Capacities and Functionalities Assessment of Veterinary Laboratories in South-west Nigeria Using the FAO Laboratory Mapping Tool

Laboratories play significant roles in all the critical processes of detecting rapid infectious disease outbreaks,risk assessments,early warnings,early responses and notifications,and monitoring and surveillance[1,2].Veterinary Laboratories(VLs)that rapidly identify,respond to and control rapidly spreading and emerging(or re-emerging)infectious and zoonotic diseases is critical to:(1)the financial performance of animal agriculture and international trade;(2)livelihoods of animal related industries;and(3)nutritional status,food security,and the socio-economic well-being of a country[3].

Poverty reduction through the development of inclusive food value chains

Propelled by urbanization,rising incomes,and changing diets,food markets have been expanding in Africa and South Asia,creating the vast potential for job and income opportunities along food supply chains and,hence,for poverty reduction.The novel coronavirus(COVID-19)that spread to a pandemic in early 2020 provokes enormous setbacks to this expansion.This,however,should provide lessons regarding the importance of resilient and inclusive food systems.Emergency responses to COVID-19 should consider interventions towards that end and leverage the opportunities provided by food markets growth as economies recover from the present economic recession.This paper assesses options of how this could be done by facilitating the better functioning and interconnectedness of the many small and medium-sized enterprises that are proliferating along the"hidden middle"of food value chains in storage,logistics,transportation,and wholesale and retail distribution.It also explores how policies can help smallholder farmers connect to this"hidden middle"in more gainful ways and help them climb out of poverty as well.

Status of Highly Hazardous Pesticides and Their Mitigation Measures in Asia

Pesticide is one of the major inputs in modern agriculture and its uses are increasing annually. Pesticides are seen as inherently benign, in the same way that medicines are. Many local languages even use the same word for “pesticide” and “medicine”. Along with the increasing consumption of pesticides, Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs), which are more toxic are still in widespread use in Asia and constitute a substantial challenge to human health and the environment especially in low- and middle-income countries with less resources, training and capacities to deal with them. Reducing the risks posed by HHPs has become a priority in various international chemicals management policies, and many countries have started taking action accordingly. The objective of the paper is to establish the national status of the use of HHPs in Asia in line with FAO/WHO criteria for HHPs and encourage deliberate consideration of mitigation options for effective management of HHPs. This report is based on the nationally registered pesticide active ingredients and other related information obtained from Pesticide Registration Authorities of 13 Asian countries and research reports of different national and international journals. There are currently about 3557 pesticide products (active ingredients) registered in 13 Asian countries to control pests on crops and for public health uses, and 214 HHPs among the list of registered pesticides still in use in these Asian countries. An analysis of the list of registered formulated products revealed that 61 different active ingredients are included in these 214 registered HHPs in Asian countries. Considering the global concern of HHPs, there is thus every reason to develop mass awareness raising programmes based on knowledge, aptitude and practices and to disseminate them within the community in order to inform about the risks of HHPs and to replace HHPs and mitigate human risk and exposure to HHPs. It is concluded that detailed surveys and studies should be formulated with help of experts from academia and research organizations to construct a baseline data which may be helpful to tone down the HHP situation in the country.

Trees as hotspots:Using forests,trees,and agroforestry to foster diverse sustainable landscapes

Forests,trees,and agroforestry(FTA)are ecosystem hotspots.They exemplify the contributions of biodiversity to sustainable and resilient landscapes,green circular economy and to sustainable agriculture and food systems for healthy diets.However,most research on these topics have been performed separately and lack comparison.The International FTA-Kunming Conference'Forests,trees and agroforestry for diverse sustainable landscapes'22nd–24th June 2021,focused on these contributions,brought together scientists NGOs,and policy makers to further the understanding of tree diversity;provided a communication platform for scientists to share their research results;evaluated the role of tree diversity in agroecology and circular agriculture;assessed benefits of landscape restoration;and explored applied research in mountain ecosystems and food security.The goals were to gather evidence that ground the design of solutions that can contribute to the implementation of the post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and towards the UN Food Systems Summit,and the overall implementation of the SDGs.This paper summarizes the outcomes of the international FTA Conference in Kunming 2021 and points out the highlights of research involved in six major themes.

开放环境下农业科技信息资源开放共享——以FAO的实践为例

[目的/意义]开放科学运动的兴起极大地促进了学术传播以及科研成果利用。开放共享作为推进开放科学运动的重要手段,也是推动全球农业科技发展的必要措施。通过梳理开放环境下联合国粮农组织(Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,FAO)面向全球农业科技信息资源的开放共享实践,有助于为推动中国实现农业科技信息资源的开放共享、促进科研成果的转化及利用提供借鉴。[方法/过程]从率先构建并积极践行农业信息管理标准AIMS、持续维护与多渠道开放共享多语种叙词表AGROVOC,以及精心建设与运营国际农业科技信息检索系统AGRIS等多维度,梳理FAO为推进国际农业科技信息资源开放共享的实践进展。[结果/结论]基于FAO为推动国际农业科技信息资源开放共享得出的实践经验,从构建规范化管理体系、提高资源开放共享能力以及促进国际合作等方面对中国农业科技信息资源开放共享的建设工作提出展望。

Investment Requirements in Extension to Achieve Zero Hunger and Adapt to Climate Change

The study reflects on previous World Bank and FAO reports that made the general recommendation to set both research and extension investment targets in developing countries at 1% of agricultural gross domestic product （AgGDP）. In order to define proxies for country-specific extension investment targets, authors developed an extension investment model （EIM） based on socio-economic macro-indicators （poverty, undernourishment, access to information and population density） and a method to define estimates for cost increases related to climate change. These parameters helped estimating the demand for agricultural extension and investments required for it. Results showed that about half of the 94 developing and emerging countries should spend more than 1% of their respective share of GDP derived from agriculture and about a quarter of the countries, mostly in Africa and South East Asia, need to spend more than 2% of their AgGDP. The paper reveals significant differences in average investment requirements in different regions and shows the additional extension costs related to climate change and other areas that currently lack investment.

Effects of the nitrification inhibitor nitrapyrin and tillage practices on yield-scaled nitrous oxide emission from a maize field in Iran

Nitrification inhibitors can effectively decrease nitrification rates and nitrous oxide(N_(2)O)emission while increasing crop yield under certain conditions.However,there is no information available on the effects of nitrification inhibitors and tillage practices on N_(2)O emissions from maize cropping in Iran.To study how tillage practices and nitrapyrin(a nitrification inhibitor)affect N_(2)O emission,a split factorial experiment using a completely randomized block design with three replications was carried out in Northeast Iran,which has a cold semiarid climate.Two main plots were created with conventional tillage and minimum tillage levels,and two nitrogen(N)fertilizer(urea)management systems(with and without nitrapyrin application)were created as subplots.Tillage level did not have any significant effect on soil ammonium(NH_(4)^(+))and nitrate(NO_(3)^(-))concentrations,cumulative amount and yield-scaled N_(2)O emission,and aboveground biomass of maize,whereas nitrapyrin application showed significant effect.Nitrapyrin application significantly reduced the cumulative amount of N_(2)O emission by 41%and 32%in conventional tillage and minimum tillage practices,respectively.A reduction in soil NO_(3)^(-)concentration by nitrapyrin was also observed.The average yield-scaled N_(2)O emission was 13.6 g N_(2)O-N kg^(-1)N uptake in both tillage systems without nitrapyrin application and was significantly reduced to 7.9 and 8.2 g N_(2)O-N kg^(-1)N uptake upon the application of nitrapyrin in minimum tillage and conventional tillage practices,respectively.Additionally,nitrapyrin application increased maize biomass yield by 4%and 13%in the minimum tillage and conventional tillage systems,respectively.Our results indicate that nitrapyrin has a potential role in reducing N_(2)O emission from agricultural systems where urea fertilizers are broadcasted,which is common in Iran due to the practice of traditional farming.

Taking stock after three years of adoption:Experiences and strategies for implementation and monitoring of the UN Voluntary Guidelines on Tenure(VGGT)

Editorial notes This discussion is edited from a dialogue session of the third Global Soil Week 2015(globalsoilweek.org).The Global Soil Week is a collective process and a multi-stakeholder knowledge platform to raise awareness and foster exchange on sustainable soil management and responsible land governance worldwide.It brings together different knowledge communities such as high-level policy-makers,scientists,NGOs,CSOs,farmers,artists,international organizations,and the private sector.

基于Sentinel-1A影像和一维CNN的中国南方生长季早期作物种类识别

作物的早期识别对粮食安全至关重要。在以往的研究中,中国南方作物早期识别面临的主要挑战包括:1)云层覆盖时间长、地块尺寸小且作物类型丰富;2)缺少高时空分辨率合成孔径雷达(synthetic aperture radar,SAR)数据。欧洲航天局Sentinel-1A(S1A)卫星提供的SAR图像具有12 d的重访周期,空间分辨率达10 m,为中国南方作物早期识别提供了新的机遇。为在作物早期识别中充分利用S1A影像的时间特征,本研究提出一维卷积神经网络(one-dimensional convolutional neural network,1D CNN)的增量训练方法:首先利用生长季内全时间序列数据来训练1D CNN的超参数,称为分类器;然后从生长季内第一次S1A影像获取开始,在每个数据获取时间点输入该点之前(包括该点)生长季内所有数据训练分类器在该点的其他参数。以中国湛江地区2017年生长季为研究实例,分别基于VV、VH和VH+VV,评估不同极化数据在该地区的作物分类效果。为验证该方法的有效性,本研究同时应用经典的随机森林(random forest,RF)模型对研究区进行试验。结果表明:1)基于VH+VV、VH和VV极化数据的分类精度依次降低,其中,基于VH+VV后向散射系数时间序列1D CNN和RF测试结果的Kappa系数最大值分别为0.924和0.916,说明S1A时间序列数据在该地区作物分类任务中有效;2)在研究区域内2017年生长季早期,基于1D CNN和RF的5种作物的F-measure均达到0.85及以上,说明本文所构建的1D CNN在该地区主要作物早期分类任务中有效。研究结果证明,针对中国南方作物早期分类,本研究提出的1D CNN训练方案可行。研究结果可为深度学习在作物早期分类任务中的应用提供参考。

Soil-Landscape Estimation and Evaluation Program(SLEEP)to predict spatial distribution of soil attributes for environmental modeling

The spatial distribution of surface and subsurface soil attributes is an important input to environmental modeling.Soil attributes represent an important input to the Soil and Water Assessment Tool(SWAT),which influence the accuracy of the modeling outputs.An ArcGIS-based tool was developed to predict soil attributes and provide inputs to SWAT.The essential inputs are digital elevation model and field observations.Legacy soil data/maps can be used to derive observations when recent field surveys are not available.Additional layers,such as satellite images and auxiliary data,improve the prediction accuracy.The model contains a series of steps(menus)to facilitate iterative analysis.The steps are summarized in deriving many terrain attributes to characterize each pixel based on local attributes as well as the characteristics of the contributing area.The model then subdivides the entire watershed into smaller facets(subdivisions of subwatersheds)and classifies these into groups.A linear regression model to predict soil attributes from terrain attributes and auxiliary data are established for each class and implemented to predict soil attributes for each pixel within the class and then merged for the entire watershed or study area.SLEEP(Soil-Landscape Estimation and Evaluation Program)utilizes Pedo-transfer functions to provide the spatial distribution of the necessary unmapped soil data needed for SWAT prediction.An application of the tool demonstrated acceptable accuracy and better spatial distribution of soil attributes compared with two spatial interpolation techniques.The analysis indicated low sensitivity of SWAT prediction to the number of field observations when SLEEP is used to provide the soil layer.This demonstrates the potential of SLEEP to support SWAT modeling where soil data is scarce.

Detecting patterns of climate change in long-term forecasts of marine environmental parameters

Forecasting environmental parameters in the distant future requires complex modelling and large computational resources.Due to the sensitivity and complexity of forecast models,long-term parameter forecasts(e.g.up to 2100)are uncommon and only produced by a few organisations,in heterogeneous formats and based on different assumptions of greenhouse gases emissions.However,data mining techniques can be used to coerce the data to a uniform time and spatial representation,which facilitates their use in many applications.In this paper,streams of big data coming from AquaMaps and NASA collections of 126 long-term forecasts of nine types of environmental parameters are processed through a cloud computing platform in order to(i)standardise and harmonise the data representations,(ii)produce intermediate scenarios and new informative parameters,and(iii)align all sets on a common time and spatial resolution.Time series crosscorrelation applied to these aligned datasets reveals patterns of climate change and similarities between parameter trends in 10 marine areas.Our results highlight that(i)the Mediterranean Sea may have a standalone‘response’to climate change with respect to other areas,(ii)the Poles are most representative of global forecasted change,and(iii)the trends are generally alarming for most oceans.

CHALLENGES AND CAPACITY GAPS IN SMALLHOLDER ACCESS TO DIGITAL EXTENSION AND ADVISORY SERVICES IN KENYA AND UGANDA

An assessment of the challenges and capacity gaps in smallholder access to digital extension and advisory services(EAS)was made by surveying 197 female and 239 male farmers in Kenya and Uganda.Non-digital extension approaches remain dominant but at least 78%of farmers accessed EAS from electronic sources dominated by radio.This is attributed to the fact that ownership of radios was more widespread than of other digital devices.Challenges that particularly limit the use of digital services included low digital literacy and prohibitive cost of internet and mobile devices.Female and elderly farmers were more likely to report these challenges than their counterparts.Logistic regression model results show that ownership of digital devices,participation in post-production activities,and access to extension were enablers of digital EAS use.Farmers mentioned gaps in obtaining information on crop pest/disease diagnosis and management,fertilizer application,pesticide safety and quality seed.Given the diversity in smallholder technological capabilities and information needs,the recommendations made include integration of digital communication within multimode advisory services that use different but linked communication channels,continued farmer digital innovation capacity enhancement,and participatory design approaches that deliver relevant and actionable information for inclusive scaling of extension activities.

SUSTAINABLE PLANT PEST MANAGEMENT THROUGH OPTIMIZATION AND MINIMIZATION

Plant pests and diseases have significant negative impacts on global food security,world trade and rural livelihoods.Climate change exacerbates these impacts in certain parts of the world.Overreliance on pesticides as the primary tool for plant pest management leads to problems such as pesticide resistance and pest resurgence.Environmental and food safety concerns are also associated with overuse of pesticides in crop production.There is clearly a need for a shift in pest management strategies and practices globally.Optimization of structures and functions in crop production agroecosystems through soil conservation practices and cropping diversification can improve pest regulation services provided in the systems.Prioritization of safer alternatives and practices in the IPM pyramid,such as resistant varieties and biopesticides,helps minimize the use of potentially risky agricultural inputs such as synthetic pesticides.Investment is needed to boost the development of innovative green technologies and practices.Production,distribution,use and regulatory capacities need to be strengthened to facilitate largescale adoption of green technologies and practices.Finally,policy,financial and market instruments should be wielded to provide an enabling environment for the transformation to sustainable plant pest and disease management strategies and practices worldwide.

建立完善的国家定量数据库是畜牧业发展的先决条件

随着人们对动物产品需求量的增加,饲料资源的需求量也随之增加。由于土地和水资源的缺乏、食品—能源—饲料竞争、全球气候的改变以及对耕地和不可再生资源的竞争,饲料生产系统的可持续性正在遇到很大的挑战。提高资源利用效率是组织高效畜牧生产和保障食品安全的关键。包括饲料在内的各种资源利用率的信息对于它们的合理利用至关重要。

动物营养推动畜牧业可持续发展:360°视角观察及未来研发框架

畜牧业生产中仅仅获得高生产力是不够的。现代社会对于较高的动物生产力、动物产品质量与安全、动物福利与健康、环境保护和生物多样性的要求越来越高。人们在动物福利、环境、产品安全和质量方面日益提高的意识和重视,使它们成为涉及到动物的食品生产体系中的优先考虑因素。畜牧业正在向更为可持续的路线转变,必须考虑多种复杂变化情况下(包含经济、生态和社会等各个方面)的可持续性问题,并认识到农业产业具有衔接人类与自然系统的特殊功能。局部解决方案已经不能产生预期结果。例如,任何保持现状的努力,如果忽略经济发展、食品安全和生计需要都不可能成功。相反地,如果生态系统和社会系统不具备适应短期和长期变化的能力,社会经济的发展也不会持续。这个复杂的问题需要将可持续性作为一个社会问题来考虑;需要大范围利益相关者的整体努力来利用畜牧生产体系的力量,减少动物产品需求和供给的快速发展所带来的潜在负面影响。这些努力应该是现实的、公平的,并考虑到生态、社会经济和文化层次的,这一点非常重要。本文将呈现如何以360°视角观察动物营养学及其未来研究与发展的框架。正像目前所有部门和畜牧产业服务部门一样,动物营养学也正面临一个转折点。动物营养学直接影响动物的生产力、动物产品安全与质量、动物福利和健康、环境保护和生物多样性。此外,动物营养还影响食品和能源竞争、土地利用和土地流转、全球氮循环。动物营养学家遵循可持续动物日粮原则以及利用基于360°视角的未来研究与发展的框架作为指导工具,成为使畜牧业转向可持续发展方向的领航者。为降低畜牧业可持续发展过程中的不利影响,动物营养学家需要与环境、经济、社会科学和公共健康等领域专家合作,制订出一个多方论证的方法。所提出的框架可以发掘这些专家的专业技能和专业知识,从而使得畜牧业可持续发展。合适政策和制度的支持同等重要。因此,科学家也需要与政策制订者、私营部门、民间团体和农场主合作,来帮助找到利于环境、社会和经济可持续发展的方法。同样,多角度思考动物生产最大化到最佳化的思维模式转变也非常必要。