Category: hydroponic growing

Quercetin in onion appeared mainly in the free-form as the aglycone. In garlic cloves, 72% of the total flavonoids is myricetin, 23% apigenin, and 5% quercetin. In chive, garlic chive, and leek the predominant flavonoid is kaempferol. Onion and garlic are an excellent source of calcium, potassium and manganese providing up to 10% of the human daily requirements of these elements. Onion and garlic can also accumulate selenium if grown in selenium-rich soils in the form of selenocystein and selenoproteins. Based on this information Ip and Lisk showed that garlic plants fertilized with high selenium and low sulfur fertilizer accumulated between 110 and 150 ppm dry weight selenium, while onion plants accumulated up to 28 ppm. Ip and Lisk proposed that the selenium enriched garlic and onion provide an ideal system to deliver selenium efficiently and safely into the human body for cancer prevention since inhibition of cancer by selenium in animal models requires between 1 to 3 ppm. Most of the onions and garlics contain very low concentrations of selenium. Ip and Lisk reported that “Valencia” topset garlic cloves contained 0.06 ppm selenium, while “Stuttgart” onion bulbs contained 0.02 ppm. Interestingly, onions also contain chromium and are considered a good source of this element. Chromium has been recently linked to diabetes prevention and appears to act as such by potentiating insulin receptor kinases and to be a part of the glucose tolerance factor, involved in cellular responses to insulin. Clinical studies on diabetic patients have shown that chromium can decrease fasting glucose levels, improve glucose tolerance, lower insuline levels and decrease total cholesterol and triglycerid levels.

Onions are a rich source of dietary fibers and especially of inulin, a polyfructosan. The health benefits of inulin-type fructans to human health have now been studied for more than one decade. It has prebiotic properties as it is preferably fermented by beneficial bowel bacteria like Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria, thereby altering the bacterial mycoflora of the intestine in such a way that pathogenic, ebb flow table or harmful bacteria become less abundant. Neokestose, another fructan found in onion, has recently been shown to be an excellent promoter of the growth of beneficial bacteria. Frutans also promote the absorption of calcium and could thus be useful in the prevention of osteoporosis. High fructan diets have also been shown to lower concentration of colesterol, tryacylglycerol, phospholipids, glucose and insulin in the blood of middle-aged men and women. Owing to the presence of prebiotic polysaccharides , which are poorly degraded by the gut enzymes, and the presence of flavonoids, onions have been shown to possesss antidiabetic potential. Sharma et al. showed that onions had antihyperglycemic effects. Such effects were confirmed by Tjokroprawiro et al. who conducted a crossover comparative study with twenty diabetic patients to assess the effect of a diet comprising onions and green beans on serum glucose levels. They showed that the consumption of 20 g fresh onion three times daily significantly reduced blood sugar levels. The therapeutic value of onions, garlic and other Allium vegetables is confirmed by multiple epidemiological and experimental studies. Consumption of Allium vegetables has been found to retard growth of several types of cancers. For instance, there appears to be a strong link between the consumption of onions and the reduced incidence of stomach and intestine cancers. A number of epidemiological studies show inverse correlations between the consumption of alliums like onions and garlics, and the reduced incidence of cancers. A synthesis of case control studies carried in Italy and Switzerland reveals that consumption of one to seven portions of onions per week reduces the risks of colon, ovary, larynx, and mouth cancers. Other epidemiological studies clearly show the correlation between moderate garlic intake and a low esophageal and stomach tract cancers incidence. These studies have been performed on diferent geographical areas/continents and countries: China, Japan, Netherlands, Italy, Hawaii, Venezuela, Uruguay. Overall, a protective effect was reported, despite the obvious genetic variance existing among the populations examined in the different studies.

A regular consumption of garlic has been associated with the reduction in the incidence of preneoplastic lesions occurring in the gastric mucosa of individuals infected by Helicobacter pylori. A reduced cancer risk has been widely documented also for colorectal and prostate cancers. Other studies analyzing the preventive effect of garlic extracts on colorectal cancer have evidenced their suppressive potential on the development and progresssion of colorectal adenomas. A population based study analyzing the impact of a diet rich in Allium vegetables on the incidence of prostate cancer showed that the anti-cancer effects were more pronounced in men presenting localized rather than advanced forms. Mortality due to prostate cancer also appears to be reduced by a diet making a large place for onions. A limited number of studies explored the impact of a regular intake of Allium vegetables on the incidence of cancers affecting breast, endometrium and lungs. The risk of breast cancer was shown to decrease as consumption of alliums was increased in a French case-control study. It was found that garlic and some of its constituents prevent tumor initiation by inhibiting the activation of pro-carcinogens and by stimulating their elimination. Some studies say that onion extracts can inhibit the mutation process and reduce the proliferation of cancer cells. This effect is being attributed to quercetin in particular. Prevention of cardiovascular diseases has been attributed to regular garlic consumption. Onions also contain a number of bioactive molecules that can presumably reduce the risks for cardiovascular diseases. A preliminary study conducted in humans showed that the consumption of the equivalent of three onions in a soup was sufficient to significantly reduce the blood platelet aggregation. Tomato is the second most consumed and widely grown vegetable in the world after potato. Tomato is popular fresh and in many processed forms . In addition to their culinary role in the diet, tomatoes represent a low energy dense food with unique constituents that may positively affect health. Compositionally, the tomato has a unique nutritional and phytochemical profile. The major phytochemicals in tomato are the carotenoids consisting of 60% to 64% lycopene, 10% to 12% phytoene, 7% to 9% neurosporene, and 10% to 15% carotenes. Based on a fresh weight basis, tomato  contains about 35 mg/kg of lycopene, with red cultivars containing in average 90 mg/kg of lycopene and yellow ones only 5 mg/kg. Processed tomatoes  contain 2- to 40-fold higher lycopene than fresh tomatoes. Tomatoes and tomato-based foods are the world richest sources of lycopene.The average daily intake of lycopene in the human diet is about 25 mg/day; nearly 85 percent is obtained from fresh and processed tomato products. Tomato contains significant amounts of α-, β-, γ-, δ-carotene ranging in concentrations form 0.6 to 2.0 mg/kg, which ranks tomato as the fourth leading-contributor of provitamin A and vitamin A in the American diet. In addition to lycopene, tomatoes are one of the top contributors of potassium in developed countries and in the American diet.

Based on a 1999-2000 USA National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey food intake data, tomatoes rank seventh after milk, potatoes, beef, coffee, poultry, and orange/grapefruit juice as a potassium source. Besides in USA potassium is a nutrient of concern, as most Americans consume amounts well below the Dietary Reference Intake . In 2004, the new adult DRI for potassium  was substantially higher than the amount previously reported in the 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowance . The increased recommendation was based on evidence indicating that 4700 mg potassium should help lower blood pressure, reduce the adverse effect of excess sodium intake on blood pressure, reduce the risk of kidney stones, hydroponic grow table and possibly reduce age-related bone loss. Tomatoes provide at least twice the potassium per 100 kcal compared with other common sources, except coffee, a nonsignificant calorie source of potassium. Consuming potassium from fruits and vegetables is ideal because it occurs with a biologically advantageous ratio of bicarbonate or citrate, important for bone health. Increasing potassium intake through increased tomato intake is a healthful, calorically sensible strategy for world developed countries. Tomato fruits are also an excellent source of ascorbic acid, about 200 mg/kg and are the major source of vitamin C next to citrus. Tomato contains small but significant amounts  of lutein, α-, β-, and γ– tocopherols, and conjugated flavonoids. In a study of 20 tomato cultivars, total flavonoids content ranged from 1.3 to 22.2 mg/kg with about 98% present in the skin. Flavonoids in fresh tomato are present only in the conjugated form as quercetin and kaempferol, but processed tomato products contain significant amounts of free flavonoids. Flavonoids content is affected by cultivar and culture. For example, cherry tomatoes have a markedy d higher flavonoids content than standard or beef tomato cultivars and field-grown fruits have higher flavonoids content than greenhousegrown. Tomato cultivars are available with double the normal vitamin C , forty times normal vitamin A , high levels of anthocyanin , and two to four times the normal amount of lycopene . Tomato lycopene is found in appreciable levels in human serum and tissues when tomatoes and tomato products are consumed frequently. Several research investigations have shown an inverse relationship between plasma/serum lycopene concentrations and risk of some cancers. Similar associations have been reported for markers of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, cognitive function, and body weight. Moreover, relationships between dietary intakes of tomato products or tomato extract supplements have been observed in epidemiological studies and clinical trials examining markers of some cancers, cardiovascular disease, and ultraviolet light-induced skin erythema. The majority of research conducted in the area of tomato and lycopene intake and cancer risk has been observational. In a recent review of the literature, 178 original research articles were compiled reporting findings in humans on the relationship between lycopene, tomatoes and tomato-based products, and cancer risk.

Among these publications, nearly 90% were observational, highlighting the paucity of cause and effect investigations in this area. Reports on 13 cancer types were identified, of which breast, colorectal, gastric/upper gastrointestinal, and prostate cancers have the most original research published in humans, ranging from 17 to 60 publications. For breast, colorectal, and gastric cancers, the data support a neutral, although potentially protective, relationship between tomato/lycopene intake and cancer risk. Although the data are limited for gastric and lung cancers; the protective association is strongest with tomato intake verses dietary lycopene intake. Among the cancers investigated relative to lycopene and tomato intake, prostate cancer is the most widely researched. Although randomized controlled trial data are less available than observation data, a small number of dietary intervention trials using processed tomato products have been conducted. The results have been relatively successful as measured by improvements in prostate-specific antigen concentrations or increased apoptotic cell death in carcinomas. A prostate cancer risk reduction of nearly 35% was observed when the test subjects consumed ten or more servings of tomato products per week and the effect was much stronger for subjects with more aggressive and advanced stages of cancer. People consuming diets rich in tomato and tomato based products, which are rich in the carotenoid lycopene were found to be less likely to develop stomach and rectal cancers than those who consume lesser amounts of lycopene rich vegetables. Tomatoes, with their distinctive nutritional attributes may play also an important role in reducing the risk of cardiovascular and associated diseases through their bioactivity in modulating disease process pathways. In 2004, Sesso et al. reported an inverse association for women consuming greater intakes  of tomato-based products and cardiovascular disease; an association not observed with lycopene intake alone. Several hypotheses are being tested related to the antioxidant properties of lycopene and a combination of carotenoids with coexisting water-soluble constituents delivered by tomatoes, such as vitamin C. The antioxidant capacity of plasma decreases when tomatoes and tomato products are removed from the diet and increased when they are added back. Consuming tomato products daily for 2 to 4 weeks increases antioxidant enzyme defenses and has been shown to reduce plasma lipid peroxides and the susceptibility of low density lipoprotein to oxidation. Oxidative modification of low density lipoprotein is a key step in the development of atherosclerotic lesions.

South Africa is currently the largest producer and exporter of macadamia nuts in the world and the Limpopo Province is the third largest producer amongst the country’s nine Provinces. This explains the overall higher agricultural annual income amongst both small-scale and large-scale macadamia nut farmers recorded in the study. Results from the study reveal that income from HVCs facilitates the purchase of staple food products and provide a mechanism for meeting long term food security goals at both household and national levels. The study focuses on land out of the four drivers of production i.e. land, labour, capital and enterprise, and highlights how aspects of the land resource drive the two farming systems in South Africa and the pathway of agricultural enterprise. Results have emphasized the importance of land as a driver of production for sustainable agriculture. There is great potential for ensuring a positive future for South African farming systems and consequently food security in the sustainable production of HVCs. According to Ba  in order for African countries to commercialise their agricultural sectors sustainably there is need for farmers to adopt a stable, productive agricultural resource base. This requires a targeted investments in such as into the cultivation of HVCs amongst small-scale farmers which will prove highly beneficial.Conventional soil-based agriculture has been resource-intensive. According to the United Nations, 70% of global water use is consumed by agriculture. Moreover, the global population is predicted to increase  to a projected 11.2 billion nearing 2100. The increasing population represents a requirement for an increase in food production capacity in the face of declining arable land per capita. However, the increasing trends of world populations trends are not evenly spread and tend to be concentrated in urban areas. According to the United Nations, more than half the world’s citizens live in urban areas, which is projected to be more than 60% by 2030. Therefore, relying solely on conventional soil-based agriculture poses stresses to food security. There are many critical issues related to conventional agriculture: water, air, and soil pollution, soil salinization, desertification, climate change-induced droughts, extreme variation in temperatures, extreme variation in solar radiation, and pests.

With more frequent and extreme weather patterns, climate change will continue to increase pressures on world agricultural productivity. By FAO estimates, around 33% of global farmland is degraded to some extent, if not higher. The decrease in productivity of arable land in the face of increasing demand for food is another challenge confronting food production. Another concurrent problem in industrialized countries is the common phenomenon of food retailers underserving socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. These areas are identified as food deserts, vertical farming racks defined as urban areas with lower accessibility to fresh foods. Lower income, lower education, and lower health levels are the commonly occurring characteristics of food deserts. Neighborhoods in the vicinity of food deserts tend to have higher adverse health outcomes, mortality, and morbidity. Socioeconomically disadvantaged families tend to have children that are more than likely to develop obesity and diabetes, which together account for $395 billion in medical costs and lost productivity annually. As of 2018, 11% of the population in the US faced food insecurity. There is a need to make nutritious food sources readily available to residents of such areas. Agricultural growth in controlled environments is increasingly used to increase crop productivity and make produce accessible without traveling long food miles. These setups can be referred to as a controlled environment with artificial lighting  or plant factories with artificial lighting, among many others. Controlled Environment Agriculture  can refer to urban farms that use soilless systems such as hydroponics, aeroponics, or aquaponics. CEAL/PFAL setups can serve as an excellent solution for feeding future cities. Plant factories serve as closed plant production systems with lower interaction with the outside environment. Agriculture needs to focus on reducing natural resource losses, decreasing environmental pollution, and increasing crop returns using innovative technologies. In addition, the agricultural industry needs to increase its productivity to meet market commitments of high-quality produce. The Yang laboratory at the University of Connecticut first introduced the concept of GREENBOX farming as a new system for urban agriculture. The concept presented an overall idea of growing food crops in standard grow boxes in urban structures, with optimal environmental controls that have been greatly improved with the advancement in LED lighting, environmental sensors, and information technology. The GREENBOX technology was specifically designed to be used in urban warehouse conditions , generally defined with a lower degree of environmental controls, high ceilings, and minimal lighting conditions. Urban warehouse spaces have the distinct advantage of minimal requirements of retrofitting or modification to be ready for GREENBOX crop production. Growing food crops in such settings can effectively use urban spaces, produce different species to be harvested at different times, reduce food transport distances, harvest produce just before they are purchased/consumed, and quickly adopt the new industrial technologies  to reduce operational costs.

Research has been conducted to analyze the energy and water use of the GREENBOX system using dynamic simulation models for lettuce crop production, in comparison with conventional greenhouses. The simulation study indicated that the GREENBOX used less water than greenhouses over both summer and winter seasons, and the energy use efficiency of the GREENBOX was lower in the summer and higher in the winter compared to a greenhouse. Since 2019, The Yang Laboratory has initiated a systematic experimental study on the technical and financial feasibilities of the GREENBOX technology. The overall objective of this paper was to demonstrate the GREENBOX as a sustainable and alternative avenue for vegetable crop production in urban settings. We studied the growing environments and productivity of lettuce growth in two protocol GREENBOX units and carried out a parallel growth cycle in an experimental greenhouse for reference and comparison. Using descriptive statistics, we aimed to present the observations on the environmental and biomass patterns in lettuce crop output. We also intend to discuss the overall implications of GREENBOX technology in urban horticulture.We carried out the experiments in the headspace of the greenhouse  and greenhouse bays  in the Agricultural Biotechnology Lab  at the University of Connecticut  at Storrs, Connecticut, United States of America. Connecticut’s climate is temperate, characterized by cold, snowy winters and warm, humid summers. The defining characteristics of Connecticut weather are large temperature ranges , precipitation equally distributed amongst seasons, and considerable variation in weather over a short time. The headspace is a semicircular section building with 40 m diameter and approximately 400 m2 . The Greenhouse Bay 8 dimensions are 7.62 × 9.14 m, and Bay 6 dimensions are 3.96 × 7.62 m.Thus, the headspace’s ambient conditions are similar to a warehouse environment. The similarities lie in that they are large volume spaces with high ceilings and have sparse windows and lighting. Greenhouse Bays 8 and 6 are connected to water and power, and have shade curtains and supplemental lighting to modulate controlled environments that sustain crop growth along with ventilation through fans and vents.The grow tents  with dimensions of 1.5 × 1.5 × 2.1 m consisted of an exterior canvas covering  were meant to serve as the exterior of the prototype GREENBOX. The interior of these grow tents is comprised of diamond reflective walls to serve as insulation. An LED light source  was installed in each GREENBOX to facilitate photosynthesis. The lighting elements were four feet long, provided white light of 40,000 K color temperature, vertical rack system and had a rated diode life of 50,000 hours. The lighting element was positioned one meter above the plant canopy. Modulating the use of fans  and vents maintained the ambient growing conditions inside the GREENBOX by a forced ventilation system.

Greenhouse Bay 8 is equipped with 1000-watt metal halide HID bulbs, and Bay 6 is equipped with Infinity LED Linear Fixtures  in the form of overhead lighting for light control placed one meter above the crop canopy. Greenhouse Bays 8 and 6 are heated by hot water in fin tubes . Passive ridge vents or three exhaust fans  are used for cooling. Both bays are controlled by the Argus Titan greenhouse control system . The controlled environmental parameters included light intensity, light duration, air temperature, and air moisture content. We used environmental controllers  to monitor the environment outside the GREENBOX units and inside the greenhouse. The other environmental controller  was used to monitor and regulate the inside environment conditions in the GREENBOX. The sensors were positioned 0.15 m above the plant canopy in the GREENBOX and greenhouse. For growing crops in the GREENBOX and greenhouse, we use hydroponics as means of soilless cultivation. Compared to conventional soil-based growth, hydroponic growth isolates the plant from the soil, thereby preventing exposure to disease, salinity, and drainage issues, along with a rapid turnaround time on crops. The hydroponic nutrient film technique  channels were placed on a 0.91 × 0.91 m tray stand . The NFT channels  were 0.10 × 0.05 × 1.2 m with holes for plants, spaced for inserting transplants 15.24 cm apart. We placed the NFT channels 7.62 cm apart to keep a distance of 15.24 cm between plants, forming a 4 × 6 matrix in each GREENBOX and two panels of 4 × 6 in the greenhouse bays. We monitored the pH and the electrical conductivity of the nutrient solution  using a portable pH/EC meter . The piped nutrient delivery system consisted of a reservoir with submersible pumps  to facilitate nutrient delivery. Reviewed reports have indicated that when grown in a soilless system, lettuce has a high yield and quality. Pelleted Rex lettuce  seeds  were chosen for the crop for offered advantages such as lettuce include having a maximum height of thirty centimeters and having a growth cycle between ten to thirty days. As a preventative measure, we used bio-controls on our crops during the growth cycles in both growing locations. Environmental variables including light intensity , temperature , and relative humidity  were collected using iPonic controllers that log data instantaneously every minute and are accessible via the cloud. The environmentaldata collected by the iPonic sensors had a precision of 0.1 W/m2 for light, 0.1˚C for temperature, and 1% for relative humidity. We harvested lettuce on the thirtieth day from the day of the transplant from the GREENBOX and greenhouse. We randomly selected two lettuce plants from both growing locations every three days for destructive sampling to obtain the wet and dry weights . To obtain the wet weight, we pulled apart the roots and any growing medium attached to the plant before weighing the lettuce immediately after harvest.

The wet weight indicates the amount of biomass accumulated in the crop resulting from evapotranspiration. We blotted the plant gently with a soft paper towel to remove any free surface moisture and weighed the plants immediately after harvest. Finally, we obtained the lettuce’s dry weight by drying the leaves  in a forced air convection oven . We derived the productivity of both growing locations using the wet weight values at harvest to determine the total biomass output in kilograms per square meter of growing area. Lighting was represented by DLI  by using instantaneously measured light data  and converted to cumulative light accumulated per day. Temperature and humidity were processed to 15-minute averages using data from the iPonic environmental controllers. We used descriptive statistics to characterize the environmental data of DLI, temperature, and relative humidity, which were plotted to 15-minute averages over a thirty-day growing period for the summer and winter. We detailed their average values, along with their standard deviations except for light . We report dry weight, wet weight, and productivity of lettuce crops in GREENBOX and greenhouse over summer and winter at harvest .The descriptive statistics of the environmental variables are summarized in Table 1, and the dynamic variations of these variables are shown in Figure 2 for both growing locations. The mean DLI in GREENBOX ranged between 32.48 – 36.70 mol/m2·d over the two growing cycles . It was purposely set higher than the recommended minimum DLI of 6.5 – 9.7 mol/m2·d.

Tree and bush species form a significant part of livelihood systems, particularly in Illangama. In Illangama, families have strong interest in species that can be used as animal forage, firewood and charcoal, and varieties with medicinal properties. They also use trees as live barriers in soil conservation structures, to extract dyes, and fibers for artisanal products. Alumbre residents are less aware of the uses of tree species, are unfamiliar with local names, and are mainly interested in trees for the exploitable wood they can produce. The water quality and the biodiversity assessments were designed to highlight the fragility in high-altitude. The initial assessments showed that farmers’ voice con- cerns about environmental quality, recognize that their productive practices can create environmental damage, and seek alternatives to resource-mining activities. The strongest concern for the environment was voiced by community members in the upper watershed who recognize environmental change such as variable rainfall pat- terns, less water availability and others. The assessments also strengthened linkages between the research team and community members; the participatory means of con-ducting them and open sharing of findings built owner- ship of the adaptive management process. In order to prioritize interventions, stakeholders need information on vulnerability and its variability over space.Results showed that about 4000 ha in Illangama and 2000 ha in Alumbre are extremely vulnerable to environmental damage. These areas needed special attention during the planning and management phases. The vulnerability mapping exercise uncovered evidence of conflicts between ideal and actual land uses: Some of the most environmentally vulnerable lands are currently under intensive crop production.

These areas should be reserved for conservation or reforested and managed sustainably. Research thus focused on the physical and economic/social consequences of less intensive uses on vulnerable lands. Such activities are especially critical in areas of water recharge. Two main challenges constrain efforts at conservation in these areas: Lack of finance to ensure that households can survive during the transition from intensive to extensive production , and low rates of return in extensive production systems. Few own sufficient land resources to sustain a family on forestry production. Part of the problem is institutional; farmers have no means of capturing the off-farm benefits from less intensive land use. The team began negotiations with down- stream govern ments to examine if these governments were willing to pay farmers to avoid downstream dam-ages. These negotiations are ongoing, but downstream siltation is increasingly associated with costly flooding and there is strong interest in finding low-cost ways to avoid these damages. The research identified several environmentally friendly agricultural production options for farms in the Chimbo . These alternatives increase productivity, enhance soil retention and improve soil health. They were tested on model farms, where farmers participated in site preparation, vertical grow rack cultivation, and evaluation. Field days demonstrated the practices to farmers. Substantial adoption has occurred already and, given the success of the alter- natives, we expect more widespread adoption as information becomes more widespread. The pilot sites were established on farms with average sizes of 7.5 ha. In 2006, production systems included small pine forests, natural pasture, small areas of improved pasture, and potato production together with mashua . At that time, the most vulnerable areas had been devoted to crop production. The research team designed a farm use plan incorporating improved cropping systems and farming practices, pastures and woodlands . We tested and subsequently recommended use of improved potato varieties, faba beans, barley, quinoa and chocho. Conservation agriculture practices such as improved rotations, reduced tillage, and increased ground cover were included . We also recommended in-situ conservation of native Andean tubers such as native potatoes, oca , melloco , mashua and carrot . As of 2010, the project had been functioning for 5 years and it was possible to evaluate its impacts. This was done by transecting the sub-watersheds to measure the extent of adoption of the practices and computing changes in farm incomes associated with the practices. Table 6 shows an assessment of uptake of BMPs in Illangama and Alumbre. In Illangama, net economic benefits have risen to about $ 1921 per hectare per year, an increase of about 65% compared to 2006.

Improvements have resulted from incremental increases in yields of potatoes, faba beans, chocho, barley, quinoa and improved pasture. Soil management has changed dramatically as ground cover is more widespread throughout the year. Part of this change was caused by changes in relative prices; potato and other crop prices have become increasingly variable and farmers are moving toward dairy production with continuous pasture and other more environmentally suitable crops. Potato net profits have, however, grown by as much as 50%, due to improved rotations and reduced pesticide use . Use of late blight-resistant potato varieties, improved soil fertility and use of better-quality seeds help lower variable to improved forages, and better sanitation and feeding practices. Food security has also improved. Diversified grain sources broaden the dietary base, reduce risks from dependence on single crops, and increase energy and protein intake. The data indicate impressive trends toward more di- versified production, with increases in relatively new  products such as quinoa. Quinoa production has emerged, and the crop provides nutrition for home con- sumption and high prices in the market. As a result of all these changes, erosion is being reduced and water quality is improving. In Alumbre, net benefits from agricultural production increased by 81% to $1629 per hectare per year in 2010. This increment was a product of increased yields of white maize, yellow maize and beans, resulting from improved management practices. The main engine was introduction of improved varieties, and more intensive management concentrated in less vulnerable and more productive areas. Planting densities have increased and integrated pest management practices have reduced input costs. Increased agro-diversity and lower profit risks  have also increased food security. Use of vulnerability maps to guide land use planning has reduced production on most vulnerable lands and improved ecosystem services. Indicators of biodiversity, soil retention and water quality have improved alongside improvements in agricultural profitability. Farmers now concentrate productive activities on the most fertile and least vulnerable lands. Yield improvements and cost re- ductions allow farmers to earn higher incomes and si- multaneously improve environmental conditions. Ability to observe farming practices on the pilot farms has built confidence in the new practices and they have naturally spread throughout the watershed. Concurrently, the study of biodiversity raised consciousness about the value of native species and led to planting and maintenance of these potential sources of biodiversity. These actions have improved environmental conditions and water avail- ability Prior to 2006, conservation practices in the area did not exist. Now, various practices are widely found, such as improved crop rotations, strip cultivation, deviation ditches, contour plowing, and use of live barriers.

An indigenous innovation has led to the protection of devia- tion ditches with various local species. These include milín grass and native plants such as Quishuar, Yagual, Chachacoma, Romerillo, Aliso, Pumamaqui, Lupinus, Piquil. Contour cultivation is also widely practiced now in both watersheds, irrigation water management has improved and actions have been taken to protect areas of water recharge. This protection has involved replanting many of the native plants metioned above. Table 7 summarizes results of the 2010 evaluation. Farmers in the Illangama watershed were more likely to apply all natural resource management methods, except for green fertilizer. Differences over time of use of con- servation methods are statistically significant. Our team identified local stakeholders,vertical grow system institutions and government and non-government partners to engage in participatory planning. Participants identified research themes and designed research activities and collaborated in on-farm trials. The process included meetings, work- shops and information exchanges. Stakeholders immedi- ately recognized the need for coordinated cross-sectorial actions and institutional change to increase the value of natural resources. A regular meeting of a project steering group was held; the group identified and promoted the idea of integrated adaptive management. This group en- gaged local and Provincial Governments who are full partners in the process. The Provincial Government cre- ated a new unit for environmental management and link-ages across government units has facilitated coordi- nated actions; our technical team has trained the Gov- ernment’s technical team and this strategic alliance has been strengthened over time. The alliance is important because the Provincial Government bears responsibility for creating and enforcing the regulatory and legal re- gime. Our research agenda was arrived at after an arduous process of building consensus among stakeholders. Pro- bably the most valuable research output at the start of the process was to help stakeholders understand and appre- ciate the value of their natural resources. This new- found appreciation of value has strengthened incentives for actions to promote soil retention and health, and to use native species as a contributor to this conservation. Native species of trees and bushes have been widely in- corporated into live barriers to reduce water and wind erosion, and as lining biomass for deviation ditches. The team also helped identify a major source of reduced wa- ter supply and quality: Incursions into the upper páramo areas. As a result, we have built support for increased intensification at lower elevations and a sense of com- munity-wide disapproval for those who exploit the pris- tine higher-elevation areas of the Illangama. Social pres- sure is having an effect. Social capital has been strengthened in many ways. The participatory planning process is strengthening so- cial networks in the region. In addition, training in bio- diversity, natural resource valuation, and natural resource management has built networks of activists in both mi- cro-watersheds. Efforts to understand the potential bene- fits of higher-valued market chains and obstacles to par- ticipation in them have helped identify how networks of producers can have more effects than individual actors. Subsequent efforts to build these networks have also re- inforced local social capital.

Some of the other qualities that are desired in new rabbiteye blueberry cultivars are the development of increased cold hardiness, better adaptation to particular climates, adaptation to mineral soils or soils with high pH, the extension of the fruiting season, high vigor,reduced plant stature, high quality fruit, suitability for mechanical harvest,disease and insect resistance,tolerance to environmental stress,and higher nutraceutical properties .Yield is the most important trait from the grower’s perspective, and cultivars that are not only high yielding, but are consistently high yielding across years are desirable . Yield is a function of many factors including the amount of flower clusters per plant, flower number per cluster, flowering twigs per bush,fruit set and drop, and fruit size . The commercial crop yields are typically considerably less than that documented in experimental plots, primarily due to inconsistencies in plant health and pollination as well as seasonal influences.Flowering and fruiting seasons are important traits that vary from cultivar to cultivar. Late flowering, early ripening cultivars and/or tolerance to low temperatures during and following bloom are also desirable traits that breeders are striving for in rabbiteye due to the risk of late spring frost damage .In much of Alabama, blueberries with low chilling requirements are used, but once the chilling requirements are met, there is still a risk of a damaging late spring frost . With the availability of cultivars with a range of flowering times, a grower can select cultivars that match their risk of late spring frosts and consequent crop loss . Rabbiteye blueberry floral buds tend to be rather cold hardy, but as flower development continues, the bud’s susceptibility to cold damage increases .Spiers , documented 7 distinct stages of floral bud development. An inverse relationship was observed between the stage of development and the flower bud’s susceptibility to cold damage . Spiers  also found that swollen flower buds were not damaged by temperatures of −4˚C, but some were killed at−6˚C. At stage four, or when individual flowers become distinguishable, flower buds were killed by −4˚C, and during the transition to the distinctly separated individual flowers stage, temperatures of −2˚C were lethal. Temperatures of 0˚Cwere not found to damage any of the flower buds in developmental stages one through five, but temperatures of −1˚C were damaging to flowers with open corollas approaching stage six of flower bud development.In addition to the flowering period, the ripening period is also important in blueberry production. The ability to target an early market for premium prices is one reason a grower would risk a late freeze by planting an early flowering and fruiting cultivar such as “Climax” .

The first step is to attract outstanding students into vegetable breeding programs with modern, exciting and relevant curricula that provide clear paths for obtaining knowledge, experience and skills needed for success in attractive jobs that are currently available in plant breeding globally. For all countries, vegetable products are critical for good nutrition, healthy living and a dynamic business sector. Development of new, genetically improved vegetable cultivars that are profitable for growers and that meet the needs of consumers will contribute to a vital, dynamic vegetable industry world-wide. The ready supply of a wide range of affordable vegetable crops in most developed countries has led to a marked complacency about the need for ongoing R & D vegetable breeding programs.Consequently, many governments world-wide have scaled back funding for vegetable breeding and production programs.Most research driven universities have now disbanded horticulture/ horticultural breeding departments and merged them into plant science/plant biology departments with a very strong focus on the molecular sciences. This erosion has been concentrated in what historically have been viewed as vital disciplines for vegetable breeding such as plant breeding, agronomy, pathology, and entomology. Nonetheless, as indicated above, there are a basic need for research and breeding on vegetable crops given by the current consumer demands for affordability, safety and continuity of supply; increasing needs to achieve sustainable practices; and the need to deal with challenges arising from a more variable climate, the loss of productive soils through urban encroachment, and the loss of low-cost labour.

The concepts of sustainability of vegetable crops relate both to the use of resources,stackable planters such as water and nutrients, in a manner which considers future needs, and the responsible use of compounds such as pesticides which will not compromise the quality of the environment . Improved vegetable cultivars are also important since there are cultivars more apropriated for sustainable production. Vegetable breeding can be important for genetic enhancement of vegetables, and for an eco-friendly organic horticulture that will reduce human carbon footprints.Pressure on water resources for urban, industrial, recreational, conservation and other uses all appear to have higher priority within societies than the availability of water for vegetable crop production. Current demands on water from both river and subterranean sources are outstripping availability resulting in attention being given to water harvesting options with on-farm dams, the use of waste water and to the use of more efficient cultural practices. Research is urgently needed to resolve issues such as the development of drought tolerant vegetable crops, the management of crops under managed water deficits, dealing with increased salinity, and the use of low quality water. Integrated crop production systems have been shown to be effective on a number of vegetable crops for reducing the number of pesticide applications and for shifting to new control compounds that have less persistence in the environment and which are of lower overall toxicity. Producers have behaved responsibly and with some urgency to ensure the adoption of new practices. GMOs cultivars can also be important for sustainable production . Genetic engineering has the potential to address some of the most challenging biotic constraints faced by vegetables growers, which are not easily addressed through conventional plant breeding alone. Transgenic vegetable crops, enable also breeders to bring favorable genes, often inaccessible by conventional methods, into elite cultivars, improving their value considerably and offering unique opportunities for controlling insects and other pathogens . Technology transfer from both university and government sources in many developed countries has markedly declined over the past two decades and have been re-placed with a greater provision of services from the private sector. Paradoxically, the demand for information from public providers has nonetheless increased as providers of information in the private sector seek to stay abreast of the latest developments and as producers seek to secure the best advice possible.

This can be very important for sustainable production and better knowledge of the vegetable producers about the cultivars available. In developing countries, where often the provision of knowledge from both private and public sectors may be poorly developed, the demand for useful and relevant information is growing as vegetable enterprises become more sophisticated and often more focussed on exporting their vegetable produces. In parallel with such changes, there has been an unprecedented expansion of methods by which to transfer information-mobile phones, the internet, laptop computers, private and public networking, and so on. Equally, there is a growing expansion of the types of information that can be accessed including that from remote sensing, environmental monitoring, image analysis and others. The challenges relate not to the availability of information, but to the provision of relevant knowledge and the more effective means of transmitting the specific information that is required. Vegetable producers have rapidly adopted many of these technologies contributing for their success as farmers. The major challenge facing vegetable producers in the future will be to filter the information that is available into useful knowledge that will allow them to be more effective and efficient in their various enterprises. Regular consumption of a vegetable rich diet has undeniable positive effects on health since phytonutriceuticals of vegetables can protect the human body from several types of chronic diseases. The mechanism by which vegetables decrease risk of disease is complex and largely unknown. Various components of the whole food are likely to contribute to the overall health benefit. Various phytonutriceuticals with antioxidant properties may work directly by quenching free radicals or indirectly by participating in cell signaling pathways sensitive to redox balance . Nutrients such as potassium contribute to blood pressure regulation. The dietary fiber content and type of different vegetables may also contribute to the overall health benefit, such as improving bowel transit, lowering cholesterol, helping manage blood glucose concentrations, and by transporting a significant amount of minerals and phytochemicals linked to the fibre matrix through the human gut .

Finaly, increaseing vegetables in the diet may reduce the intake of saturated fats, trans fats, and foods with higher caloric density,stacking pots all of which may be related to a healthier overall diet . A major activity over the past 2 3 decades has been the promotion of health benefits that can be gained through the consumption of various vegetables. This has been most evident from the various “5 a Day” and similar promotional programmes to promote fruits and vegetables consumption. These activities that have been a success have not just included fresh vegetable and fruit products but have also embraced products based on juice, dried products and extracts, many of which have extensive on-label claims. The reality is that many such claims have not in fact been clinically proven and regulators are increasingly requiring label claims to either be substantiated or removed. Clearly, there is a need for considerably more research in this area in order to fully specify the presumed health benefits in many vegetables . This is an exciting area of endeavour where there is a convergence of horticultural science with medical and nutri-tional research. Notwithstanding the need to prove many of the specific health claims that are made for many vegetable crops, the consumption of vegetables per capita in markets such as the United States of America has in-creased over the past 2 3 decades. However, consumer preferences have changed markedly during that same period with a growing pattern of interest in convenience, year-round availability and with novelty. No doubt the perceived health benefits of some of these vegetable crops have also helped to enhance consumption. Because each vegetable contains a unique combination of phytonutriceuticals , a great diversity of vegetables should be eaten to ensure that individual’s diet includes a combination of phytonutriceuticals and to get all the health benefits. The availability of a large diversity of vegetables year-round, allied to increase in mean per capita incomes in recent years and knowledge of vegetable health benefits, have enable consumers to include a variety of health promoting phytonutriceuticals in their diet .

Nutritional quality as understood by the consumers and available at a moderate price may encourage enhanced consumption, thereby conferring an important marketing incentive to vegetable plant breeding. Re-search on the health benefits of vegetables, from a horticultural and breeding perspective, needs to focus on key areas in the near future such as: i) to continue the evaluation of phytonutriceuticals content among older versus newer major cultivars; ii) to identify the genetic mecanisms that regulate the syntesis of their key phytochemicals, such as the glucosinolates, thiosulfides and flavonoids, in order to develop cultivars rich in a variety of phytochemicals and in order to ensure that a mixture of phytochemicals enters into the human diet; iii) to study the potencial change in the balance of these compounds ; and iv) to identify the optimum conditions for mantaining these phytochemicals after harvest and processing since studies have shown that the biovailability of some of the phytochemicals increase dramatically after storage and processing and others de grade rapidly. Genetic engineering enables vegetable breeders to in-corporate desired transgenes into elite cultivars, thereby improving their value considerably. It further offers unique opportunities for improving nutritional quality and bringing other health benefits . Many vegetable crops have been genetically modified to improve traits such as higher nutritional status or better flavour, and to reduce bitterness or anti-nutritional factors . Transgenic vegetables can be also used for vaccine delivery. Consumers could benefit further from eating more nutritious transgenic vegetables, e.g. an increase of crop carotenoids by metabolic sink manipulation through genetic engineering appears feasible in some vegetables . Genetically engineering carrots containing in-crease Ca levels may boost Ca uptake, thereby reducing the incidence of Ca deficiencies such as osteoporosis. Fortified transgenic lettuce with zinc will overcome the deficiency of this micronutrient that severely impairs organ function. Folates deficiency, which is regarded as a global health problem, can also be overcome with transgenic tomatoes with folate levels that provide a complete adult daily requirement. Transgenic lettuce with improved tocopherol and resveratrol composition may prevent coronary disease and arteriosclerosis and can con- tribute to cancer chemopreventative activity. Food safety and health benefits can also be enhanced through transgenic approaches, e.g. rural African re-source-poor consumers will benefit eating cyanide-free cultivars of cassava. Biotechnology-derived vegetable crops will succeed if clear advantages and safety are demonstrated to both growers and consumers. A major trend over the past decade, possibly as a con-sequence of smaller households and more dedication to leisure activities, has been the shift towards the consumption of fresh rather than frozen vegetables. Modern consumers do not store vegetable products for long periods within the household and are able to discern the difference in quality  between vegetables that have been stored for short versus long periods. The challenge for breeding and horticultural science is, therefore, to refine methods for short term storage so that premium quality is retained rather than to focus on long-er-term storage for prolonged marketing. Interestingly, this potentially transforms the approaches that can be taken for chilling sensitive vegetables where long-term storage techniques have not been routinely available.

The option to provide for new approaches that can be used for quality retention during short-term storage should be an absolute priority. Maturity at harvest is the most important determinant of storage-life and of final fruit-vegetable quality. Many vegetables, in particular leafy vegetables, and immature fruit-vegetables , attain optimum eating-quality prior to reaching full maturity. This often results in delayed harvest, and consequently in produce of low quality.The method of harvesting  can significantly impact upon the composition and post- harvest quality of vegetables. Mechanical injuries  can accelerate loss of water and vitamin C resulting in increased susceptibility to decay-causing pathogens. Most fresh vegetables are harvested by hand. Root crops  and some commodities destined for processing  are mechanically harvested. Management of harvesting operations, whether manual or mechanical, can have a major impact on the quality of harvested vegetables. Proper management procedures include selection of optimum time to harvest in relation to product maturity and climatic conditions, training and supervision of workers, and proper implementation of effective quality control. Expedited and careful handling, immediate cooling after harvest, maintenance of optimum temperatures during transit and storage, and effective decay-control procedures are important factors in the successful post-harvest handling of vegetables. Attention must be paid to all of these factors, regardless of the method of harvesting used. These factors are nevertheless more critical in the case of mechanically harvested commodities. It should be noted that any practice that reduces the number of produce handling steps will help minimize losses. Field packing  of produce at the time of harvest can greatly reduce the number of handling steps in preparation vegetables for marketing. Mobile field packing stations with adequate shading are used for vegetables  that do not require washing as part of their preparation for marketing. Within each vegetable there is a range of genotypic variation in composition, quality, and post-harvest-life potential.

Fresh tomatoes must have acceptable flavor, color, texture, and other taste parameters to satisfy consumer demands and handling requirements. Processing tomatoes, on the other hand, must have intrinsic rheological characteristics that make them suitable for various processing applications, such as juice, ketchup, or sauce production. Traditional breeding requires the selection of a tomato genotype or a related wild species that has a desirable trait, such as early ripening or disease resistance, and crossing it with another tomato cultivar that has a good genetic background. The desired result is an earlier ripening tomato that makes it to the market sooner, or cultivars that resist pathogen attack. In this way,nft channel several thousands of tomato cultivars have been developed over the years. The final goal of vegetable breeding programs is then to release new cultivars having elite combinations of many desirable horticultural characteristics.

Consumers are seeking new eating experiences, different quality attributes and improved convenience, and are prepared to pay a premium for such produce if their expectations are met. Plant breeding for improved taste, convenience, and consumer appeal has already contributed to increased per capita vegetable consumption with the development of products such as baby carrots, yellow and orange peppers, cherry and pear tomatoes, non-bitter cucumbers, mild tasting eggplants, seedless watermelons, and lettuces with different colors, textures and flavors for baby leaf and precut salads. In some instances, these premiums are considerable and bring benefit to the overall vegetable industry through improving the popularity of the vegetable crop overall. Further, the premiums achieved can exceed those that consumers are prepared to pay for the choice of consuming organic produce. Other important objectives of vegetable breeding are disease and pest resistances. Since the early days of the 20th century, traditional breeding for disease resistance in vegetables has been a major method for controlling plant diseases.

Cultivars that are resistant or tolerant to one or a few specific pathogens are already available for many vegetable crops. Resistant hybrids with multiple resistances to several pathogens exist and are currently used in vegetable production. For example, in tomato, the genetic control of pathogens is a very useful practice and most resistances are monogenic and dominant. So far, tomato breeding has resulted in cultivars with resistance to at least 15 pathogens, hydroponic nft although with varying stability and level of expression . Tomato cultivars with some resistance to fungi or oomycetes , bacteria , virus , and nematodes  are available.With the increasing use of F1 hybrids it is possible to use cultivars combining from four up to six resistances . Pest resistance is essential in vegetable production but is marginal in vegetable breeding research. There are few vegetable cultivars resistant to insects. Resistance may be unstable due to genetic variants of the insect that are able to overcome that source of resistance. Depending on the complexity of the interaction between the pest and the vegetable plant, plant resistance may break down rapidly or be long-lived. Insects, including aphids, whiteflies, thrips and leafhoppers, are also very important in vegetables because they vector many viruses.

Viruses can substantially reduce production and quality and are be-coming increasingly problematic worldwide due to the absence of virus resistant germplasm for many important vegetable crops. Aphid vectored viruses are particularly problematic because many are transmitted in a non-circulative and non-persistent manner . This means that a very short time, i.e. a few seconds or minutes, is sufficient for aphids to acquire virus particles when probing on infected plants. A similarly short time period is enough for aphids to release virus particles when probing on healthy plants. The primary injury caused by aphid-vectored viruses arises not from direct feeding damage by the aphids, but from their ability to allow the virus to enter the plant and initiate the disease. A successful application of biotechnology has been the development of vegetable cultivars that resist insect transmit-ted viruses, as well as cultivars that directly resist insect feeding or development. Bt potato cultivars expressing resistance to Colorado potato beetle , and aphids associated with potato virus Y, and potato leaf roll virus, were approved for sale in the United States in 1995. The economic return of investment in breeding for disease and pest resistance may be low because it is dispersed among many different vegetable crop types. Also resistant cultivars compete directly with non–resistant ones that may still be used by growers with minimum problems.

Its effects on cognitive development, fatigue and mortality have significant economic impacts, estimated at 7.9% of GDP in the case of Bangladesh . Vitamin A deficiency also is widespread and an estimated 190 million preschool children and 19 million pregnant women are affected. More than half of these are found in South and East Asia and under a third in Africa . Vitamin A deficiency is a major cause of blindness and weakened resistance to disease, resulting in the deaths of up to 3 million children each year . In Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal and the Philippines at least half of the preschool children and pregnant women are affected by micro-nutrient and vitamin deficiencies . Small variation in maternal diets, particularly reduction in micro-nutrient content, can have a significant impact on fetal growth and development. The interplay of the different micronu-trients and antioxidants found in vegetables has important health impacts, explaining for instance the higher birth weight of children in India, flood and drain table when mothers consumed higher rates of green leafy vegetables and fruits during pregnancy.

Diets rich in vegetables, in all their many forms to ensure an adequate intake of most micro-nutrients, dietary fibers, and phyto-chemicals can bring a much-needed measure of balance back to diets contributing to solve many of these nutrition problems . Good health depends on dietary diversity, and as poverty increases, human diets become less diverse. In impoverished countries the poor have little choice and are forced to rely on the cheapest available staples  and dietary diversity and health suffer. In richer countries, changes in the food systems have made poor quality processed foods high in carbohydrates and fats more affordable, available, and accessible; this has most impact on the diets of the poor.The emphasis has been on ensuring supplies of macro-nutrients while putting less emphasis on major sources of micro-nutrients and vitamins, which means a focus on survival rather than on health. World vegetable production does not meet even the basic nutritional needs of most countries, and the resulting imbalanced diets are one of the world’s most serious health problems.

Continuing to focus on increasing the production of staples will only exacerbate the real food problem, which is one of imbalanced diets. A world vegetable survey showed that 402 vegetable crops are cultivated worldwide, representing 69 families and 230 genera . Vegetable crops, of which the leaves or young leafy shoots are consumed, were the most common group of vegetables utilized , followed by vegetable fruits . Below ground crop vegetable organs ranked as follows in frequency of use: roots > tubers > rhizomes > corms > stolons and together comprised 17% of the total number. Many vegetable crops have more than one part used. Most of the vegetables are marketed fresh with only a small proportion processed because as most vegetables are perishable by nature, consumption shortly after harvest is the best guarantee for optimal quality. Of these marketed vegetables, rolling bench only 67 have attracted great breeding attention by international seed companies, due to their large area of production and substantial consumption, 52 were considered minor, and other 87  were considered rare . In 2010 the global vegetable seed market was estimated at US$4.1 billion, of which 36% were for solanaceous, 21% for cucurbits, 13% for roots and bulbs, 12% for large seed, 11% for brassicas, and 7% for leafy and others vegetables . In the last 8 years global commercial vegetable seed sales had an annual growth rate of 5.8%.

There are now 7.2 billion human beings inhabiting this planet, and it has been projected that world population growth may exceed 70 million annually over the next 40 years. It is expected to reach approximately 9.5 billion by 2050, when approximately 90% of the global population will reside in Asia, Africa, and Latin American countries. With the increase in world population and consumption, and the advent of a high degree of growth and added value through biotechnology, the global market of vegetable seeds is expected to expand in future years. The worldwide consumption and importance of vegetables in the diet is difficult to estimate owing to scant production statistics. Even where crop reporting services are an integral part of the agricultural infrastructure, in-formation is available only for a small percentage of the vegetable crops grown. The consumption and caloric contribution of vegetables to the diet varies widely with geographical region, nationality, local customs, and cuisine. China is the largest consumer of vegetables in the world.

MAXENT jackknife test of variable  importance shows Bio18  giving a reasonably good fit to the training data.The environmental variable with highest gain when used in isolation is Bio18,which therefore appears to have the most useful information by itself in the model. The environmental variable that decreases the gain the most when it is omitted was also observed in bio18, which therefore appears to have the most information that isn’t present in the other variables.Same jackknife test, using test gain instead of training gain  also shows that Precipitation of Warmest Quarter as an important climatic variable in the test gain, the test gain plot also shows that a model made only using Bio8 results in a negative test gain. The model thus is below a null model  for predicting the distribution of occurrences set aside for testing and the variables are not the useful as predictor.

Jackknife test using AUC on test data,stackable planters the AUC plot shows that Bio18 is the most effective single variable for predicting the distribution of the occurrence data that was left aside for testing, when the predictive performance is measured using AUC, though it was hardly used by the model built using all variables and the relative importance of Bio4 also increases in the test gain plot .These results establishes the importance of precipitation in the MAXENT prediction model and the role of model development for MAXENT to obtain a good fit to the training data with the Precipitation of Warmest Quarter defining better results on the set-aside test data  followed byBIO5 , BIO16  and BIO13 . The model was developed using a very low occurrence points and most of the areas of Nagaland was predicted under high suitability threshold, thus to validate this, the model was subjected to intensive ground truthing and introduction indifferent prediction threshold to assess the model prediction ability .

Target plant species was introduced in different areas and ground truthing works was carried out and it was realized that the distribution of the target plant species was highly threatened and very sparsely distributed in pockets. K- fold partitioning of test data and training data could not give usable model as the occurrence points are too low therefore Pearsons jackknife method of leaving one out and assessing the predictive performance of each separate model was used. Jackknifing method was able to construct a workable model and ground truthing works by random selection of sites in different prediction threshold level give a significant result with 10 new occurrence records . The MAXENT model was able to give significant prediction results over a smaller area however, stacking pots when the small sample size data was used to predict over a larger area i.e. , whole part of India and North Eastern region of India, the predication model becomes unstable and insignificant.Though the model was developed using only four training sites, it was able to predict suitable sites in the neighboring Northeastern states of India and countries.

The high suitability threshold was validated in Manipur and Arunachal, with secondary occurrence data, the model prediction in neighboring countries of Bhutan and Burma can also be supported by occurrence reports available from secondary sources. The ability of the model to predict all the suitable sites over larger areas might be lowered as the training points are very less and confined over a smaller area , The model however shows a more robust prediction outside the target area in Bhutan and Myanmar. During the present study it was observed that most of the occurrence areas are under high biological disturbances like logging, Jhuming and forest fire and these are some of the factors that are bringing noticeable changes to the forest over a short period. This spatially separated population shares similarity in host plant and seasonal climatic variables like precipitation and temperature.

Most of the areas are under high suitability threshold but are under high anthropogenic disturbances and only a small portion of the study in very high suitability thresholda falls under undisturbed area and interestingly Intanki National Park, India fall under very high suitability threshold. Introduction of species to random forests will proved to be futile if careful assessment of the forest condition is not done areas like Intanki national park will serve as excellent sites for in-situ conservation and possible re-introduction for species recovery. The study was able to produce significant prediction models using very small sample size over a defined area, which has been validated statistically and though ground truthing. Earlier studies on development of models using low sample size has also reported effective models by using sample size of minimum 4 and 5study on cryptic geckos .

Business sustainability isthe increase in productivity and/or reduction of consumed resources withoutcompromising product or service quality, competitiveness, or profitability while helping to save the environment . Food industry is confronted with issuesranging from migrant worker abuses, product safety and animal handling practicesto the environmental impacts of soil erosion, habitat destruction, fertilizerrun-offs and use of herbicides and pesticides .The concept of Triple Bottom Line was coined by John Elkington in 1998.TBL focuses on three dimensions of an organization’s operations. Due to theincrease of global awareness of environmental challenges, consumers have becomemore concerned about promotion of green designs. Thus, consumershave become more aware of the consequences of their consumption decisionsand their choices are increasingly affecting the product offerings .

In Sustainable Supply Chain Management  literature, the inclusion ofsustainability into the theory of Supply Chain Management  is most oftenbased on the TBL approach flood and drain tray. SSCM refers to the management of material, informationand capital flows as well as cooperation among companies along thesupply chain while considering the three dimensions of sustainability.Issues of sustainabilityespecially in the flower farming have remained a big concern to thepolicy makers, stakeholders and the Horticultural Crops Development Authority. According to HCDA, work environment, water usage, environmentalissues i.e. chemicals used on the flower farms, and employee wages are key concerns.All these issues can be well addressed if organizations adopt the environmental,social and economic aspects of TBL into their supply chains .A number of studies have been carried out on sustainability and Triple BottomLine approach in organizational supply chains. Situational variables andsustainability in multi-attribute decision making established that the environmentaldimension of sustainability is the most influential followed by economicand social .

A study on crippled bottom line-measuring and managing sustainabilityconcluded that the relative indicators with focus on people utilitycompared to planet and people harm seem to be relevant for measuring the levelof sustainability .It was evident from the above studies that there was lack of research on thetopic of sustainability of horticulture sector supply chains in Kenya. The authorsaimed to narrow the research gap by focusing on the horticulture sector andspecifically studying sustainability and TBL performance from a supply chainperspective. The study questions included: To what extent are the TBL dimensionsadopted in horticulture sector in Kenya? What are the triggers or drivers ofsustainability in the horticulture sector in Kenya? What is the relationship betweenSSCM and TBL performance in horticulture sector in Kenya?This study is will be useful to policy makers in specific to the government,government agencies and various stakeholders in the agricultural sector as theyuse the findings and recommendations of the study to improve food security inthe country by applying sustainability and Triple Bottom-Line concept in farmingpractices as well as managing efficient and effective food supply chain.

Professionals and academicians are also in a position to clearly understand majorpractical challenges which need to be addressed. Organizations operate within a wider environment that is composed of a numberof variables that include political, economic, nft hydroponic socio-cultural, technological,ecological and legal. Any change in any one of these variables is expected to havefar reaching implications in the way organizations operate. This compels organizationsto adopt SSCM practices in addressing any change that may occur inany of the variables. The goals of businesses are achieved through the applicationof change management approaches including SSCM .Companies’ interest in SCM hasincreased in recent decades because of growing global competition, outsourcingof companies’ non-core activities and the shortening of product life cycles .Companies have become more deeply committed to corporate social responsibility and sustainability by refusing to implement a reductionist corporatemanagement model focused only on shareholders’ interests . Under thisscenario, sustainable management of supply chains has become a core strategicfactor for companies worldwide.

Net revenues per hectare from rice is more than four times that from corn and the net revenue to cost ratio is about three times that of corn farming. With generally less land devoted to cultivation of other crops and much less costs involved, annual net incomes realized by households from farming of other crops are comparable, if not higher than corn. All the other crops—abaca,banana, coconut and other non-traditional crops have remarkably much lower costs, yielding net revenues to cost ratio of more than one. With the exception of coconut, net returns per hectare from all other crops are greater than that from corn. Survey data indicate that despite relatively high gross revenues from corn farming, vertical farming racks substantial costs diminish net returns/income.Data from the Philippine Statistics Office reflect an improvement in the profit to cost ratio of corn farming in the Philippines from 0.25 in 2010, to 0.63in 2015, and to 0.78 in 2018 .

Survey results from this study suggest that corn farming profitability in Lake Sebu has remained on the 2010 level of the Philippines.Welfare indicators, such as aggregate household income, poverty incidence,food consumption vulnerability and self-reported happiness are presented in Table 3. Welfare measures for households whose main income source is farming as well as for households that are dependent on other livelihood sources such as tourism, tilapia aquaculture and others are provided so as to show the relative socio-economic conditions of farming households in the Municipality. Table 3 reveals that households who are mainly dependent on agriculture are worse-off than other households in the Municipality. On the average, annual income of other households is about30-100% larger that income of farming households. Poverty incidence and hunger incidence are substantially higher among farming households than other households.Further, the average happiness score is lowest for farming households.

Interviews and focus group discussions with farmers in Lakes Sebu that allowed more in-depth investigation on their conditions revealed farming households’ vulnerabilities arising from limited financing and marketing options.Although most of the FGD participants claimed that they own the land that they cultivate, all of them have no savings to fund their farming livelihood activities and hence,vertical rack system depend on financiers to cover farming costs from seed sowing to marketing. Some acquire cash financing from informal loan sharks at interest rates of 5% – 10% per month . But most farmers enter into a financing contract with agricultural traders who normally provide them with all farm inputs—seedlings, fertilizers, herbicides,and pesticides. The prices of the farm inputs are set in the contract at levels that are much higher than market prices. All contract prices are fixed such that even if the market price of a farm input falls, the price set in the contract is not changed. For example, a bag of fertilizer that costs PHP950 in the market is provided by the financier to the farmer at PHP1,500. There have been instances that the market price of fertilizer falls to as low as PPH650, but the PHP1,500price set in the contract is not amended. In most cases, the agricultural traders who provide the farm inputs are also the buyers of the crops.

While they set very high input prices in the contract, they buy crop harvests at very low prices. Further,they charge transportation costs of PHP1.80 for every kilogram of the crop,leaving the farmers with very little net income for their harvests.It is very difficult for the subsistence Lake Sebu farmers to bring their produce and sell directly to the market to get a fairer price for their produce due to the absence of concrete farm to market roads. Roads are hardly passable during rainy days. World Bank   notes that transportation costs can rise by an additional 71% during the rainy season. Produce from upland farms has to be transported using horses or motorcycles to lowland areas. Apart from higher transportation costs, the shortage of drying facilities and transport difficulties result in high spoilage and further losses to the farmers during the rainy season. In the Philippines, the Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the local government units, is mandated to provide the support services necessary to make agriculture and agriculture-based enterprises profitable.

The deployment of weed competitive variety is not only ecofriendly but also a very cost effective  tool for integrated weed management. Considering the high vulnerability of aerobic rice to weeds, development of weed competitive aerobic rice variety has been suggested by many researchers .No work has so far been done to assess the ability of the huge pool of Bangladeshirice germplasms to wrestle weeds under aerobic soil conditions. In this backdrop, the present study was undertaken to study the variation in weed competitiveness among selected high yielding rice varieties and to recognize agronomic traits conferring weed competitiveness of rice grown under aerobic soil conditions.Maximum weed growth was observed in weed monoculture. In terms of weed rating BRRI dhan59, BRRIdhan67 and Binadhan-10 appeared as the most weeds suppressive since weed ratings against these variety were low. Weed growth was rated between 4 and 5 for BRRI dhan50, BRRI dhan58, BRRI hybrid dhan3, Binadhan-6 and Agrodhan-14,hydroponic fodder system and between 5 and 6 for BRRI dhan28, BRRI dhan29 and BRRI dhan47 indicating moderate weed suppressive .

Weed rating  in BRRI dhan55 and Binadhan-8 and highest weed rating > 7 in Binadhan-5signify poor competitiveness against weeds. Weed dry matter followed almost similar trend as visual weed rating. Mean weed pressure across variety was 37.83 g m−2 against 92.32 g m−2 recorded in weed monoculture, which denotes that on average, rice variety reduced weed pressure by about 59%. BRRI dhan59emerged as the most weed suppressive variety reducing weed pressure by 79%followed by BRRI dhan67 and Binadhan-10. Highest weed pressure of 62.8 g m−2 was found in Binadhan-5 which was 32%less than in weed monoculture. Other varieties were intermediate in suppressing weeds within the range of 41 to 79%. Maximum weed density of 197 m−2 was recorded in weed monoculture. The rice variety did not significantly differ with respect to weed density, which was within a narrow range from 69 to 114 m−2. The average weed density across variety was 94 m−2 which was 52%less compared to the weed monoculture. Relative chlorophyll content was not significantly influenced by variety .

Numerically, the highest chlorophyll content was observed in BRRI dhan55 and the lowest chlorophyll content was observed in BRRI dhan67 .Higher SPAD values indicate greener and healthier plants. Relative chlorophyll content was significantly affected by weeding regimes aeroponic tower garden system. In weed free condition higher chlorophyll value was found and in weedy treatment lower chlorophyll content  was found. Weed competition was severe in weedy condition and thus lowest chlorophyll was produced. On the other hand,in weed free treatment throughout the crop growth period, higher chlorophyll value was produced . SPAD value was higher in weed-free condition than in weedy condition. SPAD values were greatly reduced by weed interference and this was reflected in yield performance. The varieties from diverse genetic sources and origins demonstrated a broad range in phonological parameters . Growth duration of the varieties in this study ranged from 117 to 143 days.

Average growth duration was 134and 132 days in weed free and weedy condition, respectively. BRRI dhan28 and BRRI dhan55 took less than 100 days for flowering and near about 120 days for maturing in both conditions. BRRI dhan67, BRRI dhan47 and BRRI dhan58 commenced flowering between 100 and 105 DAS and consequently matured by125-130 days in weed free condition and matured 2-3 days early in weedy condition.BRRI dhan29 required the longest duration of more than 115 days to initiate flowering and matured after 140 days. The variety and weeding regime exhibited significant differences in plant height at most of the sampling dates, however, their interaction had no significant effect. At 15 DAS plant height ranged from 7.65 to 11.55cm. Here, highest plant height at 15 DAS was produced by BRRI dhan59, followed by Binadhan-10 and the lowest plant height was obtained from Binadhan-5 followed by Binadhan-8. At 30 DAS, plant height ranged from 13.05 to 18.55 cm. Here, BRRI dhan59 was the tallest variety and Binadnan-5 was the shortest one which was at par with BRRI dhan47, BRRI dhan55, Binadhan-8 and BRRI hybriddhan3. At 45 DAS, values are not significant.