R4D Barbados

Comparison of disease progress curves for yam anthracnose (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides)

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 07:09 GMT

Document Type: Journal Article
Creator: Sweetmore, A.; Simons, S.A.; Kenward, M.

Production Year: 1994

Citation: Sweetmore, A.; Simons, S.A.; Kenward, M. Comparison of disease progress curves for yam anthracnose (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides). Plant Pathology (1994) 43 (1) 206-215. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-3059.1994.tb00572.x]

Summary: The incidence and severity of foliar anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, were recorded for seven fields of yams (Dioscorea alata var. White Lisbon) in Barbados over a complete growing season. A scoring system was developed to estimate severity, placing the emphasis on the earliest, least visible stages of the disease. Disease progress curves were described in terms of the logistic model and the effects of site and leaf age on the parameters as well as on disease at tuber bulking were analysed. Differences between sites indicated that disease was more severe in areas of higher rainfall. In severe epidemics, disease predominated on young leaves. Fungicides applied sufficiently early can delay the onset of disease and slow the rate of disease progress.

Getting everyone to agree in natural resources management. Validated RNRRS Output.

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:00 GMT

Document Type: Miscellaneous
Creator: RIU

Production Year: 2007

Citation: NRSP08, New technologies, new processes, new policies: tried-and-tested and ready-to-use results from DFID-funded research, Research Into Use Programme, Aylesford, Kent, UK, ISBN 978-0-9552595-6-2, p 138.

Summary:

This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects run by DFID's 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programmes.

Associated with Projects R6919, R7408 and PD106. Trade-off analysis is a way of building consensus among stakeholders in multiple use natural resource areas. It involves working with stakeholders to identify their interests and importance, developing different scenarios and iterative weighting of information leading to consensus. It is in use at the Buccoo Reef Marine Park in Tobago, where wide agreement was reached on the longterm objectives of sustainability and conservation of resources. Co-management, facilitated through trade-off analysis, has benefits for the wider social goals of conservation and social-ecological resilience. The method has been widely disseminated in the literature and is being used in Barbados, Canada, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Tanzania and the UK, in contexts such as fisheries, forestry, agriculture, tourism and climate change mitigation.

The CD has the following information for this output: Description, Validation, Current Situation, Current Promotion, Impacts on Poverty, Environmental Impact. Attached PDF (19 pp.) taken from the CD.

Participation oils the wheels of fisheries management. Validated RNRRS Output.

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 06:15 GMT

Document Type: Miscellaneous
Creator: RIU

Production Year: 2007

Citation: FMSP04, New technologies, new processes, new policies: tried-and-tested and ready-to-use results from DFID-funded research, Research Into Use Programme, Aylesford, Kent, UK, ISBN 978-0-9552595-6-2, p 131.

Summary:

This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects run by DFID's 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programmes.

Principally based on Projects R7042, R8285 and R8462. Simple ways of collecting and sharing data and information are helping improve management of small fisheries. These fisheries make important contributions to national economies and exports, and provide a living for over 200 million people in Africa and Asia. Previously, poor fishers—and other stakeholders—weren't consulted on decisions that affected them, often with unfortunate results. It's proved invaluable for fisheries departments and fishers to get together to gather and use information to help manage these fisheries better. Getting stakeholders to participate means their interests are taken into account and they don't lose out. Step-by-step guidelines are already widely used in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Thailand, and organisations in Bangladesh, Uganda, Barbados, Cambodia and Tanzania are customising the approach for their own needs.

The CD has the following information for this output: Description, Validation, Current Situation, Current Promotion, Impacts On Poverty, Environmental Impact. Attached PDF (16 pp.) taken from the CD.

The selection of vegetative techniques for soil erosion control with potential for use in the Caribbean steep lands

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:00 GMT

Project Status: Completed

Project Objectives: On steep slopes in the tropics, civil engineering and land management that involve modification of vegetation cover run the risk of inducing problems associated with soil erosion and slope destabilisation. Current slope stabilisation methods mostly rely on the creation of physically inert structures that may be neither cost effective nor effective in the long term. Alternative approaches are needed.

Coastal management research network (COMARENet)

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:00 GMT

Project Status: Completed

Project Conclusions: The aim of this study was to promote and institutionalise research on pro-poor integrated coastal management in the Caribbean beyond the life of NRSP land and water interface (LWI) production system projects in this region through the application and further development of their research processes and products.

Synthesis assignment - Livelihood strategies and NR related management opportunities

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:00 GMT

Project Status: Completed
Project Background: Revision of NRSP's research strategy in 1999 to focus explicitly on the needs of poor people showed there was a need for a much better understanding of determinants of livelihood strategies in varying poverty circumstances and their implications for areas and opportunities for NRM research that could best assist pro-poor improvement of livelihoods. The study considered 18 projects which were selected from NRSP's portfolio in five production systems that had undertaken livelihood studies either as the central focus of a project or to establish a context for other research on natural resources management. It comprised a desk study of project documentation, interviews with project leaders, some fieldwork and a workshop of key stakeholders.

Project Objectives: To synthesise information on key determinants influencing livelihood strategies of the poor who are largely dependent on natural resources (NR) and identify NR-related management opportunities that could benefit the poor.

Project Conclusions: This study synthesised information on the factors influencing livelihood strategies for poor people in developing countries. Findings were used to identify how research for development can support livelihood opportunities of the poor, the challenges faced by livelihoods research, and the opportunities to improve this research.The study report was summarised in a booklet and widely distributed within DFID and globally to Government and non-Government organisations and NARS.

Developing guidelines for successful co-management in the Caribbean

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:00 GMT

Project Status: Completed
Project Background: According to UNEP's GEO Latin America and the Caribbean: Environmental Perspective 2000, increasing poverty and inequality of income remain the major causes of environmental degradation in Latin America and the Caribbean. It claims 85% of land-based discharges are untreated, leading to the destruction of mangroves and coral reefs. Approximately 35% of Caribbean fish stocks are over-exploited or fished unsustainably. Most human settlements and economic activities, particularly in the insular Caribbean, are on the coast. Tourism, a preferred engine of economic growth in many places, makes heavy and sometimes destructive demands on the coastal environment that sustains it. Improving the coastal environment, therefore, necessitates addressing poverty and the livelihood strategies of the poor. This project will develop and promote mechanisms for implementation of integrated pro-poor natural resource management in coastal zones, ensuring that these can be implemented through a comprehensive understanding of the requirements for establishing successful co-management institutions for coastal resources under various conditions in the Caribbean. It addresses not only empowering the poor directly with information and skills, but engaging the key institutions of coastal resource governance in an examination of how their acton, or lack of action, affects the poor and the marine resources on which they depend. By setting up constructive dialogue in participatory research processes, the positive changes in perspectives on co-management that should result will assist in promoting pro-poor policy, planning and management changes.

Project Objectives: Mechanisms for implementation of integrated pro-poor natural resource (and pollution prevention) management in coastal zones developed and promoted, through understanding the requirements for establishing successful co-management institutions for coastal resources under various conditions in the Caribbean.

Project Conclusions: Project influence ranged from individual to national levels in the Caribbean. Government agencies at the research sites were receptive to guidance from the project, as were resource users and other stakeholders at the community and national levels. Beneficiaries at management level, including government fisheries authorities and coastal zone units, fishers, community leaders, local level organisations and NGOs became better prepared for their roles in co-management through participation in the project. Capacity building and institutional strengthening were project components achieved in part through participation in the research, but much more has to be done. Priority is for support to build capacity to ensure that even the poorest community members and groups (including women and youths) can make informed and empowered decisions concerning integrated coastal management. Beneficiaries and target institutions accepted the recommendation of learning-by-doing to practise co-management through small joint activities. Given the early stages that most co-management initiatives are at, considerable support for successful co-management is required in the Caribbean. If adoption of co-management, and the guidelines developed through this project to support it, can be achieved, as the above suggests, this is anticipated to contribute substantially to achieving the goal of improved resource-use management.

Intended Outputs: Understanding of the requirements for establishing successful co-management institutions for coastal resources developed in the form of a research framework.

Ecological and environmental characteristics of the natural resource systems and their utilisation at selected Caribbean sites comprehensively defined, including a comparative assessment between sites.

Better understanding of the institutional, socio-economic, cultural, political and other human dimensions of natural resource utilisation at the selected Caribbean sites developed.

Improved and in-depth understanding of how the natural resource and human factors assessed above, favour or constrain the establishment of successful, pro-poor and integrated co-management at selected sites, with application to the wider Caribbean, developed and refined with key stakeholders through participatory processes.

Regionally applicable guidelines on mechanisms to enhance favourable conditions and overcome constraints to establishing successful pro-poor and integrated co-management, distributed and promoted in selected sites and the wider Caribbean.

Both willingness and capacity of target institutions and beneficiaries to improve co-management developed through the project's participatory processes.

Actual Outputs: 1. Research framework - A widely used research framework was successfully adapted for use.
2. Assessment of natural resources - All resource assessments were successfully completed.
3. Assessment of human systems - Framework was successfully used for institutional analysis.
4. Comparative analysis - Co-management success was compared across the six case studies.
5. Guidelines and uptake- Guidelines document and slides were prepared and widely promoted.
6. Communications - Project newsletters, informal email and other means were successful.

Institutional evaluation of Caribbean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and opportunities for pro-poor management

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:00 GMT

Project Status: Completed
Project Background: In the Caribbean, with its range of small island developing states (SIDS), its large islands, and the Central American mainland countries, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are seen as one of the most prominent means of addressing coastal resource management. Traditionally, small scale agriculture and subsistence fishing has been carried out by many people in Caribbean societies. Increasingly, lack of other income opportunities has led to increased fishing pressure and over-fishing. The majority of MPA localities are valuable economic sources for local and national economies, and in an area where over 50% of the poor live in rural areas, and where livelihoods often depend on the marine environment, it is vital to find ways to produce economic benefits from marine areas, and continue to maintain protection benefits. Particularly affected are fishers, and those in fish-related industries. These groups are recognised as being amongst the poorest in such communities. In SIDS, a key focus in this project, natural resources are particularly limited and fragile, and access to non-coastal related alternative livelihoods is minimal, often creating a dependency on only a few sectors. Pressures on the coastal system and the quality of the marine environment tend to be positively correlated with the number of people living on coastal plains, and SIDS typically have higher coastal population densities than larger islands. Amongst advocates of national parks, there has been a tendency to extol their potential value in socio-economic terms. In reality, however, conservation is often at odds with socio-economic aspirations of local stakeholders, and this leads to a policy of containment. Understandably, the establishment of protected areas generates deep resentment in communities that find themselves excluded from resources to which they have traditionally had access, which in turn undermines the viability of those protected areas. There is therefore an urgent need for realistic assessment of the value of protected areas to local people. Worldwide, the evidence suggests that the benefits of protected areas accrue internationally, while the costs are borne locally. This project will contribute to the sustainable improvement of poor people's livelihoods in two ways. Firstly, by increasing understanding of how MPAs benefit, or could benefit the poorest stakeholder groups, both directly through changes in capital assets, and indirectly through changes in the structures and processes that determine access to assets or to alternative livelihood opportunities. Currently, whilst the ecological benefits of MPAs are relatively well researched, there is very little information about socio-economic effects and constraints, particularly for the poorest groups. The second contribution is by increasing understanding of the institutional circumstances under which pro-poor MPAs can be implemented, and also the circumstances under which integration into ICZM is more likely to be successful. Particular attention will be paid to systems that include community participation in decision-making, to see what benefits this brings to the poorer groups, and to understand the structures and processes needed to achieve it.

Project Objectives: Methods to improve benefits to livelihoods of the poor through Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) defined, and on this basis pro-poor methodology for Caribbean MPA-infill integration, implementation and management developed and promoted.

Project Conclusions: The project found means of promoting research findings and exploring opportunities for ensuring uptake based on a limited project budget in a region as diverse, multi-lingual and geographically challenging as the Caribbean. It was fortunate to find existing opportunities for uptake throughout, and immediately following the end of this project. The Guidelines published outline ways in which approaches to MPA management can explicitly benefit poorer stakeholder groups in the Caribbean and, in doing so, promote effective management of MPAs. It is possible that these approaches to MPA management will be adopted by two target institutions. IUCN will publish the Guidelines as part of a publication arising from the World Parks Congress (South Africa, September 2003), and UNEP may also adopt the Guidelines at its MPA meeting for Caribbean Managers in November.

Intended Outputs: Means to improve benefits to livelihoods of the poor defined, and on this basis, pro-poor methodology for MPA management developed and promoted.

Actual Outputs: Increased understanding of the key institutional, social and biophysical characteristics of MPAs in the Caribbean region.

Improved understanding of the enabling/constraining PIPS leading to successful MPA implementation, including the value of MPA integration into coastal zone management, although this was not subject to detailed enquiry.

Increased understanding of the impacts of successfully implemented MPAs on poor people's livelihoods and the structures/processes leading to beneficial/harmful outcomes.

Means to improve benefits to livelihoods of the poor defined, and on this basis, pro-poor methodology for MPA management developed and promoted.

Natural resistance to infection by Colletotrichum

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:00 GMT

Project Status: Completed
Project Background: Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is a ubiquitous pathogen causing serious diseases on many crops. Certain cultivars of tomato and yam have been shown to exhibit resistance/tolerance to fungal attack and contain or produce larger quantities of antifungal compounds which may be involved in resistance. The work on yams was linked to projects in Barbados (CARDI) and Reading University (R5688/X0235). The tomato work was developed from a project (X0047) based at Nottingham University.

Project Objectives: The wider objective of this project was to investigate the probability that resistance in yam and tomato plants is due to the presence of antifungal compounds and that the levels can be modulated to induce resistance/tolerance to infection.
The immediate objectives are:
To extract the antifungal compounds from yam leaf tissues, and relate to infection by C.gloeosporioides and resistance
To examine the possible modulation of levels of antifungal compounds as a means of inducing natural resistance
To extract the antifungal compounds from tomato fruits and assess the possible role in resistance to infection
To develop a quantitative HPLC assay for the quantification of a-tomatine in tomato tissue
As far as possible, identify appropriate compounds involved in resistance, and to develop quantitative assay techniques for yam and tomato.

Intended Outputs: A role for antifungal compounds in resistance to infection by Collectotrichum will have been established for yam and tomato.

A method modulating the levels of anti-fungal compounds for use in disease control will have been determined.

An HPLC assay for quantification of a-tomatine will have been produced.

The identity of antifungal compounds important in resistance will have been established along with quantification techniques.

Actual Outputs: 1.)Up to five apparently preformed antifungal compounds were extracted from yam leaf tissue. The number and concentration depended on the susceptibility of the variety or leaf tissue. Susceptible tissue had little or no antifungal activity. At least one phytoalexin produced in response to infection was also detected.

2.)Natural resistance in yam leaves could be induced by indole-3-acetic acid applied as a spray to the plant. Evidence suggests the mechanism of induction may be by increasing the levels of antifungal compound and enhancing the phytoalexin response to infection.

3.)Tomatine and a second alkaloid were extracted from tomato tissue. There was a possibility that some role in root resistance may be a possibility but no correlation between tomatine and fruit decay could be established. Three new phytoalexins were extracted and appeared to be involved in preventing the establishment of the fungus and subsequent decay.

4.)A quantitative assay for tomatine and the second alkaloid using HPLC was established.

5.)The antifungal compounds from yam leaf tissue appear to be saponins and in some resistant varieties additional phenolics probably phenathrenes. The phytoalexin is also probably a phenanthrene. The phytoalexins from tomato fruits are probably polyacetylenes.

Investigation of an oviposition deterrent present in larval frass of cotton leafworm, Alabama argillaceae

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:00 GMT

Project Status: Completed

Project Objectives: The proposal is to:
-undertake a series of bioassays on the frass produced by the larvae of A.argillaceae in an attempt to isolate any oviposition deterrent
conduct trials on cotton treated with a series of soluble extracts and compare them with untreated (control) cotton plants to ascertain if there are any differences in the number of eggs laid on the leaves
if there is any evidence of an oviposition deterrent undertake chemical analysis to determine which chemical or chemicals are responsible for the inhibition of oviposition
conduct further trials to ascertain application rates which give maximum protection and the duration of such compounds
if such an oviposition deterrent is forthcoming then they can be incorporated into existing projects conducted on areas (i.e. Barbados, Paraguay and Peru) where A.argillaceae is regarded as a serious pest of cotton.