RESUMO
Soil data for Sri Lanka are available through semi-detailed series maps that were developed based on limited soil profile data combined with expert knowledge. This data plays a vital role in decisions at national and regional levels. However, the present format of this database does not allow for their wider use in crop simulation modelling and other related agricultural research that require finer scale data. This is due to the fact that cross-country profile data are not harmonised based on standard depths. Several attempts were made to produce digital soil data for Sri Lanka at different geographic scales, however, a completely harmonised data that covers variability across depths and properties is yet to be made available. In this article, we describe the first version of the open digital soil database that was developed using a database of 122 locations across the country. Soil properties were harmonised for standard depths using equal-area quadratic smoothing splines. Out of several interpolation methods that were evaluated for univariate interpolation, maps which were produced with the least overall error (RMSE) in the process of cross-validation were selected. The newly developed digital soil database contains 9 soil properties; pH, bulk density, cation exchange capacity, organic carbon, volumetric moisture content at 0.33 and 15 bars levels, sand silt and clay content. Moreover, the data are available for five standard depth layers as 0-5, 5-15, 15-30, 30-60 and 60-100 cm in raster format at 1 km spatial resolution. Both interpolated property maps and their error maps were stored in an open repository and made available for public use. The first version of all maps is also showcased online through open web mapping services. The repository will be gradually updated with higher resolution and more accurate maps as more samples become available and better interpolation method are used. This data could provide complementary information for insight generation at finer scales where limited local informaiton about soils hinders agricultural development.
RESUMO
MAIN CONCLUSION: Crops For the Future (CFF), as an entity, has established a broad range of research activities to promote the improvement and adoption of currently underutilised crops. This paper summarises selected research activities at Crops For the Future (CFF) in pursuit of its mission 'to develop solutions for diversifying future agriculture using underutilised crops'. CFF is a research company focussed on the improvement of underutilised crops, so that they might be grown and consumed more widely with benefits to human food and nutritional security; its founding guarantors were the Government of Malaysia and the University of Nottingham. From its base in Malaysia, it engages in research around the world with a focus on species and system diversification. CFF has adopted a food system approach that adds value by delivering prototype food, feed and knowledge products. Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) was adopted as an exemplar crop around which to develop CFF's food system approach with emphasis on the short-day photoperiod requirement for pod-filling and the hard-to-cook trait. Selective breeding has allowed the development of lines that are less susceptible to photoperiod but also provided a range of tools and approaches that are now being exploited in other crops such as winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus), amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), moringa (Moringa oleifera) and proso (Panicum miliaceum) and foxtail (Setaria italica) millets. CFF has developed and tested new food products and demonstrated that several crops can be used as feed for black soldier fly which can, in turn, be used to feed fish thereby reducing the need for fishmeal. Information about underutilised crops is widely dispersed; so, a major effort has been made to develop a knowledge base that can be interrogated and used to answer practical questions about potential exploitation of plant and nutritional characteristics. Future research will build on the success with Bambara groundnut and include topics such as urban agriculture, rural development and diversification, and the development of novel foods.
