The recent publication of two almond reference genomes and the increasing availability of quality genomic data opens opportunities to complement our study and obtain more complete and accurate pedigrees based on genomic variability. This kind of studies can be useful even when some genotypes were discarded due to breeding process, as is the case in our almond pedigree work. Although almond showed a higher genetic variability than other Prunus species, the historical expansion of almond from the Mediterranean region to California and from California to Australia could have caused a bottleneck effect in the breeding population under study. Different studies have reported a high genetic relatedness between Australian and Californian cultivars, possibly caused by the introduction of a limited number of cultivars from Europe to these countries. In addition, breeding programs worldwide have used cultivars from French origin as main founders as Aï, Princesse, Ardechoise, Nonpareil, IXL, Ne Plus Ultra, or Nikitskij. This situation could have led to an underestimation of relatedness and inbreeding. The use of large-scale genomic data would provide most valuable information in this respect,plastic pots plants expanding the almond pedigree beyond breeding records.Man’s interaction with nature is rapidly becoming more complex due to a multitude of activities that directly or indirectly cause a disturbance in the natural system. The deeper interactions between human activities and natural ecosystems call for an interdisciplinary approach to natural resources management, while the inputs from multiple disciplines need to be effectively utilized in achieving it. This prudent natural resources management will enable sustainable development of a region without losing the resource base. Sustainable development essentially aims to reconcile conflicting objectives of economic development and improvement in human welfare, and ecological sustenance and functioning of ecosystems.
The term sustainable development is defined by the Brundtland Commission as “the development that constitutes meeting needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of meeting needs of future generations” .Sustainable utilization of natural resources is essential for sustainable development. It follows that the sustainability of renewable natural resources in general and common property resources in particular assumes importance in both developed as well as developing countries because of the finite capacity of the resource base and the increasing demand for its exploitation. The technical definition of the term sustainability is given as, “the ability of a natural resource system to produce a socially optimum level of output that is necessary to meet the needs and aspirations of the people dependent on the system perpetually without any detrimental effects on the resource system itself and the physical environment, and with no imposition of significantly greater risks on future generations” . This might be comprehensive and deep rooted, but in other words, sustainability implies not only conserving natural resources but also maintaining ecological functions and the supply of natural resource products, which are essential to the livelihoods of local people. Sustainability in this sense is a dynamic concept that reflects changing levels of output corresponding with changing human needs and production technologies over time.Natural resources discussed here are broadly covered under land, water, and biomass . These three resources are crucial for production under various systems namely, agriculture, horticulture, silviculture, pisciculture, and animal husbandry. Management of these three major resources is crucial for making production in these systems sustainable and enhanced. Sustainability of these systems can be threatened due to disruption in the linkages between these resources. This may assume various forms, for example, increased soil erosion resulting in nutrient loss rendering it unfit for use in the case of land; soil water deficiency or excessiveness affecting its productivity and degradation in the case of water resources; decline in vegetation density and diversity leading to reduction in soil and water conserving properties in the case of biomass or vegetation resources, and so forth. A more detailed discussion of these follows.
Soil productivity can be defined as those properties of soil that influence crop production. The increased yields from better-managed soils are due to increased inputs and improved practices rather than with improvements in the basic fabric of soil . In recent years the sediment derived from soil erosion has been the major non-point source of pollution in surface water bodies while loss of in-situ topsoil has caused reduction in productivity. Erosion reduces long-term production potential and seldom improves the immediate capacity of eroded soil to sustain plant growth or produced crops . Results of recent studies show that soil physical and biological properties seem to be the predominant constraints to maximizing plant production on eroded soil, compared with chemical and fertilizer constraints. For example, Rosenberry, Knutson, and Harmon suggested that yields generally decline as soils shift from one erosion phase to another, even with increased fertilizer. This is attributed to surface soil physical and biological properties. However, in addition to irrigation, other water management techniques, such as surface mulching, can also be applied for amelioration of eroded soil. Crop productivity is also affected by moisture availability in soil. In the post-green revolution, particularly in the 1980s, instability in crop productivity increased on account of the rise in sensitivity of output to variations in rainfall in India . This increasing vulnerability of agricultural output to variations in rainfall, particularly during droughts when the soil moisture is scarce, is attributed to inadequate expansion of irrigation by these same authors. It is minor irrigation, which is not given priority that can be part of the strategy under watershed development. Similarly, decline in water quality has affected crop productivity in saline and alkaline lands that were created by excessive irrigation or polluted water in northern parts of India. At the same time, vegetation adds much to resource endowment and has crucial linkages with soil and water. Good vegetation cover functions as a soil and water-conserving agent, whereas, lack of vegetation will make the soil vulnerable to erosion and allow water to flush off the sediments. Biological diversity of vegetation is crucial in the survival of the vegetation itself and the sustenance of the ecosystem in that region. In fact, planning based on land use can effectively conserve soil as well as water. This is little elaborated under Production Systems Planning .
A distinction, however, needs to be made between the goals of attaining sustainability and of increasing productivity. While higher productivity may be required to achieve the sustainability goal, the requisite increase in productivity must be achieved in a manner that will not jeopardize the ability of a natural resource system to meet future needs. In other words, it is possible to achieve increases in productivity through unsustainable short-term approaches . The term watershed denotes the area defined by natural boundaries characterized by terrain , soils, and drainage delimitations. Watershed is an appropriate unit for environmental planning for sustainable management of natural resources of a region. Watershed Management is a practice of conserving soil, water, and biological resources using scientific principles,plastic nursery pots traditional and systems knowledge, and local resources with an objective of increasing crop productivity. It involves rational utilization of land and water resources for optimum production with minimum hazards to national resources. It essentially relates to soil and water conservation in the watershed which means land use according to land potential, protection of land against all kinds of deterioration, building and maintaining soil fertility, conserving water for farm use, proper management of water for drainage, flood protection, sediment reduction, and increasing productivity for all kinds of land uses . Watershed management has come into focus in India with the advent of productivity fluctuations with rainfall, necessitating micro-irrigation in drier parts, and also with the advent of space technology tools, which are useful in the micro-level planning. Land water related management projects and schemes have been implemented under various programs since the beginning of the Five Year plans. In particular, the third Five Year plan introduced the watershed as the basic hydrological unit for soil conservation planning and execution . Increased emphasis on watershed development programs for dry land plain regions in India, inter alia, is a manifestation of the shifting priorities in the agricultural sector, which until recently concentrated mainly on crops and regions with assured irrigation . Successful case studies of Ralegaonsiddhi, Myrada, are well known . In the sequence of evolution of natural resources management using the watershed approach for sustainability of these resources, thrust is on the productivity of natural systems. It is the productivity of natural systems that needs to be conserved through planning so that the needs of an increasing population are met and the threat to their renewability is thwarted. The watershed approach is an ideal approach to carry out a planning operation, and its planning framework shall fit well under the implementation and execution activities. Central to the success of the process is the participation of the population during the crucial implementation. Production systems planning is a method of planning for the use of natural resources under the watershed approach with a focus on ecological characteristics. It essentially involves spatial allocation of land use for various production systems, namely, agriculture, horticulture, and animal husbandry, by which conservation goals are met through better decision-making. PSP is similar to regional land use planning, but it differs from it in that it depends on ecological characteristics at the watershed level rather than activities at the regional level. However, in both cases land use is an important element.
The role of production systems in soil and water conservation is evident from the water and soil losses of catchments under such production systems such as mentioned by Mallik . Fruit development is mediated by plant growth regulators that control its major developmental processes. As grape berries develop, they exhibit a double sigmoid growth curve separated by veraison that marks the beginning of ripening. Cell division and expansion are the major events during the first phase and are accompanied by synthesis and accumulation of organic acids, methoxypyrazines, and phenolic compounds such as proanthocyanidins and hydroxycinnamates. This phase of berry growth is under the control of auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinins. Auxins and gibberellins are mostly produced by the seeds while the source of cytokinins in fruits is less established and it is likely to be imported from the plant. The number of seeds in the berry can determine berry size, and the lack of seeds or the presence of unfertilized ovules in sternospermocarpic berries can be partly complemented by external gibberellin. Schematic representation of the levels of PGRs during development suggests that auxin levels are high at berry set and decrease during phase 1 while cytokinins and gibberellins peak during phase. The second phase, verasion, marks the beginning of major processes in grapes ripening, berry softening and anthocyanins accumulation in colored varieties. There are reports of a small peak of ethylene preceded by a large peak of abscisic acid which coincide with veraison. Brassinosteroids increase at veraison and participate in ripening, possibly by modulation of ethylene content. On the other hand, auxin treatments retard sugar andanthocyanin accumulation and prevent the decrease in acidity and chlorophyll concentration, and also cause a delay in the usual ripening-associated increase in the levels of ABA. The third phase in berry development is ripening which is characterized by accumulation of glucose and fructose, as well as a decrease in the levels of organic acids. Volatile compounds that are produced by grape berries during development and ripening include fatty acid derivatives that are the most abundant group, monoterpenes that are prominent flavor compounds in Muscat flflavored grapes, sesquiterpenes, C13 norisoprenoids, volatile sulfur compounds, and methoxypyrazines. Some volatile compound types such as methoxypyrazines and sesquiterpenes, C13 norisoprenoids and volatile fatty acid derivatives accumulate in the berry before veraison while volatile monoterpenes and volatile sulfur compounds accumulate during ripening . Physiological studies on the role of PGRs in fruit development often rely on external applications of the hormones or their agonist followed by observations of the changes in fruit development. In table grapes there is a plethora of applicative studies aimed at increasing the berry size in ‘seedless’ varieties and the color of red varieties grown in hot regions. The effect of GA was studied from the late 1950s with timing and concentration being major factors. In ‘seedless’ grapes, application of GA to increase berry size is performed at a fruitlet diameter of 4–6 mm because earlier application can have negative impacts on fruit-set and berry shot and later application is less effective.