Search results for " Hunger"
showing 10 items of 1330 documents
Cropping system dynamics, climate variability, and seed losses among East African smallholder farmers: a retrospective survey.
2014
Abstract Climate variability directly affects traditional low input and rain-fed farming systems, but few studies have paid attention retrospectively to the cropping system’s ability to mitigate climate risk. This study analyzes the impacts of rainfall variability on farmers’ seed variety losses over time, considering changes in smallholder farming systems. The cropping system dynamics, in favoring maize at the expense of sorghum and pearl millet, have induced an increasing risk of seed loss during drought. Combining ecological anthropology and climatology, a retrospective survey asking farmers about the period 1961–2006 was carried out at three altitudinal levels (750, 950, and 1100 m) on …
[div]Long-term dynamics of the atrazine mineralization potential in surface and subsurface soil in an agricultural field as a response to atrazine ap…
2012
Abstract The dynamics of the atrazine mineralization potential in agricultural soil was studied in two soil layers (topsoil and at 35–45 cm depth) in a 3 years field trial to examine the long term response of atrazine mineralizing soil populations to atrazine application and intermittent periods without atrazine and the effect of manure treatment on those processes. In topsoil samples, 14 C-atrazine mineralization lag times decreased after atrazine application and increased with increasing time after atrazine application, suggesting that atrazine application resulted into the proliferation of atrazine mineralizing microbial populations which decayed when atrazine application stopped. Decay …
Microalgae community structure analysis based on 18S rDNA amplification from DNA extracted directly from soil as a potential soil bioindicator
2005
International audience; Soil algae are photosynthetically active microorganisms showing changeable community structure, depending on the soil type, the agricultural practices and the application of pesticides. To characterise algal community structure, molecular approaches complementary to classical microbiological approaches based on the isolation and the culture of soil algae are required. Our study describes a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach targeting algal 18S rDNA sequences of desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples extracted either from unialgal eukaryotic microalgae culture, complex assemblages of microalgae populations or natural soil communities. Our first results showed that…
Enhanced isoproturon mineralisation in a clay silt loam agricultural soil
2005
International audience; 14C-ring-labelled isoproturon mineralisation was investigated in a French agricultural soil previously exposed to isoproturon. 50 different soil samples collected every 2 m along a transect of 100 m in length were treated one or two times with isoproturon under laboratory conditions and analysed by radiorespirometry. 94% of the soil samples showed a high ability to mineralise isoproturon with a relatively low variability in the cumulative percentage of mineralisation ranging from 30 to 51% of the initially added radioactivity for the samples treated once with the herbicide. About 45 to 67% of the initially added radioactivity was transformed into 14CO2 in soil sample…
Biogeography of soil microbial communities: a review and a description of the ongoing french national initiative
2010
International audience; Microbial biogeography is the study of the distribution of microbial diversity on large scales of space and time. This science aims at understanding biodiversity regulation and its link with ecosystem biological functioning, goods and services such as maintenance of productivity, of soil and atmospheric quality, and of soil health. Although the initial concept dates from the early 20th century (Beijerinck (1913) De infusies en de ontdekking der backterien, in: Jaarboek van de Knoniklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen, Muller, Amsterdam), only recently have an increasing number of studies have investigated the biogeographical patterns of soil microbial diversity. A such …
The membrane proteome of Medicago truncatula roots displays qualitative and quantitative changes in response to arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis
2014
International audience; Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis that associates roots of most land plants with soil-borne fungi (Glomeromycota), is characterized by reciprocal nutritional benefits. Fungal colonization of plant roots induces massive changes in cortical cells where the fungus differentiates an arbuscule, which drives proliferation of the plasma membrane. Despite the recognized importance of membrane proteins in sustaining AM symbiosis, the root microsomal proteome elicited upon mycorrhiza still remains to be explored. In this study, we first examined the qualitative composition of the root membrane proteome of Medicago truncatula after microsome enrichment and subsequent in dep…
Soil DNA evidence for altered microbial diversity after long-term application of municipal wastewater
2010
International audience; Water resources constitute a social, agricultural and economic problem in most countries of the southern Mediterranean Basin. Alternative strategies have been developed such as the reuse of municipal wastewater for irrigation in agriculture. Despite numerous advantages for soil fertility and crop productivity, recycling wastewater in soils also has several ecotoxicological and sanitary problems. Few investigations have assessed the risk by evaluating the impact of wastewater irrigation on soil microbes. Here, we report for the first time the short- and long-term effects of treated municipal wastewater irrigation on the density and genetic structure of bacterial and f…
Powerful odorants in bovine, ovine, caprine and water buffalo milk determined by means of gas chromatography-olfactometry
1993
SummaryThe main compounds responsible for the aroma of bovine, ovine, caprine and water buffalo freshly secreted milk have been identified by means of a gas chromatography–olfactometry technique. Of the fourteen odour-active volatile compounds detected, eight were present in all milks studied. Ethylbutanoate and ethylhexanoate (fruit-like aroma), among the neutral odorants, were the major contributors to the odour of bovine, ovine and caprine milk. The aroma of water buffalo milk was less dependent on ethylhexanoate and was also due to l-octen-3-ol (aroma of raw mushrooms), nonanal (freshly cut grass), indole (stable, animals) and an unidentified constituent, characterized by a retention in…
Neutral volatile compounds in the raw milks from different species
1993
SummaryA comparative study was carried out on the flavour constituents of bovine, ovine, caprine and water buffalo fresh raw milks. The volatiles were isolated from milks by means of vacuum distillation and liquid–liquid extraction. Eighty neutral volatile compounds were identified using high resolution gas chromatography (HRGC) and HRGC-mass spectrometry. About 30 of these components have not been detected previously in milk. The volatiles in milk were similar for the four species, although several quantitative differences might explain the different odours. The volatiles consisted mainly of ethyl esters, especially those derived from butyric and hexanoic acids. Dimethylsulphone alone comp…
Identification of Traits Implicated in the Rhizosphere Competence of Fluorescent Pseudomonads: Description of a Strategy Based on Population and Mode…
2009
E-book; International audience; The lack of consistency of the beneficial effects of inoculated fluorescent pseudomonads has often been related to their bad survival in the rhizosphere. In this review, we describe the strategy followed over the last decade to study traits involved in the rhizosphere competence of these bacteria. The diversity of indigenous populations associated with plant roots was first compared to that of populations associated with uncultivated soils in order to identify traits that discriminate these populations. The involvement of these bacterial traits in the rhizosphere competence was then assessed by comparing the competitiveness of a wild-type strain to that of mu…