Purpose This paper aims to report on a case in which encouraging climate-smart agriculture in the form of better irrigation techniques in India can contribute to both climate change mitigation and adaptation goals by improving resource-use efficiency. It provides grounded institutional analysis on how these transformations can occur. Design/methodology/approach The authors based their research on three complementary approaches: institutional, sociological and technical. The institutional approach analyzed actors and interests in the water-energy nexus in India via over 25 semi-structured key informant interviews. The sociological approach surveyed over 50 farmers and equipment suppliers for insight into technology adoption. The technical component analyzed water and energy consumption data to calculate potential benefits from transitioning to more efficient techniques. Findings Because policymakers have a preference for voluntary policy instruments over coercive reforms, distortions in policy and market arenas can provide opportunities for embedded actors to leverage technology and craft policy bargains which facilitate Pareto superior reforms and, thereby, avoid stalemates in addressing climate change. Enlarging the solution space to include more actors and interests can facilitate such bargains more than traditional bilateral exchanges. Practical implications The analysis provides insights into crafting successful climate action policies in an inhospitable institutional terrain. Originality/value Studies about climate change politics generally focus on stalemates and portray the private sector as resistant and a barrier to climate action. This paper analyzes a contrary phenomenon, showing how reforms can be packaged in Pareto superior formats to overcome policy stalemates and generate technology-based climate and environmental co-benefits in even unpromising terrain such as technologically laggard and economically constrained populations.
Maintaining a viable seed bank throughout the germination season is considered very important for plant recruitment in desert environments, where environmental conditions are unpredictable. Seeds from fully matured Seidlitzia rosmarinus Bunge ex Boiss and Halothamnus iraqensis Botsch. were collected in December 2016, then April, June, and September 2017 from both soil-surface and aerial seed banks. Both of the species were selected mainly by their capacity to rehabilitate saline coastal sites. Germination was analyzed under two photoperiods (0 or 12 h light per day), with winged or dewinged perianths. Seidlitzia rosmarinus had a shorter seasonal range in comparison with H. iraqensis (6 and 9 months, respectively), and the presence of a winged perianth reduced the germination rate of both species. A permanent winged perianth significantly inhibited the germination rate in both species. In the absence of perianth, the germination registered in December 2016 was mostly 100%, but declined to around 20% in September 2017. Seeds are thus more likely to germinate after scarification from wind mobilization, and do not require burial. Our results show that seeds of both the aerial and soil banks are transitory, and viable only during the winter months. Taken together, the combination of aerial and soil seed banks has greatly facilitated germination asynchrony in their environmentally unpredictable desert habitat.
Brachypodium distachyon, a model species for forage grasses and cereal crops, has been used in studies seeking improved biomass production and increased crop yield for biofuel production purposes. Somatic embryogenesis (SE) is the morphogenetic pathway that supports in vitro regeneration of such species. However, there are gaps in terms of studies on the metabolic profile and genetic stability along successive subcultures. The physiological variables and the metabolic profile of embryogenic callus (EC) and embryogenic structures (ES) from successive subcultures (30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240, and 360-day-old subcultures) were analyzed. Canonical discriminant analysis separated EC into three groups: 60, 90, and 120 to 240 days. EC with 60 and 90 days showed the highest regenerative potential. EC grown for 90 days and submitted to SE induction in 2 mg L of kinetin-supplemented medium was the highest ES producer. The metabolite profiles of non-embryogenic callus (NEC), EC, and ES submitted to principal component analysis (PCA) separated into two groups: 30 to 240- and 360-day-old calli. The most abundant metabolites for these groups were malonic acid, tryptophan, asparagine, and erythrose. PCA of ES also separated ages into groups and ranked 60- and 90-day-old calli as the best for use due to their high levels of various metabolites. The key metabolites that distinguished the ES groups were galactinol, oxaloacetate, tryptophan, and valine. In addition, significant secondary metabolites (e.g., caffeoylquinic, cinnamic, and ferulic acids) were important in the EC phase. Ferulic, cinnamic, and phenylacetic acids marked the decreases in the regenerative capacity of ES in B. distachyon. Decreased accumulations of the amino acids aspartic acid, asparagine, tryptophan, and glycine characterized NEC, suggesting that these metabolites are indispensable for the embryogenic competence in B. distachyon. The genetic stability of the regenerated plants was evaluated by flow cytometry, showing that ploidy instability in regenerated plants from B. distachyon calli is not correlated with callus age. Taken together, our data indicated that the loss of regenerative capacity in B. distachyon EC occurs after 120 days of subcultures, demonstrating that the use of EC can be extended to 90 days.
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