Cultivation Of Cash Crops Research Articles

Multiomics Reveals the Effect of Root Rot on Polygonati Rhizome and Identifies Pathogens and Biocontrol Strain.

ABSTRACTRoot (rhizome) rot of Polygonatum plants has received substantial attention because it threatens yield and sustainable utilization in the polygonati rhizome industry. However, the potential pathogens that cause rhizome rot as well as the direct and indirect (via root-associated microbes) strategies by which Polygonatum defends against pathogens remain largely unknown. Herein, we used integrated multiomics of plant-targeted metabolomics and transcriptomics, microbiome, and culture-based methods to systematically investigate the interactions between the Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua root-associated microbiota and pathogens. We found that root rot inhibited P. cyrtonema rhizome growth and that the fresh weight significantly decreased (P < 0.001). The transcriptomic and metabonomic results showed that the expression of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to specialized metabolic and systemic resistance pathways, such as glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and flavonoid biosynthesis, cycloartenol synthase activity (related to saponin synthesis), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, and plant hormone signal transduction, was particularly increased in diseased rhizomes. Consistently, the contents of lactose, d-fructose, sarsasapogenin, asperulosidic acid, botulin, myricadoil, and other saponins, which are functional medicinal compounds present in P. cyrtonema rhizomes, were also increased in diseased plants infected with rhizome rot. The microbiome sequencing and culture results showed that root rot disrupted the P. cyrtonema bacterial and fungal communities and reduced the microbial diversity in the rhizomes and rhizosphere soil. We further found that a clear enrichment of Streptomyces violascens XTBG45 (HJB-XTBG45) in the healthy rhizosphere could control the root rot caused by Fusarium oxysporum and Colletotrichum spaethianum. Taken together, our results indicate that P. cyrtonema can modulate the plant immune system and metabolic processes and enrich beneficial root microbiota to defend against pathogens.IMPORTANCE Root (rhizome or tuber) reproduction is the main method for the agricultural cultivation of many important cash crops, and infected crop plants rot, exhibit retarded growth, and experience yield losses. While many studies have investigated medicinal plants and their functional medicinal compounds, the occurrence of root (rhizome) rot of plant and soil microbiota has received little attention. Therefore, we used integrated multiomics and culture-based methods to systematically study rhizome rot on the famous Chinese medicine Polygonatum cyrtonema and identify pathogens and beneficial microbiota of rhizome rot. Rhizome rot disrupted the Polygonatum-associated microbiota and reduced microbial diversity, and rhizome transcription and metabolic processes significantly changed. Our work provides evidence that rhizome rot not only changes rhizome transcription and functional metabolite contents but also impacts the microbial community diversity, assembly, and function of the rhizome and rhizosphere. This study provides a new friendly strategy for medicinal plant breeding and agricultural utilization.

The Neuroptera of São Tomé e Principe

Two new entomological surveys were carried out in the República Democrática de São Tomé e Principe in 2019 (earlier surveys were in 1956 and 2001). Of 16 species of Neuroptera identified, only one, a Mantispidae, appears endemic to the archipelago. Chrysopidae and Hemerobiidae account for the majority of species and individuals collected, concentrated here in plantations and anthropized environments, and known to be widely distributed in Africa and even worldwide. Unusually, the family Coniopterygidae is again absent, this time on natural terrains, confirming its earlier absence in 2001 on anthropized and plantation terrains. The findings and ecological distribution support the hypothesis that Hemerobiidae and Chrysopidae were introduced with cash crop cultivation, some of them as late as the 19th century. Their isolation in island environments is probably too recent to have allowed speciation mechanisms to generate endemic species in São Tomé.

Ecocentric Approach of Science from the Perspective of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore: Exploring Sustainability and Ethics amidst British Colonialism

Just as the ‘Renaissance’ in Europe led to a stronger urge in the individuals to explore new avenues of arts and science there was also a spurt in gradual scientific inventions and technological interventions. Much importantly the invention of the steam engine revolutionised Europe’s industries and transportation in terms of speed and efficiency. The demand for finished goods propelled the European nations, particularly Britain, to explore trade options for the importing of raw materials from overseas, including India, which later took the shape of colonial political plundering amidst regional political instabilities in the Indian sub-continent. The British imperialism, mercantilism, forced cultivation of cash crops, exploitative trade practices, procurement of raw materials from the sub-continent and elsewhere, selling of foreign products at exorbitant prices and colonial superiority were all intended to support the fledgling industrial development of the British homeland. This unmindful nature of unsustainable development gave rise to a fresh era of ethical and moral questioning, particularly by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore as to ‘what science and development should stand for?’ Gandhi’s questioning of the British on these lines evolved into the nationalistic tone of ‘Hind Swaraj’ while Tagore’s views employ the context of ‘Universality’. The paper discusses the perspectives of Gandhi and Tagore as to whether the applications of science and technology should be ecocentric i.e. taking into concern the environmental, humanitarian and ethical aspects or should it be anthropocentric i.e. development and exploitative centric. The paper also details the humanitarianism emphasised by Gandhi and Tagore from the Indian philosophical perspective and sustainability in the possible role that science and technology can actually play in ‘real human advancement’.

Soil Nutrient Evaluation and Crop Management for Sustainable Growth of PatiyaVillage Cluster in Almora, Uttarakhand

The present study deals with the assessment of soil nutrients at four adjacent villages, 15 km NE of Almora, to understand the soil fertility and suitability of crops to help rejuvenate the agricultural activities in the region which subsequently will be used as a testing ground to mitigate prevailing Human-Wildlife Conflict in the study area. Soil samples were analyzed for textural classification, power of hydrogen (pH), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Organic Carbon percentage (OC%), available Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K), Sulphur (S), Boron (B), Manganese (Mn), 0.1M Hydrochloric Acid (HCl), and Diethylene Triamine Pentaacetic Acid (DTPA) extractable, Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), and Copper (Cu) to examine the soil fertility of the area. The soils of the region vary from loam to sandy loam. The soil reaction varies from slight to extremely acidic whereas the salinity was varying from non-saline to slightly saline. Low soil fertility index of N, P, K, Zn, B, and Fe; and medium soil fertility index of S, Mn, and Cu were observed, which is suggestive of additional requirement of Farm Yard Manure (FYM) and fertilizers to make them suitable for plantation. Through this study, an attempt has been made to recommend the selection and cultivation of high yield indigenous cash crops with the support of bio-fertilizers to maximize the use and production of these fallow lands and enhance the agricultural activities in the region and provide better livelihood options. The shift from the traditional method of plowing and sowing to new basic techniques has brought about encouraging results to the extent that these fields have now become favorite destinations of wild boars and monkeys. Hence, allowing us to mitigate this problem through various means.

Dynamic pathways of barriers and opportunities for food security and climate adaptation in Southern Mali

Barriers to food security and climate adaptation operate in complex and dynamic ways but are often perceived as static impediments to be overcome. In this study, we apply systems thinking for the assessment of barriers in agricultural decision-making for food security and climate adaptation. Using a mixed-method approach of participatory simulation game design and causal loop diagrams, we explore the dynamic pathways through which barriers inhibit farmers from achieving food security and climate adaptation in Southern Mali. Results show that the key barriers in the region are financial, land, and climate-related barriers including unavailability of formal credit sources, high input prices, inadequate land access and ownership rights, time and labor constraints in collective vs individual plots, and climate risks such as early and late season droughts, high temperature, excessive rainfall, water scarcity, and pest incidences. These barriers operate in complex, interdependent, and dynamic ways where factors that act as enablers in one context can also function as barriers in another context. We see such interdependencies in three cases: i) access to interlocked credit and loans for cotton cultivation acts as enablers of income generation for male farmers but become barriers to female farmers who do not cultivate cotton ii) land ownership and land use rights for male farmers act as enablers for cultivation of income-generating cash and food crops but acts as a barrier for female farmers by way of intra-household labor dynamics within collective plots iii) increase in land allocation to cotton and maize cultivation acts as enablers for increased household income but becomes a barrier to food security due to higher vulnerability to climate risks. Assessment of causal loop diagrams identified deep and shallow leverage points. Policies and interventions that focused on input subsidies and credit facilities are shallow leverage points where incremental changes will only lead to small improvements in farmers’ livelihoods. Policies that support improved access and ownership of land to female farmers are deep leverage points that can potentially shift the dominant cropping pattern to more diversified and climate-resilient production.

Educational Gender Inequality in Sub‐Saharan Africa: A Long‐Term Perspective

AbstractTo what extent did sub‐Saharan Africa's twentieth century schooling revolution benefit boys and girls equally? Using census data and a cohort approach, we examine gender gaps in years of education over the twentieth century at world region, country and district levels. First, we find that compared to other developing regions, Africa had a small initial educational gender gap but subsequently made the least progress in closing the gap. Second, in most of the 21 African countries studied, gender gaps increased during most of the colonial era (ca. 1880–1960) and declined, albeit at different rates, after independence. At the world region and country level, the expansion of men's education was initially associated with a growing gender gap, and subsequently a decline, a pattern we refer to as “educational gender Kuznets curve.” Third, using data from six decadal cohorts across 1,177 birth districts, we explore subnational correlates of educational gender inequality. This confirms the inverse‐U relationship between the gender gap and male education. We also find that districts with railroads, more urbanization and early twentieth century Christian missions witnessed lower attainment gaps. We find no evidence that cash crop cultivation, agricultural division of labor or family systems were linked to gender gaps.

Farm size and pesticide use: evidence from agricultural production in China

PurposeChina is the world's largest consumer of pesticides. To increase the use efficiency and achieve more sustainable and environmentally friendly use of pesticides in China, it is crucial to understand why Chinese farmers use such a large amount of pesticides.Design/methodology/approachThe relationship between farm size and pesticide use was investigated by using national household-level panel data from 1995 to 2016.FindingFarms that are small and fragmented lead to the use of large amounts of pesticides in China. For a given crop type, three factors contribute to a negative relationship between farm size and pesticide use: the spillover effect from the use of pesticides by other farmers in the same village, the level of mechanization and the management ability of farmers. The first two factors play important roles in the cultivation of grain crops, while the last factor is the main reason why farmers with larger plots of land use fewer pesticides in the cultivation of vegetables. In addition, the effect of agricultural machinery services on reducing the use of pesticides is currently limited, and the service system in China is still insufficient, which has been pointed out that it is also due to the prevalence of small and fragmented farms.Originality/valueThe authors investigate and compare the farm size–pesticide use relationship in both grain and cash crop production. Moreover, the authors systematically explore and explain how farm size is related to a reduction in pesticide use in the cultivation of grain crops and cash crops. These results can help to better understand the role of land scale in pesticide use, lay a foundation for the formulation of policies to reduce pesticide use and provide valuable knowledge about pesticide use for other developing countries around the world.

The overlap of suitable tea plant habitat with Asian elephant (Elephus maximus) distribution in southwestern China and its potential impact on species conservation and local economy.

The expansion of land being used for cash crop cultivation has threatened wildlife in recent decades. Tea has become the dominant cash crop in southwestern China. Unfortunately, tea plantations may threaten Asian elephant (Elephus maximus) populations via habitat loss and fragmentation. Identifying areas of suitable habitat for tea plant cultivation, and where this habitat overlaps with Asian elephant distribution, is vital for planning land use, managing nature reserves, shaping policy, and maintaining local economies. Here, we assess the potential impact of tea plantations on Asian elephants in southwestern Yunnan province, China. We used MaxEnt modeling with bioclimatic and environmental variables to identify suitable habitat for tea plant cultivation under the current climate scenario, and then overlapped this habitat with 9 known Asian elephant distribution areas (G1-G9) to determine "threatened areas." Our results showed that (1) annual precipitation (48.1% contribution), temperature constancy (29 % contribution), and slope (8.7 % contribution) were key in determining suitable habitat for tea plants; (2) the cumulative area of suitable habitat for tea plants was 13,784.88 km2, mainly distributed in Menghai (3934.53 km2), Lancang (3198.67 km2), and Jinghong (2657.74 km2); (3) the distribution area of elephants was 943.75 km2, and these areas overlapped with suitable tea plant habitat primarily located in G4 (379.40 km2), G3 (251.18), and G7 (168.03 km2); and (4) threatened areas in G1 and G7 were predominately located along the periphery of current nature reserves. Win-win solutions that work for elephant conservation and economic development include rescoping nature reserve boundaries, strengthening management on the periphery of nature reserves, establishing ecological corridors and new nature reserves within regions where elephants are currently distributed, planting alternative cash crops, and financial subsidies to farmers. This study improves understanding of human-elephant coexistence, and will assist in guiding land use policy for the future conservation outcomes seeking to promote responsible and profitable cash crop farming and elephant conservation.

What will drive the small tea growers towards environment-friendly cultivation? Implications from the tea sector in Assam, India

ABSTRACT The small tea growers (STGs), a considerable part of the tea industry, contribute significantly to the rural economy in tea-producing countries. As tea cultivation has become a high-input high-output system, it raises concerns for the sustainability of the STGs, and thus to sustainable tea production and overall agricultural sustainability. There is a need to encourage the STGs to uptake environment-friendly cultivation to fight against challenges including livelihood, health hazards, and the consequences of climate change. This study draws lessons from the adoption of organic cultivation by some of the STGs in Assam, India. It uses mixed methods research. The qualitative analyses found that compared to conventional production, organic production provided avenues to greater learning, greater awareness on environmental management, fostered new networks, and promoted entrepreneurship based on small-scale tea processing. The quantitative analyses identified the important factors that influenced the growers' adoption decision. Large-scale adoption of organic cultivation by the STGs relies on how the policy interventions leverage the decisive factors such as training and learning, income perception, establishment of STGs owned factories, and others. The findings have significant implications for policy-making and practice to promote sustainability concerning the smallholders in the developing countries who rely on cultivation of cash crops.

Taking advantage of natural regeneration potential in secondary forests to recover commercial tree resources in Côte d’Ivoire

In Côte d’Ivoire, more than 80% of the original forest cover has disappeared due to slash-and-burn shifting agricultural practices, uncontrolled logging, and large-scale land conversion for cash crop cultivation. Yet the demand for timber continues to grow and cannot be met by the scarcity of tree plantations. Despite the widespread presence of secondary forests of various ages in Ivorian landscapes, little is known about recovery trajectories of timber resources and the environmental factors that influence recovery rates. We set up 96 0.2 ha forest plots, along a chronosequence of 1 to 40 years and including 7 controls, on which all commercial trees larger than 2.5 cm in diameter at breast height were inventoried. We modelled the recovery trajectories of four complementary indicators of timber resources (basal area, tree density, size of big trees, bole volume) in a Bayesian framework. Our results show that the four indicators recover at different rates, with tree density recovering in less than 15 years while bole volumes need more than a hundred years to recover. Among the local, landscape, and historical factors studied, the number of remnants and proximity to old-growth forests have a positive impact on recovery rates, with, under good environmental conditions, the density, basal area and size of big trees being almost completely recovered in less than 25 years. Our results demonstrate the very high resilience of the timber resource, but also suggest that the landscape management of these post-forest areas must be differentiated according to the landscape context and the presence of isolated trees, which are the last vestiges of the former forest.

English

Continuous and excessive use of inorganic fertilizers by farmers across the world is causing more harm than good to croplands. This is because most of these inorganic fertilizers are toxic, which in essence defeats the very purpose for which they are produced. This paper sought to comparatively assess the use of inorganic fertilizer among agroforestry and non-agroforestry practicing farmers in south west Cameroon. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources, and analyzed using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that, more non-agroforestry practicing farmers were using inorganic fertilizer, in large quantities, and frequently, when compared to their agroforestry practicing counterparts. From logistic regression predictions, it was found that, variables such as level of education, cultivation of cash crops, number of farms, farm size, age, and farm experience had an inverse causal relationship (p&lt;0.05) with agroforestry practicing farmers&rsquo; use of inorganic fertilizer, and a direct causal relationship (p&lt;0.05) with non-agroforestry practicing farmers&rsquo; use of inorganic fertilizer. Meanwhile, variables such as income level, household size, cultivation of food crops, cultivation of market gardening crops, membership in farming group, access to extension services, and access to markets had a direct causal relationship (p&lt;0.05) with the use of inorganic fertilizer for both agroforestry and non-agroforestry practicing farmers.&nbsp; It was equally found that, a direct causal relationship (p&lt;0.05) exist between the non-practice of agroforestry and the use of inorganic fertilizer, while an inverse causal relationship (p&lt;0.05) exist between the practice of agroforestry and the use of inorganic fertilizer. This indicates that the practice of agroforestry has huge potentials to contribute towards limiting the use of inorganic fertilizers by farmers. On the basis of these findings, it is recommended that policy makers pay more attention to agro-ecological practices like agroforestry in order to limit the use of inorganic fertilizer by farmers. Key words: Agroforestry, sole cropping, farmers, inorganic fertilizer, Cameroon.

British Land Policies in the Gold Coast and Her Relations with Asante

Abstract Colonization successfully advanced various reforms in Africa that affected several practices on the continent. The various customs that have been affected include the land tenure system of British colonies in particular. An abundance of laws and policies were adopted with the sole aim of conserving the environment. These policies often clashed with indigenous interests and witnessed counter attacks as a result. Despite this, there is little information in the literature concerning how British land policies shaped their relations with the indigenous people, particularly the Asante. Based on a qualitative research approach, the current study uses Asante as a focal point of discourse in order to historically trace British land policies and how they, the British engaged with the people of Asante. From the discourse, it should be established that the colonial administration passed ordinances to mobilize revenue and not necessarily for the protection of the environment. In addition, the findings indicated that the boom in cash crops, such as cocoa and rubber, prompted Britain to reform the land tenure system. With the land policies, individuals and private organizations could acquire lands from local authorities for the cultivation of cash crops. We conclude that the quest to control land distribution caused the British to further annex Asante.

Banana Production and Its Implications on Food Security in Imenti South Sub-County, Kenya

Agricultural systems provide food to the population and ensure food security among many Kenyan communities. Food security is a contemporary discourse globally which seeks to strategies on availability and sufficient food supplies for the ever growing population. Agricultural land use practices such as cultivation of cash and food crops influences food security at household level. Land acreage under other crops has reduced as farmers have turned to banana farming in Imenti South. For example, most high agricultural potential regions in Kenya such as Imenti South in Meru are experiencing high population density which is associated with sharp decline in farm productivity due to land fragmentation and degradation. This study evaluated the effects of banana production on food security in Imenti south Sub-county. Mixed research design of qualitative and quantitative approaches were used in order to achieve this objective. Multi-stage sampling of respondents was used to identify respondents while the main research instruments were questionnaires for households and key informants. The results from the study showed that there was an increase in household banana farming activities for food crop and commercial purposes. Food sufficiency in the region was influenced by level of banana production, markets and land use. This study concluded that banana farming has led to food availability and food security in the region. In recommendation, the government and other stakeholders should make small holder banana farmers adapt good banana farming practices to ensure continued availability and accessibility of food.

Impact of cash crop cultivation on household income and migration decisions: Evidence from low-income regions in China

This study examines the impact of cash crop cultivation on household income and migration decisions, using survey data collected from low-income regions in China. Given farmers decide themselves whether to cultivate cash crops, an endogenous treatment regression model that accounts for potential selection bias issue is used to analyze the data. The empirical results show that cash crop cultivation exerts a positive and statistically significant impact on household income, but it does not affect household migration decisions significantly. The disaggregated analyses reveal that cash crop cultivation significantly increases farm income but decreases off-farm income.

Hydroponic vegetable cultivation

Many challenges have come to the limelight in recent years due to a rapid increase in the world population. One of these challenges is the reduction of the per capita land available for soil-based agriculture, leading to other agricultural and environmental problems. Under these critical circumstances, it became necessary to develop advanced technologies and techniques to withstand the current situation. While several studies have been carried out on soil and in vitro plant cultivation, few of these are based on soilless crops. Soilless agriculture is a new promising method for improving cultivation of different cash crops. Apart from the reservation and restoration of cultivation land, soilless farming, especially close-loop method, has numerous advantages: it uses recycled fixed quantities of water, saves 85–90% of irrigation water, can be implemented in unfavourable areas for ordinary farming, nearly zero contamination of the atmosphere, better yield than traditional farming. Therefore improved space and water management methods of food production under soilless cultivation have shown some promising results throughout the world.

Soil organic matter as affected by the conversion of natural tropical rainforest to monoculture rubber plantations under acric ferralsols

Land-use change (LUC) in the tropics, such as the exponential rate of conversion of natural habitats into intense monocultures focusing on cash-crop cultivation, is a major causal factor of global environmental change. To understand the effects of LUC on soil organic matter (SOM) stability and the dynamics of C and N within SOM fractions, we measured the C and N content and δ13C and δ15N in fractions of different aggregate- and density-size of acric ferralsols in tropical rainforests and rubber plantations. The proportion of macroaggregates, heavy and light fractions significantly decreased after LUC. The results showed that, in general, conversion of tropical rainforest to rubber plantation significantly decreased the C and N content in bulk soil and the aggregate- and density-size to 20 cm soil depth. The decrease in C and N content in bulk soil was mainly driven by decreasing C and N associated with macroaggregates and light fractions, which accounted for > 50%. We found significant correlations among mean weight diameter, aggregate-, and density-size fractions C, N, and C/N ratios. The conversion of tropical rainforest to rubber plantation significantly enriched soil δ13C while depleting δ15N. Enrichment of δ13C in rubber plantations could be explained by the mixing of old and fresh C. We conclude that, C and N dynamics within SOM fractions were greatly affected by LUC and the δ13C and δ15N signature confirms the changes in SOM stability after forest conversion. We suggest that planting intercrops within rubber monocultures may improve SOM accumulation, soil aggregation, and C and N sequestration.

Participatory Bayesian network modeling to understand driving factors of land-use change decisions: insights from two case studies in northeast Madagascar

ABSTRACTForest frontiers worldwide reveal trade-offs that are key in mitigating global change. In the forest frontiers of northeast Madagascar, land-use changes result from decisions made by smallholder farmers. In the past, subsistence needs led to increasing shifting cultivation, resulting in forest degradation and deforestation. This study focuses on investigating the role of locally determined factors in land-use change decisions in the forest frontier context. Therefore, we developed a Bayesian network-based land-use decision model that represents the causalities between factors influencing land-use decisions and takes into account local decision-makers’ knowledge. The approach is applied in two comparative case studies in northeast Madagascar. Results show that farmers mostly aim at extending the cultivation of cash crops. These results and the causal mechanisms disentangled for the forest frontier of northeast Madagascar help understand change mechanisms and hence, support decision-making to attain the Sustainable Development Goals.

History of economic development and forest land-use in the Fako-Meme forest region of Cameroon

The article is devoted to investigating a number of issues within the forest landscape of the Fako-Meme, south west region of Cameroon. An assessment of the history of economic development and use of forest in the studied territory was carried out. It was observed that the rate at which these forests are been hewn down for various purposes under the pretext of development leaves much to be desired. The deforestation of the forest with the attendant problems of resource degradation, environmental mutation is a cause for alarm. In order to understand the mutations taking place in the forest landscape, the history of forest use in 4 different periods: 1) the pre-colonial era (before the arrival of European explorers), (2) German colonial rule (1884-1916), (3) British colonial rule (1916-1961) and (4) Independence and post Independence Cameroon (1961-present day). It was observed that during the pre-colonial era the forest landscapes were very stable. Forest degradation in the territory started with the introduction of extensive mechanized agriculture introduced by the colonial masters through the opening of large agro-industrial plantations of rubber, palms and bananas. This forest ecological region suffers from a number of challenges. These problems were investigated in detail with proposals made for the sustainable management of forest resources in this forest ecosystem situated in the heart of the humid tropical region of the South West of Cameroon. These forests provide for a wide range of human needs ; medicine, timber , fuel wood, non- timber forest products (NTFPs), food crop production and cash crop cultivation. The pattern of land-use change in the Fako-Meme region was studied in three distinctive periods (1978, 2000 and 2015). The results revealed that anthropogenic activities have been systematically raping the forest landscapes so that the environments are only a skeleton or shadow of their former selves. This is an ecological region in which forest gives way to farmlands and plantations. In this respect, we see that what was a forest landscape in the past is now consisting of a succession of cocoa farms, palm, rubber as well as other economic cash crop plantations, with cocoa being the most important cash crop in the region. Evidence from our analysis reveals that this region has lost 42% of its forest cover within the period 1978-2015. This dynamic can be considered catastrophic. If this trend continues uninterruptedly in the region, then in 60-70 years, the Fako-Meme and the slopes of Mount Cameroon will remain without forest. It is easy to imagine the consequences of this. The study calls for urgent adaptive environmental strategies for the sustainable management of forest and its resources in the region.

Ultrasound Evaluation of Bone Age in Rural Ecuadorian Children and Its Association with Nutrition (FS01-08-19)

ObjectivesThis study aimed to test use of portable ultrasound technology to determine bone age in rural Ecuadorian children and investigate its association with anthropometry and dietary intakes. MethodsChildren ages 2–3 years (n = 129) from Cotopaxi Province participated in Lulun Project II, a cohort follow-up to the Lulun Project, an RCT testing the efficacy of egg intervention in complementary feeding. Data collection, including targeted ultrasounds of the hand and wrist, was undertaken in participant households. Anthropometric measures were taken using international protocols and Z scores generated with WHO Growth Standards. ResultsMean bone age z-score (BAZ) was –1.5 (±1.2); –0.9 (±1.0) among girls and –2.0 (±1.2) among boys. Bone age z-scores were positively correlated with HAZ (r = 0.35, P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with BMI z-scores (r = –0.27, P = 0.002), but no association between bone age and WAZ was observed. Linear regression modeling demonstrated that HAZ (0.374 95% CI 0.174–0.574), female sex of the child (0.573 95% CI 0.214–0.932), 24-hour frequency of intake for savory snacks (0.290 95% CI 0.028–0.552), child taken to healthcare facility in previous 3 mo (–0.664, 95%CI –1.160, –0.167), ownership of pigs (–0.506, 95% CI –0.863, –0.148), and cultivation of cash crops (0.466, 95% CI 0.062, 0.870) significantly predicted BAZ. ConclusionsBone age in young children may be feasibly collected in a low-resource setting using portable ultrasound technology. As it highly correlates with HAZ and other diet anthropometric parameters, it prove to be an important tool in the evaluation of children’s nutritional status. Funding SourcesThe Mathile Institute for the Advancement of Human Nutrition.

Ultrasound Evaluation of Bone Age in Rural Ecuadorian Children and Its Association with Nutrition (FS01-08-19)

ObjectivesThis study aimed to test use of portable ultrasound technology to determine bone age in rural Ecuadorian children and investigate its association with anthropometry and dietary intakes. MethodsChildren ages 2–3 years (n = 129) from Cotopaxi Province participated in Lulun Project II, a cohort follow-up to the Lulun Project, an RCT testing the efficacy of egg intervention in complementary feeding. Data collection, including targeted ultrasounds of the hand and wrist, was undertaken in participant households. Anthropometric measures were taken using international protocols and Z scores generated with WHO Growth Standards. ResultsMean bone age z-score (BAZ) was -1.5 (± 1.2); -0.9 (± 1.0) among girls and -2.0 (± 1.2) among boys. Bone age z-scores were positively correlated with HAZ (r = 0.35, P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with BMI z-scores (r = -0.27, P = 0.002), but no association between bone age and WAZ was observed. Linear regression modeling demonstrated that HAZ (0.374 95% CI 0.174–0.574), female sex of the child (0.573 95% CI 0.214–0.932), 24-hour frequency of intake for savory snacks (0.290 95% CI 0.028–0.552), child taken to healthcare facility in previous 3 mo (-0.664, 95%CI -1.160, -0.167), ownership of pigs (-0.506, 95% CI -0.863, -0.148), and cultivation of cash crops (0.466, 95% CI 0.062, 0.870) significantly predicted BAZ. ConclusionsBone age in young children may be feasibly collected in a low-resource setting using portable ultrasound technology. As it highly correlates with HAZ and other diet anthropometric parameters, it prove to be an important tool in the evaluation of children’s nutritional status. Funding SourcesThe Mathile Institute for the Advancement of Human Nutrition.