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Building a participatory research platform for sustainable farming in India
Barbara Smith, Soumik Chatterjee, Parthib Basu
http://www.vliruos.be/en/project-funding/programdetail/research-platforms_4382/
A Research Platform is a research network, focused on a well-defined theme with obvious and high impact at the country level. It requires the participation of experienced researchers from different universities and research institutes. It is led by a coordinating university.
Enhancing the Relationship between People and Pollinators in Eastern India
To create an interdisciplinary participatory research centre at Calcutta University as a flexible model that can be adapted and implemented in other regions
Participatory research
Participatory research focuses on a process of sequential reflection and action, carried out with and by local people rather than on them. Local knowledge and perspectives are not only acknowledged but form the basis for research and planning.
The key difference between participatory and conventional methodologies lies in the location of power in the research process.
Cornwall & Jewkes 1995, Social Science & Medicine
Enhancing the Relationship between People and Pollinators in Eastern India
Dr. Parthiba Basu, Director Dr Soumik Chatterjee, Post Doctoral manager
Research team at Calcutta University
Physical space for the centre
Rural communities in Tripura and Orissa
Field team in Orissa Prashant, Tripura
Applied science
BEE TAXONOMY AND IDENTIFICATION, building a curated collection, developing keys
Participatory research opportunities
Academic research opportunities
Priyadarshini Chakrabarti, PhD student, CPS
Pesticide induced impaired olfaction in honey bees
Training: ID skills, processing samples
Communities monitoring bee populations
Trials using flower strips along bunds to encourage beneficial insects
Focus on pollination…..
Knowledge gaps:
• Identity of pollinators
• Population abundance and distribution
• Impact of agriculture on pollinators
• Which are effective pollinators of key crops
• How dependent they are on wild plants
• Whether those wild plants are available in the landscape
Identity and distribution of pollinators
Long-term monitoring of pollinators at 15 sites (30 villages 5 km apart) in both Orissa and Tripura
Recording biodiversity, maintaining collections and carrying out academic research
Characters for differentiating genera & species:
Hairs on scutum & shape of tegula
Pseudapis sp. Lipotriches sp. 1 Lipotriches sp. 2
Distribution of Ctenoplectra chalybea
• Ctenoplectra species are all
specialists on flowers of
various Cucurbitaceae
• The specialised hairs on the
abdomen of the females are
used to collect floral oils
• All Ctenoplectra are ground-
nesters
Spine Gourd Flower Hand Pollination Arpan Parui & Aditi Dutta
Camptopoeum sp. (New Species from India)
Does agricultural practice affect pollinators?
Soumik Chatterjee
Long term monitoring:
• Pan traps, Transect walks, Focal observations.
• Total 15 pan trap stations were selected.
• 5 pan trap stations were selected randomly in each intensification node
1. the total transect length is 400 m will be laid.(Figure 2)
2. 5 m
5 m
200 meter
50 meter
Total species : 56
Lasioglossum : 26
Lasioglossum accounts for 46.43% of the total species
Total individual : 1526
Lasioglossum : 1422
Lasioglossum accounts for 93.18% of the total population
Tripura data
Soil Nester
Tree & Twig nester
Wood Nester
Amegilla
Andrena
Anthophora
Curvinomia
Halictus
Lasioglossum
Nomia
Braunsapis
Ceratina
Trigona
Xylocopa
Lithurgus
Best Model AIC P Variation
explained
Soil nester (500m) FL + NOP + PD + PIac 9.75 0.01 69%
Soil nester(100m) FL + NOP + PIac + PD 3.65 0.002 84%
Tree & Twig nester
(500m)
PIac 13.48 0.24 4%
Tree & Twig nester
(100m)
NDVI + NOP 56.67 0.22 12%
Wood nester
(500m)
NOP + PD 57.74 0.01 51%
Wood nester
(100m)
NOP + PD 57.74 0.01 51%
Prefer generally prefer less diversified homogeneous habitats and
pesticide has no effect on their population
Negatively effected by pesticide specially number of pesticide used
Chakrabarti, P., Rana, S., Smith, B., Sarkar, S. and Basu, P. (2014) Pesticide
induced oxidative stress in laboratory and field populations of native honey
bees along intensive agricultural landscapes in two Eastern Indian states.
Apidologie DOI: 10.1007/s13592-014-0308-z.
Apis dorsata Apis cerana
Priyadarshini Charkaborti
XOX SOD CAT
Field populations Laboratory populations
Change in expression of XOX reported first time in an
invertebrate system due to pesticide stress
Stress marker Coping
mechanism
Coping
mechanism
• Collected insects by sweeping and collecting pollens from their body
• identified them using microscopy
Which bees are candidate pollinators of vegetable crops
Ritam Bhattacharya
Pollen transported by
bees
Calculating pollination service indices
F = density of flowers per m2 H = handling + travel time for one flower.
B = density of bees per m2. L = life time of flowers in hours. Arnob Chatterjee
0
0.005
0.01
0.015
0.02
0.025
0.03
0.035
0.04
LOW MID HIGH
Po
llin
atio
n s
erv
ice
ind
ex
Agricultural intensifcation gradient nodes
Orissa
Pollination Service Index for Brinjal
Which non-crop plants provide resources to pollinators ?
Study is conducted at Balasore district in Odisha in Eastern India. Study sites were chosen across broad landscape (area ~188.35 sq. km) on the basis of the availability of semi-natural habitats. A total of twenty study sites were selected randomly within available semi-natural habitats.
India
Odisha
Supratim Laha
B E E – P L A N T V I S I TAT I O N N E T WO R K
Non-nested and highly specialized & highly vulnerable network Highest species strength – Ceratina (Pithitis) spp. – 7.11 out of ~40 plant species
Collating and validating traditional / local knowledge for pollinator conservation: Building the evidence base
Top three most important pollinators
Intensive sites
Intermediate sites
Extensive sites
Has pollinator abundance changed? Intensive Intermediate Extensive
Apis cerana Declined (rarely seen)1
-40%3 -70%2
Xylocopa spp -75%2 -70%2
Apis florea -60%2
Amegilla spp -60% and -80%3 -90%2
Apis dorsata -80%3 +300%3
General bees (in Mustard) -50%2
Less pollinators generally Agreed
Change in pollinator abundance
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Pesticides
Diversity of pesticides
Climate change
Pollinators destruction(humans)
Loss of big treesLoss of nesting habitat
Selection felling
Forest fragmentation
Forest fire
Why have pollinators declined?
Possible interventions
0
1
2
Go organic
Reduce pesticide use
Use selective pest control
Use insect predators rather than pesticides
Introduce bee boxes
Plant non-crop plants
Conserve natural habitat
Plant more big trees
Some feedback from farmers
• The information that there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ insects is the most valuable information anyone could have. If there is more information like this I would like to know
• The soil is degraded, I would like some technology to help us
• We need improved seeds
• How can we control pests without pesticides?
Do we have the foundations for a participatory research platform?
Network of experimental sites with trained and engaged communities
Strong partnerships with policy makers
Training material ready to be rolled out
Coordinating University
Where does the power lie?
Acknowledgements
• Darwin Initiative, Indian Government
• The Dept. of Agriculture, Tripura
• The Dept. of Biotechnology in Tripura
• Calcutta University
• The farming communities of Tripura and Orissa
Thank you for listening
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