Horticulture

Plants generally have an increased demand for N at various stages of development, particularly during leaf development and flowering;therefore, this element is frequently applied as a mineral fertilizer.In our study, vegetables cultivated in the conventional way were supplied with this nutrient several times during the growing season, mainly in the form of ammonium sulphate. Nevertheless, our results indicate that the concentration of this element is higher in organic crops which correspond with the higher concentration of N in the soil.Na is considered to be of secondary importance in the soil and its uptake depends mainly on the plant species as well as the K level of the soil, rather than the concentration of Na extractable from the soil.

Colla et al.  in a two-year study demonstrated that the soil Na content did not significantly differ among organic, conventional and low input farming systems. The same authors observed that the Na content in the crops changes over time and one year they recorded a significantly higher level of this element in conventionally grown tomatoes but the following year there were no differences among farming systems.The meta-analysis by Worthington  showed that organic crops on average have about 20% more Na than conventional ones. In our study, no important differences in the soil Na content between two growing systems were observed.However, the concentration of Na in organic vegetables was significantly higher in 4 out of 8 vegetables analysed.

The total content of K in soil ranges from 8000 to 25,000 mg∙kg−1 and it depends on the clay fraction and soil mineral content. The highest concentration of K is found in heavy soils, where the clay content represents more than 3%. In loose sandy soils, K concentration usually does not exceed 0.4% . The monitoring of the soils, plants, agricultural products and foodstuffs in 2000  reported that the average concentration of available K in the soils of Poland was184 mg∙kg−1. The average for the south-west region, where both farms are located is, however, much higher and represents 270 mg∙kg−1. Generally, it was reported that mineral fertilizers increase the content of K in the soil to a larger extent than organic ones. Though, it is not entirely true in our study, where the content of available K in the soil was slightly higher in the organic samples  compared to conventional ones.

A lower concentration of K in the conventionally treated soil might be the result of a slightly more acidic pH which might lead to the higher loss rate . Plants absorb K ions from the soil solution and usually contain more of this element than other minerals such as Ca, Mg or P. The concentration of K in plant cells exceeds significantly the content of this element in the surrounding environment. This indicates that K is actively transported by plants, despite the concentration gradient. Our results clearly confirm this process.Due to many factors, the content of K in the plant can vary from 1245 to 33,190 mg∙kg−1. It was observed that the roots contained less K than the above ground parts of the plant , which can be clearly observed in the obtained results for the root and leaves of parsley.Analysis of K concentration revealed that organically grown vegetables in our study had generally higher content of this element compared to conventional ones. The difference was significant in the case of celery, carrot, potato and onion.

It is in agreement with the results obtained by Worthington which showed that organic crops contain on average 10% more of K than conventional ones. On the other hand, Warman and Havard demonstrated that the superior level of K in organic crops is not conclusive. Some vegetables grown in a conventional way, such as carrot, had a higher content of K over organic ones,but in the case of cabbage, it was opposite.The total content of P in the soil varies from 200 to 1500 mg∙kg−1 and a significant amount of this element comes from soil organic matter . The soil monitoring program revealed that the average concentration of this element in Poland is 274 mg∙kg−1 and that the average for the south west region is 352mg∙kg−1. Furthermore, Lemanowicz and Koper  reported that arable soils usually contain more of this element and in Poland; it is on average 478 mg∙kg−1.In our study, the P content of the soil was generally higher than in Poland and in this region. It was observed that the organically treated soil was twice richer in P compared to the conventional one.

Lemanowicz and Koper , in their studies,showed that the use of organic fertilizers in the form of manure significantly increases the amount of available P, while mineral fertilizers in the form of ammoniumnitrate reduce its amount in the soil. hey showed that among the different types of fertilizations,organic ones such as compost contributed to the highest increase of soil P content. This may explain the results obtained in our study, where an elevated amount of this element was found in the organic soil probably due to the regular application of compost and cow manure.P is taken up by plants from the soil solution as soluble or thophosphates  at a soil pH between 6 and 7.

This included their outputs, the market prices for their products,their wage bill and the cost of each input. In the sample, some farms depend exclusively on the family for labour input while others use hired workers.Given that western agriculture is still predominantly characterised by family farms , there is a long established tradition of including family labour in institutional reports and research studies that seek to provide comparable farm incomes . Therefore, we calculate and add the opportunity cost of family work by applying the average hourly cost of external wages in our sample to the number of hours of family work on each farm so as to calculate income before and after wages. Our environmental performance indicators are paddy field GHG emissions and energy consumption, distinguishing between direct and indirect consumption.

The GHG protocol distinguishes three scopes which help identify the information that needs to be collected about the discharged and induced greenhouses gases : Scope 1 deals with emissions released directly by the company. This includes production and service processes owned or controlled by the company as well as the corporate fleet of cars and trucks. The GHG protocol covers only the six GHGs listed in the Kyoto protocol. CFCs and NOx are excluded, it is argued,on political grounds.Scope 2 coverse missions indirectly caused by the generation of purchased electricity. And Scope 3 includes emissions from suppliers of inputs and downstream emissions from distribution, use and end of product. Scope 3 extends this accounting scope to emissions indirectly attributable to the purchase of all kinds of goods and services such as semi-manufactured goods, transportation services, waste disposal services, outsourced activities, etc.

This study considers all three Scopes. Unfortunately,we did not have access to measurements of other environmental externalities of rice production, such as, impact on human health, loss of biodiversity,wildlife and landscape degradation, water filtering or the substitution of natural wet lands . These environmental impacts regrettably lie outside the scope of this paper. The collection and conversion of data were made possible thanks to a joint enterprise involving the authors and the researchers of an EU-funded project for assessing the potential of agriculture to combat climate change . This project seeks to apply a common evaluation system in the four largest agricultural economies of the EU so as to identify suitable farming practices.This has resulted in the development of diagnostic software capable of converting the data collected via surveys into direct  and indirect energy consumption, both expressed in gigajoules  per year. To this end, a questionnaire was first designed to facilitate information collection and to enable aconsistent level of comparison.

With the data, and on the basis of a series of consultations with experts in the field of rice production in the region, the team were able to build the environmental indicators that are used in this study. These data refer to both physical and monetary measurements of farm size, location, annual yields, brand and age of machinery used, litres of fuel consumed, kilograms of seeds planted, amounts of fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides used in the field, characteristics and amounts of water required, and flooding practices during the season. These raw data were then converted into GHG emissions and energy consumption statistics.ISO 14064-1 and the GHG protocol  guidelines were followed to convert the data collected into GHG emissions. Emissions of different GHGs were converted and are expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide per year. The main audience for the results of the study are the farmers included in the sample given that the project studies current practices in order to identify best practices and innovative methods for improving environmental performance. On the conclusion of the study, two meetings were held with the farmers in order to share our results and to suggest practices that help combat climate change.The study sample comprises nine farms. Of the nine farms, eight practise the various techniques of conventional farming and one operates as an organic farm.In total, nine farmers attended a personal interview with the authors of the study.

The selection of farmers was made based on the personal availability to participate and the comparability among farms. In accordance with the ethical agreement governing interviews, the specific identity of the participants cannot be disclosed. Five farms specialise in a variety of rice known by the name of gleva,and four specialise in a variety known as bomba. The varieties of rice produced, the size of the farms and the yield productivity per hectare of the farms included in the sample can be considered representative of rice farms in Spain.All the data collected adhere to the same definitions and were measured applying the same rules. All figures and data correspond to the same year,that of 2011.The inclusion of an organic farm allowed comparisons to be drawn, given that previous research suggests that organic farming tends to have a lower environmental impact .

Automated actuation devices  like sprinklers, foggers, valve controlled irrigation system, harvesters and others, can be used to control irrigation, fertilization and pests in order to offset the adverse conditions .These included grid soil sampling,yield monitoring, and crop scouting. The strategically positioned sensors collect data in the form of electronic computer databases which gives birth to the Geographic Information System for statistical analyses of data, to determine variability of agricultural land with respect to its properties . An effective method used to easily interpret remote sensing data is calculating vegetation indices-VI .

VIs has been widely used to assess vegetation condition, cover,and growth, as well as evaluate canopy attributes such as leaf area index  and plant height. VI values indicate differences in vegetation condition or amount. It is necessary to determine the total number of sensory devices required to be deployed per ha of cultivatable land while considering planting density. Closed loop control ability as well as adaptability  for different scenarios and sensor nodes is needed for the field operations . Each of these scattered sensor nodes has the capability to collect and route data either to other sensors or back to an external base station. The base station is made capable of connecting the sensor network to an existing communications infrastructure or to the Internet where a user can have access to the reported data . However, operational techniques are required to be transmitted to the farmers for incorporation of RST into farming by the extension agent whose responsibility is to teach farmers the techniques in utilizing new technology in farming.

These extension agents were trained by lecturers of Agriculture in the universities to make them competent in identification of farmers’ problems for solution. These extension agents and lecturers are knowledgeable in innovation that can be transmitted to the farmers for enhanced production especially in the use of sensory technology for precision farming.In Nigeria, many farmers detect presence of draught, pests and diseases and plant-water requirement through scouting method. This traditional method provides single point coverage which does not permit farmers to know the exert soil and plant conditions in addition to preventing them by monitoring trends in the production for effective crop management decisions. It was also observed that despite farmers’ effort to use different means for increased crop production in the country, occurrence of irregular and non-predictive rainfall pattern and sunshine hours continued to lower harvests of cassava, maize, melon and yam with at least 2.5% decline of harvests per annum . Apart from loss of produce during cultivation, about half of the food produced is never consumed due to inefficiencies in the harvesting of crops.

Studies showed – that the world’s population is expected to nearly double by 2050 while food supply is unlikely to follow the same pattern even by doubling the area under cultivation , due to the impact of climate change; there is need for continued crop production to meet the needs of the teaming population through the use of sensory technology. This means that in order to ensure high productivity, farmers must utilize different technologies in production process to provide arable crops like cassava, cowpea, maize yam and others. However, the knowledge of the Graphical User Interface of the sensor technology application is needed on the side of the farmers to monitor and control scenarios, and instruct commands for  decision on the farm. It was therefore based on this scenario that this study was initiated to identify the techniques in utilizing sensor technology so that the extension agents could use it as a training package for teaching farmers for precision crop production in the country;hence the study. The major purpose of this study was to identify techniques needed in utilizing remote sensor technology for precision crop production by farmers.

The result of the study in Table 1 revealed that in planning for utilization of sensor technology the farmers needed to acquire computer operation technique to collect route data to other sensors and back to external base station, determine the number of sensor devices required per hectare, determine the plant density, set up based information, configure and distribute sensor devises in the farm, connect sensor to any existing communication infrastructure , identify crop farm to be monitored and agro-based allied information, relevant personnel,determine records to keep and provide necessary fund among others. The findings of this study were in line with the findings of that the base station needs to be connected to an existing communications infrastructure or to the Internet where a user can have access to the reported data. The findings of the study were also in conformity with the findings of  who found out that configuration of different scenarios is necessary while found out that sensor nodes when appropriately configured collect and route data either to other sensors or back to an external base station.

Transgenic crops can be generated with the use of recombinant DNA techniques which alter the crop’s genetic makeup by manipulating the genome—either by introduction, deletion, substitution, or silencing of an individual gene or group of genes of interest. The functionality of transgenes has expanded with time. In the beginning,only traits that exhibited complete dominance, free of the interaction from the native plant genome or the environment, were targeted. For such traits, only one copy of the trait introduced into one of the inbred parents was required. Fortunately, some of these dominant traits such as insect resistance and herbicide tolerance provided solution to major production hurdles encountered by farmers in producing major crops of food and fiber.

Cultural practice modification offered by early transgenic varieties not only enhanced economic return to the farmer because of higher crop yields but also had multiplier effects of soil erosion prevention from reduced tillage,and reduction in environmental pollution from the residual herbicides and insecticides. Now, the scope of transgenic technology has expanded to include quantitative traits such as stress tolerance and yield improvement that necessitate the interaction of the introgressed genes with native genes engaged in the metabolic pathway for the phenotypic trait expression where environment may also influence considerably the final phenotypic expression.Stacking of introgressed genes in hybrids to create value combination of traits is also receiving considerable attention.

Genetic engineering is usually resorted when improvement through conventional breeding and mutagenesis have been exhausted. Such situations arise if a desired trait is not present in the crop germplasm,the trait has proven difficult or very time consuming to improve through conventional breeding, or there is a need to remove or switch off particular genes. Commercialization of first genetically engineered crop started back in 1996 and since then it has reached new heights in its application and wide adaptability to various sectors of modern agriculture. Since 1996 to 2013 there has been tremendous increase in the acreage of genetically engineered crops. Between 1996 and 2013 there has been more than 100 fold increase in the acreage of genetically engineered crops . The ability of genetic engineering to incorporate foreign traits into plants was first exhibited in 1970s.

Although approved earlier for limited sale, it was not until 1996 that the Monsanto Company got the approval to commercially market European corn borer  resistant corn , Colorado potato beetle  resistant potato , cotton bollworm complex resistant cotton , and a non-selective, broad spectrum herbicide glyphosate tolerant soybean  Merr. The genes for all insecticidal proteins, modifiedcry1Ab in corn , modified cry1Ac in cotton , and modified cry3Ab in potato  derived from commonly found soil bacteria—Bacillus thuringiensis.Glyphosate tolerant soybean was developed by incorporating abacterium glyphosate resistant EPSP  synthase gene . Each generation represents unique thrust areas for developing transgenic crops and has contributed to the present pool of commercially adopted transgenic crops .Modern agriculture has been quick to adopt the commercial first generation transgenic crops expressing herbicide tolerance and insect resistance since these effects were clearly visible in the crop production systems. The second generation transgenic crops were designed for product quality characteristics but they did not lived up to expectations, and no commercial crop with these specific characteristics is presently in the market. However, the first approved transgenic food, Calgene’s Flavr Savr tomato which reached the market in 1994, succeeded in delaying softening of the ripe fruit after harvesting but was a complete commercial failure and was withdrawn from the market in 1997 out of safety concerns.

The third generation of transgenic crops has been engineered for use as biofactories or living reactors in the production of pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals and is often referred as “molecular farming”. The early and most cost-reward producing use of GE has been in the development of insecticide and pesticide resistance in field crops. A great deal of interest has currently been shown in incorporating tolerance to environmentals tresses in crop cultivars in order to stabilize the yield under fluctuating environmental conditions. In addition, as enhanced nutritive value of crop has gathered much interest to combat malnutrition in developing countries and to meet the food preference of naturalists, several transgenic cultivars with fortified nutritive values have been released. Some degree of success has also been accomplished in developing crops with chemical constituent of industrial value and the use of plants as hosts for pharmaceutical products. The transgenes currently employed in weed management confer resistance to crops allowing use of effective broad-spectrum herbicides. The gene characterizing bacterial enzyme conferring tolerance to glyphosate has been most widely used, however, transgenes conferring tolerance to bromoxynil,glufosinate,and sulfonylurea  are also registered .

According to Pichon et al., P. xylostella can be regarded as a species highly polymorphic. This has been confirmed by Marthur et al. who indicated a strong genetic diversity in populations of box tree moths from different regions of southern and northern India.Differences in the degree of resistance to insecticides between populations can result from selection of different pressures attributable to the local variation in the way of using insecticides. It is in such a context, that this study has been carried out, to determine the diversity and the genetic structuration of P. xylostella populations in Senegal. To detect expansion signs of the breakdown area of P. xylostella populations, as well as Tajima D and the fs of Fu tests have been carried out. Moreover, the test Fs of Fu is very sensitive to demographic expansion, which generally founds expression in negative values.

These tests have been worked out using Arlequin v. 3.1. Mismatch distribution graphs are constructed with the help of the DnaSPv. 5.10 . But the indexes that go with it, particularly SSD and Rag, have been estimated owing to Arlequin v. 3.1 . For high resolution concern, erection of the phylogenetic trees has been done using two different methods: Neighbor-Joining method where calculation takes into account genetic distances by using the Kimura two parameters method, and the method of maximum probability which even shows us the history of our set of data. Research process of a phylogenetic tree, by using maximum probability,implies finding the typology and the length of the tree’s branches that will give us the highest probability to observe the DNA sequences in our data. The most appropriate model to build this tree is that of GTR added to the law of Gama.These two trees have been built, using Mega software v. 5.05 .

Efforts during last few decades had provided Africa with some success in increasing net agricultural productivity , but rapid population growth and environmental degradation acted to diminish the outcome of this success in many countries like Ethiopia . With continued increase in population pressure and land holdings continuously shrinking, many poor smallholders have resorted to more frequent cropping, curtailing traditional long fallows and increased use of inorganic fertilizers. Ethiopia is one leading Sub-Saharan country to liberalize its economy and develop poverty reduction strategies through market-led, broad based agricultural development during early 2000s, so in the 2012/13 fiscal year Ethiopia’s economy grew by 9.7%, the tenth year in a row of robust growth. Agriculture, which accounted for 42.7% of GDP, grew by 7.1%, while industry, accounting for 12.3% of GDP, rose by 18.5% and services, with 45% of GDP, increased by 9.9% in 2012/2013. Although Africa’s average growth declined from 5% in 2010 to 3.4% in 2011, the Ethiopian economy continued on the high-growth trajectory, and this momentum was expected to continue in 2012 and 2013 .

However, the growth in economy has been unevenly distributed, in most rural areas lasting effects of poverty, hunger, malnutrition still weigh heavily on the Ethiopian economy . As 93% of Ethiopians are currently engaged in small scale agriculture and other manual intensive activities, economic loss due to malnutrition estimated to cause reduced productive capacity at ETB 12.8 billion in 2009  which is equivalent to 3.8% of GDP. Ethiopia being the second most populous country in Africa , the rural population accounting for 82.4% , majority depending on traditional rain fed agriculture in the small farm dominated agriculture sector, the stability and sustainability of development have been heavily dependent on climate.Traditional agriculture, dominated by non-mechanized farming in highly uneven landscape, small-scale farmers is responsible for 95% of the cultivated land, mainly for subsistence needs  employing 80% of the population.Entire food supply comes from rain fed subsistent agriculture and rainfall failure means loss of major livelihood source, which affirms that improving agricultural production is of paramount importance for the country’s economic progress ; especially in the background of wide poverty, food security has a primary focus not only in Ethiopia but all over Africa. In fact, different types of traditional small farm systems are providing food for more than 70% of the global population .

Most of Ethiopian subsistence farmers have small land holdings,the average of 1.2 hectares of land, with 55.13% less than one hectare . Thus, through strengthening these traditional small food production systems with a balance of modern knowledge/technology and environmental management using traditional knowledge with economic support, the countries like Ethiopia can try to attain sustainable food production .Traditional agriculture here in Ethiopia, follows age old practices that evolve before introduction of highyielding varieties and synthetic agro-chemicals. Many small scale farmers are still adapting the local varieties,using local land-climate-vegetation characteristics for sustaining productivity and conserving the natural resource base. In modern terms this “resource-conserving agriculture” has proved to have sound potential for improving livelihoods of smallholders in Africa.

However, the capacity to adapt can influence how climate change affects individuals, communities, regions, countries and the global population.The potential to adjust in order to minimize negative impacts and maximize any benefits from climate change is known as adaptive capacity . As speculated by Lemke dry regions will become even drier while wet ones will receive more rains. Climate change affects every region but the degree and nature of impacts resulting from the phenomenon will differ from region to region and will depend on the capacity of the different regionsto adapt to the changes. Climate change adaptation is an understanding of how individuals, groups and natural systems prepare for and respond to changes in climate or their environment to reduce vulnerability.

It is the adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climate stimuli or their effects to moderate harm and increase benefits from available opportunities . Climate change adaptation in this study involve staking action to minimize the impacts of weather variation while exploring new openings that may be beneficial. The type of adaptation measures adopted depends on the nature and extent of impacts, social resilience and economic capacity of the region to deal with the observed and expected changes. Increasing the capacity to adapt reduces vulnerability to the effects and a successful adaptation can reduce vulnerability by building on and strengthening existing strategies.Developed and developing countries alike are working hard to find solutions to the effects of climate change,as the impacts vary in extent and nature. In order to address the resulting impacts, adaption practices should lay emphasis on community interest to encourage sustainable development. It is suggested that adaptation strategies will be more successful if they are identified and presented to local users for vetting to ensure their consistency with local priorities, norms, goals and institutions.

It recognizes the fact that environmental knowledge and resilience to climate change lay within societies and cultures. Furthermore, an understanding of how communities cope with environmental changes is important when developing community-based adaptation projects to mitigate the effects of climate change for the local farmers and their families. The goal of community-based adaptation is to increase climate change resilience of communities by enhancing their capacity to cope with climate related issues such as less predictable rainfall patterns, frequent droughts, stronger heat wave, invasion of diseases and weather hazards of unprecedented intensity . Staying informed about climate change and supporting efforts to slow its progress are things necessary to be done. The climate is already changing because of the existing build-up of GHGs in the atmosphere, therefore it is important to prepared for and adapt to those changes.

While actions now to reduce emissions is critical, the existing build-up of GHG concentrations means that some effects of climate change are inevitable in this and coming decades and planning must start now on adapting families,production processes, economy and the society to these changes.Strategies aimed at adapting crop farming to climate change include adjusting planting and harvest dates,changing varieties grown, increasing water, fertilizer, herbicide and pesticide use and enhancing drainage systems. Changes in land-use and in crop and livestock management practices will have to take place, such as change in cultivated land area, changing crop and animal types, rearing animal species that can withstand higher thermal changes and growing crops that are drought and flood tolerant, change in farm siting, use of irrigation and improved fertilizer use efficiency to counter the effects of droughts and low soil fertility conditions due to leaching and erosion resulting from coastal flooding, improved control mechanisms for insect pests and diseases associated with weather change improvement in soil management practices to reduce surface runoff and soil erosion establishment and creation of food grain reserves at farm and community levels for safe-keeping and storage of harvested produce, and intercropping arable crops with trees to benefit from improved micro-climate as well as tree products and services .

Others include diversifying into multiple and mixed crop-livestock systems, switching from crop to livestock farming, switching from fishing to fish farming, switching from rain-fed to irrigated farming and making ridges across farms . Some suggested adaptation practices also includes construction of foot-bridges across road tracks, raising of barriers/dikes in response to sea level rise/flood, use of mulching material for crops and shades for animal houses to reduce heat, using improved varieties/breeds to ensure survival of cultivated and reared crops and animals,switching to mechanized farming to reduce hard labour as well as the involvement of technology in production processes.

It was for the first time proved by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases that significant immunogenicity can be induced safely by an edible vaccine. After two years, antigens of Norwalk virus were expressed in potato .The nor walk virus antigens were expressed in transgenic tomatoes as well. Similarly,rabies glycoprotein and hepatitis B surface antigen were expressed in spinach and lettuce respectively. Plant as a bioreactor is cheaper, easy-to-handle, requires no sophisticated or cold storage facilities, easy to scale up, cost-effective or less-expensive production, involves effective, convenient and easy route of administration. Bacterial, viral, parasitic and immune-contraceptive vaccines can be produced in plants as edible vaccine .The first chimeric gene expressed in plants was human growth hormone expressed in sunflower and tobacco plants, transformed through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.

First generation plant-based vaccines were produced against influenza virus, human papilloma virus and norovirus by modifying PVX or TMV. In second generation plant-based vaccines, deconstructed viral vectors devoid of different viral elements needed for its replication and infectivity were used. Recombinant viral vectors with heterologous coat protein, with cell surface presentation of foreign antigen in the viral coat protein and sub-genomic promoters etc were more stable, environmentally safe and provided high yield.Potato and tobacco were used as model organisms initially in development of plant-based vaccines. Potato was used as model plant in edible vaccine production since it was easy and efficient to transform, tuber-specific promoters could be used to express transgene/antigen gene, outcrossing risk was low, clonal propagation to produce stable transgenics was possible, tubers could be eaten, were used in food industry and tubers could be stored for long periods without refrigeration.

Tobacco and alfalfa have leaves which are major source of biomass; banana, tomato, apple, guava and strawberry were the fruit crops; peanut,corn, soybean and chickpea were seed-based crops; cabbage, lettuce, potato,carrot and spinach are the vegetable plants which were used for the production of vaccine antigens.Plant vaccines have been developed for many human diseases such as hepatitisB, Human Immunodeficiency virus , rabies etc. More than 25 vaccines licensed for use in humans with many more in the development pipeline . In March 2018, Medicago Inc. conducted phase III clinical trials to develop flu vaccine in tobacco and is expected to be launched in the market by 2020-2021. In June 2018, researchers from the University of Nottingham, Malaysia, launched a project to develop plant-based vaccine against dengue fever, caused by Aedesmosquitoes. Researchers from Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute,developed a norovirus vaccine from tobacco plant in August 2018. Other than tobacco, many edible crop plants are also used such as the dengue virusvaccine produced in lettuce through chloroplast transformation in 2016.

MedicagoInc., iBio Inc., Icon Genetics-GmbH, Creative Biolabs etc. are involved in plant-based vaccine development. The Queensland University of Technology,Australia plans to use the genome sequence information of Nicotiana benthamiana to use the plant as biofactory to produce antibodies, vaccines and therapeutics,to develop protein-based diagnostic products in bulk quantities at a lowcost against COVID-19 or similar viruses or pathogens.Although plant-based human vaccines are not approved yet, vaccines against influenza, norovirus, hepatitis B virus, rabies virus etc. have been successfully produced in various transgenic plants and tested for their safety and efficacy under clinical trials . Vaccines against several animal diseases have been developed in plants, tested in animal models and in target animal species with the disease. Vaccines against anthrax, Bovine Herpes virus 1, enterotoxigenic E. coli etc. were produced in tobacco. The Foot and Mouth Disease virus VP1 epitope were expressed in alfalfa and Arabidopsis leaves and potato tubers, while the FMD virus polyproteinP1-2A/protease 3C was expressed in tomato. Epitopes of mink enteritis virus, murine hepatitis virus and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus were produced through cowpea mosaic virus display in cowpea, Tobacco Mosaic Virusepitope display in tobacco and Plum pox virus epitope display in tobacco respectively.The infectious bronchitis virus S1 glycoprotein was expressed in potato tuber while transmissible gastroenteritis coronavirus glycoprotein N terminal domain was expressed in maize grains.

Bovine trypsin derived from maize has been commercialized since 2002.Neutralizing antibody responses were elicited against homologous and heterologous Newcastle Disease virus by inoculating plant-produced fusion protein antigen ,into Specific Pathogen Free chickens. Newcastle disease vaccine derived from tobacco cells was first approved for poultry use by United States Department of Agriculture .In addition to expression of antigen for vaccine production ,pharmaceuticals such as antibodies, enzymes, therapeutically important proteins or peptides and growth hormones are produced in plants . The vaccines used for immunisation against contagious disease are mostly costly and not easily accessible. On the contrary, the plant bioreactors are cost-effective and cheaper.

Red and red-far red combination resulted in the highest stem elongation but with stem fragility. When Lactucasativa of variety red curly lettuce was grown under different light spectrum, it was found that anthocyanin synthesis, protein content and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase enzyme activity were highest in combined radiation of blue and red-light treatment . In another study, where redand green basil microgreens were grown with blue and redLED, it was found that growth of microgreens was enhanced with predominantly blue illumination showing larger cotyledon area and higher fresh mass,enhanced chlorophyll a, and anthocyanin pigments contents. Stimulation of phenolic synthesis and free radical scavenging activity were improved by predominantlyred light in the green cultivar and blue light in the red cultivar,which indicates that LED light has an influence on the colour of the leaf.

Lettuce crops grown with red and blue LED lighting used50% less energy per unit dry biomass accumulated than under traditional light sources, which indicates that the significant reduction in energy consumption for plant-growth by using LED than traditional light sources . In an experiment on the indoor cultivation of basil and strawberry, it was found that the plants expressed increased biomass, fruit yield, antioxidant content and reduced nitrate content when treated with LED with highest energy use efficiency than traditional fluorescent lamps and spectral red: blue ratio of 0.7 was essential for proper plant growth with improved nutraceutical properties .From the literature review, it is found that when the microgreens are treated with red and blue LED combination, they showed highest photosynthetic activity but the exact ratio of blue and red-light combination at which the results are obtained are not evident.

Thus, it is essential to consider the production of microgreens at different ratios of red and blue combination under different light intensities. The environmental factors such as carbon dioxide, temperature and humidity play a crucial role in the growth and development of plants throughout their lifecycles. Their levels are specific and critical for different stages of plant growth. In an experiment conducted to determine the impact of free air carbon dioxide enrichment on development and progress in cotton , the results were found that carbon dioxide enrichment resulted in significant increase in photosynthesis and biomass of leaves, stems and roots, reduced evapotranspiration,changes in root morphology and increased soil respiration .When experiments have been conducted to determine the effects of atmospheric humidity on sugar beet, wheat and kale, the results were found that the plants showed increases in growth with increased atmospheric humidity.

The leaf area of sugar beet and kale plants was also increased with increased humidity due to the increase in number of cells . Each plant species will require optimum temperature to show maximum rate of plant growth and development. Both the atmospheric temperature and the soil temperature will influence different stages of plant development such as vegetative and reproductive stage. For instance, the vegetative growth of the plant requires comparatively higher optimum temperature than reproductive stage .There are many literatures pertaining to the effect of climatic factors such as carbon dioxide, temperature and humidity on plant growth and development both indoor and outdoor conditions but there are no such studies on microgreens. From the previous related works, it is important to consider their impact of climatic factors and their regulation to produce maximum growth and yield of microgreens which are grown indoor. Plants require both macro- and micro-nutrients for their growth and development.Vertical farming technology involves the soilless culturing of plants with application of nutrient solution, especially, inorganic fertilizer to the plants through soilless medium. The Hoagland solution developed by Hoagland and Arnon with definite composition is a hydroponic nutrient solution,which provides every essential nutrients for plant growth .

The composition of Hoagland solution is given in Table 2 .The commercial crops grown under soilless culture yield good quality produce when supplemented with the nutrient solution of specific composition based on the crop, the growth stage, the climatic conditions, the substrate, or hydroponic system used. Thus, the standard formula is not always applicable to all the crops . When experimenting the plants with continuous flow of nutrient solution, it was found that there is a certain minimum concentration below which uptake is no longer possible at the required rate. At the other extreme of concentration, luxury consumption may lead to internal toxicity . Thus, it is not necessary to apply nutrients unless required by the crop for its growth.

A total of one hundred and nineteen structured questionnaires were developed and thirty percentage of the root crop farmers,were randomly selected in each of the seven sampled community for interviewing.Questionnaires were distributed to educated farmers young and old, or who had educated relatives in their compounds after thorough explanations of the aim and objectives of the study to the respondents through an interpreter. The implication of including the younger farmers is that younger farmers are likely to adopt new innovation faster than the older ones. This is in agreement with that majority of farmers within the age range of 41 to 50 years are still in their active age, more receptive to innovation and could withstand the stress and strain involved in agricultural production and ease adaptation to climate change.Data analysis was carried out using simple proportion for qualitative variables while mean and standard deviation were used in analyzing the qualitative variable.

The outputs were further presented in tables and charts. The data was structured and presented from the responses to the research questions in line with the aim and objectives of the study. The analysis of the data both primary and secondary data was aimed at bringing to the knowledge of both informed and uninformed stakeholders, the basic understanding, adaptive strategies and experiences of climate change and its effects on root crop farming system in the sampled communities of the Ikwerre Local Government Area, of Rivers State,Nigeria. Analysis of how farmers adjusted to long-term shifts in two major climatic variables that affected root crop farming revealed that apart from Ozuaha all the other six communities indicated 100% wait for a favorable period before planting during a long-term shift in rainfall and replanting of crops that died off during long-term shifts in temperature. However, in Ozuaha, 3.4% will plant at their usual planting periods during long-term shifts in rainfall. But during long-term shifts in temperature, 96.6% of the farmer’s reported that they replanted those crops that died off and 3.4% do not replant.

Findings further showed that the four major root crops cultivated include sweet potatoes, cocoa yam, yams and cassava. Amongst these four major root crops, cassava is the most widely root crop cultivated, meaning that each sampled farmer cultivates cassava followed by yam, cocoayam and sweet potatoes.It therefore, showed that cassava was the mostly affected root crops by climate change especially the changes in rainfall and temperature. There is now unequivocal evidence that the climate of the Earth has demonstrably warmed up since the pre-industrial era and that most of the warming over the last 50 years is very likely to have been as a result of increase in Greenhouse Gases concentrations in the atmosphere .Three major physical impacts of climate change, according to IPCC in Ghana, are temperature rise, changing rainfall regime towards a longer dry season and a varnishing wet season. also underscored the fact that there has been a noticeable shift in the rainfall pattern in Ghana towards a longer dry season and the disappearance of short dry spells between major and minor seasons.

Agriculture is the pillar of Ghana’s economy providing employment to the masses in the rural areas and sustaining the vast majority of the population. Only about 0.89% of the country’s arable land, equivalent to23,657 hectares is cultivated under irrigation, benefitting only rice production .According to , maize yields in Ghana are low compared to that of developed countries. The national average yield is about 1.6 mt per hectare as compared to a country like Brazil . This is primarily due to the inadequate input of fertilisers and non-existing irrigation facilities in the maize production areas .Among the staples cultivated in the country, maize has been identified as one of the most essential food crops within the grains . Maize is grown on more than 997,661 hectares across all the various agro-ecological regions in Ghana .Generally, high temperatures have been reported as detrimental to grain yields. It was projected that maize yields would drop from its estimated level 0.5 to 6.9 in the year 2020. The study of indicated that each day’s temperature above 30˚C would reduce the final yield by 1% under optimal rain-fed conditions, and by 1.7% under drought conditions. In the transition and forest belts, though droughts are not the main drawback, variations in rainfall deficits, particularly in the number of rainy days pose new challenges to rural livelihoods . There is a decrease in the farming season in several places as well as a gradual waning of the secondary growing season in the transition zone . Both primary and secondary data were used in obtaining the data.

With regards to primary data, two focus group discussions were organized in two communities within the Municipality. Twelve key informants comprising seven maize farmers, two sub-chiefs, one meteorologist from GMet-Wenchi branch, one agricultural extension officer from Nkoranza SouthMunicipal Assembly and the 2015 best farmer of the Municipality were also interviewed.Secondary data consisted of meteorological data from GMet which covered 1960 to 2014. This data was divided into two tranches, 1960 to 1982 and 1988 to 2014.

Among the precipitations, the Northeast precipitation is caused by occluding cyclones above the Sea of Japan, while the East border precipitation is induced by the same cyclone but formed at sea level. The Southwest precipitation is wrought by the frontal effects between southwest moist wind and the northwest dry wind. The West to east precipitation is due to the change of pressure pattern inside the Region, and the Inland precipitation is induced by ground breezes.Comparing to other typical precipitations through the 30 winters, the Coastal precipitation in January 2017 is not seen, while the West to east precipitation and Inland precipitation are additional types in January 2018. The former can also be contributed to existence of cyclones above the ocean surface because ofits location, and the latter is mainly due to the pressure change and local breezes of the Region.

The high amount of monthly total precipitation in January 2018resulted from a relatively high precipitation frequency, rather than an augmentation of precipitation intensities. Thus, the high precipitation amount in January 2018 is caused by active atmospheric circulation above the Region. For the Region in January 2018, the maximum of the monthly total precipitation is 4 times more than that in other winter months for the recent 30 years. The highest value of precipitation mainly concentrates along the mountainous areas.For these precipitations, there are five major types of precipitations named after their locations: Northeast precipitation, Southwest precipitation, West to east precipitation, East border precipitation and Inland precipitation. It is found that a continuous moderate precipitation phenomenon is dominant in the Region in January 2018, instead of increase in either precipitation intensities or number of intense precipitations. Such precipitations are mainly caused by cyclones in the vicinity of the studied Region.

The Northeast precipitation and the East border precipitation are both induced by cyclones above the Sea of Japan, but the former is caused by an occluding cyclone while the latter by a small cyclone formed at sea level. The Southwest precipitation is frontal precipitation between southwest moist wind and northwest dry wind. The West to east precipitation is generated by the change of atmospheric pressure above the Region, and the Inland precipitation is risen by ground breezes.For future work, the causes of such cyclone frequent weather in the Region should be exploited from a global perspective. More work should be investigated in the relationship between the cyclone occurrence frequency in the Region and the Indian Ocean Dipole, the El Nino Southern Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Climate change and other global drivers of socio-economic, energy, global trade, resources and demographic changes are set to affect present and future human development including the vulnerable areas such as southern Africa region.

Faced with imperatives of increased food production and poverty alleviation, present day conditions call for high vigilance in developing and preserving the raw materials for food production, specifically through land and water management. Faced with imperatives of increased food production and poverty alleviation, present day conditions call for high vigilance in developing and preserving the raw materials for food production: land and water. Agricultural water holds significant scope for addressing climate change vulnerability and adaptation needs as well as water and food insecurity in the region.The observed human-induced changes to climate pose a threat to food security the world over and Southern Africa is no exception. Climate model studies show that the average temperature of earth’s surface is expected to increase by 3˚C over the next century, if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise at the current rates. This has a negative impact on crop yields and food security in the Southern African region where 60% -80% of the population is directly dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods .Crop and livestock production systems will have to change in response to the changing agro-ecological conditions.This manuscript aims at developing a set of practical approaches to agriculture in order for farmers to beresilient and adapt to the predicted climate changes.

Here, a regional framework for the implementation of climatesmart agriculture concepts is also illustrated.Also it will support investment decisions in climate change adaptation. This paper seeks to inform scientists and experts in the fields of agriculture, climate change and socio-economics to collectively build a strong base of evidence on climate change and variability impacts on rain fed cropping systems. It also tries to devise agricultural interventions and practices that enhance general resilience in the quest to overcome climatic shocks and develop adaptation strategies.