Understanding evolutionary dynamics of pathogens during domestication of their hosts and rise of agro-ecosystems is essential for durable disease management. Here, we investigated changes in life-history traits of the fungal pathogen Venturia inaequalis during domestication of the apple. Life traits linked to fungal dispersal were compared between 60 strains that were sampled in domestic and wi...

According to EC regulations the deliberate release of genetically modified (GM) crops into the agro-environment needs to be accompanied by environmental monitoring to detect potential adverse effects, e.g. unacceptable levels of gene flow from GM to non-GM crops, or adverse effects on single species or species groups thus reducing biodiversity. There is, however, considerable scientific and pub...

Agricultural ecosystems are composed of genetically depauperate populations of crop plants grown at a high density and over large spatial scales, with the regional composition of crop species changing little from year to year. These environments are highly conducive for the emergence and dissemination of pathogens. The uniform host populations facilitate the specialization of pathogens to parti...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the pesticide residues in human blood samples of volunteers related to Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas districts, Pakistan. The volunteers of both districts were divided into four groups on the basis of their exposure period to pesticides i.e. Group A—5 to 9 years, Group B—10 to 14 years, Group C—15 to19 years and Group D—above 20 years. Out of total 188 vo...

Genetic variation and population structure among 1603 soybean accessions, consisted of 832 Japanese landraces, 109 old and 57 recent Japanese varieties, 341 landrace from 16 Asian countries and 264 wild soybean accessions, were characterized using 191 SNP markers. Although gene diversity of Japanese soybean germplasm was slight lower than that of exotic soybean germplasm, population differentia...

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the ‘lure and kill’ technique, commonly called Mass Trapping (MT), compared with the larvicidal technique in olive fruit fly control. Data from different agro-ecological and management conditions were collected in several mass trapping areas in the regions of Tuscany and Liguria during 1999, 2000 and 2001. Data were organized and stored ...

Consensus is growing that agriculture is vulnerable to climate change and adaptation responses are necessary to minimize impacts. Nonetheless, the diversity of potential impacts, agro-ecological contexts and regional capacity for change make understanding adaptation behaviors challenging and ensure that climate change adaptation will not be the same across all contexts. Considering this heterog...

Livestock plays a central economic role in Niger, but it is highly vulnerable due to the high inter-annual variability of rain and hence pasture production. This study aims to develop an approach for mapping pasture biomass production to support activities of the Niger Ministry of Livestock for effective pasture management. Our approach utilises the observed spatiotemporal variability of biomas...

Agro-ecoregionalization is categorization of landscapes for use in crop suitability analysis, strategic agroeconomic development, risk analysis, and other purposes. Past agro-ecoregionalizations have been subjective, expert opinion driven, crop specific, and unsuitable for statistical extrapolation. Use of quantitative analytical methods provides an opportunity for delineation of agro-ecoregion...

Investigations have continued for production high performance agro-based composites using environmentally acceptable approaches. This study examines the role of adding amide-containing biopolymers during synthesis of urea–formaldehyde (UF) on properties of adhesive produced, especially its adhesion potential. The environmental performance of UF-resin synthesized in the presence of modified amid...