Prioritizing GM crop monitoring sites in the dynamics of cultivation systems and their environment.

EU legislation stipulates that GM crops have to be monitored for potential adverse environmental effects. Monitoring preferably should take place in the most exposed areas-the cultivated fields and their neighbouring environment. Current monitoring designs do not give detailed consideration to the different exposure intensities in agricultural practice. At the same time, the selection of specific, more exposed sites is difficult considering the dynamic and diversity of crop cultivation and rotation systems and their environments. We developed an approach for prioritising the monitoring of on-farm and neighbouring sites based on differing exposure levels using a minimum dataset of cultivation and land use information. Applying a Bt-maize cultivation scenario to Brandenburg, Germany, where presently no GM crops are cultivated, we systemised and categorised areas with different spatio-temporal exposure intensities including 50 m, 200 m and 1000 m buffers. These categories correspond to different suitabilities to serve as monitoring sites. Sites are prioritised using a sequential scheme. This yields an improved and objective spatial monitoring design providing detailed exposure information. This methodology is flexible and transferable to any agricultural setting, therefore enabling superior statistical comparisons between locations and regions and thus enhancing monitoring data quality.

Prioritizing options for multi-objective agricultural development through the Positive Deviance approach.

Agricultural development must integrate multiple objectives at the same time, including food security, income, and environmental sustainability. To help achieve these objectives, development practitioners need to prioritize concrete livelihood practices to promote to rural households. But trade-offs between objectives can lead to dilemmas in selecting practices. In addition, heterogeneity among farming households requires targeting different strategies to different types of households. Existing diversity of household resources and activities, however, may also bear solutions. We explored a new, empirical research method that identifies promising options for multi-objective development by focusing on existing cases of strong multi-dimensional household performance. The "Positive Deviance" approach signifies identifying locally viable livelihood practices from diverse households that achieve stronger performance than comparable households in the same area. These practices are promising for other local households in comparable resource contexts. The approach has been used in other domains, such as child nutrition, but has not yet been fully implemented for agricultural development with a focus on the simultaneous achievement of multiple objectives. To test our adapted version of the Positive Deviance approach, we used a quantitative survey of over 500 rural households in South-Eastern Tanzania. We identified 54 households with outstanding relative performance regarding five key development dimensions (food security, income, nutrition, environmental sustainability, and social equity). We found that, compared to other households with similar resource levels, these "positive deviants" performed strongest for food security, but only slightly better for social equity. We then re-visited a diverse sub-sample for qualitative interviews, and identified 14 uncommon, "deviant" practices that plausibly contributed to the households' superior outcomes. We illustrate how these practices can inform specific recommendations of practices for other local households in comparable resource contexts. The study demonstrates how, with the Positive Deviance approach, empirical observations of individual, outstanding households can inform discussions about locally viable agricultural development solutions in diverse household context.

Data in brief on inter-row rainwater harvest and fertilizer application on yield of maize and pigeon-pea cropping systems in sub humid tropics.

Soil moisture management and fertilizer micro-dosing on yield and land utilization efficiency of inter-cropping maize-pigeon-pea in sub humid Tanzania [1]. Farmers typically grow pigeon-pea as a mixed cropping system, the advances of these systems have been well studied, for example: increased productivity and rainfall infiltration. Much research has been done on cereal-pigeon pea intercropping on research stations, comparing yields in intercrops with sole maize. However, the role of inorganic fertilizers in sustainably intensifying intercropping systems has not been optimalised in all cases. For example in a recent study "Sustainable Intensification with Cereal-Legume Intercropping in Eastern and Southern Africa" published in Sustainability 2019, 11, 2891; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11102891, also the effect of inorganic fertilizers were studied. But usually these studies did not pay attention on the relation with water supply. Data in this article presents rainfall variability in the season and between seasons, yield of maize (Zea mays cv. TMV1) and pigeon-pea (Cajanus cajan cv. Babati White) under sole crop and intercropping. Yield of maize and pigeon-pea is analyzed under inter-row rainwater harvesting practices and fertilizer application in the field. Sole cropping and intercropping biological and/or economic yield are used to determine land use efficiency through land equivalent ratio. Comparisons between sites and seasons are done using a T-test.

Cultural background, gender, and institutional status have an effect on the evaluation of multi-disciplinary participatory action research.

Research and development increasingly apply participatory approaches that involve both stakeholders and scientists. This article presents an evaluation of German and Tanzanian researchers' perceptions during their activities as part of a large interdisciplinary research project in Tanzania. The project focused on prioritizing and implementing food-securing upgrading strategies across the components of rural food value chains. The participants involved during the course of the project were asked to provide feedback on 10 different research steps and to evaluate eight core features related to the functioning and potential shortcomings of the project. The study discriminated among evaluation differences linked to culture, gender, and institutional status. Perceptions differed between Tanzanian and German participants depending on the type and complexity of the participatory research steps undertaken and the intensity of stakeholder participation. There were differences in perception linked to gender and hierarchical status; however, those differences were not as concise and significant as those linked to nationality. These findings indicate that participatory action research of this nature requires more targeted strategies and planning tailored to the type of activity. Such planning would result in more efficient and satisfactory communication, close collaboration, and mutual feedback to avoid conflicts and other problems. We further conclude that it would be advisable to carefully incorporate training on these aspects into future project designs.

Glyphosate applications on arable fields considerably coincide with migrating amphibians.

Glyphosate usage is increasing worldwide and the application schemes of this herbicide are currently changing. Amphibians migrating through arable fields may be harmed by Glyphosate applied to field crops. We investigated the population-based temporal coincidence of four amphibian species with Glyphosate from 2006 to 2008. Depending on a) age- and species-specific main migration periods, b) crop species, c) Glyphosate application mode for crops, and d) the presumed DT50 value (12 days or 47 days) of Glyphosate, we calculated up to 100% coincidence with Glyphosate. The amphibians regularly co-occur with pre-sowing/pre-emerging Glyphosate applications to maize in spring and with stubble management prior to crop sowing in late summer and autumn. Siccation treatment in summer coincides only with early pond-leaving juveniles. We suggest in-depth investigations of both acute and long-term effects of Glyphosate applications on amphibian populations not only focussed on exposure during aquatic periods but also terrestrial life stages.

Information system for monitoring environmental impacts of genetically modified organisms.

BACKGROUND, AIM AND SCOPE: European legislation stipulates that genetically modified organisms (GMO) have to be monitored to identify potential adverse environmental effects. A wealth of different types of monitoring data from various sources including existing environmental monitoring programmes is expected to accumulate. This requires an information system to efficiently structure, process and evaluate the monitoring data. METHODS: A structure for an Information System for Monitoring GMO (ISMO) was developed by a multidisciplinary research team. It is based on the requirement to organise all relevant information in a logical, readily accessible and functional manner. RESULTS: For the ISMO, we present a combination of three interrelated components: Firstly, an ISMO should comprise a knowledge database structured according to information related to the different scale levels of biological organisation relevant to GMO monitoring and scientific hypotheses on cause-effects which should be validated by monitoring data. Secondly, a monitoring database should be part of an ISMO containing GMO-specific monitoring data and meta-data. This monitoring database should be linked with monitoring data from other monitoring programmes which are relevant for GMO-related questions. Thirdly, an ISMO should encompass a database covering administrative and procedural data. Neither national nor international approaches to an ISMO exist yet. CONCLUSIONS: An ISMO as designed in this paper could support competent authorities in both the GMO notification process and in post-market monitoring. This includes evaluating the environmental risks of experimentally releasing GMO and placing them on the market, assessing monitoring plans and evaluating monitoring results. The ISMO should be implemented on both the national and international level, preferably combining different administrative scales. Harmonisation approaches towards GMO monitoring data are at an initial stage, but they are a precondition to coordinated GMO monitoring and to successfully implementing an ISMO. It is recommended to set up a legal basis and to agree on common strategies for the data coordination and harmonisation.