNG resulted in intermediate waste (13%).
3. An economic analysis found that the value of hay saved through PRO did not offset its higher costs compared to RNG. RNG appeared the most cost-effective method.
Developing multi-scale strategies for farming communities to adapt to climate...ACIAR
Christian Roth, Thavone Inthavong, Seng Vang and ACCA team
Rice-based Systems Research: Regional Technical Workshop
Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)
West Fork Timber Company (WFTC) is a private timber company that manages approximately 54,000 acres on the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains. West Fork's goal was to develop a long-term harvest plan that would improve asset value over time, while simultaneously ensuring that habitat requirements set forth in their Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) would be realized. The primary constraint set forth in the HCP is the maintenance of a unique Dispersal Landscape Index (DLI) within a narrow (+/- 5%) range of pre-determined levels for the life of the HCP. The DLI is derived by assigning different values to areas within specific distances of existing dispersal habitat (DH) in a complex formula; the dispersal habitat (DH) values are then summed and divided by the total number of acres in the forest to arrive at a DLI value for the ownership. This paper discusses DLI calculation and the challenges involved in modeling this problem, including the types of constraints needed in the strategic model, the spatial allocation of activities associated with existing and future stands in a Model II framework, and the development of a rapid DLI calculator to facilitate the evaluation of alternatives. Overall, West Fork was able to meet objective of higher returns from the forest while simultaneously demonstrating improvement in dispersal habitat over the next four decades.
The Green Belt Movement has planted over 45 million trees across Kenya to help restore forests and combat environmental degradation. This study analyzed the effectiveness of the GBM's reforestation efforts by comparing tree cover in GBM project watersheds to non-project areas, and assessing suitability based on population density, poverty levels, and other factors. The results showed significantly higher forest cover in the GBM watersheds, indicating their reforestation work is effective and focused in areas most suitable for replanting. The implications are that similar approaches could benefit other countries facing deforestation.
GBM has planted over 45 million trees across Kenya to combat deforestation. The study analyzed spatial data on population density, poverty levels, charcoal production, and biodiversity in GBM's target watersheds versus control watersheds to determine suitability for reforestation. The results showed GBM watersheds had higher average tree cover than control watersheds, indicating GBM is operating in areas most suitable for replanting efforts given lower human pressures and higher biodiversity. While data gaps remain, the analysis suggests GBM's reforestation work effectively targets regions with conditions best poised for forest regeneration.
The Green Belt Movement has planted over 45 million trees across three Kenyan watersheds to combat deforestation and environmental degradation. A spatial analysis found these watersheds had higher forest cover compared to control watersheds, indicating GBM's reforestation efforts are effective. However, the analysis also found GBM operates in areas already most suitable for replanting due to lower population densities and poverty levels. For reforestation to be most impactful, projects should focus on areas with higher human pressures like population where trees can benefit communities. This suggests GBM's approach of empowering local communities could be effective in other countries facing similar environmental and humanitarian issues.
This document discusses implementing gender research at cross-CRP sites. It proposes identifying key gender issues across CRPs and refining approaches to address them. The research would be implemented jointly with other CRPs at existing landscape/basin/hub sites over 10 years. This would catalyze engagement, communication and capacity building strategies across partners to enhance achieving outcomes, particularly gender-related ones. Examples of potential sites discussed include western Africa, Bangladesh, and western Kenya. The goal is to increase resilience, food security, and environmental benefits through improved practices.
The Green Belt Movement has planted over 45 million trees across Kenya to help mitigate environmental degradation. An analysis found that the watersheds where GBM has focused its reforestation efforts - Mount Kenya, Aberdares, and Mau Complex - had higher average forest cover and more suitable conditions compared to control watersheds. Specifically, the GBM watersheds had lower population density, less charcoal production potential, and higher mammal diversity - all factors that indicate areas more suitable for replanting efforts. This suggests GBM has been effective at identifying and operating in regions of Kenya with greatest need and potential for restoring forests.
C:\Fakepath\M Gadberry Arkansas Evaluationof Hay Wastenacaa
1. The study evaluated hay waste from three common hay feeding methods: unprotected bales (UNP), bales processed in a grinder-mixer and fed in tires (PRO), and bales fed in rings (RNG).
2. Hay waste was significantly lower for PRO (0.09%) compared to UNP (42%). RNG resulted in intermediate waste (13%).
3. An economic analysis found that the value of hay saved through PRO did not offset its higher costs compared to RNG. RNG appeared the most cost-effective method.
Developing multi-scale strategies for farming communities to adapt to climate...ACIAR
Christian Roth, Thavone Inthavong, Seng Vang and ACCA team
Rice-based Systems Research: Regional Technical Workshop
Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)
West Fork Timber Company (WFTC) is a private timber company that manages approximately 54,000 acres on the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains. West Fork's goal was to develop a long-term harvest plan that would improve asset value over time, while simultaneously ensuring that habitat requirements set forth in their Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) would be realized. The primary constraint set forth in the HCP is the maintenance of a unique Dispersal Landscape Index (DLI) within a narrow (+/- 5%) range of pre-determined levels for the life of the HCP. The DLI is derived by assigning different values to areas within specific distances of existing dispersal habitat (DH) in a complex formula; the dispersal habitat (DH) values are then summed and divided by the total number of acres in the forest to arrive at a DLI value for the ownership. This paper discusses DLI calculation and the challenges involved in modeling this problem, including the types of constraints needed in the strategic model, the spatial allocation of activities associated with existing and future stands in a Model II framework, and the development of a rapid DLI calculator to facilitate the evaluation of alternatives. Overall, West Fork was able to meet objective of higher returns from the forest while simultaneously demonstrating improvement in dispersal habitat over the next four decades.
The Green Belt Movement has planted over 45 million trees across Kenya to help restore forests and combat environmental degradation. This study analyzed the effectiveness of the GBM's reforestation efforts by comparing tree cover in GBM project watersheds to non-project areas, and assessing suitability based on population density, poverty levels, and other factors. The results showed significantly higher forest cover in the GBM watersheds, indicating their reforestation work is effective and focused in areas most suitable for replanting. The implications are that similar approaches could benefit other countries facing deforestation.
GBM has planted over 45 million trees across Kenya to combat deforestation. The study analyzed spatial data on population density, poverty levels, charcoal production, and biodiversity in GBM's target watersheds versus control watersheds to determine suitability for reforestation. The results showed GBM watersheds had higher average tree cover than control watersheds, indicating GBM is operating in areas most suitable for replanting efforts given lower human pressures and higher biodiversity. While data gaps remain, the analysis suggests GBM's reforestation work effectively targets regions with conditions best poised for forest regeneration.
The Green Belt Movement has planted over 45 million trees across three Kenyan watersheds to combat deforestation and environmental degradation. A spatial analysis found these watersheds had higher forest cover compared to control watersheds, indicating GBM's reforestation efforts are effective. However, the analysis also found GBM operates in areas already most suitable for replanting due to lower population densities and poverty levels. For reforestation to be most impactful, projects should focus on areas with higher human pressures like population where trees can benefit communities. This suggests GBM's approach of empowering local communities could be effective in other countries facing similar environmental and humanitarian issues.
This document discusses implementing gender research at cross-CRP sites. It proposes identifying key gender issues across CRPs and refining approaches to address them. The research would be implemented jointly with other CRPs at existing landscape/basin/hub sites over 10 years. This would catalyze engagement, communication and capacity building strategies across partners to enhance achieving outcomes, particularly gender-related ones. Examples of potential sites discussed include western Africa, Bangladesh, and western Kenya. The goal is to increase resilience, food security, and environmental benefits through improved practices.
The Green Belt Movement has planted over 45 million trees across Kenya to help mitigate environmental degradation. An analysis found that the watersheds where GBM has focused its reforestation efforts - Mount Kenya, Aberdares, and Mau Complex - had higher average forest cover and more suitable conditions compared to control watersheds. Specifically, the GBM watersheds had lower population density, less charcoal production potential, and higher mammal diversity - all factors that indicate areas more suitable for replanting efforts. This suggests GBM has been effective at identifying and operating in regions of Kenya with greatest need and potential for restoring forests.
FIGS workshop in Madrid, PGR Secure (9 to 13 January 2012)Dag Endresen
This document discusses trait mining using the Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) approach. FIGS uses climate data to predict which plant accessions are most likely to contain useful genetic traits before conducting field trials. Case studies are presented showing predictive links between climate data and traits like disease resistance in barley and wheat. The document outlines the FIGS methodology and discusses its potential to efficiently select germplasm for evaluation and increase genetic gains in crop breeding.
The document analyzes the reforestation efforts of the Green Belt Movement (GBM) in Kenya. It finds that GBM has planted over 45 million trees across three key watersheds, helping to reduce soil erosion and restore forests. Through a spatial analysis comparing GBM watersheds to control watersheds, it determines that the GBM watersheds have higher average forest cover, suggesting its efforts are effective. By analyzing population density, poverty, charcoal sources and biodiversity across the watersheds, it further finds that the GBM watersheds appear most suitable for reforestation work.
Searching for traits in PGR collections using Focused Identification of Germp...CIAT
This document discusses using the Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) to search plant genetic resource (PGR) collections for traits of interest. FIGS links trait and environmental data to identify subsets of accessions that are most likely to contain genetic variation for specific traits. It provides examples of using FIGS to identify wheat accessions resistant to stem rust and barley accessions tolerant to boron toxicity. The document outlines the FIGS approach, datasets used including trait and environmental data, and data preparation methods.
Trait data mining at European pre-breeding workshop at Alnarp (25 Nov 2009)Dag Endresen
The document discusses utilizing genetic diversity from crop wild relatives and landraces. It describes using trait mining selection (FIGS) and computer modeling to identify a small subset of accessions from a large collection that are likely to contain a particular trait. Climate data is used as a predictor to model trait scores and select accessions for field trials to identify novel crop traits in a lower cost manner than screening the entire collection.
Participatory natural resources management through multiple interventions at ...ILRI
1. The paper discusses participatory natural resource management interventions in central Ethiopia to reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility and land productivity. This includes soil and water conservation structures, agroforestry, composting, introduction of improved crop varieties and livestock forages.
2. Empirical research was also conducted including runoff assessments and characterization of local plant species. Farmers research groups were established to introduce technologies and build capacity.
3. Lessons showed that introducing high value cash crops and linking to markets encouraged participation in natural resource management. However, free grazing limits long term investments like tree planting. Strong partnerships were built but methodologies to promote innovations need strengthening.
Jeremy Russell-Smith_Fire management in tropical savannas: the Three Parks pl...TERN Australia
This document summarizes a long-term ecological monitoring program across three national parks in northern Australia called the Three Parks network. The network was established in 1994-1995 to monitor the impacts of different fire regimes on savanna ecosystems. It involves annual fire mapping using satellite imagery and sampling vegetation and fauna at 220 permanent plots every 5 years. Analysis of the plot data shows impacts of fire on small mammals and fire-vulnerable vegetation. Relationships between fire severity and frequency and changes in biomass were also developed. The network provides long-term data to inform park management and fire management is increasingly involving Indigenous rangers and commercial operations.
NOVA PhD training course on pre-breeding, Nordic University Network (2012)Dag Endresen
Pre-breeding for sustainable plant production. Nova PhD course, January 2012 at Röstånga in Southern Sweden. Nova is a Nordic University Network.
Pre-breeding provides an important element in broadening the genetic diversity and introducing new and useful traits and properties to the food crops. New traits introduced in pre-breeding activities are not least important to meet the new challenges agriculture will face from the on-going climate change. The needed genetic diversity is often available outside of the genepool of cultivars and elite breeding lines. And sources of novel genetic diversity such as the primitive crops and even the wild relatives of the cultivated plants are expected to get increased focus when facing new challenges in agriculture.
The GBIF data portal provides information on in situ occurrences for many of the wild relatives to the cultivated plants that are not (yet) collected and accessioned by the ex situ seed genebank collections. The GBIF data portal will therefore provide a very valuable bridge between these data sources for genebank accessions and occurrence data sources outside of the genebank community. Occurrences from the GBIF data portal will assist in the identification of locations where potentially useful populations of crop wild relatives can be found. Ecological niche modeling provides a widely used approach for predicting species distributions and can be used for this purpose.
Recent work on predictive modeling to identify a link between useful crop traits and eco-geographic data associated with the source locations for germplasm may have particular value for pre-breeding efforts. The Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) provides and approach for efficient identification of germplasm material with new and useful genetic diversity for a target trait property. Such predictive modeling approaches are of particular interest when performing pre-breeding because of the high costs related to working with this material. Cultivated plants are domesticated for properties and traits such as non-shattering seed behavior and more uniform harvest time that makes conducting agricultural experiments easier and less costly. Non-domesticated germplasm material and also the older cultivars and landraces have many agro-botanical traits that was moderated in modern cultivars to better suit agricultural practices and efficiency. Pre-breeding is largely about removing such undesired traits from the non-cultivated and less intensively domesticated material while maintaining potentially useful traits.
Nova PhD course home page:
http://www2.nova-university.org/chome/cpage.php?cnr=03-110404-412
https://sites.google.com/site/novaplantimprovementnetwork/home/phd-course-in-sweden-january-2012
Global overview of the spread of CA. Theodor FriedrichJoanna Hicks
This document provides a global overview of the spread of conservation agriculture. It discusses how conservation agriculture is defined as an approach to managing agro-ecosystems through three principles: continuous minimum mechanical soil disturbance, permanent organic soil cover, and crop species diversification. The document then summarizes global adoption trends of no-till/conservation agriculture, showing steady increases over time with over 150 million hectares adopted as of 2011. Regional adoption distributions are also shown, with South America having the highest adoption levels.
C:\Fakepath\R Doty Missouri A Demonstrationofthe Valueof Adding Legumesnacaa
The document describes a demonstration of using legumes in tall fescue pastures in Northwest Missouri to reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizer. Fourteen treatments using different legumes and nitrogen application timings were tested in plots over two years. Results found that overseeding common red clover in tall fescue produced the highest income over seed and fertility costs. Producers attending a field day on the results were better able to make forage management decisions and most planned to incorporate legumes. The demonstration showed increased forage production value from using legumes compared to no fertility or nitrogen applications.
Does landscape heterogeneity modify the trade-off between production and biod...Joanna Hicks
This document discusses how landscape heterogeneity affects the trade-off between agricultural production and biodiversity. It presents a case study of a grassland landscape with different management practices across farms. Modeling results show that landscape heterogeneity leverages the trade-off by allowing complementarity between management regimes that benefits both bird populations and herbage production. Compositional and structural heterogeneity both positively impact birds, with structure having a larger effect on mobile species. However, modifying landscapes requires coordination between farmers. Future work includes co-designing feasible heterogeneous landscapes with stakeholders.
The use and management of native vegetated landscapes results in their transformation. Intensification leads to transforming diverse plant communities into agricultural, plantation forestry and urban land cover types. Extensification can lead to transforming agricultural and plantation forestry cover types into other cover types including native plant communities. Site and landscape interactions include degradation, modification, conversion, fragmentation, restoration, regeneration and increased connectivity. To date there has been no standardized national system for ecologically accounting for the effect of anthropogenic practices on vegetation condition over time. VAST aims to provide a consistent approach to tracking change and trend in the use and management of vegetated landscapes.
This document discusses how agroforestry, afforestation, and reforestation can contribute to REDD+ goals through a landscape approach. It notes that these practices can help alleviate pressure on forests while providing co-benefits if properly implemented and supported. However, simply planting trees is not enough - enabling policies are needed to guarantee tree rights, develop markets, and incentivize the provision of ecosystem services. Intensifying agriculture in a sustainable way could potentially reduce deforestation, but multiple interventions are required including cross-sectoral planning, secure land tenure, and technical and financial support.
1. The document describes tools and data that can be used to identify and map the ecological value of landscapes, especially outside protected areas, at a fine spatial scale. It details data on biodiversity, threatened species, fragmentation, connectivity and resilience that provide information on key ecological properties and features.
2. The Local Ecological Footprint Tool (LEFT) combines these data layers to provide an index of overall ecological value for each pixel in a map. It was shown to accurately identify threatened species present in a study site in Honduras when compared to field data, though it had some errors of omission and commission.
3. Developing such tools using globally-available web databases allows assessing the ecological value of
Tracking the effects of land use and management on vegetation conditionRichard Thackway
This document outlines a methodology called VAST-2 (Vegetation Assets States and Transitions) for tracking changes in vegetation condition over time due to land use and management practices. VAST-2 scores 22 indicators of regenerative capacity, vegetation structure, and species composition for a site against a pre-settlement reference state. Case studies applying VAST-2 to sites in Cumberland State Forest in NSW from 1941-2012 are presented. Lessons learned include that VAST-2 is useful for engaging stakeholders, synthesizing information to understand vegetation transformation, and reporting progress towards vegetation targets.
Are controlled traffic and permanent beds sustainable for CA? Don YuleJoanna Hicks
Controlled traffic farming (CTF) shows benefits for both intensive vegetable production and broadacre cropping in Australia. On-farm research in Tasmania found that CTF increased soil porosity and improved the soil structure by maintaining balanced soil, water and air ratios compared to conventional tillage. CTF also improved water infiltration into the soil and reduced the number of field operations needed to prepare seedbeds. However, full adoption of CTF for intensive vegetable production is constrained by the incompatibility of equipment track widths. Further research is needed to quantify additional systemic benefits of CTF such as increased timeliness of operations.
Forest restoration efforts in Singapore aim to:
1) Restore "non-forest" sites back to their former state by planting over 100,000 trees across sites like the Central Nature Reserve since 1991.
2) Establish viable habitat for native flora and fauna through maximum diversity planting methods using a variety of primary and secondary forest species.
3) Create green connectors and buffer zones by removing invasive weeds, assessing soil conditions, selecting native tree species, and maintaining planted sites for at least 5 years.
Highlight of small ruminant production system in Bale, Southeastern EthiopiaILRI
The document discusses small ruminant production systems in Bale, Ethiopia, noting that the region has significant sheep and goat populations that are important to livelihoods but face challenges including feed shortages, disease pressures, and poor infrastructure. It outlines research at the Sinana Agricultural Research Center focusing on forage improvement, animal health and production studies to develop solutions addressing the major constraints limiting small ruminant productivity in the area.
Presentation by David Lamb on alternative methods for tropical forest restoration. Besides large scale reforestation activities, David Lamb argues to look for smaller scale silvicultural alternatives as well which are more suitable for farmers.
Pines and paddocks: socioecology and population genetics of marsupials in fra...University of Adelaide
The eleventh installment of the 2009 Science Seminar Series presented by Doctor Melanie Lancaster. The presentation is entitled "Pines and paddocks: socioecology and population genetics of marsupials in fragmented systems?"
Field Windbreak / Living Snow Fence Crop Yield Assessmentnacaa
1. This study evaluated the impact of field windbreaks and living snow fences on crop yields in southern Minnesota from 2005-2007 using yield monitors and GPS.
2. The results showed that areas adjacent to the windbreaks and snow fences had slightly lower crop yields within the first 60 feet, but yields generally stabilized to the field average beyond that distance.
3. On average, corn yields were reduced by 2-5% and soybean yields by 1-4% within 60 feet of the windbreaks. However, removing the rows closest to the plantings increased average yields.
The adoptability tool aims to predict the rate and level of adoption of new farming practices and inform research, development, and extension strategies. It involves researchers from CSIRO and other organizations who are developing a model-based tool to assess factors influencing adoption. An early concept version was tested with potential end-users and Version 2 was built in June 2010 and has been used in CRC projects. Further testing and validation of the tool is underway with the goal of having a validated version ready by mid-2011. The tool involves a 5 page data entry process asking 22 questions about key adoption factors and generates an adoption report describing the innovation and its predicted adoptability.
The document introduces the ADOPT tool, which stands for Adoption and Diffusion Outcome Prediction Tool. It was developed by researchers to predict the rate of adoption and level of adoption of new agricultural innovations. The tool works by having users answer 22 questions about characteristics of the innovation and target population. It then provides numeric outputs on time to peak adoption and peak adoption level. Feedback from users found it easy to use and thought-provoking, helping them consider factors that could speed up or slow down adoption. The tool was validated using historical data on the introduction of lupins in Western Australia.
FIGS workshop in Madrid, PGR Secure (9 to 13 January 2012)Dag Endresen
This document discusses trait mining using the Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) approach. FIGS uses climate data to predict which plant accessions are most likely to contain useful genetic traits before conducting field trials. Case studies are presented showing predictive links between climate data and traits like disease resistance in barley and wheat. The document outlines the FIGS methodology and discusses its potential to efficiently select germplasm for evaluation and increase genetic gains in crop breeding.
The document analyzes the reforestation efforts of the Green Belt Movement (GBM) in Kenya. It finds that GBM has planted over 45 million trees across three key watersheds, helping to reduce soil erosion and restore forests. Through a spatial analysis comparing GBM watersheds to control watersheds, it determines that the GBM watersheds have higher average forest cover, suggesting its efforts are effective. By analyzing population density, poverty, charcoal sources and biodiversity across the watersheds, it further finds that the GBM watersheds appear most suitable for reforestation work.
Searching for traits in PGR collections using Focused Identification of Germp...CIAT
This document discusses using the Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) to search plant genetic resource (PGR) collections for traits of interest. FIGS links trait and environmental data to identify subsets of accessions that are most likely to contain genetic variation for specific traits. It provides examples of using FIGS to identify wheat accessions resistant to stem rust and barley accessions tolerant to boron toxicity. The document outlines the FIGS approach, datasets used including trait and environmental data, and data preparation methods.
Trait data mining at European pre-breeding workshop at Alnarp (25 Nov 2009)Dag Endresen
The document discusses utilizing genetic diversity from crop wild relatives and landraces. It describes using trait mining selection (FIGS) and computer modeling to identify a small subset of accessions from a large collection that are likely to contain a particular trait. Climate data is used as a predictor to model trait scores and select accessions for field trials to identify novel crop traits in a lower cost manner than screening the entire collection.
Participatory natural resources management through multiple interventions at ...ILRI
1. The paper discusses participatory natural resource management interventions in central Ethiopia to reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility and land productivity. This includes soil and water conservation structures, agroforestry, composting, introduction of improved crop varieties and livestock forages.
2. Empirical research was also conducted including runoff assessments and characterization of local plant species. Farmers research groups were established to introduce technologies and build capacity.
3. Lessons showed that introducing high value cash crops and linking to markets encouraged participation in natural resource management. However, free grazing limits long term investments like tree planting. Strong partnerships were built but methodologies to promote innovations need strengthening.
Jeremy Russell-Smith_Fire management in tropical savannas: the Three Parks pl...TERN Australia
This document summarizes a long-term ecological monitoring program across three national parks in northern Australia called the Three Parks network. The network was established in 1994-1995 to monitor the impacts of different fire regimes on savanna ecosystems. It involves annual fire mapping using satellite imagery and sampling vegetation and fauna at 220 permanent plots every 5 years. Analysis of the plot data shows impacts of fire on small mammals and fire-vulnerable vegetation. Relationships between fire severity and frequency and changes in biomass were also developed. The network provides long-term data to inform park management and fire management is increasingly involving Indigenous rangers and commercial operations.
NOVA PhD training course on pre-breeding, Nordic University Network (2012)Dag Endresen
Pre-breeding for sustainable plant production. Nova PhD course, January 2012 at Röstånga in Southern Sweden. Nova is a Nordic University Network.
Pre-breeding provides an important element in broadening the genetic diversity and introducing new and useful traits and properties to the food crops. New traits introduced in pre-breeding activities are not least important to meet the new challenges agriculture will face from the on-going climate change. The needed genetic diversity is often available outside of the genepool of cultivars and elite breeding lines. And sources of novel genetic diversity such as the primitive crops and even the wild relatives of the cultivated plants are expected to get increased focus when facing new challenges in agriculture.
The GBIF data portal provides information on in situ occurrences for many of the wild relatives to the cultivated plants that are not (yet) collected and accessioned by the ex situ seed genebank collections. The GBIF data portal will therefore provide a very valuable bridge between these data sources for genebank accessions and occurrence data sources outside of the genebank community. Occurrences from the GBIF data portal will assist in the identification of locations where potentially useful populations of crop wild relatives can be found. Ecological niche modeling provides a widely used approach for predicting species distributions and can be used for this purpose.
Recent work on predictive modeling to identify a link between useful crop traits and eco-geographic data associated with the source locations for germplasm may have particular value for pre-breeding efforts. The Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) provides and approach for efficient identification of germplasm material with new and useful genetic diversity for a target trait property. Such predictive modeling approaches are of particular interest when performing pre-breeding because of the high costs related to working with this material. Cultivated plants are domesticated for properties and traits such as non-shattering seed behavior and more uniform harvest time that makes conducting agricultural experiments easier and less costly. Non-domesticated germplasm material and also the older cultivars and landraces have many agro-botanical traits that was moderated in modern cultivars to better suit agricultural practices and efficiency. Pre-breeding is largely about removing such undesired traits from the non-cultivated and less intensively domesticated material while maintaining potentially useful traits.
Nova PhD course home page:
http://www2.nova-university.org/chome/cpage.php?cnr=03-110404-412
https://sites.google.com/site/novaplantimprovementnetwork/home/phd-course-in-sweden-january-2012
Global overview of the spread of CA. Theodor FriedrichJoanna Hicks
This document provides a global overview of the spread of conservation agriculture. It discusses how conservation agriculture is defined as an approach to managing agro-ecosystems through three principles: continuous minimum mechanical soil disturbance, permanent organic soil cover, and crop species diversification. The document then summarizes global adoption trends of no-till/conservation agriculture, showing steady increases over time with over 150 million hectares adopted as of 2011. Regional adoption distributions are also shown, with South America having the highest adoption levels.
C:\Fakepath\R Doty Missouri A Demonstrationofthe Valueof Adding Legumesnacaa
The document describes a demonstration of using legumes in tall fescue pastures in Northwest Missouri to reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizer. Fourteen treatments using different legumes and nitrogen application timings were tested in plots over two years. Results found that overseeding common red clover in tall fescue produced the highest income over seed and fertility costs. Producers attending a field day on the results were better able to make forage management decisions and most planned to incorporate legumes. The demonstration showed increased forage production value from using legumes compared to no fertility or nitrogen applications.
Does landscape heterogeneity modify the trade-off between production and biod...Joanna Hicks
This document discusses how landscape heterogeneity affects the trade-off between agricultural production and biodiversity. It presents a case study of a grassland landscape with different management practices across farms. Modeling results show that landscape heterogeneity leverages the trade-off by allowing complementarity between management regimes that benefits both bird populations and herbage production. Compositional and structural heterogeneity both positively impact birds, with structure having a larger effect on mobile species. However, modifying landscapes requires coordination between farmers. Future work includes co-designing feasible heterogeneous landscapes with stakeholders.
The use and management of native vegetated landscapes results in their transformation. Intensification leads to transforming diverse plant communities into agricultural, plantation forestry and urban land cover types. Extensification can lead to transforming agricultural and plantation forestry cover types into other cover types including native plant communities. Site and landscape interactions include degradation, modification, conversion, fragmentation, restoration, regeneration and increased connectivity. To date there has been no standardized national system for ecologically accounting for the effect of anthropogenic practices on vegetation condition over time. VAST aims to provide a consistent approach to tracking change and trend in the use and management of vegetated landscapes.
This document discusses how agroforestry, afforestation, and reforestation can contribute to REDD+ goals through a landscape approach. It notes that these practices can help alleviate pressure on forests while providing co-benefits if properly implemented and supported. However, simply planting trees is not enough - enabling policies are needed to guarantee tree rights, develop markets, and incentivize the provision of ecosystem services. Intensifying agriculture in a sustainable way could potentially reduce deforestation, but multiple interventions are required including cross-sectoral planning, secure land tenure, and technical and financial support.
1. The document describes tools and data that can be used to identify and map the ecological value of landscapes, especially outside protected areas, at a fine spatial scale. It details data on biodiversity, threatened species, fragmentation, connectivity and resilience that provide information on key ecological properties and features.
2. The Local Ecological Footprint Tool (LEFT) combines these data layers to provide an index of overall ecological value for each pixel in a map. It was shown to accurately identify threatened species present in a study site in Honduras when compared to field data, though it had some errors of omission and commission.
3. Developing such tools using globally-available web databases allows assessing the ecological value of
Tracking the effects of land use and management on vegetation conditionRichard Thackway
This document outlines a methodology called VAST-2 (Vegetation Assets States and Transitions) for tracking changes in vegetation condition over time due to land use and management practices. VAST-2 scores 22 indicators of regenerative capacity, vegetation structure, and species composition for a site against a pre-settlement reference state. Case studies applying VAST-2 to sites in Cumberland State Forest in NSW from 1941-2012 are presented. Lessons learned include that VAST-2 is useful for engaging stakeholders, synthesizing information to understand vegetation transformation, and reporting progress towards vegetation targets.
Are controlled traffic and permanent beds sustainable for CA? Don YuleJoanna Hicks
Controlled traffic farming (CTF) shows benefits for both intensive vegetable production and broadacre cropping in Australia. On-farm research in Tasmania found that CTF increased soil porosity and improved the soil structure by maintaining balanced soil, water and air ratios compared to conventional tillage. CTF also improved water infiltration into the soil and reduced the number of field operations needed to prepare seedbeds. However, full adoption of CTF for intensive vegetable production is constrained by the incompatibility of equipment track widths. Further research is needed to quantify additional systemic benefits of CTF such as increased timeliness of operations.
Forest restoration efforts in Singapore aim to:
1) Restore "non-forest" sites back to their former state by planting over 100,000 trees across sites like the Central Nature Reserve since 1991.
2) Establish viable habitat for native flora and fauna through maximum diversity planting methods using a variety of primary and secondary forest species.
3) Create green connectors and buffer zones by removing invasive weeds, assessing soil conditions, selecting native tree species, and maintaining planted sites for at least 5 years.
Highlight of small ruminant production system in Bale, Southeastern EthiopiaILRI
The document discusses small ruminant production systems in Bale, Ethiopia, noting that the region has significant sheep and goat populations that are important to livelihoods but face challenges including feed shortages, disease pressures, and poor infrastructure. It outlines research at the Sinana Agricultural Research Center focusing on forage improvement, animal health and production studies to develop solutions addressing the major constraints limiting small ruminant productivity in the area.
Presentation by David Lamb on alternative methods for tropical forest restoration. Besides large scale reforestation activities, David Lamb argues to look for smaller scale silvicultural alternatives as well which are more suitable for farmers.
Pines and paddocks: socioecology and population genetics of marsupials in fra...University of Adelaide
The eleventh installment of the 2009 Science Seminar Series presented by Doctor Melanie Lancaster. The presentation is entitled "Pines and paddocks: socioecology and population genetics of marsupials in fragmented systems?"
Field Windbreak / Living Snow Fence Crop Yield Assessmentnacaa
1. This study evaluated the impact of field windbreaks and living snow fences on crop yields in southern Minnesota from 2005-2007 using yield monitors and GPS.
2. The results showed that areas adjacent to the windbreaks and snow fences had slightly lower crop yields within the first 60 feet, but yields generally stabilized to the field average beyond that distance.
3. On average, corn yields were reduced by 2-5% and soybean yields by 1-4% within 60 feet of the windbreaks. However, removing the rows closest to the plantings increased average yields.
The adoptability tool aims to predict the rate and level of adoption of new farming practices and inform research, development, and extension strategies. It involves researchers from CSIRO and other organizations who are developing a model-based tool to assess factors influencing adoption. An early concept version was tested with potential end-users and Version 2 was built in June 2010 and has been used in CRC projects. Further testing and validation of the tool is underway with the goal of having a validated version ready by mid-2011. The tool involves a 5 page data entry process asking 22 questions about key adoption factors and generates an adoption report describing the innovation and its predicted adoptability.
The document introduces the ADOPT tool, which stands for Adoption and Diffusion Outcome Prediction Tool. It was developed by researchers to predict the rate of adoption and level of adoption of new agricultural innovations. The tool works by having users answer 22 questions about characteristics of the innovation and target population. It then provides numeric outputs on time to peak adoption and peak adoption level. Feedback from users found it easy to use and thought-provoking, helping them consider factors that could speed up or slow down adoption. The tool was validated using historical data on the introduction of lupins in Western Australia.
The Saltland Knowledge Exchange provides extension services for saline agriculture research from the Future Farm Industries CRC Saltland Systems projects. It consists of the Saltland Skills training program, Saltland Learning Network of demonstration sites, conferences and workshops, and the Saltland Genie website. The Saltland Skills training delivers courses on salinity concepts and management. The Saltland Learning Network supports existing sites and identifies new sites to demonstrate saltland species. Conferences and workshops aim to disseminate information to producers. The Saltland Genie website provides landholders and advisors information and tools to manage salt-affected land.
Biodiversity value of fodder shrub plantingsGreg Lawrence
This document provides an overview of a project investigating the biodiversity value of fodder shrub plantings. The project aims to determine how saltbush-based farming systems can improve biodiversity persistence in South Australia's Murray Mallee region. The research focuses on examining the resource and functional connectivity for birds and lizards provided by saltbush plantings compared to remnant mallee and pastureland. Field methods to assess survival and breeding of selected bird species are outlined. Outputs will include management guidelines to promote farming practices that integrate production and biodiversity outcomes.
The document summarizes research being conducted by the Future Farm Industries CRC on developing woody crops as a biomass industry. It discusses breeding programs to develop new varieties of eucalyptus with higher yields and oil concentrations. It also describes research on nutrient and water management, harvesting systems, and feasibility studies. The goal is to generate knowledge and tools to support a sustainable mallee biomass industry.
Brand Adoption connects brands with consumers through social media marketing and guerrilla marketing strategies. It focuses on encouraging consumers to adopt new products and services through digital campaigns, interactive programs, in-store promotions and events. Brand Adoption facilitates word-of-mouth referrals online and offline by recruiting college students as brand advocates through its urep program on over 300 campuses nationwide. These student brand ambassadors promote brands through their social media networks to create viral marketing effects.
This presentation shows how a company can adopt the new relative selling price method for revenue arrangements with multiple deliverables. Posted with permission from Jeffrey Werner of Werner Consulting Group.
The document discusses the Adoptability Tool (ADOPT) project which aims to develop a model-based tool to predict the rate and level of adoption of new farming practices. The tool is based on a conceptual framework that considers influences on adoption like an innovation's relative advantage, learnability, and trialability. Researchers from various organizations have been testing versions of the tool with industry groups. Feedback indicates the tool prompts thinking about adoption factors and has potential to inform project design and evaluation, though further refinement is still needed.
This document summarizes the customer adoption process and factors that influence it. It discusses diffusion of innovations through communication channels over time within a social system. The main elements that determine an innovation's rate of adoption are its characteristics like relative advantage and complexity. Consumer adoption involves awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, decision, and confirmation stages. Consumers fall into categories like innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. Situational influences like physical and social surroundings also impact consumer behavior.
This document discusses the diffusion of innovation, including definitions of key concepts like new products, diffusion, adoption, and the innovation adoption process. It outlines the 5 stages of the adoption process: awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption/rejection. It also describes the characteristics that influence the diffusion of innovations like relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. Finally, it provides a profile of consumer innovators and compares their characteristics to non-innovators.
This document discusses crop wild relatives and the importance of their genetic resources. It notes that crop wild relatives can serve as a source of novel traits for crop improvement. They share a common ancestry with crops and their genes can be used in traditional breeding. However, many crop wild relatives face threats from climate change and land use changes. The document presents a methodology for analyzing gaps in crop wild relative collections. This involves determining priority taxa, sampling deficiencies, potential distributions, environmental coverage and gaps. The approach aims to prioritize geographic areas for further collecting of crop wild relatives.
Crop wild relatives are an important source of genetic diversity for food crops. They can provide traits for increasing crop yields, quality, and stress tolerance. However, many crop wild relatives face threats from climate change and habitat loss that put their long-term survival at risk. A gap analysis was conducted to assess ex situ conservation collections and distribution models of crop wild relatives to determine priority areas for further collecting efforts to capture their remaining genetic diversity. Over 400 taxa were analyzed to identify high, medium, and low priority species for focus on filling conservation gaps.
Building a model based on APSIM that simulates smallholder crop-livestock sys...Joanna Hicks
The document discusses developing a model to simulate smallholder crop-livestock systems in Yucatan, Mexico using existing modeling platforms. It integrates the APSIM model for crop and soil simulation, the SRNS model for sheep nutrition, and the Vensim software to dynamically link all components. The objectives are to assess management impacts on biophysical and economic outcomes. Some limitations and potential improvements are noted, such as adding more crop and soil options. Scenario analyses could explore impacts of different farm types and practices. The modeling approach builds on established platforms to flexibly simulate specific systems and research questions.
The document discusses the potential of novel perennial plants for more sustainable farming systems that can better adapt to climate change. Perennials can use water and resources more efficiently than annual crops and pastures. Examples mentioned include new woody crops, shrubs for fodder, perennial pastures through the EverGraze program, and perennial crops through EverCrop. Successful development of new perennial systems requires matching plant opportunities to farm resources, genetic improvement over many years, and integrated system testing. Specific plants discussed include Lotus corniculatus, sub-tropical grasses, and Bituminaria bituminosa.
Workshop Trade-Off Analysis - CGIAR_21 Feb 2013_External Vital Sig…LotteKlapwijk
This document proposes an integrated monitoring system for agricultural landscapes to assess tradeoffs between ecosystem services, agricultural production, and human well-being. It involves co-locating data across space and time using existing systems where possible. National governments would own the data to link with other collection efforts. A "vital signs approach" is described using decision-support indicators across categories like climate, biodiversity, water, and food security. Measurement would occur on the ground and via satellite at different scales from global to field levels. The system aims to facilitate comparisons and provide insights to inform agricultural investment decisions.
This work package focuses on studying the impacts of different road landscape treatments on biodiversity within road corridors and adjacent ecosystems. It involves assessing how plant and animal diversity differs among road verges that used pre-guideline and post-guideline planting methods, and how road biodiversity interacts with surrounding landscapes. Field studies are analyzing the effects of landscape treatments along roads on species communities, habitat connectivity, and genetic variation. A long-term experiment is also testing how natural recolonization, hay strewing, and seed mixes influence biodiversity. The goal is to provide guidance on landscape designs that promote biodiversity in Irish road networks.
The document discusses tools developed by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) for assessing agroforestry systems, water harvesting, conservation agriculture, and negotiating environmental services payments. ICRAF has developed rapid assessment tools to evaluate carbon stocks, biodiversity, hydrology, agrobiodiversity, landslides, and drivers of land use change. These tools help support negotiations around payments for environmental services in Southeast Asia by providing quick appraisals of biophysical and socioeconomic factors. The tools are available online through ICRAF's library to help communities, researchers and policymakers evaluate landscape management options.
The document discusses strategies for increasing nitrogen fixation through legumes to improve soil fertility for smallholder farmers in Africa. It outlines several potential solutions including legume green manures, grain legumes, legume forages, and legume tree fallows. The key strategies proposed to increase nitrogen inputs from fixation are to: 1) increase the area of land cropped with legumes by targeting appropriate technologies, 2) increase legume productivity through improved agronomy and use of phosphorus fertilizer, 3) select better legume varieties, 4) select better rhizobium strains and use inoculation, and 5) link legume crops to markets to increase demand. Case studies provide examples of successful legume varieties, inoculation trials
The document discusses strategies for increasing nitrogen fixation through legumes to improve soil fertility for smallholder farmers in Africa. It outlines several potential solutions including various types of legume crops that can be used as green manures, fallows, forages, or grain crops. The key strategies proposed to increase nitrogen inputs from legumes are: increasing the area of land planted to legumes; improving legume productivity through better agronomy and use of phosphorus fertilizer; selecting better adapted legume varieties; using improved rhizobium strains and inoculating legume seeds; and linking legume production to new markets to increase demand. The document emphasizes testing technologies on-farm and involving farmers in evaluating what legume options best fit their
Professor Andrew Lowe poses the question 'How can we help biodiversity adapt to the ravages of climate change?'. Andrew is the director of the Australian Centre of Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity at the University of Adelaide, to find out more about the Centre and its many research activities visit http://www.adelaide.edu.au/environment/acebb/.
Seminar by Amod K. Thakur (Borlaug Fellow at Cornell University and Senior Scientist at the Directorate of Water Management (ICAR) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India) presented at Cornell University on December 6, 2011. (Co-sponsored by the Dept. of Crop and Soil Sciences, International Programs and SRI-Rice)
This document discusses developing climate-smart crop strategies through "zoom-ins", or in-depth analyses of specific crop/region combinations. It asks questions about how to determine which zoom-ins to focus on, funding, and integrating local projects. Key points discussed include the need to integrate information on institutional priorities, climate change vulnerability and potential gains, while considering practical issues. The document also discusses how breeders can participate in climate adaptation research and tapping existing climate modeling work from research centers.
Jalonen R, van Zonneveld M, Thomas E, Gaisberger H, Vinceti B, Hong LT, Loo J. 2012. Identifying tree populations for conservation action through geospatial analyses. In: Multinational and Transboundary Conservation of Valuable and Endangered Forest Tree Species. Asia and the Pacific Workshop, Guangzhou, China, 5-7 December 2011. IUFRO World Series 30, pp. 98-101
Read more about Bioversity International’s work on forest and tree genetic diversity:
http://www.bioversityinternational.org/research-portfolio/forest-tree-genetic-diversity/
PK14:Continental‐scale analysis of total soil biodiversity using molecular te...CSM _BGBD biodiversity
This document discusses using molecular techniques to conduct a continental-scale analysis of total soil biodiversity. Researchers will conduct a baseline survey of microbes and invertebrates in fertile and degraded soils across large regions using DNA sequencing. Over 200 soil samples from Africa will be analyzed to obtain thousands of sequences to allow for intensive community analysis of soil bacteria, archaea, and invertebrates. The goal is to link these results to the Global Digital Soil Map project to map soil health conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The document provides a summary of activities in 2012 and plans for 2013 regarding the collection, conservation and use of crop wild relatives (CWR). It discusses (1) closing the global system project, ramping up the CWR project, and initiating CRP Genebanks in 2012; (2) progress made in 2012 including regeneration of accessions, safety duplication, evaluation projects and results; and (3) plans for 2013 including CWR research, collecting, prebreeding and evaluation, and increasing information sharing and use of CWR. The overall aim is to collect, conserve and utilize important CWR diversity to help crops adapt to climate change.
Sustainable tree-crop-livestock intensification as a pillar for the Ethiopian...africa-rising
Presented by Aster Gebrekirstos (World Agroforestry Center, Nairobi) at the Africa RISING Planning Meeting, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 17-18 September 2012
Trait data mining seminar at the Carlsberg research institute (CRI) (4 Nov 2009)Dag Endresen
Scientific seminar at the Carlsberg Research Institute (CRI) in Copenhagen, Denmark on trait data mining using the Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS), 4th November 2009.
Endresen, D.T.F. (2010). Predictive association between trait data and ecogeographic data for Nordic barley landraces. Crop Sci. 50(6):2418-2430. doi: 10.2135/cropsci2010.03.0174
This document discusses biomass feedstock sustainability, supply, and competition issues. It provides an overview of forestry as a model system for bioenergy production, noting opportunities from forest residues, short rotation woody crops, and mill waste. Sustainability is discussed across economic, environmental, and social dimensions. Challenges include engaging landowners, developing value propositions for sustainable biomass production, and ensuring sustainability is incorporated. Examples of sustainability criteria and frameworks are provided. Supply curves illustrate potential feedstock availability. Competition for feedstocks from multiple biorefinery projects is also noted. Sustainable biomass crops and use of waste materials that do not negatively impact resources are recommended.
Agroforestry of Jelutong on Peatlands: A Lesson Learned from Central KalimantanGlobalEnvironmentCentre
The document discusses agroforestry of jelutung trees on peatlands in Central Kalimantan. It finds that growing jelutung in various agroforestry systems is a technically feasible way to rehabilitate degraded peatlands. Local communities have established seed sources that can provide over 100 million seeds per year. Different agroforestry patterns using jelutung are described, and growth measurements show the trees grow well. Microclimates in jelutung agroforestry systems are found to be better than in agricultural monocultures. The development of jelutung agroforestry is concluded to be a promising approach for peatland rehabilitation
Mapping farming systems in Africa 21 June 2012ACIAR
This document discusses using spatial data and analysis to improve agricultural policy and planning in sub-Saharan Africa. It outlines work to develop an updated dataset and characterization of farming systems for the region. The methodology uses numerous spatial and tabular datasets to delineate systems, characterize them, and perform statistical analysis. The goals are to better understand risks, opportunities, and system performance over time to inform interventions and management strategies.
The Microsoft 365 Migration Tutorial For Beginner.pptxoperationspcvita
This presentation will help you understand the power of Microsoft 365. However, we have mentioned every productivity app included in Office 365. Additionally, we have suggested the migration situation related to Office 365 and how we can help you.
You can also read: https://www.systoolsgroup.com/updates/office-365-tenant-to-tenant-migration-step-by-step-complete-guide/
"NATO Hackathon Winner: AI-Powered Drug Search", Taras KlobaFwdays
This is a session that details how PostgreSQL's features and Azure AI Services can be effectively used to significantly enhance the search functionality in any application.
In this session, we'll share insights on how we used PostgreSQL to facilitate precise searches across multiple fields in our mobile application. The techniques include using LIKE and ILIKE operators and integrating a trigram-based search to handle potential misspellings, thereby increasing the search accuracy.
We'll also discuss how the azure_ai extension on PostgreSQL databases in Azure and Azure AI Services were utilized to create vectors from user input, a feature beneficial when users wish to find specific items based on text prompts. While our application's case study involves a drug search, the techniques and principles shared in this session can be adapted to improve search functionality in a wide range of applications. Join us to learn how PostgreSQL and Azure AI can be harnessed to enhance your application's search capability.
AI in the Workplace Reskilling, Upskilling, and Future Work.pptxSunil Jagani
Discover how AI is transforming the workplace and learn strategies for reskilling and upskilling employees to stay ahead. This comprehensive guide covers the impact of AI on jobs, essential skills for the future, and successful case studies from industry leaders. Embrace AI-driven changes, foster continuous learning, and build a future-ready workforce.
Read More - https://bit.ly/3VKly70
QR Secure: A Hybrid Approach Using Machine Learning and Security Validation F...AlexanderRichford
QR Secure: A Hybrid Approach Using Machine Learning and Security Validation Functions to Prevent Interaction with Malicious QR Codes.
Aim of the Study: The goal of this research was to develop a robust hybrid approach for identifying malicious and insecure URLs derived from QR codes, ensuring safe interactions.
This is achieved through:
Machine Learning Model: Predicts the likelihood of a URL being malicious.
Security Validation Functions: Ensures the derived URL has a valid certificate and proper URL format.
This innovative blend of technology aims to enhance cybersecurity measures and protect users from potential threats hidden within QR codes 🖥 🔒
This study was my first introduction to using ML which has shown me the immense potential of ML in creating more secure digital environments!
Conversational agents, or chatbots, are increasingly used to access all sorts of services using natural language. While open-domain chatbots - like ChatGPT - can converse on any topic, task-oriented chatbots - the focus of this paper - are designed for specific tasks, like booking a flight, obtaining customer support, or setting an appointment. Like any other software, task-oriented chatbots need to be properly tested, usually by defining and executing test scenarios (i.e., sequences of user-chatbot interactions). However, there is currently a lack of methods to quantify the completeness and strength of such test scenarios, which can lead to low-quality tests, and hence to buggy chatbots.
To fill this gap, we propose adapting mutation testing (MuT) for task-oriented chatbots. To this end, we introduce a set of mutation operators that emulate faults in chatbot designs, an architecture that enables MuT on chatbots built using heterogeneous technologies, and a practical realisation as an Eclipse plugin. Moreover, we evaluate the applicability, effectiveness and efficiency of our approach on open-source chatbots, with promising results.
MySQL InnoDB Storage Engine: Deep Dive - MydbopsMydbops
This presentation, titled "MySQL - InnoDB" and delivered by Mayank Prasad at the Mydbops Open Source Database Meetup 16 on June 8th, 2024, covers dynamic configuration of REDO logs and instant ADD/DROP columns in InnoDB.
This presentation dives deep into the world of InnoDB, exploring two ground-breaking features introduced in MySQL 8.0:
• Dynamic Configuration of REDO Logs: Enhance your database's performance and flexibility with on-the-fly adjustments to REDO log capacity. Unleash the power of the snake metaphor to visualize how InnoDB manages REDO log files.
• Instant ADD/DROP Columns: Say goodbye to costly table rebuilds! This presentation unveils how InnoDB now enables seamless addition and removal of columns without compromising data integrity or incurring downtime.
Key Learnings:
• Grasp the concept of REDO logs and their significance in InnoDB's transaction management.
• Discover the advantages of dynamic REDO log configuration and how to leverage it for optimal performance.
• Understand the inner workings of instant ADD/DROP columns and their impact on database operations.
• Gain valuable insights into the row versioning mechanism that empowers instant column modifications.
"What does it really mean for your system to be available, or how to define w...Fwdays
We will talk about system monitoring from a few different angles. We will start by covering the basics, then discuss SLOs, how to define them, and why understanding the business well is crucial for success in this exercise.
As AI technology is pushing into IT I was wondering myself, as an “infrastructure container kubernetes guy”, how get this fancy AI technology get managed from an infrastructure operational view? Is it possible to apply our lovely cloud native principals as well? What benefit’s both technologies could bring to each other?
Let me take this questions and provide you a short journey through existing deployment models and use cases for AI software. On practical examples, we discuss what cloud/on-premise strategy we may need for applying it to our own infrastructure to get it to work from an enterprise perspective. I want to give an overview about infrastructure requirements and technologies, what could be beneficial or limiting your AI use cases in an enterprise environment. An interactive Demo will give you some insides, what approaches I got already working for real.
Keywords: AI, Containeres, Kubernetes, Cloud Native
Event Link: https://meine.doag.org/events/cloudland/2024/agenda/#agendaId.4211
Connector Corner: Seamlessly power UiPath Apps, GenAI with prebuilt connectorsDianaGray10
Join us to learn how UiPath Apps can directly and easily interact with prebuilt connectors via Integration Service--including Salesforce, ServiceNow, Open GenAI, and more.
The best part is you can achieve this without building a custom workflow! Say goodbye to the hassle of using separate automations to call APIs. By seamlessly integrating within App Studio, you can now easily streamline your workflow, while gaining direct access to our Connector Catalog of popular applications.
We’ll discuss and demo the benefits of UiPath Apps and connectors including:
Creating a compelling user experience for any software, without the limitations of APIs.
Accelerating the app creation process, saving time and effort
Enjoying high-performance CRUD (create, read, update, delete) operations, for
seamless data management.
Speakers:
Russell Alfeche, Technology Leader, RPA at qBotic and UiPath MVP
Charlie Greenberg, host
Dandelion Hashtable: beyond billion requests per second on a commodity serverAntonios Katsarakis
This slide deck presents DLHT, a concurrent in-memory hashtable. Despite efforts to optimize hashtables, that go as far as sacrificing core functionality, state-of-the-art designs still incur multiple memory accesses per request and block request processing in three cases. First, most hashtables block while waiting for data to be retrieved from memory. Second, open-addressing designs, which represent the current state-of-the-art, either cannot free index slots on deletes or must block all requests to do so. Third, index resizes block every request until all objects are copied to the new index. Defying folklore wisdom, DLHT forgoes open-addressing and adopts a fully-featured and memory-aware closed-addressing design based on bounded cache-line-chaining. This design offers lock-free index operations and deletes that free slots instantly, (2) completes most requests with a single memory access, (3) utilizes software prefetching to hide memory latencies, and (4) employs a novel non-blocking and parallel resizing. In a commodity server and a memory-resident workload, DLHT surpasses 1.6B requests per second and provides 3.5x (12x) the throughput of the state-of-the-art closed-addressing (open-addressing) resizable hashtable on Gets (Deletes).
LF Energy Webinar: Carbon Data Specifications: Mechanisms to Improve Data Acc...DanBrown980551
This LF Energy webinar took place June 20, 2024. It featured:
-Alex Thornton, LF Energy
-Hallie Cramer, Google
-Daniel Roesler, UtilityAPI
-Henry Richardson, WattTime
In response to the urgency and scale required to effectively address climate change, open source solutions offer significant potential for driving innovation and progress. Currently, there is a growing demand for standardization and interoperability in energy data and modeling. Open source standards and specifications within the energy sector can also alleviate challenges associated with data fragmentation, transparency, and accessibility. At the same time, it is crucial to consider privacy and security concerns throughout the development of open source platforms.
This webinar will delve into the motivations behind establishing LF Energy’s Carbon Data Specification Consortium. It will provide an overview of the draft specifications and the ongoing progress made by the respective working groups.
Three primary specifications will be discussed:
-Discovery and client registration, emphasizing transparent processes and secure and private access
-Customer data, centering around customer tariffs, bills, energy usage, and full consumption disclosure
-Power systems data, focusing on grid data, inclusive of transmission and distribution networks, generation, intergrid power flows, and market settlement data
GlobalLogic Java Community Webinar #18 “How to Improve Web Application Perfor...GlobalLogic Ukraine
Під час доповіді відповімо на питання, навіщо потрібно підвищувати продуктивність аплікації і які є найефективніші способи для цього. А також поговоримо про те, що таке кеш, які його види бувають та, основне — як знайти performance bottleneck?
Відео та деталі заходу: https://bit.ly/45tILxj
"Choosing proper type of scaling", Olena SyrotaFwdays
Imagine an IoT processing system that is already quite mature and production-ready and for which client coverage is growing and scaling and performance aspects are life and death questions. The system has Redis, MongoDB, and stream processing based on ksqldb. In this talk, firstly, we will analyze scaling approaches and then select the proper ones for our system.
inQuba Webinar Mastering Customer Journey Management with Dr Graham HillLizaNolte
HERE IS YOUR WEBINAR CONTENT! 'Mastering Customer Journey Management with Dr. Graham Hill'. We hope you find the webinar recording both insightful and enjoyable.
In this webinar, we explored essential aspects of Customer Journey Management and personalization. Here’s a summary of the key insights and topics discussed:
Key Takeaways:
Understanding the Customer Journey: Dr. Hill emphasized the importance of mapping and understanding the complete customer journey to identify touchpoints and opportunities for improvement.
Personalization Strategies: We discussed how to leverage data and insights to create personalized experiences that resonate with customers.
Technology Integration: Insights were shared on how inQuba’s advanced technology can streamline customer interactions and drive operational efficiency.
Getting the Most Out of ScyllaDB Monitoring: ShareChat's TipsScyllaDB
ScyllaDB monitoring provides a lot of useful information. But sometimes it’s not easy to find the root of the problem if something is wrong or even estimate the remaining capacity by the load on the cluster. This talk shares our team's practical tips on: 1) How to find the root of the problem by metrics if ScyllaDB is slow 2) How to interpret the load and plan capacity for the future 3) Compaction strategies and how to choose the right one 4) Important metrics which aren’t available in the default monitoring setup.
Getting the Most Out of ScyllaDB Monitoring: ShareChat's Tips
Ever crop for low rainfall areas
1.
2. EverCrop Aims
To develop improved farming systems for the
crop-livestock zone i
li t k incorporating perennials f
ti i l for
increased profit and NRM benefits
Address constraints to adoption of perennials
Develop tools to assist in evaluating and
developing the role of perennials in crop
crop-
livestock systems: EverCrop Decide
2
3. The EverCrop Project
EC Decide Robertson, Lawes, Moore et al
WA: Medium NSW: U o
S Uniform
rainfall zone Rainfall Zone
Ferris, Ward, D Dear, Li, Hayes, P
olling et al eoples et al
SA-Vic: Low-rainfall zone
Whitbread, Llewellyn, Davoren, H
arris et al
3
4. Agronomy
go o y Farmer Local
research Adaptation
Adoptability
Groups
evaluation
Modelling
research On-farm
adaptive
R&D
Better understood and
more adoptable FS
changes
4
5. Mixed farmers with low-yield, high-risk cropping
soils seeking viable perennial option…
Alan Buckley, Waikerie
“No-till and stubble retention has meant that I can manage my
sand and get good reliable yields from it”
“I’m now concentrating cropping inputs on my reliable cropping
zones and grazing the marginal zones
I’m looking for possibilities for the land I don’t want to crop that
will provide forage value and cover?”
cover?
Has tried saltbush – wants a better option for lamb enterprise
5
6. Forage shrub plantings:
where and how much in the SA Mallee
Saltbush plantings
Roger
Lawes
Nat
Raisbeck-
Brown
Rick
Llewellyn
90cm aerial imagery (Oct 2008) + Terrain analysis
Groundtruthed Dec 2009 (66 sites): + 5% – 5% error
Murray Mallee LAP Region
6
7. Forage shrub plantings: Murray Mallee
124 farm blocks with forage shrubs (almost entirely
saltbush)
41% of farm blocks with saltbush had only 1 patch
11% had 3 patches
On farm blocks with some saltbush:
Median 13ha per farm block (ave 2.7% of farm block)
Totals to 3070 ha forage shrub
(3413 ha of saltbush subsidised by MM LAP over past
decade)
75% planted on ‘dune’
7
8. EverCrop
Low Rainfall
Mallee
Waikerie MSF Site
Forage shrub production b soil t
F h b d ti by il type +Perennial
Enrich site (Davoren, SAMDBNRM)
Grass options MMLAP
Pasture cropping options
Werrimull Vic Site: new shrubs Vs annual
options by soil type (Harris)
Research into existing forage shrub stands
Spatial
S ti l approach – potential land class areas
h t ti l l d l
Mallee MIDAS
8
9. Analysis of the p
y potential value of perennials in Mallee mixed-farming systems
p g y
Spatial and soil-specific potential Whole-farm analyses
Determinants of perennial profitability and
-Effective land management units and production potential use
potential (Whitbread, Jones, Llewellyn et al) Mallee MIDAS
Options for Cropping Options for Marginal Land
Land
Fodder shrub
Simulating fodder
Reducing Production production
shrub performance
establishment potential of pasture potential by soil
over soils and
costs of perennial options and climate
seasons
p
pasture legumes
g - Pasture growth curve -Toposequence
- Lucerne establishment modelling experiment (Whitbread)
trials (Vic DPI) (Whitbread, Harris) -Existing stand analysis
-Species mixtures (Emms;
Species
SARDI)
-Waikerie Enrich site
EverCrop (Davoren)
Activities - Millewa Landcare fodder
Perennial grass
shrub trial
options
New low rainfall (Whitbread New fodder shrub species
Partner
legumes (CRC) Mallee WUE Project BCG) Saline Grazing
project
(GRDC) development- Enrich (CRC) Systems projects
Activities
(CRC)
10. “In the Mallee, can perennial, annual or mixed forage options incorporated
into the farming system, particularly in the marginal parts of the
landscape, improve overall resilience and p
p , p profitability?”
y
10
13. What are the options/productivity/tradeoffs for incorporating perennials into
low
lo rainfall cropping systems
s stems
Poor performing areas that remain in the cropping program
•Managed as the rest of the paddock with lower inputs (Precision Agriculture)
•Planted as an annual system but managed/utilised separately from the paddock (e g In season
system, (e.g.
grazing and potentially growing grain in good seasons)
•Planted to low growing perennials (grazed or ungrazed)
Areas where land use changes
•Alley systems (fodder-shrub cropping) on wide rows with opportunity pastures/cereals
•New multi-spp forage shrub systems
•New pasture based systems (including no-kill, pasture cropping)
14. Determining the performance of saltbush and other potential new shrub
systems
s stems for the land t pes of the lo rainfall Mallee region
types low
Modelling the growth of fodder shrubs
Empirical – relationships between rainfall, soil type, landscape position and growth rate/water use
(Hobbs et al. 2009 Florasearch – contain examples of such data), but developing the predictive capacity
for performance across landtype and interaction/competition with other spp/crops not possible.
Mechanistic – develops an understanding of the process of plant growth, therefore the factors
(water, nutrients, radiation, temperature) that determine growth rate/water use under optimal conditions
(develops the relationships) and then modifies them for the real world stresses
(water/nutrient/light/temp)
Our approach is to use existing APSIM model capability and develop a generic fodder shrub model for
modelling saltbush and other spp - apply to more diverse questions/scenarios
• location in the landscape x growth rate
• analyse the potential for wide row alley systems, competition between spp.
• comparisons with the fodder options
• potential for C sequestration, water use
• derive the simpler empirical models of growth rate x rainfall x soil type
15. Example o modelling to a field sca e quest o
a p e of ode g e d scale question
Block Edge Competition Protected Open Paddock
Zone Zone
Wind Speed
0 5 10 15 20
Distance (tree heights)
• Tradeoffs between a tree plantation bordering cropping land
• Benefits of trees on wind speed, reduced drainage,
• In a semi arid environment competition for water
semi-arid environment,
16. Determining the performance of saltbush and other potential new shrub
systems
s stems for the land t pes of the lo rainfall Mallee region
types low
Experiment 1: Saltbush model development of growth rate from planting to 1 year old using
destructive techniques….model regrowth
q g
Aim: Collect parameter datasets for building the APSIM-saltbush model by measuring a saltbush
growth rate experiment and measuring non-destructively height, width, (stem diameter) and edible
drymatter (Adelaide technique) and destructively stem/leaf mass, root mass, LAI.
Method: An irrigated trial containing de cock and eyres g
g g y green was established June 2009. It is has
been measured 4 Nov, 22 Dec, 18Feb.
17. Determining the performance of saltbush and other potential new shrub
systems
s stems for the land t pes of the lo rainfall Mallee region
types low
Experiment 2:
Aim: Measure the performance (g
p (growth rate, water use) of saltbush and Rhagodia p
, ) g preisii across a
dune-swale landscape
Method: An landscape trial containing Saltbush (de cock) and Rhagodia preisii was established
May-June 2009 on 4 m rows. It is has been measured 4 Nov, 22 Dec, 18Feb. (DM-Adelaide
y , , (
technique, height, width). Other established saltbush plantations on various landtypes are also
being measured for biomass annually
18.
19. The potential of summer-growing grasses to
fill feed gaps in t e Victorian Mallee
eed the cto a a ee
Work initiated by BCG under “Perennial Profit in the Mallee Wimmera”
Perennial Wimmera
NLP & Mallee CMA /Evercrop
• Species Audit by Pengelly et al. 2006
• Sowing date:10 November 2006
• 6 grasses and 1 legume
Panicum maximum cvv. Gatton and Petrie
cvv
Panicum coloratum cvv. Bambatsi and ATF714
Digitaria milanjiana cv. Strickland
Bothriochloa bladhii ssp. Glabra (Swann)
Desmanthus virgatus cv. Marc
CSIRO.
20. Plant numbers
a t u be s
2
Table 4. Establishment (pl/m ) counts made in March 2008, April 2009 and Feb 2010 for all
varieties (M
i ti (Mean of sowing rates).
f i t )
2008 establishment (plants/m2)
Gatton Petrie Bambatsi ATF-714 Strickland Marc LSD
2008 23.5
23 5 14.0
14 0 15.0
15 0 8.1
81 19.1
19 1 12.5
12 5 8.6
86
2009 4.7 4.1 6.5 10.6 2.5 1.9 2.7
2010 5.9 4 5.8 10.9 2.3 1.8 -
CSIRO.
22. Dry matter production- measured
y atte p oduct o easu ed
Figure 1. Biomass measured at June 2007, March 2008, 2009, Jan 2010
CSIRO.
23. 80
Dry matter production- simulated
y atte p oduct o s u ated
day
60
Daily growth rate (kg DM/ha/d
Mean
40 25 percentile
r
median
75 percentile
20
0
Figure J J A S O N D J F M A M
1a
24. Co c us o s t op ca s
Conclusions-tropicals
• The potential for filling critical “autumn” feedgaps was the
motivation behind this work.
• Simulation has shown that September to December is the period
of most rapid growth and provided that pasture quality can be
and,
maintained, there is potential for this feed to carry over for use
later in summer
• Wh
Where annual medics or other legumes can b grown i thi
l di th l be in this
pasture system there may be benefits arising from improved
nitrogen cycling, feed quality and ground cover
CSIRO.
25. Future Work (new phase…)
Species evaluation-larger scale, grazed
• Testing the most promising subtropical spp. (Panicum coloratum
cvv. Bambatsi and ATF714) under larger and grazed commercial
p
plantings
g
• Sown or self regenerating pastures -some summer growing
grasses native to the Mallee (Austrodanthonia spp. Speargrass
Stipa spp, Windmill grass Chloris truncata and purple p
p pp, g p p plume
grass, Dichelachne spp.)
• Other Spp identified by Enrich (e.g. Cullen, A. semibaccata)
Testing and demonstrating new systems
• Field testing of novel systems such as pasture-cropping
• Fodder shrub mixes and/or inter-row options for wide plantings
• Feed year planning and animal enterprises of new systems
Data for future analysis
• Basic growth rate/seed regeneration data for medics, lucerne
g g ,