Yields Of Major Food Crops Research Articles

Warming-induced soil moisture stress threatens food security in India.

Soil moisture (SM) interconnects various components of the Earth system and drives the land-atmosphere feedbacks and food production. However, around 40% of global vegetated land experiences SM drying. India is one of the global hotspots of land-atmosphere interactions and an extensively agrarian economy, but underexplored in terms of SM dynamics and its ramifications on food security. Here, we examine the mechanism of SM drying and its implications on cropland productivity in India based on remote sensing measurements and land surface model simulations in recent decades (2000-2019) and future projection of the 21st century. We find SM reduction predominantly in monsoon (4.5%) and winter (3%) seasons that areinthemajor agricultural seasonsofKharif and Rabi, respectively. Machine learning (ML)-based random forest (RF) reveals that temperature (T, 30.76%) is the dominant driver of SM variability, and then precipitation (P, 26.34%), evapotranspiration (ET, 26.08%) and surface greenness (16.82%). Concurrently, India experiences severe warming in terms of land (0.59 ℃/dec), soil (0.48 ℃/dec) and soil heat flux (SHF, 0.16 W/m2/dec) during 2000-2019. Partial correlation analysis between SM and T limiting the influence of P reveals a strong negative (> - 0.5) relationship in the agriculture intensive regions of Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) and South India (SI). Drying owing to warming and increased SHF, termed as warming-induced moisture stress, reduces gross primary productivity (GPP) (i.e. browning) and yield of major food crops of wheat, rain-fed rice, maize and soyabean, predominantly in SI and eastern IGP. Granger Causality shows that warming-induced soil moisture stress has a maximum temporal lag of 1month. In a warming world, the ever-growing population demands more food, and therefore, the warming-induced soil moisture stress is a serious threat to food security in India and similar agro-climatic regions of the world. This calls for climate-resilient agriculture, better agronomic management, improved irrigation and adoption of water-efficient crops.

Analysis of State Wise Yield of Major Food Crops in India for the Year 2014-15

Analysis of State Wise Yield of Major Food Crops in India for the Year 2014-15

Обеспечение устойчивого развития хозяйств населения для интеграции в продуктовые подкомплексы АПК

The article reveals the results of research on the farms of the population of Russia for 2016-2022. Based on the analysis of the number of private farms, agricultural production indices, the dynamics of acreage, gross yields and yields of major food crops (potatoes, vegetables) and livestock products (production and sale of livestock and poultry, milk and eggs), the share of household production in the structure of agricultural production in the agro-industrial complex is determined, which indicates the importance of households of the population in improving the socio-economic situation in rural areas and ensuring food security. The trends of instability of households of the population due to a weak material and technical base are revealed, which leads to a reduction in acreage, gross potato and vegetable harvests, and a decrease in the production of livestock products. 
 The proposals for achieving sustainable development of households on the basis of state support and integration with economic entities of food subcomplexes of the agro-industrial complex, which will ensure an increase in the efficiency of production of agricultural products and access to sales markets, are substantiated.

Impact of Climate Change on Yield of Major Food Crops in Pakistan

Nowadays, global warming is increasing in response of climate change which affects almost every sector including the agriculture sector. Therefore, there is a need to confirm the policies for policymakers and government officials to minimize the monetary loss in response to climate change. In doing so, our study reveals the effect of climate change on the yield of major food crops in Pakistan. To check the existence of long-run association among the variables, we employJohansen co-integration technique from 1990 to 2019. The results proves that co-integration exists among the variables in the long run. Hence, this study suggested policy formulation for policymakers and government officials that should focus on the harmful effect of climate change on the agriculture sector to rebuild the resilient and sustainable agriculture sector of Pakistan.

SHORT COMMUNICATION: ADDRESSING VULNERABILITY OF AGRICULTURE SECTOR TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN PAKISTAN

Agriculture sector, being the dominant user of fresh water (70%) is highly vulnerable to climate change in Pakistan. Increase in frequency of floods and drought, rising temperatures and changes in rainfall pattern across the country during the recent years are clear indicators of changing climate. Climate change has serious repercussions for national food security as farmers have limited knowledge and technologies for mitigating the adverse effects of climate change on crop productivity. This situation is expected to decrease yield of major food crops. There exists dire need to make an intensive analysis of situation to identify existing knowledge and technology gaps and suggest doable measures for multiple stake holders like policy makers, scientists and farmers accordingly. This review paper covers the impact of climate change on agriculture and presents strategies to adapt to climate change. Strategies at policy/government level include increased funds for research, improvement of national capacity building (training of trainers) and development of a localized smart early warning system for climate change related events. Key research areas being identified to address vulnerability include development of innovative water use efficient technologies, zone specific agronomic research, applied root research, organic farming to increase soil resilience and research on ground water recharge and quality using simulation models. Farmers shall be sensitized about the issue of climate change through education and every effort shall be made to make proper use of existing farm resources and technologies to live with the changing climate so that national food security is not compromised.

Breeding Strategies and Challenges in the Improvement of Blast Disease Resistance in Finger Millet. A Current Review.

Climate change has significantly altered the biodiversity of crop pests and pathogens, posing a major challenge to sustainable crop production. At the same time, with the increasing global population, there is growing pressure on plant breeders to secure the projected food demand by improving the prevailing yield of major food crops. Finger millet is an important cereal crop in southern Asia and eastern Africa, with excellent nutraceutical properties, long storage period, and a unique ability to grow under arid and semi-arid environmental conditions. Finger millet blast disease caused by the filamentous ascomycetous fungus Magnaporthe oryzae is the most devastating disease affecting the growth and yield of this crop in all its growing regions. The frequent breakdown of blast resistance because of the susceptibility to rapidly evolving virulent genes of the pathogen causes yield instability in all finger millet-growing areas. The deployment of novel and efficient strategies that provide dynamic and durable resistance against many biotypes of the pathogen and across a wide range of agro-ecological zones guarantees future sustainable production of finger millet. Here, we analyze the breeding strategies currently being used for improving resistance to disease and discuss potential future directions toward the development of new blast-resistant finger millet varieties, providing a comprehensive understanding of promising concepts for finger millet breeding. The review also includes empirical examples of how advanced molecular tools have been used in breeding durably blast-resistant cultivars. The techniques highlighted are cost-effective high-throughput methods that strongly reduce the generation cycle and accelerate both breeding and research programs, providing an alternative to conventional breeding methods for rapid introgression of disease resistance genes into favorable, susceptible cultivars. New information and knowledge gathered here will undoubtedly offer new insights into sustainable finger millet disease control and efficient optimization of the crop’s productivity.

Yield gap analysis of major food crops in Pakistan: prospects for food security.

The concept of yield gap analysis can be used to meet the growing demands for agricultural products. Sustainable development goals (e.g. SDG1 and SDG2) to end poverty and hunger require sustainable increases in agricultural production in developing countries, particularly in South Asia and Africa. The aim of this paper is to assess the spatial heterogeneity of the potential and actual yields of major food crops and to determine the yield gaps at the provincial and national levels in Pakistan. The regional test yields of the registered cultivars were used to determine the potential grain yields and total potential grain production levels in each province of Pakistan. The yield gaps were then calculated by comparing the potential and actual yields of the selected major food crops. With a substantial exploitation rate of 0.38 in total grain production, a significant potential gap was found at the national level. The results revealed that the national potential of total grain production is 100,933 Mg, and the actual national grain production from 2015 to 2016 was 38,227 Mg, with a production gap of 62,706 Mg. The results further revealed that the maize crop had the highest potential gap on a national basis, followed by wheat and rice. Meanwhile, on provincial basis, the total production gaps of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan are 43,776 Mg, 9649.3 Mg, 6772.1 Mg and 2510.7 Mg, respectively. Moreover, based on climate, temperature, rainfall and topography, the yield gaps varied from crop to crop and from province to province. To increase grain yields and close the yield gaps of the major crops, the farmland infrastructure should be strengthened and resource allocations should be optimized. The findings of this study can provide conclusive data for national grain production, protection and food security.

Crop biotechnology and the future of food

The global population continues to rise, as does the likelihood of reduced yields of major food crops due to the changing climate, thus making the development of genetically improved, stress-resilient crops a research priority. The convergence of low-cost genome sequencing with improved computational power and high-throughput molecular phenotyping technologies has accelerated the identification of genes underlying important agronomic traits relevant to food production and quality. Here, we discuss the evolution of plant improvement, and how researchers leverage genomic analyses and revolutionary new plant breeding technologies like site-directed nucleases to enhance food crop traits through agricultural biotechnology. Deployment of these products from the laboratory to the field remains hindered by biological and regulatory bottlenecks that require further development. Crop yield is stagnating in many parts of the world, and climate change threatens the worldwide agricultural system. This Review presents a comprehensive overview of current development leveraging genomic analyses and revolutionary new plant breeding technologies to enhance food crop traits through agricultural biotechnology.

Improving Potato Stress Tolerance and Tuber Yield Under a Climate Change Scenario - A Current Overview.

Global climate change in the form of extreme heat and drought poses a major challenge to sustainable crop production by negatively affecting plant performance and crop yield. Such negative impact on crop yield is likely to be aggravated in future because continued greenhouse gas emissions will cause further rise in temperature leading to increased evapo-transpiration and drought severity, soil salinity as well as insect and disease threats. This has raised a major challenge for plant scientists on securing global food demand, which urges an immediate need to enhance the current yield of major food crops by two-fold to feed the increasing population. As a fourth major food crop, enhancing potato productivity is important for food security of an increasing population. However, potato plant is highly prone to high temperature, drought, soil salinity, as well as insect and diseases. In order to maintain a sustainable potato production, we must adapt our cultivation practices and develop stress tolerant potato cultivars that are appropriately engineered for changing environment. Yet the lack of data on the underlying mechanisms of potato plant resistance to abiotic and biotic stress and the ability to predict future outcomes constitutes a major knowledge gap. It is a challenge for plant scientists to pinpoint means of improving tuber yield under increasing CO2, high temperature and drought stress including the changing patterns of pest and pathogen infestations. Understanding stress-related physiological, biochemical and molecular processes is crucial to develop screening procedures for selecting crop cultivars that can better adapt to changing growth conditions. Elucidation of such mechanism may offer new insights into the identification of specific characteristics that may be useful in breeding new cultivars aimed at maintaining or even enhancing potato yield under changing climate. This paper discusses the recent progress on the mechanism by which potato plants initially sense the changes in their surrounding CO2, temperature, water status, soil salinity and consequently respond to these changes at the molecular, biochemical and physiological levels. We suggest that future research needs to be concentrated on the identification and characterization of signaling molecules and target genes regulating stress tolerance and crop yield potential.

Dehydration-responsive nuclear proteome landscape of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) reveals phosphorylation-mediated regulation of stress response.

Nonavailability of water or dehydration remains recurring climatic disorder affecting yield of major food crops, legumes in particular. Nuclear proteins (NPs) and phosphoproteins (NPPs) execute crucial cellular functions that form the regulatory hub for coordinated stress response. Phosphoproteins hold enormous influence over cellular signalling. Four-week-old seedlings of a grain legume, chickpea, were subjected to gradual dehydration, and NPs were extracted from unstressed control and from 72- and 144-hr stressed tissues. We identified 4,832 NPs and 478 phosphosites, corresponding to 299 unique NPPs involved in multivariate cellular processes including protein modification and gene expression regulation, among others. The identified proteins included several novel kinases, phosphatases, and transcription factors, besides 660 uncharacterized proteins. Spliceosome complex and splicing related proteins were dominant among differentially regulated NPPs, indicating their dehydration modulated regulation. Phospho-motif analysis revealed stress-induced enrichment of proline-directed serine phosphorylation. Association mapping of NPPs revealed predominance of differential phosphorylation of spliceosome and splicing associated proteins. Also, regulatory proteins of key processes viz., protein degradation, regulation of flowering time, and circadian clock were observed to undergo dehydration-induced dephosphorylation. The characterization of novel regulatory proteins would provide new insights into stress adaptation and enable directed genetic manipulations for developing climate-resilient crops.

CHANGING TRENDS OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND ITS EFFECT ON ENVIRONMENT OF UTTARAKHAND HILLS(A CHALLENGE)

Agricultural development has been sluggish, and has failed to keep pace with population growth. In recent years the yields of major food crops in Uttarakhand have been lower than other South Asian countries and Uttarakhand is now dependent on food imports. Land holding size per family and field sizes has both decreased markedly during recent years. If hill regions are considered independently, all cereal crops yields have stagnated in the last 30 years and gains in production that have been made. Crop productivity in the hills has declined due to land degradation. Agricultural development has been sluggish, and has failed to keep pace with population growth. In recent years the yields of major food crops in Uttarakhand have been lower than other South Asian countries and Uttarakhand is now dependent on food imports. Land holding size per family and field sizes has both decreased markedly during recent years. If hill regions are considered independently, all cereal crops yields have stagnated in the last 30 years and gains in production that have been made. Crop productivity in the hills has declined due to land degradation. Changes in agricultural practices (including changes in crops and crop production, impacts of livestock overgrazing) are having major and far reaching impacts on natural environment.

Climate Change and Its Impact on the Yield of Major Food Crops: Evidence from Pakistan.

Pakistan is vulnerable to climate change, and extreme climatic conditions are threatening food security. This study examines the effects of climate change (e.g., maximum temperature, minimum temperature, rainfall, relative humidity, and the sunshine) on the major crops of Pakistan (e.g., wheat, rice, maize, and sugarcane). The methods of feasible generalized least square (FGLS) and heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation (HAC) consistent standard error were employed using time series data for the period 1989 to 2015. The results of the study reveal that maximum temperature adversely affects wheat production, while the effect of minimum temperature is positive and significant for all crops. Rainfall effect towards the yield of a selected crop is negative, except for wheat. To cope with and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change, there is a need for the development of heat- and drought-resistant high-yielding varieties to ensure food security in the country.

Impact of Climate Change on Yields of Major Food Crops in India: Implications for Food Security

The study has analysed changes in climate variables, viz. temperature and rainfall during the period 1969–2005 and has assessed their impact on yields of important food crops. A significant rise was observed in mean monthly temperature, but more so during the post-rainy season. The changes in rainfall, however, were not as significant. While an increase in maximum temperature was found to have an adverse effect on the crop yields, a similar increase in minimum temperature had a favourable effect on yields of most crops, but it was not sufficient to fully compensate the damages caused by the rise in maximum temperature. Pigeonpea, rice, chickpea and wheat were more vulnerable to rise in temperature. Rainfall had a positive effect on most crops, but it could not counterbalance the negative effect of temperature. The projections of climate impacts towards 2100 have suggested that with significant changes in temperature and rainfall, the rice yield will be lower by 15 per cent and wheat yield by 22 per cent. Coarse cereals will be affected less, while pulses will be affected more than cereals. If the changes in climate are not significant, damages to crops will be smaller. In the short-run too climate impacts will not be so severe.

Accelerating plant breeding

The growing demand for food with limited arable land available necessitates that the yield of major food crops continues to increase over time. Advances in marker technology, predictive statistics, and breeding methodology have allowed for continued increases in crop performance through genetic improvement. However, one major bottleneck is the generation time of plants, which is biologically limited and has not been improved since the introduction of doubled haploid technology. In this opinion article, we propose to implement in vitro nurseries, which could substantially shorten generation time through rapid cycles of meiosis and mitosis. This could prove a useful tool for speeding up future breeding programs with the aim of sustainable food production.

Assessment of Rice and Maize Based Cropping Systems For Rural Livelihood Improvement in Nepal

This paper explores the assessment of rice and maize base cropping system in agro-ecological regions for sustainable rural livelihood development in Nepal. Analysis of 1994-2007 data showed rice-dominated cropping systems in the Plain region, as opposed to maize-dominated cropping systems in the Mountain and the Hill regions. The production increase was achieved mainly through increases in area. The growth in the yield of crops was very minimal in all three regions. During the last fifteen years, the cropping pattern changed slightly from Maize-Wheat to Maize-Paddy in the Mountain region, but no significant change was observed in the other two regions. The current rate of fertilizer application is lower than the recommended rate. Improved access to and availability of agricultural inputs is key to improve the production and yield of major food crops to achieve sustainable rural livelihood in the country. Key words: Agro-ecological-region; Cropping system; Farm income; Rural livelihood; sustainable livelihood The Journal of Agriculture and Environment Vol:10, Jun.2009 page: 67-75

Potential Impacts of Agriculture on Nepal Birds

This paper is a review of the potential impacts of agriculture on Nepal birds. It includes an overview of agriculture in Nepal and the changes that have taken place between the early 1950s and 2007. Agricultural development has been sluggish, and has failed to keep pace with population growth. In recent years the yields of major food crops in Nepal have been lower than other South Asian countries and Nepal is now dependent on food imports. Land holding size per family and field sizes have both decreased markedly during the period. If hill regions are considered independently, all cereal crops yields have stagnated in the last 30 years and gains in production that have been made, have been due to increases in area of cultivation, at the expense of natural habitats: forests, wetlands and grasslands. Crop productivity in the hills has declined due to land degradation. Of the 28% of Nepal land that is degraded, 10% is poorly managed sloping agriculture terraces. As yields and production of cereal crops have fallen, many farmers have shifted to growing cash crops, to meet the demands of the increasing urban population and encouraged by government agricultural policies. Cultivation area, production and yields of some cash crops have significantly increased since 1964/65. Nepal’s livestock population is one of the highest in Asia and nearly every rural household keeps domestic animals resulting in widespread and serious problems of livestock overgrazing. The importance of agricultural habitats for Nepal birds is reviewed: 21% of bird species recorded in Nepal utilizes agricultural habitats for foraging at some season. The many ecological benefits of birds to agriculture and the damage caused by birds to agriculture are described: the former far outweigh the latter. Changes in agricultural practices (including changes in crops and crop production, impacts of livestock overgrazing) are having major and far-reaching impacts on natural habitats - grasslands wetlands and forests and their bird species; these changes and impacts are detailed and analysed. The increasing use of pesticides in Nepal, which is especially high on vegetable cash crops, the serious impacts of pesticides on birds and the environment and alternatives to pesticides are reviewed. Fertilizer use in Nepal and the damaging impacts of fertilizer over-use on birds and the environment are also reviewed. Recommendations to improve farming methods for the benefit of the environment are given. These include government measures to promote organic agriculture; government measures to expand the System of Rice Intensification and to encourage further use of Effective Microorganisms, both of which have significant benefits for environment, birds and farmers; field surveys to monitor bird populations and bird distribution on agricultural lands, and outreach and awareness-raising for farmers to apply best practice for sustainable environmentally friendly farming.DOI: 10.3126/on.v8i1.4339