Articles

Dynamic guardianship of potato landraces by Andean communities and the genebank of the International Potato Center

Potato landraces (Solanum spp.) are not only crucial for food security and sustenance in Andean communities but are also deeply rooted in the local culture. The crop originated in the Andes, and while a great div...

Authors: Sophia Lüttringhaus, Willy Pradel, Víctor Suarez, Norma C. Manrique-Carpintero, Noelle L. Anglin, David Ellis, Guy Hareau, Nelissa Jamora, Melinda Smale and Rene Gómez

Trends and constraints of utilization of preserved cowpea leaves among households in arid and semi-arid lands in Kenya: a convergent mixed method study

As much as local communities have employed traditional techniques of preservation to enhance availability and utilization of cowpea leaves, the efficiency of these techniques in achieving food security need to...

Authors: J. O. Owade, G. O. Abong’, M. W. Okoth and A. W. Mwang’ombe

Soil carbon-food synergy: sizable contributions of small-scale farmers

Benefits to agricultural yield improvement, soil degradation prevention, and climate mitigation are central to the synergies of soil organic carbon (SOC) build-up. However, the contributions of small-scale far...

Authors: Toshichika Iizumi, Nanae Hosokawa and Rota Wagai

An assessment of the capacity and responsiveness of a national system to address the threat of invasive species: a systems approach

Invasive species affect the social, economic and health aspects of many farmers and are known to cause major losses with considerable costs spent on management. Several international agreements recognise the t...

Authors: F. Williams, K. L. Constantine, A. A. Ali, T. W. Karanja, S. Kibet, E. K. Lingeera, G. Muthike, I. Rwomushana, J. Godwin and R. Day

Evaluation of vegetable pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp] genotypes for yield stability

Vegetable pigeonpea is an important food security crop in the marginal dry areas of the Eastern region of Kenya. The adaptation and stability of vegetable pigeonpea genotypes across different agro-ecological z...

Authors: J. D. Ojwang, R. Nyankanga, N. V. P. R. G. Ganga Rao and J. Imungi

Comparison of arthropod communities between high and low input maize farms in Mexico

Animal communities are vulnerable to agricultural practices. Intensive farming considerably reduces overall arthropod diversity, but not necessarily pest abundance. Natural control of herbivores in agroecosyst...

Authors: E. del-Val, E. Ramírez and M. Astier

Oil palm in the 2020s and beyond: challenges and solutions

Oil palm, Elaeis guineensis, is by far the most important global oil crop, supplying about 40% of all traded vegetable oil. Palm oils are key dietary components consumed daily by over three billion people, mostly...

Authors: Denis J. Murphy, Kirstie Goggin and R. Russell M. Paterson

Combining ability, floral biology, and seed producibility of promising cytoplasmic male-sterile (CMS) lines for hybrid rice development

A combining ability analysis is a useful tool of plant breeders in screening and identifying promising parental lines with high potential for developing competitive rice hybrids. Also, one important factor tha...

Authors: Victoriano V. Casco, Rosemarie T. Tapic, Jerwin R. Undan, Anna Ma. Lourdes S. Latonio, Roel R. Suralta and Norvie L. Manigbas

Controlling the causative agents of coccidiosis in domestic chickens; an eye on the past and considerations for the future

Coccidiosis is a potentially severe enteritis caused by species of obligate intracellular parasites of the genus Eimeria. These parasites cause significant economic losses to the poultry industry, predominantly d...

Authors: Elizabeth Attree, Gonzalo Sanchez-Arsuaga, Michelle Jones, Dong Xia, Virginia Marugan-Hernandez, Damer Blake and Fiona Tomley

Good soil management can reduce dietary zinc deficiency in Zimbabwe

Dietary zinc (Zn) deficiency is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with adverse impacts on human health. Agronomic biofortification with Zn fertilizers and improved soil fertility management, using mineral...

Authors: Muneta G. Manzeke-Kangara, Edward J. M. Joy, Florence Mtambanengwe, Prosper Chopera, Michael J. Watts, Martin R. Broadley and Paul Mapfumo

Ethnobotanical study of pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duchesne) landraces in Benin

Pumpkin, Cucurbita moschata Duchesne, is important food resource due to their nutritional composition. Despite their food advantages, they still remain underutilized crops in Africa and particularly in Benin. No ...

Authors: Vincent Ezin, Ulrich Herbert Gbemenou, Gazali B. T. A. Sanni and Adam Ahanchede

Alternative disease management strategies for organic apple production in the United Kingdom

Apple is a globally important tree fruit. In the United Kingdom (UK) and mainland Europe, there is ongoing consumer and environmental concern regarding over-reliance on conventional chemicals for disease contr...

Authors: Lucas Alexander Shuttleworth

Correction to: Is radio an effective method for delivering actionable information for responding to emerging pest threats? A case study of fall armyworm campaign in Zambia

Authors: Harrison Rware, Monica K. Kansiime, Idah Mugambi, David Onyango, Justice A. Tambo, Catherine Mloza Banda, Noah A. Phiri, Gilson Chipabika, Mathews Matimelo, Dorcas Kabuya Chaaba, Tamsin Davis and Julien Godwin

Is radio an effective method for delivering actionable information for responding to emerging pest threats? A case study of fall armyworm campaign in Zambia

The Fall Army Worm (FAW) radio campaign was implemented between November 2018 and April 2019 in key maize growing areas and locations with reported high severity of fall armyworm as identified by national stak...

Authors: Harrison Rware, Monica K. Kansiime, Idah Mugambi, David Onyango, Justice A. Tambo, Catherine Mloza Banda, Noah A. Phiri, Gilson Chipabika, Mathews Matimelo, Dorcas Kabuya Chaaba, Tamsin Davis and Julien Godwin

Performance evaluation and stability analysis of malt barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) varieties for yield and quality traits in Eastern Amhara, Ethiopia

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is an annual cereal crop that belongs to the grass family Poaceae of the tribe Triticeae. It is the fifth most important cereal crop after teff, wheat, maize and sorghum in area covera...

Authors: Abebe Assefa, Getawey Girmay, Tesfaye Alemayehu and Alemu Lakew

Correction to: Towards estimating the economic cost of invasive alien species to African crop and livestock production

Authors: René Eschen, Tim Beale, J. Miguel Bonnin, Kate L. Constantine, Solomon Duah, Elizabeth A. Finch, Fernadis Makale, Winnie Nunda, Adewale Ogunmodede, Corin F. Pratt, Emma Thompson, Frances Williams, Arne Witt and Bryony Taylor

Phony peach disease: past and present impact on the peach industry in the southeastern U.S.A

Phony peach disease (PPD) is caused by the plant pathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa subsp. multiplex (Xfm). Historically, the disease has caused severe yield loss in Georgia and elsewhere in the southeastern...

Authors: Kendall A. Johnson, Clive H. Bock and Phillip M. Brannen

Can the botanical azadirachtin replace phased-out soil insecticides in suppressing the soil insect pest Diabrotica virgifera virgifera?

Due to recent bans on the use of several soil insecticides and insecticidal seed coatings, soil-dwelling insect pests are increasingly difficult to manage. One example is the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica vir...

Authors: Stefan Toepfer, Szabolcs Toth and Mark Szalai

Morphophysiological and molecular characterization of millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) varieties for crop improvement in Western Europe

Global warming and issues in favour of a more sustainable agriculture suggest a reconsideration of minor cereals in European agrosystems. Compared to other summer crops, proso millet has a remarkable drought r...

Authors: Massimo Vischi, Nicola Zorzin, Maria Bernhart, Johanna Winkler, Dipak Santra, Carla Pappalardo and Stefano Marchetti

Growth, infection and aggressiveness of Phytophthora pathogens on Rhododendron leaves

Phytophthora species are well known as important or emerging pathogens. The genus Rhododendron is of considerable importance to plant regulatory agencies because it is host to many Phytophthora species, most nota...

Authors: Clare R. Taylor and Niklaus J. Grünwald

Appraisal of cowpea cropping systems and farmers’ perceptions of production constraints and preferences in the dry savannah areas of Nigeria

Low plant density and wide intra-plant spacing in traditional cowpea cropping systems are among the factors responsible for low yield on farmers’ fields. Sole cropping and improved intercropping systems have b...

Authors: Saba Baba Mohammed, Daniel Kwadjo Dzidzienyo, Muhammad Lawan Umar, Mohammad Faguji Ishiyaku, Pangirayi Bernard Tongoona and Vernon Gracen

Determinants of adoption and intensity of improved faba bean cultivars in the central highlands of Ethiopia: a double-hurdle approach

Faba bean (Vicia faba. L) is the most important pulse crop both in area coverage and volume of annual production in Ethiopia. However, productivity in terms of yield in Ethiopia is still far below its potentia...

Authors: Yehuala Kassa, Almaz Giziew and Dereje Ayalew

Establishing criteria for the management of tephritid fruit fly outbreaks

Tephritid fruit flies (Diptera; Tephritidae) represent a group of insects that include some of the most economically important pests in horticulture. Because of their economic importance, the financial impacts...

Authors: Michael D. Ormsby

Rethinking methane from animal agriculture

As the global community actively works to keep temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 °C, predicting greenhouse gases (GHGs) by how they warm the planet—and not their carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalence—provides inform...

Authors: Shule Liu, Joe Proudman and Frank M. Mitloehner

Multiplexed SSR marker analysis of Diplocarpon coronariae reveals clonality within samples from Middle Europe and genetic distance from Asian and North American isolates

Apple blotch (AB) caused by Diplocarpon coronariae (Dc) has been established in Europe since 2010. AB is a serious apple disease, mostly in low input orchards and in cider production areas in Northern Italy, Swit...

Authors: Thomas Oberhänsli, Anna Dalbosco, Virginie Leschenne, Anne Bohr, Sascha Buchleither, Lucius Tamm, Lukas Wille, Srđan G. Aćimović, Fatemeh Khodadadi, Young-Hyun Ryu, Bruno Studer, Hans-Jakob Schärer and Andrea Patocchi

Global challenges facing plant pathology: multidisciplinary approaches to meet the food security and environmental challenges in the mid-twenty-first century

The discipline of plant pathology has an expanding remit requiring a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary approach to capture the complexity of interactions for any given disease, disease complex or syndrome. This...

Authors: Michael Jeger, Robert Beresford, Clive Bock, Nathan Brown, Adrian Fox, Adrian Newton, Antonio Vicent, Xiangming Xu and Jonathan Yuen

The proclivity of free-ranging indigenous village chickens for night-time roosting in trees

Roosting in trees exhibits the instinct and widespread practice of the night enclosure system in indigenous village chickens (IVCs) of the tropics. This work reviews the predisposition of IVCs for night-time r...

Authors: Takele Taye Desta

Towards estimating the economic cost of invasive alien species to African crop and livestock production

Invasive alien species (IAS) cause significant economic losses in all parts of the world. Although IAS are widespread in Africa and cause serious negative impacts on livelihoods as a result of yield losses and...

Authors: René Eschen, Tim Beale, J. Miguel Bonnin, Kate L. Constantine, Solomon Duah, Elizabeth A. Finch, Fernadis Makale, Winnie Nunda, Adewale Ogunmodede, Corin F. Pratt, Emma Thompson, Frances Williams, Arne Witt and Bryony Taylor

Animal welfare and other ethical implications of Precision Livestock Farming technology

In this commentary, we explore the risks and challenges associated with Precision Livestock Farming technologies based on an online workshop with over 70 international animal welfare experts, policy-makers, NG...

Authors: Juliette Schillings, Richard Bennett and David Christian Rose

Behavioral changes in the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens, mediated by melatonin

Melatonin has been proved to exist and play importance roles in rice plant, such as biosynthesis and resistance. However, little is known about the function of melatonin in its monophagous pest, the brown plan...

Authors: Longqing Shi, Junian Zhang, Liangmiao Qiu, Zhaowei Jiang, Zhenxing Xie and Zhixiong Zhan

Canadian perspectives on food security and plant breeding

The broadness of biotechnology serves to connect different types of modern plant breeding techniques with the potential to improve global food security. However, the topic goes beyond the specific example cons...

Authors: Claire Williams, Savannah Gleim and Stuart J. Smyth

Effects of information on consumer attitudes towards gene-edited foods: a comparison between livestock and vegetables

This study statistically explores the relationship between information provision and peoples’ attitudes towards the application of gene-editing technology to food, by contrasting cases of gene-edited livestock...

Authors: Naoko Kato-Nitta, Yusuke Inagaki, Tadahiko Maeda and Masashi Tachikawa

Farmers’ knowledge and perception of finger millet blast disease and its control practices in western Kenya

Finger millet blast disease, caused by Pyricularia oryzae, is a serious constrain of finger millet production which is threatening global food security especially to the resource poor smallholder farmers in arid ...

Authors: Wilton Mbinda, Agnes Kavoo, Fredah Maina, Margaret Odeph, Cecilia Mweu, Naomi Nzilani and Mathew Ngugi

First report of the invasive snail Pomacea canaliculata in Kenya

Following reports of an invasive snail causing crop damage in the expansive Mwea irrigation scheme in Kenya, samples of snails and associated egg masses were collected and sent to CABI laboratories in the UK f...

Authors: Alan G. Buddie, Ivan Rwomushana, Lisa C. Offord, Simeon Kibet, Fernadis Makale, Djamila Djeddour, Giovanni Cafa, Koskei K. Vincent, Alexander M. Muvea, Duncan Chacha and Roger K. Day

The eradication of Asian longhorned beetle at Paddock Wood, UK

In March 2012, an outbreak of Anoplophora glabripennis was detected at Paddock Wood, Kent, UK. The epicentre of the outbreak was adjacent to a site that a company had used for storing imported stone in wood packa...

Authors: Dominic Eyre and Jane Barbrook

Phenomic characterization of Crotalaria germplasm for crop improvement

Diversification of global food systems through exploration of traditional varieties and wild edible plant species is a focal mitigation strategy for food security worldwide. The present study determined the ph...

Authors: Joshua Kiilu Muli, Johnstone O. Neondo, Peter K. Kamau, Eddy Odari and Nancy L. M. Budambula

Culex quinquefasciatus: status as a threat to island avifauna and options for genetic control

The avifauna endemic to islands is particularly susceptible to population declines and extinctions resulting from the introduction of non-native pathogens. Three pathogens of concern are the avian malaria para...

Authors: Tim Harvey-Samuel, Thomas Ant, Jolene Sutton, Chris N. Niebuhr, Samoa Asigau, Patricia Parker, Steven Sinkins and Luke Alphey

Effect of rhizobial inoculants on yield and yield components of faba bean (Vicia fabae L.) on vertisol of Wereillu District, South Wollo, Ethiopia

Nitrogen fixation by legumes like faba bean is a cheap way of fixing atmospheric nitrogen to plant available form. However, the inoculation of grain legumes with rhizobium bacteria are poorly researched in Amh...

Authors: Samuel Adissie Gedamu, Enyew Adgo Tsegaye and Tesfaye Feyisa Beyene

Combined effects of landscape composition and pesticide use on herbivore and pollinator functions in smallholder farms

Landscape composition has the potential to foster regulating ecosystem services such as pollination and biocontrol in temperate regions. However, most landscape studies do not take pesticide use into account e...

Authors: Quentin Struelens, Diego Mina and Olivier Dangles

Morphological characterization and yield of pepper (Piper nigrum L.) types grown in Morogoro District, Tanzania

Pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is among key spice crops grown in Morogoro district of Tanzania. Most of the pepper types grown in the district are only known by their local names as Babu kubwa, Babu ndogo, Babu kati an...

Authors: Abdul Jafari Shango, Ramadhani Omari Majubwa and Amon Petro Maerere

Infection biology as the basis of integrated control of apple canker (Neonectria ditissima) in Northern Europe

European canker, caused by Neonectria ditissima, is a disease of worldwide importance in apple production, yet knowledge about it is limited, highly regional and sometimes contradictory. This is an obstacle to su...

Authors: Roland W. S. Weber and Jorunn Børve

Dynamics of dormancy regulation in ‘Sonata’ strawberry and its relation to flowering and runnering

Dormancy regulation in strawberry is a dynamic process that is causally interrelated with regulation of flowering. Interference between the two processes is therefore possible.

Authors: Anita Sønsteby and Ola M. Heide

The curious case of C-88: impacts of a potato variety on farmers in Yunnan, China

Limited analysis has been conducted of the role of agricultural research in promoting Chinese agricultural growth in less-favored areas. This paper analyzes how a particular potato variety generates benefits t...

Authors: Stephanie Myrick, Willy Pradel, Canhui Li, Victor Suarez, Guy Hareau, Catherine Larochelle, George W. Norton and Jeffrey Alwang

Entering the international year of fruits and vegetables: tradeoffs between food production and the environment

Authors: Niklaus J. Grünwald

Combining metabolomic and transcriptomic approaches to assess and improve crop quality traits

Plant quality trait improvement has become a global necessity due to the world overpopulation. In particular, producing crop species with enhanced nutrients and health-promoting compounds is one of the main ai...

Authors: Delphine M. Pott, Sara Durán-Soria, Sonia Osorio and José G. Vallarino

Nutrients in finger millet and soil at different elevation gradients in Central Nepal

Finger millet, a subsistence food crop, is a unique cereal with high nutritional quality particularly in hilly regions in Nepal. Hence, grain nutrients (protein, calcium, and iron percent) of ten different lan...

Authors: Dol Raj Luitel, Mohan Siwakoti and Pramod K. Jha

Foliage and fruit susceptibility of a pecan provenance collection to scab, caused by Venturia effusa

Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) is an important native nut crop in the southern USA. In the Southeast, scab (caused by Venturia effusa) is a major constraint to production, and can result in significant yield losses....

Authors: Clive H. Bock, Yanina Alarcon, Patrick J. Conner, Carolyn A. Young, Jennifer J. Randall, Cristina Pisani, Larry J. Grauke, Xinwang Wang and Maria J. Monteros

Correction to: Safeguarding and using global banana diversity: a holistic approach

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Ines Van den Houwe, Rachel Chase, Julie Sardos, Max Ruas, Els Kempenaers, Valentin Guignon, Sebastien Massart, Sebastien Carpentier, Bart Panis, Mathieu Rouard and Nicolas Roux

The role of passive surveillance and citizen science in plant health

The early detection of plant pests and diseases is vital to the success of any eradication or control programme, but the resources for surveillance are often limited. Plant health authorities can however make ...

Authors: Nathan Brown, Ana Pérez-Sierra, Peter Crow and Stephen Parnell

Field apple scab susceptibility of a diverse Malus germplasm collection identifies potential sources of resistance for apple breeding

Breeding for resistance to apple scab (caused by Venturia inaequalis), the most devastating fungal disease of apples, relies on genetic resources maintained in germplasm collections.

Authors: David Papp, Liqiang Gao, Ranjita Thapa, Dan Olmstead and Awais Khan