Induced Yield Loss Research Articles

Does local non-farm income moderate the intensity of climate change induced migration in India?

While the impact of climate change on migration is well documented in the literature, very little is known about the moderating impact of local non-farm income on climate change induced migration. To fill this gap in the literature, the paper combines real time weather data provided by Indian Meteorological Department with a very rich household data on Indian states belonging to the eastern and semi-arid tropic regions collected by ICRISAT to investigate whether farmers always resort to migration or take it up as a second-best option only after they fail to diversify locally on the face of climate change induced crop loss. Using recursive econometric model, it is observed that households first try to diversify their income by engaging in local non-farm activities and availability of local non-farm income further moderates the effect of climate change induced yield loss on migration. Higher rural out migration may adversely impact the agricultural sector and affect sustainable urbanization, Also, decision to migrate is often challenging as it necessitates leaving behind social and community networks. Therefore, our findings offer valuable insights and discusses important policy recommendations towards improving the access to local non-farm activities.

Low risk management intervention: Limited impact of remedial tillage on net ecosystem carbon balance at a commercial Miscanthus plantation.

Perennial bioenergy crops are a key tool in decarbonizing global energy systems, but to ensure the efficient use of land resources, it is essential that yields and crop longevity are maximized. Remedial shallow surface tillage is being explored in commercial Miscanthus plantations as an approach to reinvigorate older crops and to rectify poor establishment, improving yields. There are posited links, however, between tillage and losses in soil carbon (C) via increased ecosystem C fluxes to the atmosphere. As Miscanthus is utilized as an energy crop, changes in field C fluxes need to be assessed as part of the C balance of the crop. Here, for the first time, we quantify the C impacts of remedial tillage at a mature commercial Miscanthus plantation in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. Net ecosystem C production based on eddy covariance flux observations and exported yield totalled 12.16 Mg C ha-1 over the 4.6 year period after tillage, showing the site functioned as a net sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). There was no indication of negative tillage induced impacts on soil C stocks, with no difference 3 years post tillage in the surface (0-30 cm) or deep (0-70 cm) soil C stocks between the tilled Miscanthus field and an adjacent paired untilled Miscanthus field. Comparison to historic samples showed surface soil C stocks increased by 11.16 ± 3.91 Mg C ha-1 between pre (October 2011) and post tillage sampling (November 2016). Within the period of the study, however, the tillage did not result in the increased yields necessary to "pay back" the tillage induced yield loss. Rather the crop was effectively re-established, with progressive yield increases over the study period, mirroring expectations of newly planted sites. The overall impacts of remedial tillage will depend therefore, on the longer-term impacts on crop longevity and yields.

Foliar spray of botanical extracts influence biochemical processes and plant defence enzymes to ameliorate brown spot induced yield loss in rice

Foliar spray of botanical extracts influence biochemical processes and plant defence enzymes to ameliorate brown spot induced yield loss in rice

Seed biopriming with potential bioagents influences physiological processes and plant defense enzymes to ameliorate sheath blight induced yield loss in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Disease management with the use of conventional pesticides has emerged as a major threat to the environment and human health. Moreover, the increasing cost of pesticides and their use in staple crops such as rice is not economically sustainable. The present study utilized a combination of two commercial powder formulations of biocontrol agents, Trichoderma harzianum (Th38) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (Pf28) to induce resistance against sheath blight disease via seed biopriming in basmati rice variety Vasumati and compared the performance with systemic fungicide carbendazim. Sheath blight infection significantly increased the levels of stress indicators such as proline (0.8 to 4.25 folds), hydrogen peroxide (0.89 to 1.61 folds), and lipid peroxidation (2.4 to 2.6 folds) in the infected tissues as compared to the healthy control. On the contrary, biopriming with biocontrol formulation (BCF) significantly reduced the level of stress markers, and substantially enhanced the levels of defense enzymes such as peroxidase (1.04 to 1.18 folds), phenylalanine ammonia lyase (1.02 to 1.17 folds), lipoxygenase (1.2 to 1.6 folds), and total phenolics (74% to 83%) as compared to the infected control. Besides, improved photosynthesis (48% to 59%) and nitrate reductase activity (21% to 42%) showed a positive effect on yield and biomass, which compensated disease induced losses in bio-primed plants. Conversely, the comparative analysis of the efficacy levels of BCF with carbendazim revealed BCF as a potential and eco-friendly alternative for reducing disease impact and maintaining higher yield in rice under sheath blight infection.

Effect of genotypes and foliar spray of methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid on andrographolide yield in Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Wall. ex Nees. under semi-arid climate

BackgroundAndrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Wall. ex Nees. is an important medicinal plant grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions where semi-arid condition restricts economically viable cultivation. Foliar exogenous application of methyl jasmonate (MeJ) and salicylic acid (SA) was tested for their effectiveness in preventing yield loss in five different morphotypes of A. paniculata subjected to deficit soil moisture stress imposed during 90–140 days after transplanting.ResultsSoil moisture content below 6% reduced chlorophyll and carotenoid content and upregulated antioxidant enzymes activity. The dry herbage yield was adversely affected by deficit soil moisture stress causing a 14% decline. The andrographolide concentration ranged between 1.40% and 1.54%. Though andrographolide concentration increased by 6%, andrographolide yield declined by 8.21% due to soil moisture stress. Moderately high doses of MeJ and SA reduced chlorophyll and carotenoid content and upregulated antioxidant enzymes activity, however, failed to prevent the loss in dry herbage yield or total andrographolide yield in any morphotype.ConclusionsFoliar application of MeJ and SA do not warrant any protection against stress induced yield loss in field grown A. paniculata. However, morphotype AP 13 (round canopy, open-type branch, long narrow leaf) and AP 35 (columnar canopy, closed-type branch, long broad leaf) for having comparatively high herbage yield remained at a better position for total andrographolide yield under deficit soil moisture stress in the semi-arid climate.

Effect of Elevated Tropospheric Ozone on Vigna Mungo L. Varieties

ABSTRACT Tropospheric ozone (O3) is widely recognized as the most critical, regional atmospheric pollutant causing significant losses to agricultural productivity due to its phytotoxicity over agricultural areas and is expected to increase in future. In view of rising tropospheric ozone concentration over Indian regions, the present study aimed to evaluate the effect of elevated ozone stress on pulse crop blackgram (Vigna mungo L.), which contributes the major share of protein. The blackgram varieties namely CO 6, VBN 1, VBN 2, VBN 3, VBN 5, VBN 6, VBN 7, and VBN 8 were grown in open top chambers and factorial completely randomized block design was followed. The plants were exposed to elevated ozone concentration (50 and 100 ppb) from 10.00 h to 17.00 h over 10 days at flowering stage, with a weighted average ozone concentration of 50.1 and 101.2 ppb. Both the elevated ozone treatments significantly affected the plant physiological, biochemical, growth, and yield traits of all test varieties. On an average across eight blackgram varieties, decrease in chlorophyll content by 33.83 and 42.41%, stomatal conductance by 28.25 and 40.51% and photosynthetic rate by 29.43 and 42.30% exposed to 50 and 100 ppb ozone were observed, respectively. Correspondingly, the number of pods per plant decreased by 30.82 and 32.65%, 100 grain weight by 7.75 and 21.23% and plant weight by 16.03 and 21.23%, respectively, which were significant at 5% level. Furthermore in the observed traits, significantly higher reduction was observed in VBN3, while the least reduction was observed in VBN8. The path analysis displayed that all the observed physiological, biochemical, growth, and yield traits positively regulated the yield except leaf injury percentage, malondialdehyde, and proline content. The principal component analysis of two elevated ozone treatments confirmed VBN8 as ozone tolerant and VBN3 as ozone sensitive variety. Hence, cultivation of VBN8 variety at ozone hotspot regions would be the best option to overcome ozone induced yield loss.

Protective role of exogenously supplied salicylic acid and PGPB (Stenotrophomonas sp.) on spinach and soybean cultivars grown under salt stress

Managing sustainable crop production under escalating soil salinity will be a great challenge in coming years. Exogenous application of protectants has been recognized to ameliorate the adverse effects of salinity through better growth performance of plant. Present study was conducted to assess the potential role of salicylic acid (SA) and PGPB (Stenotrophomonas sp.) on spinach and soybean cultivars grown under the two variable salt concentrations. The result of the study showed that the 100 ppm salt caused more severe effects than 50 ppm salt on both selected crops and their cultivars. Salt stress induced H2O2 generation and MDA accumulation, developed ionic imbalance, increased electrolyte leakage, and decreased biomass and yield. However, exogenous supply of protectants improves plant growth and yield, enhanced RWC, accumulated osmolytes, and increased enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants with both the level of salinity. Moreover, applied protectants induced new protein bands and disappearance of some other expressed protein with different molecular weight provides a purpose for bearing more salt under salt stress conditions. Study concluded that the exogenously supplied PGPB and SA manage salinity-induced yield loss through increased growth, osmotic adjustment, protein accumulation, and APX activity. However, ionic balance does not have major role in protectant induced salinity tolerance. Study also finds PGPB more effective protectant than SA for reducing the salinity induced yield loss due to strong low molecular weight protein profiling, higher strength of ionic homeostasis and higher APX activity.

Estimating the impact of ground ozone concentrations on crop yields across China from 2014 to 2018: A multi-model comparison

Ground level ozone exerts a strong impact on crop yields, yet how to properly quantify ozone induced yield losses in China remains challenging. To this end, we employed a series of O3-crop models to estimate ozone induced yield losses in China from 2014 to 2018. The outputs from all models suggested that the total Relative Yield Losses (RYL) of wheat in China from 2014 to 2018 was 18.4%–49.3% and the total RYL of rice was 6.2%–52.9%. Consequently, the total Crop Production Losses (CPL) of wheat and rice could reach 63.9–130.4 and 28.3–35.4 million tons, and the corresponding Total Economic Losses (TEL) could reach 20.5–44.7 and 11.0–15.3 billion dollars, stressing the great importance and urgency of national ozone management. Meanwhile, the estimation outputs highlighted the large variations between different regional O3-crop models when applying to large scales.Instead of applying one unified O3-crop models to all regions across China, we also explored the strategy of employing specific O3-crop models in corresponding (and neighboring) regions to estimate ozone induced yield loss in China. The comparison of two strategies suggested that the mean value from multiple models may still present an inconsistent over/underestimation trend for different crops. Therefore, it is a preferable strategy to employ corresponding O3-crop models in different regions for estimating the national crop losses caused by ozone pollution. However, the severe lack of regional O3-crop models in most regions across China makes a robust estimation of national yield losses highly challenging. Given the large variations between O3-crop interactions across regions, a systematic framework with massive regional O3-crop models should be properly designed and implemented.

Large regional differences of soil water limitation effect on ozone induced yield loss for wheat and potato in Switzerland

The accumulated stomatal ozone (O3) uptake over a threshold (Phytotoxic Ozone Dose POD6), calculated by an ozone deposition model, has been shown to be the most appropriate metric to quantify negative effects of O3 on food crops. In this study we used data of 13 sites in different regions of Switzerland with multiple years of O3 measurements to quantify the stomatal O3 uptake and the related yield loss of wheat and potato. Flux patterns for different years were calculated with the DO3SE model to disentangle the influence of contrasting seasonal environmental conditions. Regional and inter-annual differences in meteorological conditions led to considerable variations in soil water conditions and the POD6 values for wheat. Potato stomatal uptake was much less influenced by soil water and showed a more even distribution of POD6 values across sites and years. The estimated nationally and temporally average yield loss was 3.2 ± 1.2% for wheat and 2.4 ± 0.8% for potato, calculated based on an area weighting.It was found that soil water deficit, observed frequently in the western part of Switzerland, had a large attenuation effect on stomatal O3 uptake by wheat and on corresponding yield losses. This highlights the importance of including soil moisture limitation in O3 uptake modelling even in moist climatic regions. The comparison of modelled evapotranspiration with water flux measurements over a wheat field showed a reasonable agreement concerning the temporal pattern and the magnitude. But it is also concluded that the DO3SE soil moisture module will need further testing and adaptation to improve accuracy of the model in dryer conditions.

Utilizing Process-Based Modeling to Assess the Impact of Climate Change on Crop Yields and Adaptation Options in the Niger River Basin, West Africa

Climate change is estimated to substantially reduce crop yields in Sub-Saharan West Africa by 2050. Yet, a limited number of studies also suggest that several adaptation measures may mitigate the effects of climate change induced yield loss. In this paper, we used AquaCrop, a process-based model developed by the FAO (The Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy), to quantify the risk of climate change on several key cereal crops in the Niger Basin. The crops analyzed include maize, millet, and sorghum under rain fed cultivation systems in various agro-ecological zones within the Niger Basin. We also investigated several adaptation strategies, including changes in the sowing dates, soil nutrient status, and cultivar. Future climate change is estimated using nine ensemble bias-corrected climate model projection results under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 (RCP—Representative Concentration Pathway) emissions scenario at mid future time period, 2021/25–2050. The results show that on average, temperature had a larger effect on crop yields so that the increase in precipitation could still be a net loss of crop yield. Our simulated results showed that climate change effects on maize and sorghum yield would be mostly positive (2% to 6% increase) in the Southern Guinea savanna zone while at the Northern Guinea savanna zone it is mostly negative (2% to 20% decrease). The results show that at the Sahelian zone the projected changes in temperature and precipitation have little to no impact on millet yield for the future time period, 2021/25–2050. In all agro-ecological zones, increasing soil fertility from poor fertility to moderate, near optimal and optimal level significantly reversed the negative yield change respectively by over 20%, 70% and 180% for moderate fertility, near optimal fertility, and optimal fertility. Thus, management or adaptation factors, such as soil fertility, had a much larger effect on crop yield than the climatic change factors. These results provide actionable guidance on effective climate change adaptation strategies for rain fed agriculture in the region.

In silico Mechanistic Study of Abscisic Acid (ABA) Mediated Drought Tolerance in Crops

Drought is one of the major environmental stresses that produces adverse effects on plants. Vast areas of agricultural land is susceptible to drought. Drought induced yield loss of crops has negative effects on the economy of a country. Among phytohormones, Abscisic Acid (ABA) induces abiotic stress tolerance in plants, and directs a complex regulatory network involving multiple transporters, up-regulation of ABA biosynthesis genes and various signalling pathways that enable plants to withstand low water availability. The current study was designed to understand ABA synthesis, its transport across the plant during stress and its mechanism to induce stomatal closure by using different in silico tools, because the complete ABA mediated drought tolerance has not yet been reported. In the current study, seven transporters, four ABA biosynthesis enzymes, deconjugation enzyme and a core complex of ABA signalling was verified through Modeller 9.10 and Molecular Operating Environment (MOE).The Intel [R] Xenon [R] CPU-E5420 @ 2.50 GHz system with 4 GB of RAM and the 11.4 (X 86_64) operating system was used for molecular docking. Protein-ligand interactions were analysed by the LigPolt feature of MOE. Docking studies helped to understand the behaviour of ABA biosynthesis enzymes, ABA transporters and ABA core complex, which in turn helps to comprehend the whole mechanism of ABA synthesis in plants during drought stress. Computational models of AtABCG11, AtBG1, AtABCG12,AtABCB14,AtABCG22,AtABCG25,AtABCG32, AtABCG40, NCED, ABA2 and AAO were used for docking. Docking analysis has shown promising results for all the models, except AtABCG11 and AtABCG12. Residues of AtABCG11 and AtABCG12 did not show binding with the ABA, as these transporters are involved in cuticle formation. Findings of this study will strengthen the work on ABA drought tolerance in plants and help to produce drought resistant crops globally.

(Invited) Technologies and Challenges of Fine Pitch Backside Via-Last TSV Process Integration for 3DIC Applications

TSV based 3D stacking IC technology has been aggressively studied recently because of strong benefits in terms of significantly form factor shrinkage, superior system performance (bandwidth & speed), great power reduction, and heterogeneous integration capability. According to different applications, there are different integration options for TSV processing. For high performance 3D system applications which required fine TSV pitch and massive IO connections, how to establish a proper TSV integration scheme became a key importance of enabling 3D IC commercialization. In additional to common foundry used via-middle (VM) process, two another via last approaches, either forming TSV form front-side or backside were also been considered as major TSV process schemes. Although front-side via last (FVL) TSV is widely adopted by OSATs, this scheme is inherently not suitable for fine pitch and high density TSV applications because of significant area penalty and wire routing constraint comparing to VM TSV process. Another backside via last (BVL) TSV process, however, showed many advantages over common VM TSV process while achieving same TSV scalability/density and routing flexibility. For examples: (1) Cu TSVs of BVL were formed after completely CMOS FEOL+BEOL processes, thus it is naturally much less or no Cu pumping out induced yield loss issues comparing to VM process; (2) BVL TSV etching can be stopped on front-side metal 1 layer instead of time etching in blind TSV of VM scheme; (3) No complicated and yield sensitive backside Cu reveal issue were involved; (4) TSV & RDL can be formed together via dual-damascene like processing to simplify process flow and reduce cost of ownership; (5) BVL process can be adopted by either foundry or OSAT manufacturers resulting in most flexible business model in 3DIC supply chain. Despite of the vantage of backside via-last scheme, many process challenges still need to be solved. In this paper, key issues of via middle integration were briefly reviewed. A capable of high aspect ratio and fine pitch TSV (CD … 5um) manufacture scheme was proposed via backside via last integration scheme. Key process technologies and challenges of this BVL scheme, such as temporary bonding, glue material selection, wafer thinning, backside TSV formation, CMP planarization as well as cost reduced TSV/RDL dual damascene flow are investigated.

Leaf-eating caterpillar ( Opisina arenosella)-induced yield loss in coconut palm

Coconut is one of the major crops of commercial importance among the palms. The leaf-eating caterpillar Opisina arenosella Walker is the most important lepidopteran pest of coconut palm in India and Sri Lanka. Assessment of crop loss is essential for a realistic planning for research and developmental policies. Information on the yield loss in coconut due to O. arenosella attack is very meagre. In the present study, results of investigations carried out on leaf-eating caterpillar-induced yield loss in coconut palms in Kerala, India, for a period of 4 years (2002-2005) are presented. A maximum crop loss of 45.4% in terms of nut yield was recorded from infested palms in the succeeding year of severe pest incidence. The infested palms also showed reduction in bunch and leaf production to the tune of 21.0 and 13.8%, respectively. The pest-attacked palms regained their normal yield potential by the fourth year after heavy pest infestation.

A Study of Capture-Safe Test Generation Flow for At-Speed Testing

Capture-safety, (defined as the avoidance of timing error due to unduly high launch switching activity in capture mode during at-speed scan testing), is critical in avoiding test induced yield loss. Although several sophisticated techniques are available for reducing capture IR-drop, there are few complete capture-safe test generation flows. This paper addresses the problem by proposing a novel and practical capture-safe test generation flow, featuring (1) a complete capture-safe test generation flow; (2) reliable capture-safety checking; and (3) effective capture-safety improvement by combining X-bit identification & X-filling with low launch-switching-activity test generation. The proposed flow minimizes test data inflation and is compatible with existing automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) flow. The techniques proposed in the flow achieve capture-safety without changing the circuit-under-test or the clocking scheme.

Mechanisms Involved in Soybean Rust‐Induced Yield Reduction

Soybean rust (SBR; caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi Syd. and P. Syd.) leads to premature leaf loss and yield reduction. The objectives of this study were to assess effects of SBR infection on soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] yield and to identify causes for the yield reduction. Experiments were conducted in the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 growing seasons at Londrina, Brazil. The five treatments were SBR infection beginning at either (i) the R2 or (ii) R5 growth stages; nondiseased defoliation treatments to mimic the leaf loss when SBR started at either (iii) the R2 or (iv) R5 growth stages; and (v) a disease‐free, nondefoliated control. The control and defoliation treatments were protected against SBR by fungicide applications. Disease severity, lesion area, and leaf area were monitored from R2 to R7. Biomass and seed yield were measured at maturity. Mean SBR‐induced yield reductions were 67% when infection started at R2 and 37% when infection started at R5. Leaf loss alone reduced yield significantly in only one year and only when defoliation treatments were begun at R2 (31% in 2005–2006). Soybean rust–induced yield loss was attributable to (i) premature leaf loss, (ii) reduction in canopy green leaf area due to SBR lesions, (iii) reduction in dry matter accumulation per unit absorbed radiation by the nonlesion green leaf area, and (iv) reduction in harvest index. The response of harvest index was attributable to reduced seed set and seed mass resulting likely from SBR‐induced reductions in rate of dry matter accumulation.

Leaf K/Na ratio predicts salinity induced yield loss in irrigated rice

Summary Salinity is a major constraint to irrigated rice production, particularly in semi-arid and arid climates. Irrigated rice is a well suited crop to controlling and even decreasing soil salinity, but rice is a salt-susceptible crop and yield losses due to salinity can be substantial. The objective of this study was to develop a highly predictive screening tool for the vegetative growth stage of rice to estimate salinity-induced yield losses. Twenty-one rice genotypes were grown over seven seasons in a field trials in Ndiaye, Senegal, between 1991 and 1995 and were subjected to irrigation with moderately saline water (3.5 mS cm 1 , electrical conductivity) or irrigation with fresh water. Potassium/sodium ratios of the youngest three leaves (K/NaLeaves) were determined by flame photometry at the late vegetative stage. Grain yield was determined at maturity. All cultivars showed strong log-linear correlations between K/NaLeaves and grain yield, but intercept and slope of those correlations differed between seasons for a given genotype and between genotypes. The K/NaLeaves under salinity was related to grain yield under salinity relative to freshwater controls. There was a highly significant correlation ( p< 0.001) between K/NaLeaves and salinity-induced grain yield reduction: the most susceptible cultivars had lowest K/NaLeaves and the strongest yield reductions. Although there were major differences in the effects of salinity on crops in both the hot dry season (HDS) and the wet season, the correlation was equally significant across cropping seasons. The earliest possible time to establish the relationship between K/NaLeaves under salinity and grain yield reduction due to salinity was investigated in an additional trial in the HDS 1998. About 60 days after sowing, salinity-induced yield loss could be predicted through K/NaLeaves with a high degree of confidence ( p< 0.01). A screening system for salinity resistance of rice, particularly in arid and semi-arid climates, is proposed based on the correlation between K/NaLeaves under salinity and salinity-induced yield losses.

Impact of Iron Contamination and Roughness Generated in Ammonia Hydrogen Peroxide Mixtures (SC1) on 5 nm Gate Oxides

Immersion of hydrophobic (HF‐last) silicon wafers into iron‐contaminated ammonia peroxide mixtures (SC1 solution) results in the formation of so‐called clustered light point defects. At these sites, increased surface microroughness and local higher iron concentrations are observed. Also, device yield is strongly affected by the presence of iron contamination into SC1 solutions. It is demonstrated that only dHF/dHCl cleans are capable of completely eliminating any yield loss resulting from iron‐contaminated SC1 treatments. The experimental observations can be understood based on the following model. Hydrogen peroxide decomposition is catalyzed by iron. Iron contamination (present in SC1 solution as insoluble hydroxide aggregates) deposits on the silicon wafer surface upon immersion of the latter. While doing so, the adsorbed iron cluster continues to catalyze further hydrogen peroxide decomposition. Local hydrogen peroxide depletion exposes the bare silicon surface to the etching activity of the ammonia. Local etching of the silicon creates microroughness. Additionally, iron becomes inhomogeneously incorporated into the bulk of the chemical oxide formed. Gate oxide integrity degradation can be observed to correlate with these sites. A subsequent acid clean is only efficient in eliminating the induced yield loss, if the oxide layer (with built‐in iron) is completely removed.