Environmental impacts and constraints associated with the production of major food crops in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

Importance of yam in the role of agrobiodiversity in Mayombe and Batéké Plateau ecozones in Democratic Republic of Congo

The Mayombe and Batéké Plateau ecozones of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are experiencing differentiated deforestation and forest degradation, together with a trend toward homogenization of their agricultural diversity. These may undermine efforts to sustainably reverse household food, nutrition, and livelihood insecurity. In this context, this study seeks to assess the importance of yam in the role of agrobiodiversity among populations in the two contrasting ecozones. A sample of 351 households was surveyed. A dataset of about 202 testimonies from six focus groups and observations in 86 peasant agroforestry fields was also analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression, and calculations of different indices of crop importance. Overall, plant, animal, and fish species represent respectively 60.9%, 26.7% and 12.4% of genetic resources. About 50 of 72 species of these resources are found in both study areas. Regarding the overall use of species, the five top-ranked species that were utilized as food included Manihot esculenta, followed by Arachis hypogaea, Zea mays, Dioscorea alata, and Musa acuminata. Living in the Mayombe ecozone increases the household's preference for growing yams by up to 5.7 times. Population density was correlated with agricultural diversity. Villages with a high population density showed greater crop diversity than those with a low population density. In short, yam remains an important but under-represented crop, the contribution of which could be increased to secure sustainable livelihoods through biodiversity-rich peasant agroforestry systems.

Priming of Exogenous Salicylic Acid under Field Conditions Enhances Crop Yield through Resistance to Magnaporthe oryzae by Modulating Phytohormones and Antioxidant Enzymes

This study explores the impact of exogenous salicylic acid (SA) alongside conventional treatment by farmers providing positive (Mancozeb 80 % WP) and negative (water) controls on rice plants (Oryza sativa L.), focusing on antioxidant enzyme activities, phytohormone levels, disease resistance, and yield components under greenhouse and field conditions. In greenhouse assays, SA application significantly enhanced the activities of peroxidase (POX), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) within 12-24 h post-inoculation (hpi) with Magnaporthe oryzae. Additionally, SA-treated plants showed higher levels of endogenous SA and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) within 24 hpi compared to the controls. In terms of disease resistance, SA-treated plants exhibited a reduced severity of rice blast under greenhouse conditions, with a significant decrease in disease symptoms compared to negative control treatment. The field study was extended over three consecutive crop seasons during 2021-2023, further examining the efficacy of SA in regular agricultural practice settings. The SA treatment consistently led to a reduction in rice blast disease severity across all three seasons. Yield-related parameters such as plant height, the number of tillers and panicles per hill, grains per panicle, and 1000-grain weight all showed improvements under SA treatment compared to both positive and negative control treatments. Specifically, SA-treated plants yielded higher grain outputs in all three crop seasons, underscoring the potential of SA as a growth enhancer and as a protective agent against rice blast disease under both controlled and field conditions. These findings state the broad-spectrum benefits of SA application in rice cultivation, highlighting its role not only in bolstering plant defense mechanisms and growth under greenhouse conditions but also in enhancing yield and disease resistance in field settings across multiple crop cycles. This research presents valuable insights into the practical applications of SA in improving rice plant resilience and productivity, offering a promising approach for sustainable agriculture practices.

Soil degradation and herbicide pollution by repeated cassava monoculture within Thailand's conservation region

In a national park in Northeast Thailand, agricultural land has been converted from natural forest by small-scale farmers for cassava agriculture. We hypothesise that long-termed cassava monoculture leads to the degradation of soil properties. To test the hypothesis, we conducted a five-year (2016-2020) study on the physical and chemical properties of soil in cassava farmland, and also examined the soil properties of its adjacent natural forests, as a control. The examined cassava farmland was converted from the natural forest during the five years from 2011 to 2015. The significant decrease in organic carbon and the increases in exchangeable potassium and bulk density were found in 2016, indicating that these soil properties varied quickly following the farmland conversion. On the other hand, the significant increase in soil nitrogen and the decrease in pH were found later in 2020, indicating that these soil properties were gradually altered by repeated agricultural activities, such as fertilizer application and trampling. In contrast, there were no significant differences in available phosphate, electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity, and the soil texture (the fractions of sand, silt, and clay) among the forest and farmland soils. The cation exchange capacity was positively correlated to the fraction of clay, the organic carbon, and pH. The use of glyphosate and paraquat herbicides is prohibited within national parks in Thailand. However, in 2020, glyphosate was detected in farmland soil (up to 5.0 mg kg-1) during both the rainy and dry seasons, and glyphosate (up to 2.5 mg l-1) was detected in stream water from the farmland during the dry season at least in 2020. Soil degradation and herbicide pollution may carry a high risk of causing irreversible changes in terrestrial ecosystems. We discuss the root causes of this issue from perspectives of agricultural production, economy, and the environmental impact, and propose effective policy measures.

The Fall Armyworm and Larger Grain Borer Pest Invasions in Africa: Drivers, Impacts and Implications for Food Systems

Invasive alien species (IAS) are a major biosecurity threat affecting globalisation and the international trade of agricultural products and natural ecosystems. In recent decades, for example, field crop and postharvest grain insect pests have independently accounted for a significant decline in food quantity and quality. Nevertheless, how their interaction and cumulative effects along the ever-evolving field production to postharvest continuum contribute towards food insecurity remain scant in the literature. To address this within the context of Africa, we focus on the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), and the larger grain borer, Prostephanus truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae), two of the most important field and postharvest IAS, respectively, that have invaded Africa. Both insect pests have shown high invasion success, managing to establish themselves in >50% of the African continent within a decade post-introduction. The successive and summative nature of field and postharvest damage by invasive insect pests on the same crop along its value chain results in exacerbated food losses. This systematic review assesses the drivers, impacts and management of the fall armyworm and larger grain borer and their effects on food systems in Africa. Interrogating these issues is important in early warning systems, holistic management of IAS, maintenance of integral food systems in Africa and the development of effective management strategies.

Exogenous Application of 24-Epibrassinolide Confers Saline Stress and Improves Photosynthetic Capacity, Antioxidant Defense, Mineral Uptake, and Yield in Maize

Salinity is one of the major environmental stresses threatening crop production, the natural ecosystem, global food security, and the socioeconomic health of humans. Thus, the development of eco-friendly strategies to mitigate saline stress and/or enhance crop tolerance is an important issue worldwide. Therefore, this study was conducted during the summer of 2022 to investigate the potential of 24-Epibrassinolide (EBL) for mitigating saline stress and improving photosynthetic capacity, antioxidant defense systems, mineral uptake, and yield in maize (Zea mays L.) grown under a controlled hydroponic system. Three saline stress levels-S1 (control/no added NaCl), S2 (60 mM NaCl), and S3 (120 mM NaCl)-were continuously applied with nutrient solution, whereas exogenous EBL (i.e., control, 0.1 µM and 0.2 µM) was applied as exogenous application three times (i.e., 40, 55, 70 days after sowing). The experiment was designed as a split-plot in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in which saline stress was the main factor and EBL treatment was the sub-factor. Results showed that saline stress significantly affected plant growth, physiological performance, biochemistry, antioxidant activity, and yield attributes. However, the exogenous application of EBL at 0.2 µM significantly mitigated the salt stress and thus improved plant performance even under 120 mM NaCl saline stress. For instance, as compared to untreated plants (control), 0.2 µM EBL application improved plant height (+18%), biomass (+19%), SPAD (+32%), Fv/Fm (+28%), rate of photosynthesis (+11%), carboxylation efficiency (+6%), superoxide dismutase (SOD +14%), catalase (CAT +18%), ascorbate peroxidase (APX +20%), K+ (+24%), 100-grain weight (+11%), and grain yield (+47%) of maize grown under salt stress. Additionally, it resulted in a 23% reduction in Na+ accumulation in leaves and a 25% reduction in for Na+/K+ ratio under saline stress as compared to control. Furthermore, the Pearson's correlation and principal component analysis (PCA) highlighted the significance of exogenous EBL as saline stress mitigator in maize. Overall, our results indicated the protective effects of EBL application to the alleviation of saline stress in crop plants. However, further exploration of its mechanism of action and crop-specific response is suggested prior to commercial use in agriculture.

Strategic green marketing orientation and environmental sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa: Does green absorptive capacity moderate? Evidence from Tanzania

Small and medium-sized enterprises are increasingly promoting environmental sustainability, a trend that has raised environmental awareness and inspired individuals and organizations to work together to create a more sustainable and greener future by implementing environmentally friendly practices. This study examines the influence of strategic green marketing orientation on environmental sustainability. Also, the study examines the moderating effect of green absorptive capacity on the relationship between strategic green marketing orientation and environmental sustainability. We used partial least squares structural equation modelling to test hypotheses with data obtained from 391 manufacturing enterprises in Tanzania via structured questionnaires. Our study's main findings show that strategic green marketing orientation has a significant and positive influence on environmental sustainability, and green absorptive capacity strengthens the positive effect of strategic green marketing orientation on environmental sustainability. Although there is scholarly interest in incorporating environmental considerations into business endeavors, there is little evidence on ways that a strategic green marketing orientation promotes environmental sustainability in a manufacturing context. Thus, our findings add to the literature on understanding environmental sustainability for manufacturing enterprises by revealing the role of strategic green marketing orientation and green absorptive capacity in explaining environmental sustainability. The study suggests that manufacturing enterprises should integrate environmental considerations into their strategic resources and endeavors to improve eco-friendly outcomes.

Spatial-temporal evolution and convergence analysis of agricultural green total factor productivity-evidence from the Yangtze River Delta Region of China

Measuring regional differences in agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP) provides a basis for policy guidance on agricultural green development in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region. By constructing a two-period Malmquist-Luenberger index under the carbon emission constraint, we measure the AGTFP of cities in the YRD region from 2001 to 2019. Furthermore, adopting the Moran index method and the hot spot analysis method, this paper analyzes the global spatial correlation and local spatial correlation of AGTFP in this region. Moreover, we investigate its spatial convergence. The results show that the AGTFP of 41 cities in the YRD region is on an increasing trend; the growth of AGTFP in the eastern cities is mainly driven by green technical efficiency, while this growth in the southern cities is mainly stimulated by green technical efficiency and green technological progress. We also find a significant spatial correlation between cities' AGTFP in the YRD region from 2001 to 2019, but with certain fluctuations, showing a U-shaped trend of "strong-weak-strong". In addition, absolute β convergence of the AGTFP exists in the YRD region, and this convergence speed is accelerated with the addition of spatial factors. This evidence provides support for implementing the regional integration development strategy and optimizing the regional agricultural spatial layout. Our findings offer implications for promoting the transfer of green agricultural technology to the southwest of the YRD region, strengthening the construction of agricultural economic belts and agricultural economic circles, and improving the efficiency of agricultural resource use.

Nitrogen budgets and nitrogen use efficiency as agricultural performance indicators in Lake Victoria basin

Too little nitrogen (N) is a threat to crop productivity and soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Nitrogen budgets (NB) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) are critical tools for assessing N dynamics in agriculture and have received little or no attention in the region. Data were collected from smallholder farmers clustered into two categories, farmers applying and farmers not applying N fertilizers. NB were calculated using the Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS) model approach for field and farm spatial scales. The results showed spatial variabilities in NB and NUE at the field level (maize and rice) across all the catchments. At the field level, N balances were negative for the two crops in all the catchments. Similarly, at the farm gate, a deficit of −78.37 kg N ha−1 was observed, an indicator of soil N mining. NUE values at the field scale varied across the catchments for both crops, with values for maize grown without N ranging from 25.76 to 140.18%. Even with the application of mineral N at higher levels in rice fields compared to maize fields, NUE values ranged between 81.92 and 224.6%. Our study revealed that the Lake Victoria region suffers from inefficient N cycling due to depleted soil N pools and low synchrony between N input and N removal. Therefore, a challenge lies in exploiting more sustainable N sources for farmers in the region for sustainable farming systems. The NB and NUE provide critical information to agriculture stakeholders to develop environmental, agronomic, and economically viable N management solutions.

Analyzing dynamic impacts of deagriculturalization on CO2 emissions in selected Asian economies: a tale of two shocks

The study investigates the symmetric and asymmetric impact of agriculturalization on CO₂ emissions in a sample of selected Asian economies for time period 1985 to 2019. For empirical analysis, the study adopted panel linear and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approaches. The long-run findings of panel ARDL reveal that agriculturalization contributes to environmental quality by mitigating CO₂ emissions. The panel nonlinear results clearly indicate that the effects of agriculturalization on CO₂ emissions are asymmetric. The findings demonstrate that agriculturalization improves environmental quality and de-agriculturalization mitigates environmental quality. Our empirical results are also robust to alternative model specifications. Based on these findings, the study recommends that the relevant authorities should formulate reforms in the agriculture sector that controls and reduces carbon emissions in Asian economies.

Drivers of Post-Harvest Aflatoxin Contamination: Evidence Gathered from Knowledge Disparities and Field Surveys of Maize Farmers in the Rift Valley Region of Kenya

Maize-dependent populations in sub-Saharan Africa are continually exposed to aflatoxin poisoning owing to their regular consumption of this dietetic cereal. Being a staple in Kenyan households, consumption of maize-based meals is done almost daily, thereby exposing consumers to aflatoxicoses. This study assessed awareness levels, knowledge disparities, and perceptions regarding aflatoxin contamination at the post-harvest phase among farmers in the Rift Valley Region of Kenya. Households were randomly selected using a geographical positioning system (GPS) overlay of the agro-ecological zones within Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet counties. Face-to-face interviews were conducted in 212 smallholder and large-scale farms. The study documented the demographic profiles of farmers and knowledge, awareness, and perceptions of aflatoxin contamination using a pre-designed structured questionnaire. Most farmers were familiar with aflatoxins and the adverse effects they present to health (61.32%). Almost all the farmers (94.37%) were aware of storage molds and food-spoilage fungi. However, few farmers adopted good post-harvest practices (PHPs), such as avoiding premature harvests (49.8%), using well-ventilated storage spaces (44.6%), grain sorting (30.5%), proper drying of maize (17.8%), and using hermetic bags for storage (30.5%). Conclusively, intensified farmer education is required to train farmers on good PHPs to protect their maize from aflatoxigenic fungi and aflatoxin accumulation.

Agriculture, globalization, and ecological footprint: the role of agriculture beyond the tipping point in the Philippines

This study is hinged on analyzing factors such as agriculture and globalization (de jure trade and financial) that threaten a sustainable environment using two proxies of ecological footprint: carbon and noncarbon ecological footprint in the Philippines while controlling for the influence of fossil to GDP, economic growth, urban population, and financial development using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) framework. The result provides evidence of long-run stable state among the variables. The result validates inverted U-shaped pattern of EKC involving relationship between agricultural development and ecological footprint for the Philippines indicating that initially, ecological footprint increases as the agriculture develops and then declines as the agriculture matures to generate efficiency and low carbon. In addition, this study explores elasticities of the variables using ARDL, FMOLS, DOLS, and CCR procedure and found that de jure financial globalization exerts positive influence on ecological footprint in the long run. De jure trade globalization is found to be negative and significant in the long run. It is also found that agricultural level operates below the threshold level required to maximize the growth benefits of agricultural system towards mitigating environmental sustainability. Further empirical result shows a positive relationship between economic growth, fossil fuel, urban-population growth, and ecological footprint, and negative insignificant relationship between credit to private sector and ecological footprint. The government should optimize the use of agricultural land through well-articulated economic integration strategy fashioned to pave way for cleaner and low-carbon technologies sources like solar, geothermal, biomass, biogas, tidal power, photovoltaic, and wind energy in the agricultural production to avoid further deterioration of the environment.

Uncovering the Research Gaps to Alleviate the Negative Impacts of Climate Change on Food Security: A Review

Climatic variability has been acquiring an extensive consideration due to its widespread ability to impact food production and livelihoods. Climate change has the potential to intersperse global approaches in alleviating hunger and undernutrition. It is hypothesized that climate shifts bring substantial negative impacts on food production systems, thereby intimidating food security. Vast developments have been made addressing the global climate change, undernourishment, and hunger for the last few decades, partly due to the increase in food productivity through augmented agricultural managements. However, the growing population has increased the demand for food, putting pressure on food systems. Moreover, the potential climate change impacts are still unclear more obviously at the regional scales. Climate change is expected to boost food insecurity challenges in areas already vulnerable to climate change. Human-induced climate change is expected to impact food quality, quantity, and potentiality to dispense it equitably. Global capabilities to ascertain the food security and nutritional reasonableness facing expeditious shifts in biophysical conditions are likely to be the main factors determining the level of global disease incidence. It can be apprehended that all food security components (mainly food access and utilization) likely be under indirect effect via pledged impacts on ménage, incomes, and damages to health. The corroboration supports the dire need for huge focused investments in mitigation and adaptation measures to have sustainable, climate-smart, eco-friendly, and climate stress resilient food production systems. In this paper, we discussed the foremost pathways of how climate change impacts our food production systems as well as the social, and economic factors that in the mastery of unbiased food distribution. Likewise, we analyze the research gaps and biases about climate change and food security. Climate change is often responsible for food insecurity issues, not focusing on the fact that food production systems have magnified the climate change process. Provided the critical threats to food security, the focus needs to be shifted to an implementation oriented-agenda to potentially cope with current challenges. Therefore, this review seeks to have a more unprejudiced view and thus interpret the fusion association between climate change and food security by imperatively scrutinizing all factors.

Towards a clean production by exploring the nexus between agricultural ecosystem and environmental degradation using novel dynamic ARDL simulations approach

Agriculture, which serves as a lifeline for us, is unequivocally vital for an agriculture-dependent economy like Bangladesh, not only for its food supply but also because of its significant contribution towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 and 2. However, in a third-world nation like Bangladesh, where farming practices largely circumvent the environmental consequences, raised our concern. In this milieu, this study is a novel attempt to explore the association between agricultural ecosystem and environmental degradation in Bangladesh using a long time spanning from 1972 to 2018. We observed a long-run association between the agroecosystem and CO₂ emission. Further, findings from the dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (DARDL) simulation model revealed that the environmental quality of Bangladesh is heavily distorted by total cereal production, total livestock head, enteric methane emissions, N₂O emissions from manure application, and CO₂ equivalent N₂O emissions from synthetic fertilizers in the short and long run, whereas agricultural technology, pesticide use in agriculture, and burned biomass crop residue deteriorated the environmental quality only in the long run. The counterfactual diagram entailed from the DARDL model projected the trend of CO₂ emission in response to positive and negative changes in the analyzed variables. Lastly, this study established a causal relationship between the agroecosystem and environmental degradation using frequency domain causality. Indeed, our study will aid in reshaping agricultural practices in an eco-friendly manner to mitigate environmental degradation and help formulate pragmatic policy actions so that agro-lead nations can thrive in the race of achieving SDGs 1, 2, and 13.

Protected areas in South Asia: Status and prospects

Natural ecosystems globally have been disrupted by anthropogenic activities, and the current biodiversity extinction rate exceeds the natural extinction rate by 1,000-fold. Protected areas (PAs) help insulate samples of biodiversity from these human-induced threats; however, assessments of the factors threatening biodiversity in PAs are scarce in South Asia - one of the key global epicentres of human population growth. Here, by synthesizing published literature and analysing the current configuration of the PA estate, we discuss the trends and biases in existing knowledge, identify research gaps, measure the level of PA coverage and growth patterns, and discuss the threats to South Asian biodiversity inside PAs. We showed that published studies focused mainly on documenting species distributions in PAs, were heavily biased toward vertebrates, and had been mostly conducted in India. Nearly 70% of studies focused on the distribution of organisms, while only 9% performed conservation assessments or devised strategies to manage PAs; 70% of studies cover vertebrates, while only two studies focused on marine fauna; 50% of studies focused on India, with only a handful from Afghanistan. Only three (Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka) of the eight countries already meet a terrestrial PA representation target of 17%, while no country meets a marine representation target of 10%. Most PAs were very small, with nearly 80% below 100 km², and 22% below 1 km². We identified that South Asian PAs are facing a broad range of anthropogenic threats - about three in five studies reported threats inside protected areas. Due to extensive anthropogenic pressures, biodiversity in South Asia is facing an existential crisis, and society-wide collaborative efforts are needed to arrest and reverse the declines. We hope this review will stimulate efforts to capitalise on the opportunity for efficient PA growth in the region on the eve of the post-2020 global biodiversity targets.

Retrospective Predictions of Rice and Other Crop Production in Madagascar Using Soil Moisture and an NDVI-Based Calendar from 2010–2017

Malagasy subsistence farmers, who comprise 70% of the nearly 26 million people in Madagascar, often face food insecurity because of unreliable food production systems and adverse crop conditions. The 2020–2021 drought in Madagascar, in particular, is associated with an exceptional food crisis, yet we are unaware of peer-reviewed studies that quantitatively link variations in weather and climate to agricultural outcomes for staple crops in Madagascar. In this study, we use historical data to empirically assess the relationship between soil moisture and food production. Specifically, we focus on major staple crops that form the foundation of Malagasy food systems and nutrition, including rice, which accounts for 46% of the average Malagasy caloric intake, as well as cassava, maize, and sweet potato. Available data associated with survey-based crop statistics constrain our analysis to 2010–2017 across four clusters of Malagasy districts. Strong correlations are observed between remotely sensed soil moisture and rice production, ranging between 0.67 to 0.95 depending on the cluster and choice of crop calendar. Predictions are shown to be statistically significant at the 90% confidence level using bootstrapping techniques, as well as through an out-of-sample prediction framework. Soil moisture also shows skill in predicting cassava, maize, and sweet potato production, but only when the months most vulnerable to water stress are isolated. Additional analyses using more survey data, as well as potentially more-refined crop maps and calendars, will be useful for validating and improving soil-moisture-based predictions of yield.

The cost of postharvest losses in Ethiopia: economic and food security implications

This research was designed to estimate the food security and economic burdens of postharvest losses of important food and cash crops produced in Ethiopia. Data of food production, food values and consumption patterns as well as the number of severely and moderately food insecure persons were obtained from FAOSTAT database for Ethiopia. The food security implications of the postharvest losses in the country showed that a volume of crops that could feed over 23 million citizens could be saved with proper postharvest management. The economic meaning of the losses of major food and cash crops was 1.2 billion US dollars per annum, which literally is 10% of the average annual national budget of the country for the years 2018–2022. If the losses could be managed to be lower by 50%, it could have meaningfully contributed to the food and nutrition security as well as the GDP of the country. The approach used in the current analysis could be either adopted to generate clear data for awareness creation community education or it could be developed into a more robust model to estimate annual losses or food security and economic gain potentials.

Genetic analysis and yield assessment of maize hybrids under low and optimal nitrogen environments

Development of maize hybrids that possess tolerant genes to low soil nitrogen is critical for long-term maize production in areas with low soil fertility. In this study, estimates for combining ability effects for grain yield and secondary traits of selected inbred lines, identify potential parents for hybrid development and yield potential of the crosses under sub-optimal and optimal N environments. One hundred hybrids were evaluated under sub-optimal and optimal N environments for two years. The experimental layout was a 10 × 10 alpha lattice design with two replications for two experiments. The results obtained showed that, the genotypes evaluated varied for grain yield and the characters measured under sub-optimal and optimal N conditions. Grain yield reduction due to N stress was 40.9%. General and specific combining ability (GCA) and (SCA) effects for mean squares varied for grain yield demonstrating the importance of additive and non-additive genetic effects for the hybrids evaluated under the study conditions. Even though significant variations were detected for GCA and SCA, GCA which is the additive gene action component mainly controlled the heritage of grain yield under both conditions. Inbred line 15 was identified as the superior parent with positive and significant GCA for grain yield under sub-optimal N. Genotypic correlation studies displayed that grain yield was positively correlated with ears per plant under sub-optimal N and was also positively associated with anthesis-silking interval under high N. The hybrids 52, 75, 81 and 37 were identified to be significantly superior in terms of grain yield, ASI and EPP under the two-contrasting conditions. The results suggest that, there is a need for development of low N tolerant inbred lines and hybrids for production under soils with low N status in the Guinea savanna of Ghana for high grain yield to be realised.

Diacetoxyscirpenol, a Fusarium exometabolite, prevents efficiently the incidence of the parasitic weed Striga hermonthica

BACKGROUND

Certain Fusarium exometabolites have been reported to inhibit seed germination of the cereal-parasitizing witchweed, Striga hermonthica, in vitro. However, it is unknown if these exometabolites will consistently prevent S. hermonthica incidence in planta. The study screened a selection of known, highly phytotoxic Fusarium exometabolites, in identifying the most potent/efficient candidate (i.e., having the greatest effect at minimal concentration) to completely hinder S. hermonthica seed germination in vitro and incidence in planta, without affecting the host crop development and yield.

RESULTS

In vitro germination assays of the tested Fusarium exometabolites (i.e., 1,4-naphthoquinone, equisetin, fusaric acid, hymeglusin, neosolaniol (Neo), T-2 toxin (T-2) and diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS)) as pre-Striga seed conditioning treatments at 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 µM, revealed that only DAS, out of all tested exometabolites, completely inhibited S. hermonthica seed germination at each concentration. It was followed by T-2 and Neo, as from 10 to 20 µM respectively. The remaining exometabolites reduced S. hermonthica seed germination as from 20 µM (P < 0. 0001). In planta assessment (in a S. hermonthica-sorghum parasitic system) of the exometabolites at 20 µM showed that, although, none of the tested exometabolites affected sorghum aboveground dry biomass (P > 0.05), only DAS completely prevented S. hermonthica incidence. Following a 14-d incubation of DAS in the planting soil substrate, bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and fungal 18S rRNA gene copy numbers of the soil microbial community were enhanced; which coincided with complete degradation of DAS in the substrate. Metabolic footprinting revealed that the S. hermonthica mycoherbicidal agent, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. strigae (isolates Foxy-2, FK3), did not produce DAS; a discovery that corresponded with underexpression of key genes (Tri5, Tri4) necessary for Fusarium trichothecene biosynthesis (P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Among the tested Fusarium exometabolites, DAS exhibited the most promising herbicidal potential against S. hermonthica. Thus, it could serve as a new biocontrol agent for efficient S. hermonthica management. Further examination of DAS specific mode of action against the target weed S. hermonthica at low concentrations (≤ 20 µM), as opposed to non-target soil organisms, is required.

Assessment of major food crops production-based environmental efficiency in China, India, and Pakistan

Global warming and food security have led to increasing concern about agricultural crop production efficiency, especially wheat and rice farming. The purpose of the current study is to measure wheat and rice production efficiency scores with environmental quality in China, India, and Pakistan by using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. The DEA results show that China and India are more efficient in wheat and rice production but it is not efficient in the environment in the study period. The results also show that Pakistan has also relatively small wheat and rice efficiency compared with China and India and increased the efficiency with the passage of time. The practical outcomes also show that Pakistan has the most efficient and effective states from the periods 2008 to 2019 in terms of wheat and rice efficiency and also a small increase in carbon emission. Based on the findings, policymakers should pay attention to the role of green technology in reducing agricultural CO2 emissions.

Asymmetric effects of premature deagriculturalization on economic growth and CO2 emissions: fresh evidence from Pakistan

This paper examines the relationship between deagriculturalization, economic growth, and CO2 emissions in Pakistan from the period 1975 to 2018 by employing a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model and Granger causality approach. The asymmetric ARDL findings show that there is a significant negative relationship between agriculturalization and economic growth, while deagriculturalization does not induce economic growth in the long run in Pakistan. Moreover, agriculturalization and deagriculturalization have a negative significant effect on Pakistan's carbon emissions in the long run. This study concludes that the asymmetric results deviate from symmetric results in Pakistan. The asymmetric causality test shows unidirectional asymmetric causality running from agriculturalization, deagriculturalization, and CO2 emissions. Moreover, agriculturalization and deagriculturalization do not Granger cause economic growth in Pakistan. Based on the results, the study stressed to formulate such policies which support economic growth and lower carbon emissions through reforming agriculture sector practices. These outcomes are very useful for Pakistan to formulate relevant policies.

Circular Approaches in Small-Scale Food Production

Globally, food production is one of the main water and energy consumers. Having in view the growing population on global scale, a higher efficiency of food production is needed. Circular approaches offer a large potential to enhance the efficiency of food production and have a long tradition in the food production process of mankind. However, industrial farming has interdicted traditional cycle-closed farming approaches leading to a variety of environmental challenges. The contribution illustrates the basics of traditional gardening and farming approaches and describes how their characteristics are adapted in innovative modern farming systems like aquaponic, permaculture, urban farming, as well as recovered traditional farming systems. The approach to combine traditional farming methods with modern ones will provide multiple benefits in the future to ensure food security. There is to be underlined that such a strategy holds a substantial potential of circular flux management in small scale food production. This potential could be transposed to a larger scale also, particularly in terms of agroforestry and integrated plant and animal husbandry or integrated agriculture and aquaculture. In this way, small-scale food production holds a large potential for the future implementation of the water-energy-food security nexus.

Projected changes in East African climate and its impacts on climatic suitability of maize production areas by the mid-twenty-first century

Maize crop (Zea mays) is one of the staple foods in the East African (EA) region. However, the suitability of its production area is threatened by projected climate change. The Multimodel Ensemble (MME) from eight Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) models was used in this paper to show climate change between the recent past (1970-2000) and the future (2041-2060), i.e., the mid-twenty-first century. The climatic suitability of maize crop production areas is evaluated based on these climate datasets and the current maize crop presence points using Maximum entropy models (MaxEnt). The MME projection showed a slight increase in precipitation under both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 in certain places and a reduction in most of southern Tanzania. The temperature projection showed that the minimum temperature would increase by 0.3 to 2.95 °C and 0.3 to 3.2 °C under RCP4.5 and 8.5, respectively. Moreover, the maximum temperature would increase by 1.0 to 3.0 °C and 1.2 to 3.6 °C under RCP4.5 and 8.5 respectively. The impacts of these projected changes in climate on maize production areas are the reduction in the suitability of the crop, especially around central and western Tanzania, mid-northern and western Uganda, and parts of western Kenya by 20-40%, and patches of EA will experience a reduction of as high as 40-60%, especially in northern Uganda, and western Kenya. The projected changes in temperature and precipitation present a significant negative change in maize crop suitability. Thus, food security and the efforts towards the elimination of hunger in EA by the mid-twenty-first century will be hampered significantly. We recommend crop diversification to suit the new future environments, modernizing maize farming programs through the adoption of new technologies including irrigation, and climate-smart agricultural practices, etc.

Root engineering in maize by increasing cytokinin degradation causes enhanced root growth and leaf mineral enrichment

Root-specific expression of a cytokinin-degrading CKX gene in maize roots causes formation of a larger root system leading to higher element content in shoot organs. The size and architecture of the root system is functionally relevant for the access to water and soil nutrients. A great number of mostly unknown genes are involved in regulating root architecture complicating targeted breeding of plants with a larger root system. Here, we have explored whether root-specific degradation of the hormone cytokinin, which is a negative regulator of root growth, can be used to genetically engineer maize (Zea mays L.) plants with a larger root system. Root-specific expression of a CYTOKININ OXIDASE/DEHYDROGENASE (CKX) gene of Arabidopsis caused the formation of up to 46% more root dry weight while shoot growth of these transgenic lines was similar as in non-transgenic control plants. The concentration of several elements, in particular of those with low soil mobility (K, P, Mo, Zn), was increased in leaves of transgenic lines. In kernels, the changes in concentration of most elements were less pronounced, but the concentrations of Cu, Mn and Zn were significantly increased in at least one of the three independent lines. Our data illustrate the potential of an increased root system as part of efforts towards achieving biofortification. Taken together, this work has shown that root-specific expression of a CKX gene can be used to engineer the root system of maize and alter shoot element composition.

Bioecology of fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), its management and potential patterns of seasonal spread in Africa

Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith) has rapidly spread in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and has emerged as a major pest of maize and sorghum in the continent. For effective monitoring and a better understanding of the bioecology and management of this pest, a Community-based Fall Armyworm Monitoring, Forecasting, Early Warning and Management (CBFAMFEW) initiative was implemented in six eastern African countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi). Over 650 Community Focal Persons (CFPs) who received training through the project were involved in data collection on adult moths, crop phenology, cropping systems, FAW management practices and other variables. Data collection was performed using Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS), a mobile application developed by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Data collected from the CBFAMFEW initiative in East Africa and other FAW monitoring efforts in Africa were merged and analysed to determine the factors that are related to FAW population dynamics. We used the negative binomial models to test for effect of main crops type, cropping systems and crop phenology on abundance of FAW. We also analysed the effect of rainfall and the spatial and temporal distribution of FAW populations. The study showed variability across the region in terms of the proportion of main crops, cropping systems, diversity of crops used in rotation, and control methods that impact on trap and larval counts. Intercropping and crop rotation had incident rate 2-times and 3-times higher relative to seasonal cropping, respectively. The abundance of FAW adult and larval infestation significantly varied with crop phenology, with infestation being high at the vegetative and reproductive stages of the crop, and low at maturity stage. This study provides an understanding on FAW bioecology, which could be vital in guiding the deployment of FAW-IPM tools in specific locations and at a specific crop developmental stage. The outcomes demonstrate the relevance of community-based crop pest monitoring for awareness creation among smallholder farmers in SSA.

Examining the determinants of water resources availability in sub-Sahara Africa: a panel-based econometrics analysis

With the rapid development of economies, the problem of water resources availability particularly in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) has increased significantly. Specifically, in recent times, addressing the challenge of access to water resources has become a global issue of which countries in SSA are not exceptional since the adequate supply of potable water is as relevant as economic development. Consequently, this current paper seeks to estimate the determinants of water resources availability in sub-Sahara Africa. For this purpose, a panel-based regression model, which represents the availability of water resources, is specified based on the period 2000 to 2016 to examine a panel of 41 SSA countries sub-sectioned into low, lower-middle, and upper-middle-income nations. Considering the existence of residual cross-sectional reliance, outcomes based on the CIP and CADF unit root tests showed that the variables were not integrated at the same order. This thus leads to the employment of the PMG/ARDL estimation approach which unveiled that (i) agriculture production has a significant negative influence on H₂O in the lower-middle and low-income panel of SSA countries whereas in the upper-middle-income panel, an insignificant impact is witnessed; (ii) CO₂ emissions affect H₂O palpably in the upper-middle-income SSA panel while for lower-middle and low-income panels, an adverse effect is identified; (iii) economic growth adversely influenced H₂O resources in the lower-middle-income panel whereas in the case of the low-income panel, a significant positive liaison is evidenced; (iv) excluding low-income panel, industrial development concerning H₂O has a significant negative influence in upper-middle and lower-middle-income panels; (v) urbanization homogeneously showed a positive relationship with H₂O resources across all panels. The results are reconfirmed by the CCEPMG/CS-ARDL and MG employed as robust methods. Causality checks by Dumitrescu-Hurlin test finally revealed a mixture of results regarding the causal paths amid variables among the country panels. Policy recommendations have therefore been proposed based on the study findings.

Sorghum mitigates climate variability and change on crop yield and quality

Global food insecurity concerns due to climate change, emphasizes the need to focus on the sensitivity of sorghum to climate change and potential crop improvement strategies available, which is discussed in the current review to promote climate-smart agriculture. Climate change effects immensely disturb the global agricultural systems by reducing crop production. Changes in extreme weather and climate events such as high-temperature episodes and extreme rainfalls events, droughts, flooding adversely affect the production of staple food crops, posing threat to ecosystem resilience. The resulting crop losses lead to food insecurity and poverty and question the sustainable livelihoods of small farmer communities, particularly in developing countries. In view of this, it is essential to focus and adapt climate-resilient food crops which need lower inputs and produce sustainable yields through various biotic and abiotic stress-tolerant traits. Sorghum, "the camel of cereals", is one such climate-resilient food crop that is less sensitive to climate change vulnerabilities and also an important staple food in many parts of Asia and Africa. It is a rainfed crop and provides many essential nutrients. Understanding sorghum's sensitivity to climate change provides scope for improvement of the crop both in terms of quantity and quality and alleviates food and feed security in future climate change scenarios. Thus, the current review focused on understanding the sensitivity of sorghum crop to various stress events due to climate change and throws light on different crop improvement strategies available to pave the way for climate-smart agriculture.

The Effect of Climate-Smart Agriculture on Soil Fertility, Crop Yield, and Soil Carbon in Southern Ethiopia

It is critical to develop technologies that simultaneously improve agricultural production, offset impacts of climate change, and ensure food security in a changing climate. Within this context, considerable attention has been given to climate-smart agricultural practices (CSA). This study was conducted to investigate the effects of integrating different CSA practices on crop production, soil fertility, and carbon sequestration after being practiced continuously for up to 10 years. The CSA practices include use of soil and water conservation (SWC) structures combined with biological measures, hedgerow planting, crop residue management, grazing management, crop rotation, and perennial crop-based agroforestry systems. The landscapes with CSA interventions were compared to farmers’ business-as-usual practices (i.e., control). Wheat (Triticum sp.) yield was quantified from 245 households. The results demonstrated that yield was 30–45% higher under CSA practices than the control (p < 0.05). The total carbon stored at a soil depth of 1 m was three- to seven-fold higher under CSA landscapes than the control. CSA interventions slightly increased the soil pH and exhibited 2.2–2.6 and 1.7–2.7 times more total nitrogen and plant-available phosphorus content, respectively, than the control. The time series Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) revealed higher soil moisture content under CSA. The findings illustrated the substantial opportunity of integrating CSA practices to build climate change resilience of resource-poor farmers through improving crop yield, reducing nutrient depletion, and mitigating GHG emissions through soil carbon sequestration.

Impacts of nitrogen practices on yield, grain quality, and nitrogen-use efficiency of crops and soil fertility in three paddy-upland cropping systems

BACKGROUND

Global food security faces a number of challenges due to increasing population, climate change, and urbanization, while excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers has become a major challenge for sustainable, intensive agriculture. Assessing the impact of agronomic management practices on seed yield, grain quality, and soil fertility is a critical step in understanding nutrientuse efficiency.

RESULT

The comprehensive evaluation index had good fitness to that of single attribute (i.e. seed yield, crop quality and soil fertility), indicating that the comprehensive evaluation index was reliable. Applying controlled-release urea (rice in wheat and oilseed rape field: 150 kg N ha-1 , other crops: 120 kg N ha-1 ) plus common urea (30 kg N ha-1 ) incorporating straw from the previous season across the growing season for cereal and oilseed crops showed a slight improvement in seed productivity and Nuse efficiency among three cropping systems in the traditional evaluation method. Compared with local farm practice (applying common urea of 150 kg N ha-1 ), applying these practices in combination based on the outcome of the comprehensive evaluation index method decreased the seed yield by -1.27 ~ 29.8% but improved quality and soil fertility for the paddy-upland cropping system, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Properly managing N application by applying partial and fully controlled release of urea with or without straw incorporation for a specific crop system has the potential to provide a better compromise among yield, grain quality, and soil fertility in southern China. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Enhancing the Shelf-Life of Fresh Cassava Roots: A Field Evaluation of Simple Storage Bags

Postharvest physiological deterioration (PPD) of fresh cassava roots limits their shelf-life to about 48 h. There is a demand for simple, cheap, and logistically feasible solutions for extending the shelf life of fresh cassava roots in industrial processes. In this study, three different types of bag materials were tested, namely woven polypropylene, tarpaulin, and jute as a potential storage solution for cassava roots with different levels of mechanical damage. Microclimate related to temperature, humidity, and carbon di-oxide (CO2) was monitored in order to understand the storage conditions for up to 12 days. The results showed that fresh cassava roots could be stored for 8 days, with minimal PPD and starch loss (2.4%). However, roots with significant mechanical damage in the form of cuts and breakages had a considerably shorter shelf life in the storage bag, compared to whole roots and roots with retained stalk (peduncle) where roots are connected to the main plant. Wetting of the roots and bag material were not significant factors in determining the shelf life and starch loss. Carbon dioxide concentration in the stores was significantly correlated with the starch loss in fresh cassava roots and is proposed as a possible method for continuously and remotely monitoring starch loss in large-scale commercial operations and reducing postharvest losses.

A Review of Key Technologies and Trends in the Development of Integrated Heating and Power Systems in Agriculture

Petroleum agriculture, characterized by mechanization and chemistry, is developing rapidly in China. However, petroleum agriculture has not only brought food safety problems, but also caused great obstacles to the sustainable development of society. In view of the disadvantages of oil agriculture, we provide an upgrading plan for energy systems in agriculture. This work can help reduce carbon emissions and improve food security. We introduce the most advanced technologies in Chinese agricultural development and the technical scope includes new agricultural energy power generation, agricultural energy use and the safe operation of agricultural energy systems. We describe the detailed data of agricultural bioenvironmental and energy engineering to clarify the level of agricultural energy efficiency in China. The overall conclusion of this paper is that the deep integration of agriculture and energy internet has become the development trend of agricultural energy systems.

Crop nutrient management using Nutrient Expert improves yield, increases farmers' income and reduces greenhouse gas emissions

Reduction of excess nutrient application and balanced fertilizer use are the key mitigation options in agriculture. We evaluated Nutrient Expert (NE) tool-based site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) in rice and wheat crops by establishing 1594 side-by-side comparison trials with farmers' fertilization practices (FFP) across the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India. We found that NE-based fertilizer management can lower global warming potential (GWP) by about 2.5% in rice, and between 12 and 20% in wheat over FFP. More than 80% of the participating farmers increased their crop yield and farm income by applying the NE-based fertilizer recommendation. We also observed that increased crop yield and reduced fertilizer consumption and associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by using NE was significantly influenced by the crop type, agro-ecology, soil properties and farmers' current level of fertilization. Adoption of NE-based fertilizer recommendation practice in all rice and wheat acreage in India would translate into 13.92 million tonnes (Mt) more rice and wheat production with 1.44 Mt less N fertilizer use, and a reduction in GHG of 5.34 Mt CO₂e per year over farmers' current practice. Our study establishes the utility of NE to help implement SSNM in smallholder production systems for increasing crop yields and farmers' income while reducing GHG emissions.

Does the prevailing Indian agricultural ecosystem cause carbon dioxide emission? A consent towards risk reduction

Recently, due to the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, the global environment has changed dramatically. As a result, climate change, global warming, and environmental degradation-like issues have been raised. Presumably, human beings, as well as the agricultural ecosystem, become most vulnerable to these issues. In this context, the study focuses on the nexus between Indian's agricultural ecosystem and carbon dioxide emission. For the purpose of this study, annual time series data over the time span from 1990 to 2014 was used. The modern techniques, for instance, Johansen, ARDL, and Granger causality, were employed. The Johansen test and ARDL model suggest that carbon dioxide emissions and agricultural ecosystems are co-integrated. In the short run, the ARDL model suggests that a 1% increase in biomass-burned crop residues, total pesticides, and stock of livestock would increase carbon dioxide emissions by 0.26, 0.3, and 6.58% respectively. The residual diagnostics tests suggest that the ARDL model is stable, reliable, and credible in the present form. The results of the granger causality show that a unidirectional causality was found between carbon dioxide and total heads of livestock, all animal manure applied to the soil, agricultural technology, and total pesticide used in the agricultural sector. In contrast, bidirectional causality was found between the production of biomass-burned crop residues and carbon dioxide emission. Therefore, it is suggested that the government should take preemptive action to reduce the risk of environmental pollution and degradation through synchronized strategies particularly by reducing the amount of biomass-burned crop residues and usage of total pesticides in the country.

Seed Security Factors Driving Farmer Decisions on Uptake of Tissue Culture Banana Seed in Central Uganda

Despite the promotion of tissue culture (TC) banana to curb the spread of diseases, farmer use of such quality planting material remains low. This study utilizes the Double-Hurdle model on cross-sectional data of 174 banana farmers in Central Uganda to analyze the drivers for uptake of TC banana plant materials. Results show acceptability (β = 0.74; p < 0.01), adaptability (β = 0.69; p < 0.01) and availability for farmer use (β = 1.04; p < 0.01) along with social influence, farmer competences and socioeconomic factors positively influence farmer uptake of the TC banana plantlets. For uptake intensity, the main drivers include acceptability (β = 0.39; p < 0.05), accessibility (β = 0.39; p < 0.01) and farmer competences. This study demonstrates that seed security factors with farmer competencies, social influence and socioeconomic factors influence farmer decisions on uptake of TC technology for banana production. Findings emphasize the need for more involvement of extension services and research institutions in the education and promotion of TC plants in farming communities. We recommend that banana TC developers and promoters focus attention on banana varieties that are acceptable and adaptable to farmer environmental conditions.

Soil Carbon Sequestration Potential of Climate-Smart Villages in East African Countries

Climate-Smart Villages (CSVs) were established by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in the East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to test and promote a portfolio of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices that have climate change mitigation potential. This study evaluated the soil carbon sequestration potential of these CSVs compared to the control land use that did not have CSA practices. At the one-meter depth, soil carbon stocks increased by 20–70%, 70–86%, and 51–110% in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda CSVs, respectively, compared to control. Consequently, CSVs contributed to the reduction of emissions by 87–420 Mg CO2 eq ha−1. In the topsoil (0–15 cm), CSVs sequestered almost twice more soil carbon than the control and subsequently emissions were reduced by 42–158 Mg CO2 eq ha−1 under CSVs. The annual increase in carbon sequestration under CSVs ranged between 1.6 and 6.2 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 and substantially varied between the CSA land use types. The forests sequestered the highest soil carbon (5–6 Mg C ha−1 yr−1), followed by grasslands and croplands. The forest topsoil also had lower bulk density compared to the control. The findings suggest that CSA practices implemented through the CSVs approach contribute to climate change mitigation through soil carbon sequestration.

Optimal temporal-spatial fluorescence techniques for phenotyping nitrogen status in oilseed rape

Nitrogen (N) fertilizer maximizes the growth of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) by improving photosynthetic performance. Elucidating the dynamic relationship between fluorescence and plant N status could provide a non-destructive diagnosis of N status and the breeding of N-efficient cultivars. The aim of this study was to explore the impacts of different N treatments on photosynthesis at a spatial-temporal scale and to evaluate the performance of three fluorescence techniques for the diagnosis of N status. One-way ANOVA and linear discriminant analysis were applied to analyze fluorescence data acquired by a continuous excitation chlorophyll fluorimeter (OJIP transient analysis), pulse amplitude-modulated chlorophyll fluorescence (PAM-ChlF), and multicolor fluorescence (MCF) imaging. The results showed that the maximum quantum efficiency of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fm) and performance index for photosynthesis (PIABS) of bottom leaves were sensitive to N status at the bolting stage, whereas the red fluorescence/far-red fluorescence ratio of top leaves was sensitive at the early seedling stage. Although the classification of N treatments by the three techniques achieved comparable accuracies, MCF imaging showed the best potential for early diagnosis of N status in field phenotyping because it had the highest sensitivity in the top leaves, at the early seedling stage. The findings of this study could facilitate research on N management and the breeding of N-efficient cultivars.

A review of root, tuber and banana crops in developing countries: past, present and future

For many of the developing world's poorest farmers and food‐insecure people, roots, tubers, bananas and plantain crops (RTBs) serve as a critical source of food, nutrition and cash income. RTBs have been particularly important in areas where local agri‐food systems are under stress. Under such circumstances, growers, processors and traders often see opportunities to improve food security or increase their incomes with those crops due to shifting tastes and preferences for food and non‐food products. Since the early 1990s, cassava output surged in sub‐Saharan Africa, while potato production expanded rapidly in Asia. RTBs are consumed by over three billion people in developing countries with a market value of US$ 339 billion. This paper analyses the major changes in production, utilisation and trade of RTBs over the last six decades, assesses estimates of their future trajectory and offers recommendations so that they might achieve their full potential.

Asymmetrical ARDL correlation between fossil fuel energy, food security, and carbon emission: providing fresh information from Pakistan

The core objective of our study seeks to examine the asymmetrical impact of agriculture, fossil fuel consumption, and food security on carbon emission (CO2) in Pakistan from 1969 to 2018. The current study applied multiple unit root tests (ADF, PP, and KPSS, Z&A) to check data stationarity and structural breaks. We used the population data as a food security proxy indicator. The outcomes disclosed that there is a long-term asymmetric relationship between the variables. The results also verified the atypical response of CO2 to adverse shocks in agricultural value-added. Furthermore, the results showed that population and fossil fuel consumption would further worsen environmental standards. Based on the results of the study, the government needs to take practical steps for active policy-making and assessing ecological challenges in Pakistan.

Synthesis of the tetrasaccharide repeating unit of the O-specific polysaccharide of Azospirillum doebereinerae type strain GSF71T using linear and one-pot iterative glycosylations

A straightforward synthetic strategy was developed for the synthesis of the tetrasaccharide repeating unit corresponding to the O-specific polysaccharide of Azospirillum doebereinerae type strain GSF71^T in a very good yield adopting sequential glycosylation followed by removal of the p-methoxybenzyl (PMB) group in the same pot. Further, the synthetic strategy was modified by carrying out three stereoselective iterative glycosylations followed by in situ removal of the PMB group in one pot. The stereochemical outcome of the newly formed glycosidic linkages was excellent using thioglycoside derivatives as glycosyl donors and a combination of N-iodosuccinimide (NIS) and perchloric acid supported on silica (HClO₄-SiO₂) as the glycosyl activator.

Stage-dependent concomitant microbial fortification improves soil nutrient status, plant growth, antioxidative defense system and gene expression in rice

Stage-dependent concomitant fortification of rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties PB1612 and CO51 with microbial inoculants Trichoderma asperellum and Pseudomonas fluorescens as seed coating, seedling root inoculation and soil application enhanced growth, activated antioxidant enzymes and modulated defence-related genes in plants. Microbial inoculants improved shoot height, tiller numbers, fresh weight and dry biomass. Co-inoculation was more impactful in enhancing plant growth and development as compared to single inoculation. Single and co-inoculation improved organic carbon (OC) and N, P and K content in the soil substantially. Mean values between control and co-inoculation varied significantly for OC in PB1612 (p0.001) and CO51 (p0.019) and phosphorus content in PB1612 (p0.044) and CO51 (p0.021). Microbial inoculation enhanced soil nutrients and increased their bioavailability for the plants. Total polyphenolics, flavonoids and protein content increased in the leaves following microbial inoculation. Enhanced non-enzymatic antioxidant parameters (ABTS, DPPH, Fe-ion reducing power and Fe-ion chelation) was found in microbe inoculated rice reflecting high free radical scavenging activity in polyphenolics-rich leaf extracts. Increased enzyme activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione reductase (GR), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), peroxidase (PO), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and catalase (CAT) showed improved ROS scavenging in rice plants having co-inoculation. Over-expression of PAL, cCuZn-SOD and CAT genes in microbial inoculated rice plants was recorded. The study concludes that plant stage-wise concomitant fortification by microbial inoculants could play multi-pronged manifestations at physiological, biochemical and molecular level in rice to positively influence growth, development and defense attributes in plants.

Conserving genetic resources for agriculture: economic implications of emerging science

New challenges have arrived for the conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. Increased pressure on the environment, including the added threat of climate change, has had adverse effects on biodiversity and agricultural systems. Emerging science and new technologies have at the same time altered the scope of possibilities for collection, conservation, and utilization of genetic resources for agriculture. Taken together, these changes imply a need for a refocusing of global strategies for the management of genetic resources for agriculture. This paper argues that simple theoretical models provide relatively little guidance for key questions about genebank management. The fundamental uncertainty of scientific possibility and global futures makes it challenging – and perhaps futile – to attempt economic valuation of gene banks. A more useful application of economic tools will be in the prioritization of collection and conservation. Economic analysis may also offer useful insights into the efficient management of genetic resources.

Stakeholders’ Perception of Climate Actions in Some Developing Economies

Resilience, adaptation and mitigation are unique but complimentary actions in the fight against climate change (CC), particularly in developing countries. Although evidence suggest the inclusion of stakeholder opinions as part of the frameworks for combating CC, this evidence is not well substantiated, and is not extensively described in sub-Sahara African CC literature. While language remains a big issue in CC discussions, processes comprised within climate actions are equally as important as both the language and the results. It is on the basis of the confusion surrounding the language adopted as actions geared towards combating CC that this study seeks to examine the opinions/perception of CC actors in three West African nations. It looks at perceived and/or suitable solutions to selected CC-imposed challenges in the midst of socio-economic and environmental concerns. A total of 475 individuals, representing NGOs, public and private organizations involved with CC issues, as well as private persons concerned about CC, were recruited across Nigeria, Niger, and Benin, over a two-year period (April 2017–April 2019). A questionnaire containing 15 items was administered. The results of data analysis using chi-square and Fischer’s exact tests show that the mean number of CC actors differs within and across all three countries for all climate action types against CC-imposed challenges. While CC adaptive plans and projects are thought to yield immediate results, they are also observed to be cheaper in comparison to mitigation and resilience projects.

Chemical Composition and Combinatory Antifungal Activities of Ammoides verticillata, Allium sativum and Curcuma longa Essential Oils Against Four Fungi Responsible for Tomato Diseases

BACKGROUND

Tomato is considered a model plant in genetics and is one of the most economically important crops of all those that exist in the world. Several species of fungi are reported on tomato fruit, causing damage both during cultivation and after harvest. Some of the appropriate actions that could be initiated to resolve the problem are to develop and search for new antimicrobial substances isolated from the bioactive natural products, such as essential oils.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE

The aim of this work was to determine the chemical composition of essential oils of Ammoides verticillata, Allium sativum and Curcuma longa, to evaluate their in-vitro antifungal activities and in-vivo antifungal effect of essential oils to prevent the diseases caused by tomato.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The essential oils obtained from aerial parts of plants were analyzed by GC/MS and tested for their antifungal activities against Penicillium expansum, Fusarium solani, Rhizopus stolonifer and Alternaria alternata using the radial growth technique method. The effectiveness in-vivo of the association between Allium sativum and Curcuma longa essential oils was also investigated on tomatoes inoculated by fungi.

RESULTS

The essential oil from A. verticilata was mainly composed of phenolic compounds (54.4%), the A. sativum oil was mainly composed of sulfur compounds (91.5%) and C. longa oil was dominated by oxygenated monoterpenes (82.0%). The obtained results in-vitro antifungal revealed that individual essential oils of A. verticillata and A. sativum were more active than the essential oil of C. longa against all screened microorganisms. An important antifungal effect of A. sativum and C. longa essential oils blend was obtained against P. expansum (100%), F. solani (95.2%), R. stolonifer (95.1%) and A. alternata (48.5%). Furthermore, A. sativum and C. longa essential oils blends have demonstrated promising in-vivo antifungal activity to control infection of tomato against P. expansum and R. stolonifer.

CONCLUSION

A. sativum and C. longa essential oil blends can be used as a natural food preservative and alternative to chemical fungicides to protect stored tomato against many phytopathogens.

A Regional Comparison of Factors Affecting Global Sorghum Production: The Case of North America, Asia and Africa’s Sahel

Understanding the dynamics of food production is critical to improving food security. This is particularly important in regions that rely on subsistence agriculture with little adaptive capacity to climate change. Sorghum plays an important role in food security in some of the poorest parts of the world. This article reviews the literature to identify and examine the major factors affecting sorghum production in three major production regions. Factors were not categorized ex ante but rather determined from the review. Ten major factors were identified as having notable impacts on sorghum production: climate change, population growth/economic development, non-food demand, agricultural inputs, demand for other crops, agricultural resources scarcity, biodiversity, cultural influence, price and armed conflict. This synthesis revealed that (1) multiple factors simultaneously affect sorghum production; (2) the effect of each factor is greatly influenced by the magnitude and certainty of one or more other factors; and, (3) factors differ in relevance and degree with regard to geography. Generally, improved agricultural inputs, population growth/economic development and climate change have substantial influence on sorghum production. However, local dynamics likely go beyond these broad trends and more exhaustive, locally-focused studies are needed for actionable planning purposes.

What Can Dietary Patterns Tell Us about the Nutrition Transition and Environmental Sustainability of Diets in Uganda?

Uganda is undergoing dietary transition, with possible environmental sustainability and health implications, particularly for women. To explore evidence for dietary transitions and identify how environmentally sustainable women's dietary patterns are, principal component analysis was performed on dietary data collected using a 24 h recall during the Uganda Food Consumption Survey (n = 957). Four dietary patterns explained 23.6% of the variance. The "traditional, high-fat, medium environmental impact" pattern was characterized by high intakes of nuts/seeds, fats, oils and spreads, fish and boiled vegetables. High intakes of bread and buns, rice and pasta, tea and sugar characterized the "transitioning, processed, low environmental impact' pattern. The 'plant-based, low environmental impact" pattern was associated with high intakes of legumes, boiled roots/tubers, boiled traditional vegetables, fresh fruit and fried traditional cereals. High intakes of red/organ meats, chicken, and soups characterized the "animal-based high environmental impact" pattern. Urban residence was positively associated with "transitioning, processed, low environmental impact" (β = 1.19; 1.06, 1.32) and "animal-based high environmental impact" (β = 0.45; 0.28, 0.61) patterns; but negatively associated with the "plant-based low environmental impact" pattern (β= -0.49; -0.62, -0.37). A traditional, high-fat dietary pattern with medium environmental impact persists in both contexts. These findings provide some evidence that urban women's diets are transitioning.