Historical biogeography and evolutionary diversification of Lilium(Liliaceae): New insights from plastome phylogenomics

Here, we infer the historical biogeography and evolutionary diversification of the genus Lilium. For this purpose, we used the complete plastomes of 64 currently accepted species in the genus Lilium(14plastomes were newly sequenced) to recover the phylogenetic backbone of the genus and a timecalibrated phylogenetic framework to estimate biogeographical history scenarios and evolutionary diversification rates of Lilium. Our results suggest that ancient climatic changes and geological tectonic activities jointly shaped the distribution range and drove evolutionary radiation of Lilium, including the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum(MMCO), the late Miocene global cooling, as well as the successive uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(QTP) and the strengthening of the monsoon climate in East Asia during the late Miocene and the Pliocene. This case study suggests that the unique geological and climatic events in the Neogene of East Asia, in particular the uplift of QTP and the enhancement of monsoonal climate, may have played an essential role in formation of uneven distribution of plant diversity in the Northern Hemisphere.

Why is the beautyberry so colourful? Evolution,biogeography,and diversification of fruit colours in Callicarpa(Lamiaceae)

Fruit colour is essential to seed dispersal,speciation,and biological diversity in global ecosystems.The relationship between fruit-colour variation and species diversification has long been of interest in evolutionary biology,but remains poorly understood at the genus level.Here,we used Callicarpa,a typical representative of pantropical angiosperm,to analyse whether fruit colours are correlated with biogeographic distribution,dispersal events,and diversification rate.We estimated a time-calibrated phylogeny for Callicarpa and reconstructed ancestral fruit colour.Utilizing phylogenetic methods,we estimated the major dispersal events across the phylogenetic tree and the most likely fruit colours related to each dispersal event,and tested whether the dispersal frequencies and distances of the four fruit colours between major biogeographical areas were equal.We then tested whether fruit colours are correlated with latitude,elevation,and diversification rate.Biogeographical reconstructions showed that Callicarpa originated in the East Asia and Southeast Asia during the Eocene(-35.53 Ma) and diverse species diverged mainly in the Miocene and lasted into the Pleistocene.Large-scale dispersal events were significantly associated with violet-fruited lineages.Furthermore,different fruit colours were markedly correlated with different latitudes and elevations(e.g.,violet fruits were correlated with higher latitudes and elevations;red fruits and black fruits with lower latitudes;white fruits with higher elevations).Notably,violet fruits were statistically associated with highest diversification rates,driving fruit colour variation among different regions globally.Our results contribute to further understanding why fruit colour is so variable at the genus level of angiosperms in different areas around the world.

Diversification evidence of bitcoin and gold from wavelet analysis

To measure the diversification capability of Bitcoin,this study employs wavelet analysis to investigate the coherence of Bitcoin price with the equity markets of both the emerging and developed economies,considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Russia-Ukraine war.The results based on the data from January 9,2014 to May 31,2022 reveal that compared with gold,Bitcoin consistently provides diversification opportunities with all six representative market indices examined,specifically under the normal market condition.In particular,for short-term horizons,Bitcoin shows favorably low correlation with each index for all years,whereas exception is observed for gold.In addition,diversification between Bitcoin and gold is demonstrated as well,mainly for short-term investments.However,the diversification benefit is conditional for both Bitcoin and gold under the recent pandemic and war crises.The findings remind investors and portfolio managers planning to incorporate Bitcoin into their portfolios as a diversification tool to be aware of the global geopolitical conditions and other uncertainty in considering their investment tools and durations.

Cover Enhancement Method for Audio Steganography Based on Universal Adversarial Perturbations with Sample Diversification

Steganography techniques,such as audio steganography,have been widely used in covert communication.However,the deep neural network,especially the convolutional neural network(CNN),has greatly threatened the security of audio steganography.Besides,existing adversarial attacks-based countermeasures cannot provide general perturbation,and the trans-ferability against unknown steganography detection methods is weak.This paper proposes a cover enhancement method for audio steganography based on universal adversarial perturbations with sample diversification to address these issues.Universal adversarial perturbation is constructed by iteratively optimizing adversarial perturbation,which applies adversarial attack tech-niques,such as Deepfool.Moreover,the sample diversification strategy is designed to improve the transferability of adversarial perturbations in black-box attack scenarios,where two types of common audio-processing operations are considered,including noise addition and moving picture experts group audio layer III(MP3)compression.Furthermore,the perturbation ensemble method is applied to further improve the attacks’transferability by integrating perturbations of different detection networks with heterogeneous architec-tures.Consequently,the single universal adversarial perturbation can enhance different cover audios against a CNN-based detection network.Extensive experiments have been conducted,and the results demonstrate that the average missed-detection probabilities of the proposed method are higher than those of the state-of-the-art methods by 7.3%and 16.6%for known and unknown detection networks,respectively.It verifies the efficiency and transferability of the proposed methods for the cover enhancement of audio steganography.

Determinants of Household Choice of Livelihood Diversification Strategies in Selected Drought Prone Areas of the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples’ Region, Ethiopia

The study aimed at identifying the determinants of household’s choice of livelihood diversification strategies. The result of the study based on a total of 384 sample respondents selected using multistage sampling procedures. Furthermore the study employed bivariate Probit econometric model to identify factors affecting household’s choice of livelihood diversification strategies. The result of the descriptive statistics showed that households in the study area were engaged in four types of combination of livelihood diversification strategies: on-farm only, on-farm plus off-farm, on-farm plus non-farm, and on-farm plus off-farm plus non-farm with their respective share of 34.9, 11.5, 47.9 and 5.7 percent respectively. The econometric model result showed that wealth, sex, education level, livestok holding, and training were negatively and significantly determined households choice of off-farm livelihood strategies;whereas past erosion hazard and distance to market were positively and significantly determined their choice of off-farm livelihood strategies. On the other hand, wealth, dependency ratio, past erosion hazard, market availability, yield loss/reduction due to drought, distance to credit source, distance to market, frequency of extension contact, and ICT ownership (Radio, TV and/or Mobile phone) positively determine household’s choice of non-farm livelihood strategies whereas access to irrigation and distance to credit negatively determined their choice of non-farm livelihood strategies.

Diversification of Autonomous Reading Materials for English Major

Autonomous learning and its importance has attracted more and more attention,on the basis of which,independent read-ing activities should emphasizes the student as the center in the activity.So the choice of independent reading materials should bebased on their requirement.The materials should have the features of interesting and informative,varied style,content suitable forteaching materials,etc.At last how English teacher guide and conduct the students’activities of self-monitoring and self-assess-ment.

Relationship between Prosopis juliflora invasion and livelihood diversification in the South Afar region,Northeast Ethiopia

This study assessed the effects of Prosopis juliflora invasion on livelihood diversification and evaluated the determinants of livelihood diversification in two districts in the South Afar region of Northeast Ethiopia.Using random sampling method,154 households and 2 focus groups composed of 10 individuals were selected from four sites in the two districts.The relationship between P.juliflora invasion and incomes obtained from P.juliflora varied across the study sites.In Awash Fentale District and Amibara District,11.0%and 3.2%of households,respectively,earned income from P.juliflora charcoal production.In total,14.3%of households were involved in charcoal production.In addition,19.9%of households earned income from selling P.juliflora pods and wood materials in the two districts.With the exception of income from P.juliflora charcoal production,the sex of households did not affect incomes from other livelihood activities.Moreover,household educational attainment significantly affected income obtained from vegetables,fruits,and cereal crops.Male householders were engaged in more diverse livelihood activities than female householders.Reversing the severe invasion of P.juliflora on grazing and woodlands in the region is advisable through integrated natural resources,pastoralist participation,and multidisciplinary research strategies.

Maize production under risk:The simultaneous adoption of off-farm income diversification and agricultural credit to manage risk

Farmers in Pakistan continue to produce maize under various types of risks and adopt several strategies to manage those risks. This study is the first attempt to investigate the factors affecting the concurrent adoption of off-farm income diversification and agricultural credit which the farmers use to manage the risk to maize production. We apply bivariate and multinomial probit approaches to the primary data collected from four districts of Punjab Province in Pakistan. The results show that strong correlations exist between the off-farm diversification and agricultural credit which indicates that the use of one risk management strategy leads to another. The findings demonstrate that education, livestock number, maize farming experience, perceptions of biological risks and risk-averse nature of the growers significantly encourage the adoption of diversification as a risk management tool while farm size inversely affects the adoption of diversification. Similarly, in the adoption equation of credit, maize farming experience, farm size, perceptions of price and biological risks and risk attitude of farmers significantly enhance the chances of adopting agricultural credit to manage farm risks. These findings are important for the relevant stakeholders who seek to offer carefully designed risk minimizing options to the maize farmers.

Livelihood Diversification of Farm Households and Its Impact on Cultivated Land Utilization in Agro-pastoral Ecologically-vulnerable Areas in the Northern China

The relationship between livelihood diversification of farm households and cultivated land utilization has become a core research topic related to global environmental change.Agro-pastoral ecologically-vulnerable areas face challenges such as insufficient ecosystem conservation,low agricultural production,and weak economies.In this study,215 farm households from Zhengxiangbai Banner,Taibus Banner,and Duolun County of Inner Mongolia were surveyed.The sustainable livelihoods framework of the United Kingdom(UK)Department for International Development(DFID)was used to measure the livelihood capital of these farm households.A one-way analysis of variance(ANOVA)was applied to examine the differences in the livelihood capital of different types households,and a correlation analysis was applied to analyze its impact on cultivated land utilization.Results showed that households with non-farming activities accounted for 64.7%of the total surveyed households,and non-farming employment was becoming more prevalent.Physical and financial capital was the driving factors for livelihood diversity.Each livelihood capital had key factors that affected household farmland use behaviors,such as the age of householder,the labor ratio,proportion of income,farmland scale,number of machines,and these had a significantly positive or negative influence on farmland use.Full-time farming households were more likely to transfer the land into cultivation and invest more labor,while non-farming households with high income were likely to transfer farmland out and invest more money to develop efficient farming or improve the employment skills.The results of this study suggest that policymakers need to fully consider livelihood changes of local households.It is effective to strengthen labor training,create farmland market and improve the efficiency of farmland utilization.We hope to achieve a win-win scenario to improve local economies and ecosystem conservation.

The future of mountain agriculture amidst continual farm-exit, livelihood diversification and outmigration in the Central Himalayan villages

Agrarian patterns in mountain ecosystems have seen a considerable change in the past decades with a vast proportion of the population abandoning traditional agriculture and diversifying their livelihood options, primarily through out-migration. This trend is especially common amongst the subsistence based family-farming communities in developing countries. This study aims at assessing methods of livelihood diversification and factors influencing farm-exit in Central Himalayan villages of Uttarakhand, India, while trying to understand local perspectives on challenges in pursuing agriculture as a viable livelihood option. We collected qualitative and quantitative data from 951 households across 60 villages evenly distributed across six hill districts of Uttarakhand, using key-person interviews and household surveys. The results of the study highlight that farm-exit is significantly influenced by livelihood diversification, number of migrants, number of female family members, and availability of irrigation facilities. In general, perception of the respondents towards agriculture as a viable livelihood option is rather unenthusiastic, with 87% of the respondents citing human wildlife conflict as the main challenge in pursuing farming, amongst several other challenges. Diversification is an integral component of present rural economy with 80.13% of the total population dependent on more than one source of income, to maintain their livelihoods. However, there is no statistically significant influence of livelihood diversification on annual income of the household. If agro-based entrepreneurial ventures are to be promoted in the region there is an urgent need for timely introduction of radical policy, institutional, and land-reforms. Economic uplifting of the local population through such efforts can also be a possible solution to the growing trends of out-migration in the state.

Diversification of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in seven geographically different paddy soils in Sichuan

The diversification of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) communities and their potential nitrification activity (PNA) on a large scale have not been well documented. In this work, seven paddy soils from different geographic regions in Sichuan, P. R. China were selected to determine the spatial distribution of the activities, abundances and community compositions of AOB and AOA. PNA varied greatly among paddy soils, and was positively correlated with soil pH (P< 0.05). The abundance of AOA was 81.1 to 1 670.0 times more than that of AOB, which indicates paddy soil environments favor the growth of AOA. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprints of amoA genes exhibited distinct spatial differences in AOA compositions rather than in AOB compositions. Sequencing analysis revealed that acidic soils were dominated by AOA within marine group 1.1 a-associated lineage, whereas the soil group 1.1b lineage AOA predominated in neutral and alkaline soils. Both nitrosopira cluster 3-like and Nitrosomonas cluster 7-like AOB dominated the AOB communities in the paddy soils. Redundancy analysis suggested that soil NH4^+-N content was the most significant driver determining the AOB community structure, while no significant correlation between AOA community structure and soil properties was found. The findings highlight that the activity and composition of ammonia oxidizers exhibit spatial variations in complex paddy fields due to the joint influence of soil variables associated with pH and N availability.

Ediacaran Discs from the Jodhpur Sandstone, Marwar Supergroup, India: A Biological Diversification or Taphonomic Interplay?

The noncarbonaceous Ediacaran discs of variable morphologies from the Jodhpur Sandstone Formation of the Marwar Supergroup, western Rajasthan, suggest different biologic affinities of plant and animal kingdom. These discs are commonly preserved on the bedding surfaces of siliciclastic sandstone and shale in strong positive relief and appear to possess a flexible to rigid body. Discs assignable to Aspidella, Cyclomedusa, Nimbia and Heimalora;all possibly inclining towards cnidarian affinity are being reported from the sandstone beds in Sursagar area. Variable morphologies among discs preserved in siliciclastic shale beds from the Artiya Kalan area support scyphozoan affinity (earlier named Marsonia from the same locality) and cnidarian affinity for small discs comparable with Funisia (considered being the first animals having sexual reproduction). Disc’s morphologies also suggest ephyra stage of Aurilia (a cnidarian form) or budding stages of some fungi, like Germinosphaera (multicellular benthic fungal fossils) and noncarbonaceous discs with well preserved wrinkles and folds like in Chuaria. Discs from the Jodhpur Sandstone, may at times display taphonomic interplay, but consistency and repetition in morphology support variable biological affinities representing diverse assemblage and advance ecosystem prevailing during Ediacaran period. A degree of genetic variability can be expected within any taxa, and this may be compounded by preservation factors affecting the Jodhpur Ediacaran discs. Sudden increase in size or gigantism is a common feature of Ediacaran life, which is evident in case of Jodhpur discs also. On the basis of fossil assemblage, the Jodhpur Group (the Marwar Supergroup) is regionally correlated with the Bhander Group of the Vindhyan Supergroup and Krol Group of Lesser Himalaya. Globally, the assemblage is comparable with the Long Mynd Group, Shropshire, UK, Fermuse Formation Newfoundland, South Australia, Russia and Norway.

Mitogenome and phylogenetic analyses support rapid diversification among species groups of small-eared shrews genus Cryptotis(Mammalia:Eulipotyphla:Soricidae)

The small-eared shrew genus Cryptotis is the third largest in the family Soricidae and occurs in North,Central,and northern South America.In Mexico and Central and South America,most species inhabit geographically isolated moist,montane habitats at middle and high elevations in a typical sky-island pattern.The 49 recognized species have been partitioned into as many as six species groups based on morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies.The relationships among these species groups are poorly resolved,and their evolutionary histories,including migration patterns and locomotor adaptations,remain unclear.Herein,we provide a new phylogeny incorporating complete mitochondrial genomes(mitogenomes)and supermatrix approach.We compared different evolutionary scenarios using approximately unbiased(AU),Kishino-Hasegawa(KH),and Shimodaira-Hasegawa(SH)statistical tests.The phylogenetic hypothesis based on mitogenomes revealed novel relationships supporting a basal position for the Cryptotis parvusgroup in the genus,and a close relationship between C.gracilis and one clade of the C.thomasi-group.The former relationship is consistent with the least derived humerus morphology and northern distribution of the species.The latter relationship i mplies multiple migrations between Central and South America.The lack of fine resolution for the species group relationships may be due partly to the lack of taxon sampling.In contrast,multi-approach analyses suggest that the unresolved relationships may be a result of rapid diversification during the early stages of Cryptotis evolution.

Analysis of Advantages and Disadvantages in Diversification Strategy

Diversification Strategy, or called Multi-operatio ns Strategy, means the strategy taken by enterprises engaging two or more kinds of material or labor products for different economic uses in the same time. It is H.Igor Ansoff who was a great economics master famous with his Product-mark et Strategy theory announced in the 1950’s. Coming out of practice of some others, we may draw a conclusion that it looks li ke each of enterprise expansions reduces operating-risk. But in fact, the enter prise probably gains more troubles and enlarges overall-risk if it takes a dive rsified expansion neither concerned with its former vocations nor familiar w ith the new trade it carries on at all. Basic principles of diversification strategy Diversification Strategy leads an enterprise into new trades that it has nev er encountered before. But in the new domain, it will be much stranger in pr oduction, marketing, technology, information and management, and the risk comes to a higher degree. A stable, sturdy and superior major-business is the fundame ntal prerequisite for an enterprise’s existence and development, and also the ba sic premise of taking Diversification Strategy. But major-business with great superiority to others should not be considere d as an assurance of profits in new diversified expansion. It is also one of the most important things to analyze circumstances of the trade we newly encountere d and make a decision among different developing choices. To Diversification Str ategy, the decision means a lot. Fundamental forms of diversification strategy It is with great meaning to choose a proper form of diversification strategy and make choice among entering different developing fields. An enterprise should ch oose developing directions according to its management and strategy objectiv es fit for its resident environments. According to the different diversification levels, we may divide all enterprises taking diversification strategy into four groups: 1) Simple Business Corporation; 2) Major Business Corporation; 3) R elated- diversified Corporation; 4) Non-related diversified Corporation. After gaining knowledge about the basic conditions and forms, analysis about the advantages and disadvantages is quite important to handle the scale of diversif ication strategy. Ⅰ Advantages in Diversification: 1) Fewer risks in operating an enterprise; 2) Trying new profitable fields and keeping a continuous development; 3) Making a good use of original intangible assets and sharing resources altoget her; 4) Easier to achieve the purpose of expand and finally monopolize the market. Ⅱ Disadvantages in Diversification: The operating-risk may be reduced through taking diversification strategy and m ake diversified investment, but the enterprise will encounter new risks with ent ering new trades. Those risks include: 1) Financial risk; 2) Risks in organization and administration; 3) Risk of assets’ decentralization; 4) Risk of unsymmetrical information. Diversification strategy is a two-edge blade. The result that whether it benefi ts or does harm to the enterprise always depends on whether the enterprise takes proper developing directions according to its environments or not.

Altitudinal seasonality as a potential driver of morphological diversification in rear-edge bird populations

Populations at the low latitude limits of a species range(rear-edge populations)are often considered more vulnerable to climate change.However,their ability to track different environmental settings at a regional scale has been widely overlooked,although this may be relevant to accurately assess their adaptive capacity to cope with ongoing changes.Here we tested whether the endemic African Chaffinch(Fringilla coelebs africana)tracks environmental changes(e.g.decreasing temperatures,snow cover)by rearranging their numbers between seasons(spring vs.winter)along the altitude gradients of its northwestern African range.We additionally tested whether these seasonal changes in abundance were paralleled by morphological variation,suggesting a process of population diversification.We assessed African Chaffinch abundance in tree covered farmland and woodland sites distributed along an altitude gradient in spring and winter.In addition,we captured and measured chaffinches within the study gradient to explore the patterns of morphological variation.Our results showed that chaffinches shifted to lowlands from snow covered highlands during winter.In addition,highland individuals showed longer and more concave wings than their lowland counterparts.These morphological traits are usually related to flight efficiency in migratory birds,which suggest the presence of altitudinal movements aimed to track the environmental seasonality caused by orography.These results suggest a potential role of altitudinal seasonality as a driver of regional diversification within the African Chaffinch populations,which could be occurring in other North African avian species given their relatively high endemicity in the region.The evolutionary and conservation implications of these displacements have been often overlooked despite they can shape the adaptive capacity of rear-edge bird populations to face the ongoing environmental changes in this peripheral area of the Palearctic.

Diversification and Sustainable Development in Chinese Agriculture

Feeding a growing population exceeding 1 billion is a big challenge to the Chinese government and has partly led to the self-sufficient policy in grain production and supply for decades. However, the efforts to push grain production everywhere have resulted in not only deterioration of the environment but also stagnation or even reduction in farmers' income as production costs continue to increase. This situation might be worsening after China's accession to the WTO that provides market access for bulk commodity imports. A sustainable development in Chinese agriculture depends on diversification, or structural adjustment, that allows Chinese farmers to fully utilize their comparative advantage in production of labor-intensive goods. Past experience has shown that diversification has contributed more than a half of the growth in Chinese agriculture during the reform period and reduced stresses on the environment at the same time. It is likely to contribute even more to Chinese agriculture in the future

Livelihood Capital and Livelihood Diversification for Different Farmers in Yuanjiang Dry-Hot River Valley

Under the analytical framework of sustainable livelihoods,we establish the evaluation indicator system for farmers' livelihood capital,to evaluate the current livelihood capital and livelihood diversification for different farmers in the Dai nationality region of Xinping County in the Yuanjiang dry-hot river valley area,and discuss the relationship between livelihood capital and livelihood diversification. Studies have shown that the mode dominated by agriculture,supplemented by non-agricultural activities,combined with breeding,is the commonly used livelihood strategy for farmers in this region. As farmers change from pure agriculture to non-agriculture,their total livelihood capital and nonagricultural livelihood diversification index will increase,while agricultural livelihood diversification index will decrease. In the meantime,their livelihood activities gradually shift from agricultural to non-agricultural ones,which is mainly reflected in the combination of both agricultural and non-agricultural activities. Regression analysis on livelihood capital and livelihood diversification shows that natural and physical capital is the basis of realizing agricultural livelihood diversification. Farmers with rich natural and physical capital will prefer agricultural livelihood strategies. While financial and human capital is the driving force for farmers' transition from pure agriculture to non-agriculture.

Stochastic Modelling on Dynamics of Portfolio Diversifications among the Fixed and Operational Investments through Internal Bivariate Linear Birth, Death and Migration Processes

In this paper, a bivariate stochastic process with Poisson postulates has been considered to model the incomings, outgoings and mutual transfers of investments between and within the portfolios during an epoch of time “t”. Stochastic differential equations were obtained from the simple differential difference equations during the epoch of time “Δt”. The notion of bivariate linear birth, death and migration process has been utilized for measuring various statistical characteristics among the investments of Long and Short terms. All possible fluctuations in the investment flow have been considered to explore more meaningful assumptions with contemporary marketing environments. Mathematical relations for proposed statistical measures such as average sizes and variances of short term and long-term investments along with the correlation coefficient between them are derived after obtaining the related differential equations. Numerical illustrations were provided for better understanding of the developed models with practitioner’s point of view.

Life on Earth Originated Where Later Microbial Oxygenic Photosynthesis Precipitated Banded Iron Formation, Suppressing Life Diversification for 1.4 Ga

The earliest Precambrian microbial structures appear in successions with banded iron formations (BIF) suggesting genetic relationships. The hypothesis of the deep ocean origin of BIFs associated with Mid-Ocean Ridge (MOR) like features seems to have been recently supported by the discovery of peculiar microbial ecosystems with unique faunal assemblages restricted to these volcanic vents. However, new sedimentological evidence points to the accumulation of varved BIF in huge, very shallow lakes of hydrothermal-water situated on continental plates while passing through thePolar Regions, where UV radiation is minimal. The mineral-rich solutions seeped from numerous fumaroles, providing suitable conditions for chemical reactions between inorganic components, incidentally creating organic-like self-multiplying molecules long before the biologically-initiated BIF deposition. Some of these early chemoautotrophic prokaryotes developed oxygenic photosynthesis during half a year of solar illumination. The released oxygen formed iron oxides and carbonates deposited with amorphous silica (geyserite) in laminae as BIF during 3.8 - 1.9 Ga. BIF deposition consumed most of the photosynthetic oxygen for 1.4 billion years. Intensified cyanobacteria oxygenic photosynthesis during 2.4 - 2.2 Ga raised the atmospheric oxygen content (Great Oxidation Event) over the Polar Regions, forming an oxygen-ozone shield against UV radiation. It gradually extended to lower latitudes, enabling prokaryotes to leave their ecologically stable habitat and acclimatize in new ecosystems, where they diversified, leading to eukaryote evolution. The 231/2° inclination of Earth’s rotation axis differentiated the solar effect on the Polar Regions, which controlled life evolution on Earth, as well as on planet Mars (25° inclination), where life probably did not evolve beyond early prokaryotes.

Comprehensive Value Chain Development of Natural Resources for Economic Diversification: The Apiculture Approach

The present economic challenges in Nigeria call for a serious sustainable environment-friendly agricultural enterprise with a great potential that improves export earnings. It is our fervent believe that the contribution of the apiculture sector to its sustainable human development and specifically increases the income of beekeepers and traders of bee products through improved commercialization of quality bee products in Nigeria which will in turn lead to a drastic increase in the GDP of the nation. The overall goal of the Nigeria Apiculture Value Chain (AVC) Development Program is to contribute to an increase income of beekeepers and other actors on the AVC through increase in production capacity, stimulate the efficiency and competitiveness of the AVC products by improving standards, processing capacity so as to access higher value niche markets through Fairtrade International (FLO) certification or organic certifications and to achieve a total sales value of over $5 million by 2035 (Sustainable Development Goal SDG) target on Food Security. Apiculture provides highly desirable products such as honey, comb/wax, pollen, propolis, bee venom, royal jelly, apilarnil and apilanil prop, value added products and pollination services. It is of note to stress the need to urgently embrace the use of modern techniques in keeping honeybees for industrial development of Nigeria and also to enhance exportation of the products to earn growth in the Nigeria’s GDP by diversifying the monolithic economy that is presently based on crude oil exportation.