Agricultural Population Research Articles

BETWEEN SEDENTISM AND NOMADISM: LIFEWAYS ON THE FOREST-STEPPE FRONTIER OF THE LEFT BANK OF DNIEPER IN SCYTHIAN TIME

The paper is devoted to the issue of reconstruction of the lifeways and economics of the part of tribes in the forest-steppe region of the Left Bank of Dnieper during the Scythian period. The question of the role of nomads and semi nomads in the ethnic and cultural history of the population is one of the most important, since the correct assessment of the interaction between the forest-steppe agricultural population and the different groups of nomads depends on the reconstruction of ethnic processes in the Left-bank forest-steppe du­ring Scythian time. It can be assumed that the Dnieper Left-bank forest-steppe by its environment and convenient ways attracted both farmers and nomads. This led to the use of several ecological niches, which was reflected in the spread of the settlement structure of farmers in the areas that are most suitable for agriculture (chernozem soils of various types) and rich in resources for life, construction, etc. (access to water, forest areas). The nomadic population that has subjugated farmers has repeatedly penetrated the region several times. Nomads mostly used the steppe areas and floodplains of the region, leaving behind the main type of sites — the mounds, burial rites of which are fundamentally different from the settled agricultural population.
 The study proposes the conditional use of the term «nomads» for groups of mobile pastoralists only at the time of their penetration into the region. In the new conditions, their lifeways significantly changed. The term reflects a transition to mobile stockbreeding within a limited territory of movement, permanent winter houses near the settlements and hillforts of the settled population of the region, prevailing transhumance, etc. At the moment, the term «semi nomads» is the most adequate for those groups of mobile pastoralists who remained in the forest-steppe region of the Left Bank of Dnieper during the Scythian time. Judging by the flat necropolis in Barvinkova Gora tract near Bilsk hillfort, a part of the migrants from the south turned to a sedentary way of life in the 4th century BC. In general, it can be assumed that the migration of nomads into the region significantly impacted lifeways of the local sedentary population.

‘For them farming may be the last resort, but for us it is a new hope’: Ageing, youth and farming in India

AbstractBased on an empirical exercise carried out in five villages of Odisha in eastern India, the paper looks into ageing of the farm population and the experiences and responses of farmers of various age groups to farming. The findings of the study indicate that agriculture is greying, farmers are getting older and the youth, particularly of higher and cultivating castes, are averse to farming. The unwillingness of these youths to join farming is mainly attributed to loss of social status, declining profitability in agriculture and discouragement of immediate ‘mentors’, the middle‐aged farmers, caused by the perpetual decline of farm income and loss of social recognition. The hitherto nonfarming youths, belonging to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and service‐rendering castes, especially the female youths, are joining farming to fill this gap, mostly as leased‐in cultivators.

Long-term responses in different karst agricultural production systems to farm management and climate change: A comparative prefecture-scale study in Southwest China

Rapid shifts have occurred in the agricultural production systems of the karst regions in Southwest China to meet increasing food demands. The responses of agricultural production vary under different degree of rocky desertification. However, the interactive effects of related driving factors on the food production sustainability of local crops are unknown. In this study, we quantified the impacts of seven key indicators—population, cropland area, multiple cropping index, irrigation area, fertilizer use, temperature and precipitation—on agricultural production in three rocky desertification grade regions from 1960 to 2011. We also classified these indicators into three categories: population, farm management and climate change. The results showed that farm management and population were the main drivers of increased food crop production, contributing 79.7% and 17%, respectively. In contrast, climate change had a limited influence on agricultural production. With increases in crop yield, the influences of some indicators were enhanced, and the negative impact on the environment was also increased; therefore, the sustainability of agricultural production systems could be adversely affected in the future. The agricultural production systems in mild rocky desertification areas (Zunyi) could meet the current food demands, while the areas with moderate and severe rocky desertification (Bijie and Qianxinan, respectively) are faced with substantial pressure. Although continuous improvements in agricultural production efficiency due to advances in modern science, technology and management have partly mitigated environmental pressure, rocky desertification poses a challenge to the sustainable development of agriculture in Southwest China. These findings provide a reference for adjusting farm management practices and climate change countermeasures in regions with different degrees of rocky desertification to achieve agricultural production sustainability in the future.

Groundwater Quality Assessment Using Multi-Criteria GIS Modeling in Drylands: A Case Study at El-Farafra Oasis, Egyptian Western Desert

The most critical issue that was the main research interest is its groundwater quality which is vital for public health concerns. Groundwater is a significant worldwide water supply for diverse communities, especially in dryland regions. Groundwater quality assessment in desert systems is largely hindered by the lack of hydrological data and the remote location of desert Oases. This study provides a preliminary understanding of the influences of climate, land usage, and population growth on the groundwater quality in El-Farafra Oasis in the Western Desert in Egypt from 2000 to now. Therefore, the study’s main objective was to determine the extent of change in temporal water quality and the factors causing it. The present study integrates chemical analyses and geospatial modeling better to assess groundwater quality in the study area. A chemical analysis of thirty-one groundwater samples from wells representing each study area was carried out during three time periods (2000, 2010, and 2022). Several chemical properties of groundwater samples gathered from wells in the research area were analyzed. Furthermore, the groundwater quality trend from 2000 to the present was identified using three approaches: Wilcox and Schoeller Diagram in Aq.QA software, interpolation in the ArcGIS software, and Ground Water Quality Index (GWQI). Moreover, the influence of changing land usage on groundwater quality was studied, and it was found that the increase in agriculture and urbanization areas is linked to groundwater quality degradation. The findings revealed that the barren area in 2000, 2010, and 2022 was 371.7, 362.0, and 343.2 km2, respectively, which indicates a substantial decrease of 6.2% within this research timeframe. In contrast, agriculture and human-made structures have expanded by 1.8%. Also, population growth has led to an increase in water consumption as the population has grown at a rate of 7.52% annually from 2000 to 2020. As the climatic condition increases from 2000 to 2022, these changes could extend to the water quality in shallow aquifers with increasing evaporation. Based on the water quality spatial model, it is found that, despite a declining tendency in the rate of precipitation and an expansion in agricultural areas and population growth, the water quality was still appropriate for human and farming consumption in large areas of the study area. The presented approach is applicable to the assessment of groundwater in desert regions in the Middle East area.

English

Tigray, the most northern of Ethiopia’s ethnically based regional states, covers an area of 53 386 km2 and has a population exceeding 5.17 million of whom some 24.3% are urban dwellers. Wide agroclimatic variations result from altitudinal differences (600 to 3000 m) and rainfall patterns. The area is a center of origin of many cultivated and wild plants. The mainly agricultural rural population, farming small areas of non-contiguous plots, makes wide use of these conditions to ensure its livelihood. Crops grown include ten species of cereals, seven pulses (legumes), six oilseeds, and numerous fruits, vegetables and spices. Within these groups and species several varieties or landraces are recognized and used to advantage. Wild species are exploited for food, especially at times of crop failure, and for medicines. Crop production is beset by many biotic (weeds, pests, diseases), abiotic (infertile soils) and anthropic (government policy, civil strife, military actions) constraints. Drought is a frequent occurrence and leads to crop failure and famine. In normal times crop yields are low but some of the production is marketed to provide cash for other necessities.  Tigray’s population is poverty stricken and often in need of food aid. Key words: Genetic resources, biodiversity, poverty, drought, food security, famine foods.

English

This manuscript shows a characterisation of critical agricultural household features that are fundamental for performance of agricultural activities in Uganda. Data from the 2018 Annual Agricultural Survey show that these households are exposed to a series of circumstances that make agriculture a challenging enterprise to undertake, but at the same time essential for subsistence. These challenges are mainly associated with large segments of agricultural population dedicated to farming in reduced land-cropping areas, generalized practice of subsistence farming, limited land tenure rights, critical low levels of education affecting agricultural productivity, limited use of improved agricultural inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, and seeds), and marginal use of irrigation practices. These challenges are of intra and extra-farm nature, and as such a holistic vision to address them is needed. Key words: Agricultural households, land, education, agricultural inputs. Uganda.

Parity as radical pragmatism: Centering farm justice and agrarian expertise in agricultural policy

Rather than treating symptoms of a destructive agri-food system, agricultural policy, research, and advocacy need both to address the root causes of dysfunction and to learn from longstanding interventions to counter it. Specifically, this paper focuses on agricultural parity policies – farmer-led, government-enacted programs to secure a price floor and manage supply to prevent the economic and ecological devastation of unfettered corporate agro-capitalism. Though these programs remain off the radar in dominant policy, scholarship, and civil society activism, but in the past few years, vast swaths of humanity have mobilized in India to call for agri-food systems transformation through farmgate pricing and market protections. This paper asks what constitutes true farm justice and how it could be updated and expanded as an avenue for radically reimagining agriculture and thus food systems at large. Parity refers to both a pricing ratio to ensure livelihood, but also a broader farm justice movement built on principles of fair farmgate prices and cooperatively coordinated supply management. The programs and principles are now mostly considered “radical,” deemed inefficient, irrelevant, obsolete, and grievous government overeach—but from the vantage, we argue, of a system that profits from commodity crop overproduction and agroindustry consolidation. However, by examining parity through a producer-centric lens cognizant of farmers‘ ability, desire, and need to care for the land, ideas of price protection and supply coordination become foundational, so that farmers can make a dignified livelihood stewarding land and water while producing nourishing food. This paradox—that an agricultural governance principle can seem both radical and common sense, far-fetched and pragmatic—deserves attention and analysis. As overall numbers of farmers decline in Global North contexts, their voices dwindle from these conversations, leaving space for worldviews favoring de-agrarianization altogether. In Global South contexts maintaining robust farming populations, such policies for deliberate de-agrarianization bely an aggression toward rural and peasant ways of life and land tenure. Alongside the history of parity programs, principles, and movements in U.S., the paper will examine a vast version of a parity program in India – the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system, which Indian farmers defended and now struggle to expand into a legal right. From East India to the plains of the United States and beyond, parity principles and programs have the potential to offer a pragmatic direction for countering global agro-industrial corporate capture, along with its de-agrarianization, and environmental destruction. The paper explores what and why of parity programs and movements, even as it addresses the complexity of how international parity agreements would unfold. It ends with the need for global supply coordination grounded in food sovereignty and solidarity, and thus the methodological urgency of centering farm justice and agrarian expertise.

Simulating the Spread of Peste des Petits Ruminants in Kazakhstan Using the North American Animal Disease Spread Model

In this study, we simulated the potential spread of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) between small ruminant (SR) farms in the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK) in case of the disease’s introduction into the country. The simulation was based on actual data on the location and population of SR farms in the RK using the North American Animal Disease Spread Model (NAADSM). The NAADSM employs the stochastic simulations of the between-farm disease spread predicated on the SIR compartmental epidemic model. The most important epidemiological indicators of PPR, demography of SR farms, and livestock management characteristics in the RK were used for model parameterization. This article considers several scenarios for the initial introduction of PPR into the territory of Kazakhstan, based on previously identified high-risk regions and varying sizes of initially infected farms. It is demonstrated that the duration and size of the outbreak do not depend on the size of initially infected farms but rather depend on the livestock concentration and number of farms in the affected area. This implies that the outbreak may affect the largest number of farms in the case of introduction of the disease into farms in southern Kazakhstan. However, even in the most unfavorable scenario, the total number of affected farms does not exceed 2.4% of all SR farms in the RK. The size of the affected area is, in most cases, no larger than an averaged 2-level administrative division’s size, which suggests the scale of a local epidemic. The chosen model provides ample opportunity to study the impact of different control and prevention measures on the spread of PPR as well as to assess the potential economic damage.

Spatial Pattern Evolution and Driving Mechanism of Rural Settlements in Rapidly Urbanized Areas: A Case Study of Jiangning District in Nanjing City, China

Rural settlement is an important part of studying the relationship between humans and land; it is highly significant in revealing the evolution, driving mechanism and reconstruction scheme of rural settlement pattern. In this paper, Jiangning District, a rapidly urbanized area, was selected as a typical case. Using remote sensing image data, the landscape pattern index, the rank-scale law, the local hot spot-detection model, and the geographical-detector were comprehensively used to analyze the rural settlements pattern evolution and driving mechanism in the rapidly urbanized areas. The results are as follows: (1) From 2010 to 2020, the number of rural settlements showed a trend of large-scale reduction, and the settlements scale system was relatively uniform in Jiangning. The settlements scale had the autocorrelation characteristics of spatial agglomeration, and the local hotspot agglomeration pattern was significant. (2) The spatial distribution of rural settlements in Jiangning showed an “agglomeration” pattern, and the settlements density showed a “multi-core” distribution characteristic. (3) The pattern of rural settlements in Jiangning was shaped by natural environmental factors such as topography, water system and cultivated land resources; economic social factors such as agricultural population, per capita GDP, distance from town, and policy and system were the leading factors that promoted the settlements’ pattern evolution in Jiangning, and the interaction between the factors could enhance the interpretation of the settlements’ pattern evolution. The research can provide a reference for optimizing the spatial layout of settlements in rapidly urbanized areas.

The system of consulting in the Tyumen region agriculture

Information and advisory services are an integral part of the innovation system, where they are now more than ever a key link between research, education and production. The eff ectiveness of the formation of the system of agricultural consulting is primarily interested in agricultural producers, the effectiveness of which depends directly on the prompt and complete receipt of the necessary information and advice. The analysis of the process of information and consulting services shows that it is based on effective modern knowledge, allowing to operate with huge information resources. It should be noted that from the transfer of information consulting is diff erent in that it is aimed at a specifi c object that has its own characteristics, developing in specifi c conditions. Successful work and the dissemination of best practices for consulting will create in agri-industrial complex eff ective system for information and advisory service for agricultural producers and population, operating in a single information and legal space aimed at improving the effectiveness of production, amplifying the infl uence of the consulting organizations for the promotion and implementation of investment projects at the regional level and is one of the main instruments of implementation of the state agri-food policy.

Some aspects of the postcranial morphology of the Ural-Mugodzhar population in the Late Bronze Age

The paper reports on the osteometric data of skeletons from the burials of the Kozhumberdy group of the Late Bronze Age Alakul Culture (Southern Ural). The research is aimed to reveal the character of the variability of osteometric features of the sample group and its comparison with synchronous groups of the steppe zone of Eurasia. Twenty-four male and seventeen female skeletons were investigated. Taking into account the poor preser-vation of the material, a new method of identification of sex, developed by I.M. Sineva, was applied. The results of the study of the series by statistical methods (principal component analysis, nonparametric Mann — Whitney cri-terion) are presented. A high degree of morphological diversity of the variants of the skeletal development under the dominance of a rather gracile osteological complex within the Bronze Age of the steppe Eurasia is observed. Several individuals, characterized by the increased size of the skeleton, are distinguished. The similarity of the main part of the studied sample group with the synchronous population of the steppe-forest-steppe zone of the Cis-Urals and Upper Ob Basin is revealed. At the same time, the Kozhumberdy group morphologically differs from the agricultural population of the Bronze Age in Central Asia. These results indicate the main direction of the mor-phological links of the Kozhumberdy group of the Alakul Culture with the sample groups of the Sintashta Culture of the Cis-Urals and Andronovo Culture of Western Siberia. There is also present an insignificant component as-sociated with the Early Bronze Age population of the steppe Volga-Ural region (the Yamnaya Culture). The as-sumption made previously on the basis of the study of craniological materials about a single morphological basis for the formation of the population of the Alakul and Srubnaya Cultures of the Bronze Age is not confirmed. The main component in the formation of the physical appearance of the Srubnaya population is the local Volga-Ural population. As the morphological basis for the formation of the Alakul Ural-Mugodzhar group we consider the Sintashta population of the Cis-Urals.

Good Animal Welfare in Norwegian Farmers’ context. Can both industrial and natural conventions be achieved in the social license to farm?

This article presents research carried out in Norway, among the population of livestock farmers. It analyses farmers' understanding of animal welfare, and how their different concerns about animal welfare varies across farmers' considerations about the role of the agricultural sector in Norwegian society and animal welfare regulations, material conditions at the farm level, farmers' opinion about animal rights activist groups, and in several individual characteristics. The empirical material was derived from a postal survey conducted in 2020 (n = 745); the analyses were conducted by structural equation modeling (SEM) which has its advantage in identifying latent attitudes. Informed by convention theory, the study shows that two conventions of animal welfare were most prominent among Norwegian livestock farmers. One emphasizing animals' basic health and feelings and a second animals'natural needs. These two conventions point to a potential split within the livestock farming population. Support for the convention basic health and feelings coincides with efficiency and effectiveness in Norwegian food production and farmers' contribution to feeding the Norwegian population. Support of the convention natural needs coincides with support for enhancing biodiversity and attractive landscapes as important additional values in Norwegian agriculture. The support for the convention of animals' needs to behave naturally was found to be lower than the basic health and feelings and this might slow down or hinder implementation of practices and future regulations aimed at enhancing the natural needs of farm animals, accommodation to public expectations of good animal welfare, and is potentially challenging the farmers' social license to farm animals.

Impact of Climate Change-Induced Rainfall on the Agriculture Pattern of Goa – A Geographical Perspective

“Climate change poses a roadblock. The number of droughts increasing year after year. Climate change is not only affecting farmers, government officials, politicians, and lawmakers but also every citizen of the country. Many famous academicians are also opining that the recent onion and tomato crisis is an example of the challenge from climatic change”. Goa is a tiny emerald land situated well on the west coast of India. Apart from Mining, Tourism, and Fishing, Agriculture is one of the major occupations; it plays a crucial role in the economy of the State. The above-said occupations provided the main livelihood to rural, urban, and coastal populations. According to FAO (2018), the share of the agricultural population in the study area is less than 32% among the working population and accounts for just 16% of the GDP. The statistical data for the agricultural scenario in Goa is indicating that traditional agriculture is declining concerning the area as well as production. Though agriculture is the backbone of the State’s economy, which provides a source of livelihood to the majority of Goan people, it is now rapidly declining due to physical as well as cultural factors. Researchers clearly say that, global warming is also one such factor, which is responsible for the reduction in agricultural pursuits. The present study discusses the trends, growth, and impact of global warming and climate change on agriculture patterns in Goa. Farmers, academicians, scientists, and politicians of the State think that there is an impact of climate change and global warming on Goan agriculture. The study further revealed that there is a reduction in area under staple crops, and most significantly yield/productivity is also declining (Economic Survey, 2020-21). Given global warming and climate change, coastal plains are exhibiting various problems like floods and landslides. Government officials have already revealed that the land-use pattern has already taken place in the study area, and a lot of damage has taken place concerning forests and mangroves. These are the main concern for our study to know the agricultural activities in Goa are largely impacted by global warming and climatic changes. Hence, all the hypotheses quoted tested positive.

Development of electrocardiogram intelligent and wearable monitoring system-assisting in care

<p>The primary factor contributing to the high mortality rate in our country is coronary heart disease, which affects almost 50% of people from rural regions. Internet of things (IoT) contributes effectively to the development of point of care (POC) gadgets that support the medical upkeep of an expanding agricultural population. An electrocardiogram test is crucial for analysing cardiac disorders. Therefore, we must develop a POC piece of hardware to assess the health of the heart in an affordable manner and to design it for the patients without interfering with their daily regular procedure in order to monitor the patient's coronary heart disease. As a result, we must design an uninterrupted workbench, which consists of three main integrated parts. The first is a mobile Bluetooth low energy device that has 5-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) surveillance equipment and the smallest form factor. The smart phone Android application that inherits, resolves, and maps the data sent from the ECG device comes next. The patient's information and report details are then compiled on a cloud server for the doctor's future attribution needs.</p>

청년농업인의 진로의사결정 특성과 직업선택동기가 직무만족도에 미치는 영향 요인 연구

The purpose of this study was to establish a sustainable agricultural inflow and revitalization strategy by verifying the impact of career decision making characteristics and job choice motivation on the job satisfaction of young farmers in a situation where the aging of the rural agricultural population areas is serious. To this end, a survey was conducted on 300 young farmers under the age of 40 years among Korean 4-H members from June 17 to 28, 2022. The results of hierarchical regression analysis to find out the effect of career decision making characteristics and job choice motivation on job satisfaction were as follows: First, analysis of the causal relationship between succession, age, agricultural employment period, annual average income, and job satisfaction, which are control variables, showed that the lower the age and the higher the annual average income, the higher the job satisfaction of young farmers. Second, analysis of the causal relationship between dependent, intuitive, and rational characteristics, which are sub-factors of career decision making characteristics, revealed that the higher the rational and intuitive characteristics, the higher the job satisfaction. On the other hand, the lower the dependent characteristics the higher the job satisfaction. Third, analysis of the causal relationship between set goods, intrinsic factors, and external factors, which are sub-factors of job choice motivation, found that the stronger the intrinsic factors such as one’s aptitude, one’s interest, and individual development potential, the higher the job satisfaction. In particular, among the variables input, the intrinsic factor of job choice motivation was analyzed as the factor that had the highest effect on job satisfaction, and it was found that it was a very important factor that could increase job satisfaction for young farmers.

PERUBAHAN STATUS SOSIAL TERHADAP WILAYAH PERINDUSTRIAN DI KOTA SIDOARJO

Humans are dynamic social creatures. As social beings, there are elements that make up the structure as in the structural theory of conflict from Ralph Dahrendorf. The elements that exist in the motives of each community group certainly have different purposes, interests, and goals. This study aims to determine the factors that influence the occurrence of social mobility of the farming population towards industrial areas in Sedati District, Sidoarjo. Data were collected using quantitative methods using questionnaires and analyzed using scoring analysis techniques using the Guttman scale and descriptive analysis. The results of the analysis show that the structural conflicts that occur to the farming population in Sedati District occur due to changes in the physical conditions of the area and changing community structures.

Agricultural Wastes as Renewable Biomass to Remediate Water Pollution

Increases in agricultural waste, population, and industrialization are leading to serious environmental problems, in particular drinking water contamination. Continuous efforts have been made to remediate water pollution through different approaches, either by decreasing the interring of pollutants or treatment of already contaminated water. The development of an efficient, cheaper, and renewable adsorbent is the focus of the current research. Agricultural wastes are cheap materials for this purpose and have attracted much attention of researchers. These agricultural wastes are either field residues such as stems, stalks, and leaves, or process residues such as husks, roots, and bagasse, as they have the same chemical composition (cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignocelluloses). These wastes are processed using different methods to yield an efficient adsorbent. Chemical modification is used to prepare novel efficient adsorbents using agricultural wastes, rather than incineration of these materials. This review summarizes the research outcomes in terms of chemical modification and application of agricultural wastes used for the eradication of organic and inorganic pollutants from water.

Temporal and inter-farm variability of economic and environmental farm performance: A resilience perspective on potato producing regions in the Netherlands

In the context of resilience and sustainability of farming systems it is important to study the trade-offs and synergies between economic and environmental variables. In this study, we selected food production, economic and environmental performance indicators of farms in three potato producing regions in the Netherlands: Flevoland, Zeeland and Veenkoloniën. We studied the period 2006 to 2019 using farm accountancy data. We used threshold regressions to determine gradual development and year-to-year variation of those indicators. Subsequently we applied a sparse Partial Least Square (sPLS) regression to study the response of performance, gradual development and year-to-year variation under different conditions regarding weather, market and farm structure. sPLS-model performance was at best moderate. Best model performance was attained for Veenkoloniën, a region with relatively little inter-farm variability and relatively stable economic prices. Model results were very sensitive to the selection of response variables. We found that food production, economic and environmental performance levels and gradual developments were primarily determined by input intensity levels. How these performance levels were determined by input intensity, i.e. positively or negatively, differed per case study. Year-to-year variability was determined by average yearly weather conditions and weather extremes. Overall, we conclude that the method applied to the data we had available mostly provided insights that confirm existing knowledge at case study level. sPLS can be seen as a filter and projector of high-dimensional data that accentuates patterns in the data. In the context of resilience of farms, while using a relatively small dataset, the applicability of our methodology seems limited to a rather homogeneous farm population in a stable economic environment. Researchers intending to apply this method to (arable) farming systems should be well aware of the influence they can have on the results through their selection of response variables.

La Via Campesina – transforming agrarian and knowledge politics, and co-constructing a field: a laudatio

ABSTRACT La Via Campesina has revalorized agrarian politics, transformed knowledge politics, and co-constructed the field of Critical Agrarian Studies. It has shown the important role of agrarian movements in anti-capitalist struggles and the radical reimagination and construction of a positive future. The significance of LVC is found not in the shrinking numerical size of farming populations or in agriculture’s dwindling macroeconomic contributions to national economies, in relative terms, but in the political heft of what it represents in terms of an alternative future that is so different from the current agrarian world.

Non-synonymous variation and protein structure of candidate genes associated with selection in farm and wild populations of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus)

Non-synonymous variation (NSV) of protein coding genes represents raw material for selection to improve adaptation to the diverse environmental scenarios in wild and livestock populations. Many aquatic species face variations in temperature, salinity and biological factors throughout their distribution range that is reflected by the presence of allelic clines or local adaptation. The turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) is a flatfish of great commercial value with a flourishing aquaculture which has promoted the development of genomic resources. In this study, we developed the first atlas of NSVs in the turbot genome by resequencing 10 individuals from Northeast Atlantic Ocean. More than 50,000 NSVs where detected in the ~ 21,500 coding genes of the turbot genome, and we selected 18 NSVs to be genotyped using a single Mass ARRAY multiplex on 13 wild populations and three turbot farms. We detected signals of divergent selection on several genes related to growth, circadian rhythms, osmoregulation and oxygen binding in the different scenarios evaluated. Furthermore, we explored the impact of NSVs identified on the 3D structure and functional relationship of the correspondent proteins. In summary, our study provides a strategy to identify NSVs in species with consistently annotated and assembled genomes to ascertain their role in adaptation.