The cult of the amateur in agriculture threatens food security

The incorporation of science and technology into agriculture has led to enormous growth in crop yields, providing food security in many countries. From the 1950s onwards there has been increasing interference in agricultural policy by a few scientists who are marginal to agriculture and from a variety of unqualified groups. These groups and individuals have used fear and anxiety and have greatly exaggerated minor problems to persuade an unqualified public of supposed dangers in food and to try and change agricultural policy. Fear and emotion do not lead to good policy, and the cult of the amateur that has developed could have serious repercussions on vital food security and future agriculture in developing countries; it must be soundly rejected.     

Cost-benefit analysis of using biochar to improve cereals agriculture

Biochar has received considerable scientific attention in the past decade as a possible method for carbon storage and increasing agricultural yields. Despite this promise, however, economic assessments of biochar are yet to definitively establish the value of the technology, primarily due to discrepancy between observed short-term agronomic benefits and expectations of biochar as a lasting soil improver. This study investigated the economic value of biochar as an agricultural technology for long-term improvement of arable farming. From presently available field trial data, the costs and benefits of using biochar technology to enhance cereals agriculture were evaluated in two generalized geo-economic agricultural scenarios: North-Western Europe (NWE) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Cost models were developed to estimate the total cost of biochar from initial biomass feedstock acquisition to final soil application for each agricultural setting. Benefits of biochar application were estimated by statistical meta-analysis of crop yield data from published biochar field trials to find the increase in cereal grain yield attributable to biochar application for both NWE (+0.07 to +0.28 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) and SSA (+0.18 to +1.00 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). The grain yield improvement from a one-time biochar application was assumed to persist without decay for an independently varying time period, and the increase in grain production then monetised using projected future commodity prices. The Net Present Value (NPV) of applying biochar was then calculated by setting present total costs against present total benefits as a function of biochar performance longevity. Biochar application was found to carry a positive NPV for cereal cropping in SSA in several scenarios where the duration of the biochar yield effect was assumed to extend 30 years into the future. Conversely, NWE biochar scenarios were all found to have negative NPVs even when the benefits time span was indefinitely stretched.     

Engineering plastid fatty acid biosynthesis to improve food quality and biofuel production in higher plants

The ability to manipulate plant fatty acid biosynthesis by using new biotechnological approaches has allowed the production of transgenic plants with unusual fatty acid profile and increased oil content. This review focuses on the production of very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLCPUFAs) and the increase in oil content in plants using molecular biology tools. Evidences suggest that regular consumption of food rich in VLCPUFAs has multiple positive health benefits. Alternative sources of these nutritional fatty acids are found in cold-water fishes. However, fish stocks are in severe decline because of decades of overfishing, and also fish oils can be contaminated by the accumulation of toxic compounds. Recently, there is also an increase in oilseed use for the production of biofuels. This tendency is partly associated with the rapidly rising costs of petroleum, increased concern about the environmental impact of fossil oil and the attractive need to develop renewable sources of fuel. In contrast to this scenario, oil derived from crop plants is normally contaminant free and less environmentally aggressive. Genetic engineering of the plastid genome (plastome) offers a number of attractive advantages, including high-level foreign protein expression, marker-gene excision and transgene containment because of maternal inheritance of plastid genome in most crops. Here, we describe the possibility to improve fatty acid biosynthesis in plastids, production of new fatty acids and increase their content in plants by genetic engineering of plastid fatty acid biosynthesis via plastid transformation.     

Plant and microbial strategies to improve the phosphorus efficiency of agriculture

Background

Agricultural production is often limited by low phosphorus (P) availability. In developing countries, which have limited access to P fertiliser, there is a need to develop plants that are more efficient at low soil P. In fertilised and intensive systems, P-efficient plants are required to minimise inefficient use of P-inputs and to reduce potential for loss of P to the environment.

Scope

Three strategies by which plants and microorganisms may improve P-use efficiency are outlined: (i) Root-foraging strategies that improve P acquisition by lowering the critical P requirement of plant growth and allowing agriculture to operate at lower levels of soil P; (ii) P-mining strategies to enhance the desorption, solubilisation or mineralisation of P from sparingly-available sources in soil using root exudates (organic anions, phosphatases), and (iii) improving internal P-utilisation efficiency through the use of plants that yield more per unit of P uptake.

Conclusions

We critically review evidence that more P-efficient plants can be developed by modifying root growth and architecture, through manipulation of root exudates or by managing plant-microbial associations such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and microbial inoculants. Opportunities to develop P-efficient plants through breeding or genetic modification are described and issues that may limit success including potential trade-offs and trait interactions are discussed. Whilst demonstrable progress has been made by selecting plants for root morphological traits, the potential for manipulating root physiological traits or selecting plants for low internal P concentration has yet to be realised.     

Acid lactic lactobacilli as a biotechnological toll to improve food quality and human health

The genus Lactobacillus has been widely used in food industry as starter or adjunct culture due to its probiotic features. Its biotechnological features improve the spectrum of uses of lactobacilli, which can affect its applicability directly. In this sense, this literature review gathers information and discusses the biotechnological potential of technological/probiotic lactobacilli aiming to improve food quality and human health. The primary and secondary metabolism generates specific substances, such as organic acids, carbon dioxide, hydrogen peroxide, diacetyl, fatty acids, and bacteriocins, which are determinant due to their probiotic potential, antimicrobial activity, and the development of new food flavors. In order to become industrially and commercially attractive, it is necessary develop a large-scale process with lower production costs.     

Molecular approaches in pig breeding to improve meat quality.

This article reviews the advances in molecular genetics that have led to the identification of genes and markers associated with meat quality in pig. The development of a considerable number of annotated livestock genome sequences represents an incredibly rich source of information that can be used to identify candidate genes responsible for complex traits and quantitative trait loci effects. In pig, the huge amount of information emerging from the study of the genome has helped in the acquisition of new knowledge concerning biological systems and it is opening new opportunities for the genetic selection of this specie. Among the new fields of genomics recently developed, functional genomics and proteomics that allow considering many genes and proteins at the same time are very useful tools for a better understanding of the function and regulation of genes, and how these participate in complex networks controlling the phenotypic characteristics of a trait. In particular, global gene expression profiling at the mRNA and protein level can provide a better understanding of gene regulation that underlies biological functions and physiology related to the delivery of a better pig meat quality. Moreover, the possibility to realize an integrated approach of genomics and proteomics with bioinformatics tools is essential to obtain a complete exploitation of the available molecular genetics information. The development of this knowledge will benefit scientists, industry and breeders considering that the efficiency and accuracy of the traditional pig selection schemes will be improved by the implementation of molecular data into breeding programs.     

The use of nutrient reduction and food-web management to improve water quality in the deep stratifying Wupper Reservoir, Germany

Only a combination of nutrient load abatement and food-web management proved efficient for the management of water quality in the deep stratifying Wupper Reservoir. Reduction of nutrient loading, was completed in winter 1992/1993, but resulted only in reduced winter/spring mixing of phosphorus concentrations. Since the capacity of the diatom spring bloom to remove nutrients from the trophogenic layer of this slightly eutrophic water-body was never exhausted, the surplus of total phosphorus available to support summer algal growth remained unchanged. Thus, nutrient reduction alone did not improve the water quality, as expected. Subsequent replacement of the smaller Daphnia cucullata by the larger Daphnia galeata-hyalina complex that was attributable to successful food-web management did, however, result in a shift from a turbid to a clear water regime in 1999. Clearly, the zooplankton community, and therefore food-web structure, played an integral role in nutrient recycling and in the repartitioning of the phosphorus pool. As diatom settling and grazing became much more tightly linked with the appearance of the larger-bodied Daphnia galeata-hyalina complex, which exploits lower-level food resources as early as May, daphnids increasingly acted as a sink for phosphorus. This increased export fluxes out of the pelagic zone and leaves a smaller surplus of total phosphorus to support the accumulation of summer algae. Consequently, water transparency and total chlorophyll concentrations in summer improved with food-web restructuring, indicating real oligotrophication of Wupper Reservoir driven by internal feedbacks. Handling editor: S. I. Dodson     

The potential for underutilized crops to improve security of food production

Staple crops face major challenges in the near future and a diversification away from over-reliance on staples will be important as part of the progress towards the goal of achieving security of food production. Underutilized or neglected crops species are often indigenous ancient crop species which are still used at some level within the local, national or even international communities, but have the potential to contribute further to the mix of food sources than they currently do. The most cost-effective and easily disseminated changes that can be made to a crop are changes to the genetics, as these are contained within the seed itself and, for many species, the seed is a pure breeding, self-replicating, resource. This article focuses on the potential of underutilized crops to contribute to food security and, in particular, whether genetics and breeding can overcome some of the constraints to the enhanced uptake of these species in the future. The focus here is on overview rather than detail and subsequent articles will examine the current evidence base.     

Combined use of immobilized Candida stellata cells and Saccharomyces cerevisiae to improve the quality of wines

Grape must fermentation by the combination of immobilized Candida stellata cells and Saccharomyces cerevisiae was carried out in order to enhance the analytical profiles of wine. Batch and continuous pre-treatment of must with immobilized C. stellata cells, followed by an inoculum of S. cerevisiae , enhanced the analytical profiles of fermentates. The metabolic interactions between the two yeast species showed a positive influence on reducing sugars, acetaldehyde and acetoin metabolism. Sequential fermentation was the best combination for improving the analytical profiles of wine but caused a loss of viability and metabolic activity of beads by limiting their successive use. Continuous pre-treatment of must on the beads of C. stellata could be a more interesting modality to improve the quality of wines. This biotechnological process could be profitably used to produce specific and special wines.     

The use of neutron scattering to determine the functional structure of glycoside hydrolase

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The use of histone as a facilitator to improve the efficiency of retroviral gene transfer.

Vectors based on murine C-type retroviruses are commonly used in biology. The efficiency of viral infection is normally increased by a facilitator, for example polybrene, DEAE-dextran or a liposome. The receptor for ecotropic viruses is a transporter for basic amino acids; we therefore explored the use of a highly basic protein, histone type IIA, as a facilitator. We show in several cell types that histone is as efficient as the other agents tested, and in some cases more so. This readily available reagent is thus likely to be useful in the wide range of studies that employ retroviral vectors.     

The use of hydrochloric acid to improve the germination of sugar-beet seed

This study confirmed that steeping sugar-beet seed in 0.3 M hydrochloric acid for 2 h as the first part of a 12 h treatment, substantially improved performance under cold, wet conditions. Smaller benefits were also found in warmer, drier tests; no detrimental effects were found. Adding excess sodium hydroxide at the end of the acid steep further improved the growth of the inherently slower part of the population under cold, wet conditions. Steeping seed in acid or acid followed by alkali also controlled Phoma betae as effectively as the current commercial thiram step treatment.     

A preliminary study on the use of jenny colostrum to improve quality in extenders for freezing donkey semen

Sperm quality in donkeys (Equus asinus) after freezing thawing is still considered lower than that from other animals, including horses. The aim of this study was to test a new freezing extender supplemented with jenny colostrum on donkey sperm. After thawing, we evaluated sperm motility by means of computer-assisted analysis, viability by SYBR-14 and propidium iodide (PI), membrane functional integrity by HOS-test and acrosome integrity by isothiocyanate conjugated with peanut agglutinin (FITC-PNA) and PI. Ejaculates were collected from five fertile Donkeys. Sperm samples were pooled, diluted and cryopreserved into three experimental extender groups: BotuCrio^®, lactose-extender supplemented with egg yolk (20%) and lactose-extender supplemented with jenny colostrum (20%). The results demonstrated that lactose-jenny colostrum samples displayed significantly higher values in almost all parameters evaluated (p < 0.05) compared with the other two extenders after thawing (BotuCrio^® and lactose-egg yolk based extender, respectively) –Total Motility, Viability, HOS test, VCL, VSL and VAP. Acrosome status, LIN, STR and WOB despite showing lower values, none of them were statistically significant (p > 0.05). In conclusion, the extender containing jenny colostrum can be successfully used for donkey semen crypreservation and could effectively improve donkey sperm qualities after freezing -thawing.     

Cowpea: A low-cost quality protein source for food safety in marginal areas for agriculture

Cowpea is a low-cost protein source for human nutrition for the world's impoverished regions. Therefore, the yield and total grain protein content (TGPC) of two modern commercials genotypes, Novaera and Gurguéia, and two traditional local genotypes, Paulistinha and EPACE-10, were studied. Also, leaf area and dry weight, leaf soluble protein content, and chlorophyll a fluorescence, parameters related to photosynthetic capacity, were used to evaluate genotypes. Under optimal conditions, the yield of EPACE-10 and Paulistinha, with higher TGPC, was lower than for Gurguéia and Novaera, which showed lower TGPC. The four cowpea genotypes showed high lysine content and low methionine and cysteine. The results revealed a negative correlation between yield and TGPC. The modern commercial genotype Novaera showed a high yield with low TGPC but a higher globulin and albumin content than Gurguéia. Thus, it can be used in high-input agriculture. In contrast, the traditional local genotype EPACE-10, with high TGPC and higher amino acid content than Paulistinha, is indicated for low-input agriculture in marginal areas for food safety under climate changes.