Challenges and opportunities to livestock breeding programmes in India

Animal breeding in India has a long and chequered history. High pressure on agricultural land and increasing human population opened a new opportunity for the livestock and poultry sector as a promising food industry. Productivity of livestock in India is low due to less coverage of livestock under structured breeding programmes, inadequate nutrition and its entanglement with several socio‐economic issues. A bottom‐up approach to breeding policy formulation addressing local needs is required with assured flow of investments. Cattle slaughter is banned in India; hence, a legal policy to curb widespread indiscriminate mating is required which may incur substantial financial and infrastructural burdens for castration of stray males and strengthening of cow rehabilitation centres. Genetic evaluation of indigenous cattle with progeny testing (PT) requires substantial financial support, without affecting the already existing PT for exotic cattle breeds used in the local cross‐breeding programmes and PT of new genotypes obtained from crosses of exotic and local breeds of cattle and for purebred buffaloes. Small ruminants need special attention due to their socio‐economic importance in rural and often highly disadvantaged communities and because they are the second most important meat‐producing species after poultry. Genetic improvement of small ruminants should be accompanied by attention to shrinking grazing resources which would require strong political will together with financial support. The outreach of breeding programmes for small ruminants is currently limited; there is also a lack of linkage between the market and producers that discourages farmers from adopting clear breeding objectives like improvement in growth rate, as animals are seldom sold on weight basis. Apart from government agencies, involvement of private sector, non‐government organizations, local co‐operatives, self‐help groups and self‐sustainable community‐based breeding programmes can strengthen market linkages. Strengthening of the existing infrastructure along with technical input and skilled manpower is essential for achieving the breeding objectives.     

Effect of plant growth regulators on nitrate uptake and its reduction in radish cotyledons

Pretreatment of radish (Raphanus sativus L.) seedlings with exogenous hormones in the absence of external nitrate, resulted in a system having enough hormone levels to mediate the responses or activate the metabolic pathways which are necessary for nitrate (NO₃) uptake and reduction. Effects of pretreatment of radish seedlings with KN, GA, and ABA on the induction of NO₃ transport and corresponding NR activity, upon exposure to NO₃ were investigated. A low NO₃, uptake rate was observed with hormones when compared to DW‐control, while its induction pattern exhibited a sort of biphasic kinetics. It was observed that each hormone treatment affected NO₃ uptake and reduction specifically at different ambient concentrations of NO₃. On the basis of this, the operation of different constitutive and inducible (CHATS, LATS, HATS, and IHATS) transport systems was resolved for different hormonal treatments. Further, the hypothesis that nitrate uptake has direct role on nitrate reduction was supported by all treatments, except KN where highest NR activity despite lowest NO₃ uptake, was recorded. The results with KN points towards enhanced NR mRNA and de novo synthesis of enzyme.     

Prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in slaughtered cattle and buffaloes in Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic

This is the first report regarding isolation of Campylobacter in caecum and bile samples obtained from ruminants in Vientiane, Lao PDR. Campylobacter was isolated from 3 (1.6%) of the 184 caecum samples and 1 (1.0%) of the 100 bile samples obtained from buffaloes. Three of the 4 isolates were determined to be C. jejuni, which was detected in 2 caecum samples and 1 bile sample; the other caecum sample contained C. fetus. Campylobacter was not isolated from any of the 82 cattle caecum samples. Our results suggest that cattle and buffaloes may not be important sources of Campylobacter food poisoning in Lao PDR.     

Chlorophyll Content, Hill Reaction and PEPcase Activity in Relation to Hybrid Vigour in Pearl Millet during Early Seedling Growth

Three hybrids of Pennisetum americanum L. Leeke were analyzed for growth and photosynthetic components during early growth and compared with their respective parents. Growth in terms of shoot length, fresh weight and dry weight along with the chlorophylls, and Hill activity revealed better parental and/or mid parental heterosis in all the hybrids over their respective parents. However, PEPcase activity displayed heterosis only in BJ-104. In other two hybrids no heterosis over the parents could be observed indicating thereby that the activity of this enzyme may not be rate limiting in parental lines.
Nevertheless, it appears that in pearl millet hybrids improved photosynthetic apparatus as observed in chlorophyll contents and Hill reaction may be one of the early expressions of hybrid vigour.     

Carbohydrate reserves as a competing sink: evidence from tapping rubber trees

Carbohydrate reserve storage in trees is usually considered a passive function, essentially buffering temporary discrepancies between carbon availability and demand in the annual cycle. Recently, however, the concept has emerged that storage might be a process that competes with other active sinks for assimilate. We tested the validity of this concept in Hevea brasiliensis Müll. Arg. (rubber) trees, a species in which carbon availability can be manipulated by tapping, which induces latex regeneration, a high carbon-cost activity. The annual dynamics of carbohydrate reserves were followed during three situations of decreasing carbon availability: control (no tapping), tapped and tapped with Ethephon stimulation. In untapped control trees, starch and sucrose were the main carbohydrate compounds. Total nonstructural carbohydrates (TNC), particularly starch, were depleted following bud break and re-foliation, resulting in an acropetal gradient of decreasing starch concentration in the stem wood. During the vegetative season, TNC concentration increased. At the end of the vegetative season, there were almost no differences in TNC concentration along the trunk. In tapped trees, the vertical gradient of starch concentration was locally disturbed by the presence of the tapping cut. However, the main effect of tapping was a dramatic increase in TNC concentration, particularly starch, throughout the trunk and in the root. The difference in TNC concentration between tapped and untapped trees was highest when latex production was highest (October); the difference was noticeable even in areas of the trees that are unlikely to be directly involved in latex regeneration, and it was enhanced by Ethephon stimulation, which is known to increase latex metabolism and flow duration. Thus, contrary to what could be expected if reserves serve as a passive buffer, a decrease in carbohydrate availability resulted in a net increase in carbohydrate reserves at the trunk scale. Such behavior supports the view that trees tend to adjust the amount of carbohydrate reserves stored to the level of metabolic demand, at the possible expense of growth.     

Distribution and establishment of the alien Australian redclaw crayfish,Cherax quadricarinatus,in the Zambezi Basin

1. Crayfish are invasive polytrophic keystone species, which are phylogenetically unique on the African continent. The Australian redclaw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus is invasive in southern African freshwater systems including the Zambezi River Basin. Surveys conducted across the Zambezi Basin (Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia) between 2017 and 2019 showed that C. quadricarinatus is broadly distributed across the Upper and Middle Zambezi and is rapidly spreading through natural and human-mediated means across several ecoregions.
2. The probability of capture (P_capture), catch per unit effort (CPUE) and population characteristics of C. quadricarinatus from the recent Barotse floodplain invasion were compared with older invasions from Lake Kariba and Kafue River.
3. The P_capture and CPUE of C. quadricarinatus in the recently invaded region of the Barotse floodplain were similar to those of the older invasions. Mass and carapace length of C. quadricarinatus from the Barotse floodplain were significantly lower than those of C. quadricarinatus from the older invasions. Sex ratios differed significantly between the three invasive populations. The Barotse floodplain population had a disproportionate investment in females (65.3%) and intersex individuals (8.4%). No crayfish were detected in the Zambezian Headwaters or the Okavango Floodplains ecoregions, but current spread rates are 49 km yr⁻¹ downstream and 12 km yr⁻¹ upstream.
4. Investment in population management and the prevention of spread will have high conservation value across the invaded regions in order to restrict crayfish ecological impacts via direct predation and competition. In areas where crayfish are in high abundance, existing fisheries are affected through damage to nets, leading to increased net abandonment and ghost gear pollution in invaded regions.
5. The emphasis should be on developing cohesive transboundary biosecurity policies in southern Africa to limit further spread that will threaten the integrity of freshwater ecosystems. However, long-term monitoring is needed to gauge invasion risk to sensitive areas such as the Okavango Floodplains ecoregion and determine field-based ecological impacts.

     

Dry Matter Accumulation and Associated Changes in Biochemical Parameters during Wheat Grain Development

Field experiments were conducted in Rajkot, Gujarat, India comparing three cultivars of wheat, viz. Raj-1555, Lok-1 and Sonera, all differing in their grain yield. Apical grain of the seventh spikelet from the main spike was selected as a representative grain in each cultivar and analyzed at 4-day intervals from anthesis to maturity for dry matter, starch, sugars and protein content. The data for dry matter accumulation and starch content were fitted to a quadratic polynomial exponential which revealed a close correspondence between these two parameters. The absolute rates of starch and dry matter accumulation were highest in Lok-1 followed by Sonera and Raj-1555, respectively; however, the duration of the grain-filling observed from these curves was highest in Raj-1555. The maximum weight of the grain at harvest was in Lok-1 (80 mg) followed by Raj-1555 (71 mg) and Sonera (50 mg), respectively. Increase in the starch content coincided well with dry matter accumulation. Reducing and nonreducing sugars were high during early stage but declined with advances in growth up to almost middle of the grain growth; high levels were even found at later stages. Although protein increased with increasing grain growth in Raj-1555 and Sonera, no clear trend was observed in Lok-1 in relation to dry matter accumulation. The results are discussed in relation to the use of polynomial functions and the contribution of photosynthate supply from various plant parts in relation to grain growth and yield in wheat.     

Role of lunar phases,rainfall, and wind in predicting Hilsa shad (Tenualosa ilisha) catch in the northern Bay of Bengal

Hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) is an important commercial fish in India. This study investigates relationships among Hilsa catch per unit effort (CPUE) and the corresponding lunar phase, rainfall variability, wind vector, and month in the northern Bay of Bengal. Hilsa catch during the monsoon season of three consecutive years (2013–2015) was analyzed by using a Generalized Least Square model with lunar phase and monsoon months (June–September) as categorical variables and wind direction as circular variable. Significantly higher Hilsa catch was observed during the waning crescent and waxing gibbous lunar phases and during easterly winds. There was no significant effect of wind velocity. Daily rainfall was significantly correlated with Hilsa migration toward the estuary. Among the four monsoon months, September exhibited the most positive significant correlation with the Hilsa CPUE. Model predicted CPUE underestimated the actual CPUE in 2016 by 20%.     

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT FOR LAND DEGRADATION MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY THINKING

It is increasingly recognised that land degradation monitoring and assessment can benefit from incorporating multiple sources of knowledge, using a variety of methods at different scales, including the perspectives of researchers, land managers and other stakeholders. However, the knowledge and methods required to achieve this are often dispersed across individuals and organisations at different levels and locations. Appropriate knowledge management mechanisms are therefore required to more efficiently harness these different sources of knowledge and facilitate their broader dissemination and application. This paper examines what knowledge is, how it is generated and explores how it may be stored, transferred and exchanged between knowledge producers and users before it is applied to monitor and assess land degradation at the local scale. It suggests that knowledge management can also benefit from the development of mechanisms that promote changes in understanding and efficient means of accessing and/or brokering knowledge. Broadly, these processes for knowledge management can (i) help identify and share good practices and build capacity for land degradation monitoring at different scales and in different contexts and (ii) create knowledge networks to share lessons learned and monitoring data among and between different stakeholders, scales and locations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.