Variation in water availability is a major source of risk for agricultural productivity and food security in South Asia. Three hundred and thirty expert informants were surveyed during 2008-09 to determine the relative importance of drought and water-related constraints compared with other constraints limiting the production of four major food crops (wheat, rice, sorghum, chickpea) in five broad-based South Asian farming systems. Respondents considered drought an important constraint to crop yield in those farming systems that are predominantly rainfed, but associated it with low yield losses (well below 10% of all reported losses) for crops in farming systems with well-developed irrigation. In these systems, other water-related constraints (including difficult access to sufficient irrigation water, the high cost of irrigation, poor water management, waterlogging and flooding of low-lying fields) were more important. While confirming the importance of drought and water constraints for major food crops and farming systems in South Asia, this study also indicated they may contribute to no more than 20?30% of current yield gaps. Other types of constraint, particularly soil infertility and the poor management of fertilizer and weeds for the cereals, and pests and diseases for chickpea, contributed most yield losses in the systems. Respondents proposed a wide range of interventions to address these constraints. Continued investments in crop-based genetic solutions to alleviate drought may be justified for food crops grown in those South Asian farming systems that are predominantly rainfed. However, to provide the substantial production, sustainability and food security benefits that the region will need in coming decades, the study proposed that these be complemented by other water interventions, and by improvements to soil fertility for the cereals and plant protection with chickpea.

This data set presents a food web for the Flensburg Fjord, a brackish shallow water inlet on the Baltic Sea, between Germany and Denmark. The system has a benthic and shallow water pelagic component. This food web has two noteworthy attributes: (1) inclusion of metazoan parasites and other infectious agents and (2) inclusion of ontogenetic stages of parasites with complex life cycles. Data on the free‐living assemblages and parasitism were gathered during original field sampling and supplemented with information from additional published sources and local expert knowledge. Taxonomic resolution is generally high, although some functional or taxonomic groups (e.g., phytoplankton, macroalgae, and several groups of birds) are lumped into single nodes. Each ontogenetic stage of parasites with complex life cycles is treated separately and coded accordingly. For each node, we have included additional information such as taxonomy, life history, residency, and seasonality. Further, for each link, we define a specific interaction type. The web contains 180 nodes, 123 species/assemblages, and 1577 realized links. Of the 123 species/assemblages, 6 are basal, 70 are free‐living, and 45 are infectious. We present the data and metadata in the system‐neutral format standardized by R. F. Hechinger and colleagues, and thus we recognize variables that are not represented in our data set but may be added by further study.

Carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) were exposed to nitrofen (NIP) by different routes (via water or food) to compare bioaccumulation parameters and tissue distribution. The bioconcentration factor of NIP was 5,100, and the lipid-corrected biomagnification factor was 0.137. Growth-corrected elimination half lives were 2.1–3.0 days via aqueous exposure and 2.7–2.9 days via dietary exposure. From either uptake route, the tissue distribution of NIP was highest in the head, followed by muscle, viscera, dermis, digestive tract and hepatopancreas, which was highly correlated with the tissue lipid content. We conclude that the uptake route has no influence on tissue distribution of NIP and that the accumulation potential in tissues depends on the lipid content.

Variation in water availability is a major source of risk for agricultural productivity and food security in South Asia. Three hundred and thirty expert informants were surveyed during 2008-09 to determine the relative importance of drought and water-related constraints compared with other constraints limiting the production of four major food crops (wheat, rice, sorghum, chickpea) in five broad-based South Asian farming systems. Respondents considered drought an important constraint to crop yield in those farming systems that are predominantly rainfed, but associated it with low yield losses (well below 10% of all reported losses) for crops in farming systems with well-developed irrigation. In these systems, other water-related constraints (including difficult access to sufficient irrigation water, the high cost of irrigation, poor water management, waterlogging and flooding of low-lying fields) were more important. While confirming the importance of drought and water constraints for major food crops and farming systems in South Asia, this study also indicated they may contribute to no more than 20–30% of current yield gaps. Other types of constraint, particularly soil infertility and the poor management of fertilizer and weeds for the cereals, and pests and diseases for chickpea, contributed most yield losses in the systems. Respondents proposed a wide range of interventions to address these constraints. Continued investments in crop-based genetic solutions to alleviate drought may be justified for food crops grown in those South Asian farming systems that are predominantly rainfed. However, to provide the substantial production, sustainability and food security benefits that the region will need in coming decades, the study proposed that these be complemented by other water interventions, and by improvements to soil fertility for the cereals and plant protection with chickpea.

Norovirus (NoV) is a major cause of acute non-bacterial gastroenteritis in all age groups worldwide. To detect NoV from foods, polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation or ultracentrifugation methods are generally used with reverse transcription (RT)-PCR. These methods need to use complicated procedures and varied buffers depending on the kinds of food matrices. In this study, we suggested a universal method to recover NoV in food and water samples as a prior step to real-time RT-PCR. As a NoV surrogate model, feline calicivirus (FCV) was used. FCV was artificially inoculated to samples, and then concentrated by the adsorption-elution method using negatively charged membrane filters. The detection limit was 4.3×10¹ PFU/250 mL for distilled water, 4.3×10² PFU/250 mL for environmental waters, and 4.3×10² PFU/15 g for lettuce and oyster. We were able to identify the possibility of one universal and time-saving method to detect NoV in food and water samples without modifications.

Durante os primeiros dias após a eclosão, as larvas da tilápia do Nilo suprem suas necessidades nutricionais com as reservas vitelínicas, pois nem a cavidade bucal encontra-se aberta nem o trato intestinal está completamente formado. Após o consumo do vitelo, o animal já é uma pós-larva e sua alimentação passa a ser exógena e composta principalmente por microalgas e zooplâncton. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a influência de Spirulina platensis, no desempenho zootécnico de pós-larvas (pl's) da tilápia do Nilo, submetidas a diferentes salinidades durante o período de reversão sexual. No primeiro experimento, além da S. platensis, também foi ofertada ração microparticulada (50% PB) contendo o hormônio masculinizante 17 ï¡-metiltestosterona. O delineamento foi inteiramente casualizado e dividido em três tratamentos com três repetições cada. Os animais foram cultivados nas salinidades 0, 15 e 25 g.L-1. No segundo experimento, após o período de 28 dias de reversão sexual, as tilápias foram cultivadas por mais 32 dias em água doce. Após este período, o desempenho zootécnico e as taxas de reversão sexual em todos os tratamentos foram avaliados. A análise de variância não evidenciou diferenças estatísticas significativas (P > 0.05) entre os tratamentos para ganho de peso, taxa de crescimento específico, taxa de sobrevivência em ambas as fases de cultivo e para a taxa de reversão sexual ao final do experimento. As variações de salinidade no ambiente de cultivo não interferiram no desempenho zootécnico e índices de reversão sexual das tilápias quando alimentadas com S. platensis e ração comercial.

GRP40; IFPRI1 | Gruère Guillaume P., 'Agricultural, food, and water nanotechnologies for the poor Opportunities, constraints, and role of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research', , IFPRI, 2011

A simple and reliable method for rapid and selective extraction and determination of trace levels of Cd²⁺ was developed by dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) coupled to flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) detection. The main factors affecting the DLLME, such as concentration of DPTH, pH, extraction and disperser solvent type and their volume, were optimized for the best extract efficiency. Under the optimum conditions, i.e., pH 5.4, [DPTH] = 6 × 10⁻³%, a preconcentration factor of 55 was reached. The lower limit of detection (LOD) obtained under the optimal conditions was 0.4 μg L⁻¹. The precision for 14 replicate determinations at 30 and 100 μg L⁻¹ of Cd was 2.7% and 1.9% relative standard deviation (R.S.D.), respectively. The calibration graph using the preconcentration method was linear from 5 to 100 μg L⁻¹, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9898. The proposed method was successfully applied to the preconcentration and determination of cadmium in food, vegetation, and water samples and in a BCR-176 standard reference material.

For decades, increasing land productivity was a major driver of improving food security and reducing rural poverty. However, with increasing water scarcities, competing water demand across different sectors, and increasing cost of investments in water resources development require a paradigm shift. Improving the productivity of water use is emerging as a new way of addressing water scarcity while reducing vulnerability and improving income. Increasing both physical and economic water productivities (quantity per drop and value per drop) are central to this approach. The extent to which physical and economic water productivity should be improved is and area and context specific. However, the approach is especially important in areas that are populated with large agriculturally dependent small-holder rural people and areas that experience recurrent droughts and floods and lack access to proper infrastructure. A major part of the Ganga-Brahamaputra-Meghna (MBG) river basins have such characteristics. This report examines the current situation of poverty, food security and water productivity and their linkages and knowledge gaps in the MBG basins.

There are a number of potential opportunities associated with agricultural, food, and water nanotechnology for the poor, but to achieve such opportunities a number of challenges need to be overcome. This paper first provides a rapid assessment of key technologies that could have a large impact on the poor via increased agricultural productivity, improved food and water safety, and nutrition. Second, it reviews some of the main challenges to their deployment and adoption by the poor. It concludes with a discussion of the potential role of the CGIAR in facilitating the poor's access to beneficial nanotechnologies.