The Experts below are selected from a list of 2124 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform

Elisabetta Gotor - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Improving rural livelihoods through the conservation and use of underutilized species: evidence from a community research project in Yemen
    International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 2013
    Co-Authors: Elisabetta Gotor, Francesco Caracciolo, Genowefa Blundo Canto, Mohammed Al Nusairi
    Abstract:

    The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of a set of interventions related to conservation and use of neglected and underutilized species (NUS) on people's livelihoods. Specifically, a simultaneous three-equation model of households' participation on underutilized crops conservation and income generation activities is applied to evaluate the outcome of a pilot research project implemented by Bioversity International in Yemen between 2002 and 2005. Results generated show a relation between project participation and the perceived yield increase demonstrating the importance for farmers to actively participate in the project's activities and subsequently apply agronomic practices learnt to improve their livelihood. The generated benefits incentivized farmers to continue to apply the interventions beyond the lifetime of the project ensuring thus a sustainable process in which exogenous interventions, once adopted by farmers become integrant part of farmer's agronomic practices.

  • the perceived impact of the in trust agreements on cgiar germplasm availability an assessment of Bioversity International s institutional activities
    World Development, 2010
    Co-Authors: Elisabetta Gotor, Francesco Caracciolo, Jamie Watts
    Abstract:

    Summary This study assesses the generation and consequences of the In-Trust Agreements (ITAs) that established the legal status of the CGIAR germplasm as freely available for the benefit of humanity under the auspices of FAO. The analysis looks at the history of the ITAs and focuses on the role of Bioversity International in research and other activities in influencing, facilitating and enabling the ITA negotiations. Results confirm the central role of Bioversity and policy research in the negotiations process. Concepts developed during the ITA negotiations contributed toward subsequent multilateral negotiations that eventually culminated in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources.

  • The perceived impact of the In Trust Agreements on CGIAR germplasm availability: An assessment of Bioversity International’s institutional activities
    World Development, 2010
    Co-Authors: Elisabetta Gotor, Francesco Caracciolo, Jamie Watts
    Abstract:

    Summary This study assesses the generation and consequences of the In-Trust Agreements (ITAs) that established the legal status of the CGIAR germplasm as freely available for the benefit of humanity under the auspices of FAO. The analysis looks at the history of the ITAs and focuses on the role of Bioversity International in research and other activities in influencing, facilitating and enabling the ITA negotiations. Results confirm the central role of Bioversity and policy research in the negotiations process. Concepts developed during the ITA negotiations contributed toward subsequent multilateral negotiations that eventually culminated in the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources.

  • The impact of Bioversity International's African Leafy Vegetables programme in Kenya
    Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 2010
    Co-Authors: Elisabetta Gotor, Charity Irungu
    Abstract:

    An objective of Bioversity International is to promote income and food security by ensuring that agricultural biodiversity is conserved, characterised and used to improve productivity. The African Leafy Vegetables (ALVs) programme was initiated and implemented to meet this objective but no impact evaluation has been carried out since its conclusion. This study aims to evaluate the role played by Bioversity and its partners in the programme, and to assess the impact of the ALVs programme on the livelihoods of farmers in four regions of Kenya. The study used both primary and secondary data. Information from the survey was complemented by focus group discussions. To assess the role of Bioversity and its partners, all the partners were identified and interviewed. Bioversity was found to have ably acted as catalyst, facilitator and coordinator of the programme. Results also showed that production, consumption and marketing of ALVs had increased since 1997, women still dominated most of the ALVs activities, and...

Jamie Watts - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Sebastien Carpentier - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Using Growth and Transpiration Phenotyping Under Controlled Conditions to Select Water Efficient Banana Genotypes.
    Frontiers in plant science, 2019
    Co-Authors: Jelle Van Wesemael, Rony Swennen, Ewaut Kissel, David Eyland, Tracy Lawson, Sebastien Carpentier
    Abstract:

    Water deficit is one of the world’s major constraints in agriculture and will aggravate in the future. Banana (Musa spp.) is an important crop that needs vast amounts of water for optimal production. The International Transit Center of Bioversity International holds the world’s biggest collection of banana biodiversity (>1500 accessions). The long-term aim of this research is to evaluate the potential within this collection for climate smart agricultural usage. Therefore we developed a phenotyping setup under controlled environmental conditions and we selected 32 representatives of the Musa biodiversity (29 cultivars and 3 wild relatives) for evaluation. The best performing genotypes accumulated 6-7 times more biomass than the least performing. Eight genotypes (5 ABB, 1 AAB and 2 AAA) invest under osmotic stress significantly more in root growth than in leaf growth. We predict therefore that they have a good potential for a high production under rain fed conditions with a short dry season. To gain more insight in the transpiration physiology, we gravimetrically monitored individual plant transpiration over the diurnal period. All analyzed genotypes showed a marked reduction in transpiration rate in the afternoon. Moreover, the timing of this onset as well as its impact on total transpiration was genotype dependent. This phenomenon was more pronounced in 13 genotypes (8 ABB, 2 AAB, 2AA, 1 BB). Banana is a crop originating from the humid tropics and has developed a strong root pressure to maintain an efficient water and nutrient transport even under saturated relative humidity conditions. Therefore, we hypothesize that the diurnal transpiration decline contributes to a higher water use efficiency without compromising the nutrient transport. Of the 8 genotypes that had the best growth under osmotic stress, all analyzed ABB cultivars have a lower maximal transpiration rate, keep this maximal transpiration for a shorter time and therefore consume less water per day. We conclude that lab models are very useful to study the biodiversity and to identify different traits that contribute to a better drought tolerance/avoidance. We encourage researchers investigating other crops to start exploring their collections.

  • Exploring the Potential of Genetic Diversity via Proteomics: Past, Present, and Future Perspectives for Banana
    Sustainable Development and Biodiversity, 2015
    Co-Authors: Sebastien Carpentier
    Abstract:

    KU Leuven is hosting the Global Collection of banana (Musa spp.) managed by Bioversity International for safe storage and distribution. Our mandate is to secure the crop’s gene pool and encourage its use. The latter, however, requires an in-depth knowledge of the variability among the varieties and their potential. Most edible varieties are sterile and triploid involving the parental A genome of Musa acuminata and/or the parental B genome of Musa balbisiana, with hybrid genomes (AAA, AAB or ABB). A very efficient way of characterising the genetic diversity in search of interesting traits is analysing the different genomes via next generation sequencing (NGS) techniques. However, population-based associations to the genome are challenging in banana and need to fall back on crossing fertile inedible diploids. Moreover, proteins and metabolites are the main determinants of a trait/phenotype and finding correlations between the genome or transcriptome and a phenotype can be quite challenging. Therefore, proteomics is quite complementary to characterize the biodiversity and find correlations between a phenotype and the genotype. To characterize and evaluate Musa varieties belonging to different genomic groups and exploring their potential, we have been optimizing proteomics techniques over the years. This chapter gives a brief overview of what proteomics is, its challenges and recent improvements, and applications of proteomics approaches used in banana research.

Rony Swennen - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Using Growth and Transpiration Phenotyping Under Controlled Conditions to Select Water Efficient Banana Genotypes.
    Frontiers in plant science, 2019
    Co-Authors: Jelle Van Wesemael, Rony Swennen, Ewaut Kissel, David Eyland, Tracy Lawson, Sebastien Carpentier
    Abstract:

    Water deficit is one of the world’s major constraints in agriculture and will aggravate in the future. Banana (Musa spp.) is an important crop that needs vast amounts of water for optimal production. The International Transit Center of Bioversity International holds the world’s biggest collection of banana biodiversity (>1500 accessions). The long-term aim of this research is to evaluate the potential within this collection for climate smart agricultural usage. Therefore we developed a phenotyping setup under controlled environmental conditions and we selected 32 representatives of the Musa biodiversity (29 cultivars and 3 wild relatives) for evaluation. The best performing genotypes accumulated 6-7 times more biomass than the least performing. Eight genotypes (5 ABB, 1 AAB and 2 AAA) invest under osmotic stress significantly more in root growth than in leaf growth. We predict therefore that they have a good potential for a high production under rain fed conditions with a short dry season. To gain more insight in the transpiration physiology, we gravimetrically monitored individual plant transpiration over the diurnal period. All analyzed genotypes showed a marked reduction in transpiration rate in the afternoon. Moreover, the timing of this onset as well as its impact on total transpiration was genotype dependent. This phenomenon was more pronounced in 13 genotypes (8 ABB, 2 AAB, 2AA, 1 BB). Banana is a crop originating from the humid tropics and has developed a strong root pressure to maintain an efficient water and nutrient transport even under saturated relative humidity conditions. Therefore, we hypothesize that the diurnal transpiration decline contributes to a higher water use efficiency without compromising the nutrient transport. Of the 8 genotypes that had the best growth under osmotic stress, all analyzed ABB cultivars have a lower maximal transpiration rate, keep this maximal transpiration for a shorter time and therefore consume less water per day. We conclude that lab models are very useful to study the biodiversity and to identify different traits that contribute to a better drought tolerance/avoidance. We encourage researchers investigating other crops to start exploring their collections.

  • Molecular and Cytogenetic Characterization of Wild Musa Species.
    PloS one, 2015
    Co-Authors: Jana Čížková, Nicolas Roux, Eva Hřibová, Pavla Christelová, Ines Van Den Houwe, Markku Häkkinen, Rony Swennen, Jaroslav Doležel
    Abstract:

    The production of bananas is threatened by rapid spreading of various diseases and adverse environmental conditions. The preservation and characterization of banana diversity is essential for the purposes of crop improvement. The world's largest banana germplasm collection maintained at the Bioversity International Transit Centre (ITC) in Belgium is continuously expanded by new accessions of edible cultivars and wild species. Detailed morphological and molecular characterization of the accessions is necessary for efficient management of the collection and utilization of banana diversity. In this work, nuclear DNA content and genomic distribution of 45S and 5S rDNA were examined in 21 diploid accessions recently added to ITC collection, representing both sections of the genus Musa. 2C DNA content in the section Musa ranged from 1.217 to 1.315 pg. Species belonging to section Callimusa had 2C DNA contents ranging from 1.390 to 1.772 pg. While the number of 45S rDNA loci was conserved in the section Musa, it was highly variable in Callimusa species. 5S rRNA gene clusters were found on two to eight chromosomes per diploid cell. The accessions were genotyped using a set of 19 microsatellite markers to establish their relationships with the remaining accessions held at ITC. Genetic diversity done by SSR genotyping platform was extended by phylogenetic analysis of ITS region. ITS sequence data supported the clustering obtained by SSR analysis for most of the accessions. High level of nucleotide diversity and presence of more than two types of ITS sequences in eight wild diploids pointed to their origin by hybridization of different genotypes. This study significantly expands the number of wild Musa species where nuclear genome size and genomic distribution of rDNA loci is known. SSR genotyping identified Musa species that are closely related to the previously characterized accessions and provided data to aid in their classification. Sequence analysis of ITS region provided further information about evolutionary relationships between individual accessions and suggested that some of analyzed accessions were interspecific hybrids and/or backcross progeny.

P. Prosperi - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Building consensus on sustainable food system assessment: applying a Delphi survey
    2020
    Co-Authors: P. Prosperi, T. Allen, B. Cogill
    Abstract:

    Food systems are highly complex and are driven by many economic, social, cultural, and environmental factors. In order to meet global challenges in the coming decades, a better knowledge of food system dynamics is essential to better understand how to strengthen food and nutrition security outcomes simultaneously and improve the social, environmental, and economic performance of food systems. There is a constant call for enhanced metrics to design and implement policies that address the nexus of agriculture, food, health, and the environment. Policymakers, researchers, and local practitioners are thus striving towards the identification and development of indicators in support of sustainable food systems. This chapter reports on a joint project led by Bioversity International and the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies-Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier (CIHEAM-IAMM) to build consensus among the multidisciplinary food research community around a set of indicators (specific to the Mediterranean context) that can assess the different dimensions of the sustainability of food systems with the view to inform policymakers. Applying a Delphi survey, consensus was finally reached after three rounds of consultations involving 52 experts for 14 indicators. The application of the Delphi method in the study provides several lessons to enhance validity, replicability, participation, and consensus for further Delphi surveys.

  • Metrics of sustainable diets and food systems. Workshop report
    2014
    Co-Authors: T. Allen, P. Prosperi
    Abstract:

    This first workshop aimed to provide a forum to discuss jointly key questions with regard to indicators of food system sustainability reflecting the various backgrounds and different perspectives. It builds on the expert consultation undertaken through a Delphi process to select candidate indicators. It is expected that the expert panel functions as an expert network which meets on a regular basis. In this context, Bioversity International and CIHEAM-IAMM intend to engage further with the participants, review and test different methods for measuring sustainability that have already been developed, but also to examine different features of sustainability which have not yet been captured sufficiently in existing approaches.