Agricultural Research Articles

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Driving Factors of Land Use Carbon Emissions in Jiangxi Province, China

Analyzing the spatiotemporal changes and influencing factors of carbon emissions generated by land use is of great importance for improving land use structure and promoting regional low-carbon economic development. This study, based on remote sensing and statistical yearbook data from 1995 to 2020, calculated the carbon emissions from land use in Jiangxi Province, China. Multiple spatial analysis methods and the logarithmic mean Divisia index were used to elucidate the spatiotemporal evolution and driving factors of carbon emissions, and the findings revealed the following: (1) The spatiotemporal changes in land use in Jiangxi Province during 1995–2020 were substantial as forest land accounted for 65% of the entire land area, while construction land increased by 98.1%. Cultivated land decreased the most, followed by forest land. (2) There was a fourfold rise in carbon emissions in Jiangxi Province, driven primarily by construction land, and northern areas produced higher carbon emissions compared with central and southern regions. Forest land was the main carbon sink. (3) Economic development (257.36%) and the impact of the proportion of construction land (211.31%) were the primary factors contributing to the increase in carbon emissions from land use, while other factors had inhibitory effects. This study transformed the macroscale low-carbon development strategy of cities into targeted local policies, and the research theories and methods adopted could provide scientific reference for other regions in urgent need of carbon reduction worldwide.

Classification and Evaluation of Marginal Land for Potential Cultivation in Northwest China Based on Contiguity and Restrictive Factors

Water, land, and other environmental conditions restrict marginal land (ML) conversion into newly cultivated land. Accurately evaluating ML’s development and utilization potential (DUP) can provide critical support for increasing new cultivated land and ensuring food security. This study focuses on Northwest China, using spatial identification of different types of ML based on remote sensing images, and constructs a county-level DUP evaluation model through contiguous characteristics and restrictive factors to determine new cultivated-land potential, water demand, and liftable grain production. The results show that the DUP of ML in Northwest China is 12.59 million ha, with low-efficiency cultivated land (LCL) and two types of restoration land (TTRL) accounting for 3.29% and 5.95%, and other marginal land (OML) making up 90.76%. The total water demand for ML development and utilization is 69.87 billion cubic meters, which can increase grain production by 62.31 million tons. The coordinated development of water, land, and food promotes an increase in grain production, with water resources being the main restrictive factor. This model effectively evaluates DUP and provides a scientific basis for promoting the rational use of water and land resources. Further research should set up more detailed water resource utilization strategies and scenarios as well as find more development and utilization techniques.

Shift from legacy to emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances for watershed management along the coast of China

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and their short-chain alternatives have attracted world-wide attention due to their widespread presence and persistence in the environment. However, the sources, environmental fate, and driving forces of PFAS in coastal ecosystems remain poorly understood. In this study, the spatial distribution, source apportionment, and driving mechanisms of PFAS were investigated through a comprehensive analysis of water samples collected along the China's coastline. The concentrations of Σ25PFAS in water samples followed a general pattern, with higher levels observed in northern coastal zones of China than the south, ranging from 0.72 to 1872.21 ng L−1. PFOA and PFBA were dominant. Emerging short-chain PFAS, such as PFBS, PFBA, F-53B and GenX, were frequently detected, with detection rates of 97%, 99%, 95% and 77%, respectively. This indicated a shift in coastal PFAS contamination from legacy compounds to emerging short-chain alternatives. Source apportionment using the Positive Matrix Factorization model identified key contributors to PFAS pollution, including textile production, volatile precursors, precious metal industries, aqueous film-forming foam, metal-plating, electrochemical fluorination, and fluoropolymer manufacturing. Additionally, PFAS concentrations were significantly positively correlated with cultivated land, urban area, and wastewater discharge, while negatively correlated with annual precipitation and woodland coverage (p < 0.05). Socio-economic development was identified as a major driver of PFAS emissions, while the hydrological factors and vegetation coverage can significantly enhance watershed resilience against PFAS pollution.

What Do We Know About CapsicumVolatilome?

The Capsicum genus includes several cultivated species that release complex blends of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with their unique aroma. These VOCs are essential info-chemicals in ecological interactions. In this review, we describe how the volatilomic profiling naturally varies based on specific plant organs and genotypes as well as how non-beneficial organisms affect VOCs biosynthesis and accumulation in pepper plants. Also, we show evidence about VOCs variation under the pressure of different abiotic factors such as water stress, soil type and nutrient availability. The contribution of specific metabolic pathways and gene expression related to the biosynthesis of particular VOCs is addressed. We highlighted the utility of VOCs as chemical markers for quality control in the food industry, breeding programs to generate resistant plants and to improve aroma innovation. Herein we present a database containing 2734 VOCs, revealing 113 as the basic core of the volatilome from five Capsicum species.

Traditional pandal agriculture of cucurbit vegetables utilises a relay intercropping approach with perennial Castor (Ricinus communis L.) to conserve resources

Traditional pandal agriculture of cucurbit vegetables utilises a relay intercropping approach with perennial Castor (Ricinus communis L.) to conserve resources

Risk of human exposure to Brucella species through the consumption of milk among traditional cattle farmers in the western province of Zambia

MARY MUBIANA1,2⁎, CHISONI MUMBA1, DOREEN SITALI1, MULENGA MALATA1,3, ISABEL NAMFUKWE LUAMBIA4, JOHN BWALYA MUMA1

Research on the impact of land rights certification on farmers’ operating behavior

This article aims to assess the impact of issuing land rights certification on farmers' operating behavior. To accomplish this objective, this paper establishes a theoretical framework for farmers' management behavior and thoroughly examines the stability, endowment, and security effects of land rights certification. Subsequently, using household survey data, the Probit and propensity score matching (PSM) estimation methods are employed to empirically substantiate the influence of farmland ownership confirmation. The verification results show that land right confirmation tends to motivate farmers to engage in agricultural management, and encourages female and older laborers to be more involved in agricultural production compared to males and younger laborers. Furthermore, the paper explores the mechanism by introducing such indicators as investment in agricultural machinery, quality of cultivated land, non-agricultural income of farmers, and laborers’ insurance status. Through analysis and testing, this paper holds that land right confirmation has a dual impact on farmer management, and when the reverse effect is limited, farmers are prompted to adjust the contradiction through labor force allocation within the family.

A qualitative analysis on dairy farming policies and its stakeholder’s perspective in Indian dairy sector

This paper critically reviews the role of dairy farming policies and interventions required by the different government agencies and their associations. This article explains the divergence in formulation and implementation of dairy development policies and schemes (DDPS) in the Indian dairy sector. This paper is based on qualitative research representing a diverse range of epistemological, theoretical, and disciplinary perspectives. Review of Literature is to access databases from peer-reviewed journals and published survey reports of statutory and non-statutory bodies in the dairy farming sector. Dairy farmers/dairy entrepreneurs/milk producers are the respondents and information gathered through detailed telephonic interviews and audio recordings due to COVID-19 outbreak. Sample size ranges from 5–10 responses from stakeholders involved in dairy farming in Milk Supply Chain (MSC). Thematic Analysis (TA) is used for identifying, analyzing and interpreting patterns of text and its meaning (‘themes’) using NVIVO 10 software. Benefit of this research are also academicians, researchers and agriculture scientists for further research in the field of dairy farming and MSC. This paper develops a fair understanding about risks and challenges among small-medium size farmers in effective implementation of dairy development programmes and schemes. Dairy producers,processors and enterprises are able to formulate better marketing strategies for future market expansion of desi cow milk. Grounded Theory (GT), an iterative process based on the perception and concerns of respondents gathered from initial data is a novelty of this research. Study is only limited to qualitative approaches with small sample sizes. There is a need to investigate other statistical methods to validate the research.

A First Step Towards Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) Welfare by Considering Dietary Regimes (Part I).

The insect farming sector is expanding, but knowledge of insect welfare is still limited. This article aims to optimize the dietary regime for "black soldier fly" (Hermetia illucens L., BSF) larvae by applying a holistic view of welfare. Four diets were tested: control (CONTR, commercial laying hen feed), vegetable (VEG), omnivorous (OMN), and carnivorous (MEAT) diet, conducting experiments at a large (2000 larvae) and small scale (100 larvae). Rearing parameters were calculated including the growth rate, substrate reduction, efficiency of conversion of digested food, waste reduction index, and survival rate. Chemical analyses were conducted on BSF larvae and the residual frass. While the MEAT diet appears to be non-well-performing for the larvae, the VEG diet performed comparably to the control diet. Interestingly, the OMN diet demonstrated improved efficiency when evaluating the growth process at both scales. The chemical composition of larvae and frass highlighted the nutritional adequacy of the OMN diet, with the BSF larvae showing adequate protein and lipid content without nutrient catabolism or signs of discomfort. Applying the five freedoms of Brambell's report as a welfare standard for animal rearing and evaluating performance as an indirect indicator of welfare, the OMN diet appears to promote larval welfare in rearing practices.

Prediction of the potential distribution of a raspberry (Rubus idaeus) in China based on MaxEnt model

Rubus idaeus is a pivotal cultivated species of raspberry known for its attractive color, distinct flavor, and numerous health benefits. It can be used in pharmaceutical, cosmetics, agriculture and food industries not only as fresh but also as a processed product. Nowadays due to climatic changes, genetic diversity of cultivars has decreased dramatically. However, until now, the status of wild R. idaeus resources in China have not been exploited. In this study, we investigated the resources of wild R. idaeus in China to secure its future potential and sustainability. The MaxEnt model was used to predict R. idaeus suitable habitats and spatial distribution patterns for current and future climate scenarios, based on wild domestic geographic distribution data, current and future climate variables, and topographic variables. The results showed that, mean temperature of the coldest quarter (bio11), precipitation of the coldest quarter (bio19), precipitation of the warmest quarter (bio18), and temperature seasonality (bio4) were crucial factors affecting the distribution of R. idaeus. Presently, the suitable habitats were mainly distributed in the north of China including Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang. According to our results, in 2050s, the total suitable habitat area of R. idaeus will increase under SSP1-2.6 and then will be decreased with climate change, while in the 2090s, the total suitable habitat area will continue to decrease. From the present to the 2090s, the centroid distribution of R. idaeus in China will shift towards the east and the species will always be present in Inner Mongolia. Our results provide wild resource information and theoretical reference for the protection and rational utilization of R. idaeus.

Organic Farming for Residue-Free Production

Organic farming has emerged as a sustainable agricultural practice aimed at producing food without synthetic chemicals, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This approach promotes biodiversity, soil health, and environmental sustainability while ensuring residue-free food production. The key principles of organic farming include crop rotation, composting, natural pest management, and the use of organic inputs such as manure and biological controls. These practices not only enhance soil fertility and biodiversity but also contribute to mitigating climate change by sequestering carbon in soils. Residue-free production in organic farming is achieved through rigorous adherence to organic standards and certification processes. Organic certification ensures that farmers comply with strict regulations regarding inputs, practices, and traceability throughout the production chain. Consumers increasingly prefer organic products due to concerns about chemical residues in food and their potential impact on health. Organic farming promotes transparency and consumer trust by offering products that are free from synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. The global market for organic products continues to expand, driven by growing consumer awareness and demand for healthier and environmentally friendly food options. Organic farming presents opportunities for farmers to access premium markets, improve farm profitability, and contribute to sustainable agriculture. However, challenges such as certification costs, market access barriers, and competition with conventional agriculture remain significant. Future research and development in organic farming are crucial to addressing these challenges and enhancing the scalability and efficiency of residue-free production. Innovations in organic pest management, soil health management, and sustainable agriculture practices will further support the growth of organic farming worldwide. Overall, organic farming stands as a promising solution for residue-free food production, promoting human health, environmental stewardship, and sustainable development in agriculture.

Knowledge Atlas of Cultivated Land Quality Evaluation Based on Web of Science Since the 21st Century (2000–2023)

Cultivated land is the most important natural resource for human survival and development. The quality of cultivated land is closely related to grain output, and whether it can guarantee stable food supply is directly related to national food security. Cultivated land quality evaluation is an effective tool for understanding and mastering cultivated land quality. However, few studies have applied bibliometrics to quantitatively and systematically analyze this field. We used VOSviewer 1.6.19 and CiteSpace 6.3.1 software to visually analyze and construct 2478 documents related to cultivated land quality evaluation retrieved from the Web of Science core collection database from 2000 to 2023. Results show that cultivated land quality evaluation is still a popular research field. The collaboration ability among authors is weak and the distribution of institutions and countries publishing in this field is very uneven. In addition, the relevant research has been published in a variety of journals such as agriculture, environment, ecology, and computer technology. The research content is becoming more and more interdisciplinary. Keywords such as “Soil quality”, “Swat”, “Remote sensing”, “Heavy metals” and “Ecosystem services” have become hot topics in this field. In the future, it is necessary to further deepen the connotation of cultivated land quality, develop a long time series dynamic model of cultivated land quality evaluation and monitoring, and enhance the transformation of research results into practical applications.

How to improve the sustainability of food security? A new perspective on competition in the spatial utilization of cultivated land between food crops and cash crops

How to improve the sustainability of food security? A new perspective on competition in the spatial utilization of cultivated land between food crops and cash crops

Assessing Solutions for Resilient Dairy Farming in Europe.

The objective of the EU project Resilience for Dairy (R4D) is to develop and strengthen a self-sustainable Thematic Network on resilient dairy farms in 15 European countries. This article focusses on those solutions (practices and techniques) that are assessed contributing to a resilient dairy farming sector. The opinions of experts, farmers, and stakeholders were collected and scored through surveys and in a series of local workshops. Six key contributing knowledge fields are included: economic and social resilience, technical efficiency, environment, animal welfare and health, and societal perception. Assessing these knowledge fields proved to be a good predictor for measuring resilience. Only the impact fields of animal welfare and health and societal perception overlapped each other in response. This study shows differences in the choice of solutions across Europe. Experts from South and East Europe are more positive about the contribution of solutions to resilience than their colleagues from North and West Europe, except for social life items. Expert and farmer/stakeholder opinions differ regarding several of the solutions. Technical efficiency is a leading strategy. Priority topics of interest are communication with society, renewable energy production, strategic hoof trimming, early detection of diseases, monitoring fertility and health, and calf rearing. Besides resilience, attractiveness and readiness of the solutions were also assessed.

Conversion of Rice Field Ecosystems from Conventional to Ecological Farming: Effects on Pesticide Fate, Ecotoxicity and Soil Properties.

Rice is an important staple food around the world, the cultivation as sustainable agriculture and food supply are key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of 2030. In order to analyze the sustainability of the rice paddy ecosystem, a comparative study was carried out during the rice growing season between paddies with conventional agriculture (CA) and ecological agriculture (EA), integrating analysis of physico-chemical characteristics of soil and soil pore water, pesticide residues, acute toxic effects and potential ecological risk, as well as aquatic invertebrate community structure dynamics. Our study found that total carbon and nitrogen present in soil were significantly higher in CA than in EA, while opposite results were found in soil pore water, implying the improvement on soil properties in EA. Neonicotinoid pesticides (thiamethoxam and thiacloprid) were still detected in EA, although no pesticides were applied after conversing CA to EA. Additionally, toxic effects to zebrafish embryos with a peak toxicity in summer (July, LC50 = 55.26 mg soil equivalent/L) were also found in EA, which was lower than in CA. The dynamics of the aquatic invertebrate community structure were correlated with the toxicity results, with higher diversity recorded in EA. Therefore, for the purpose of ecosystem sustainability, the long-term implementation of EA is highly recommended.

First evidence of age-dependent decreases in non-persistent pesticide mixtures in nestlings of a farmland raptor

Intensive use of synthetic pesticides in conventional agriculture may harm non-target organisms through sublethal effects on life-history traits. Farmland birds are exposed throughout their life cycle, but the fate of non-persistent pesticide mixtures in wild birds remains unknown. In this study, we investigated changes in pesticide contamination levels in Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus) nestlings during their growth. In total, 35 chicks were sampled twice during the rearing period, and blood was tested for 116 pesticides to assess pesticide load through two proxies; the number of pesticides detected and the sum of pesticide concentrations. Body mass and tarsus length were also measured to estimate body condition. Across the two sampling times, nine herbicides, five insecticides and four fungicides were detected. Contamination levels decreased significantly with nestling age irrespective of sampling date, and there was no relationship between pesticide load and body condition. Moreover, concentrations of chlorpyrifos-methyl, fenpropidin, metamitron, picloram and S-metolachlor, all detected throughout the rearing period, were unrelated to any of the explanatory variables. However, ethofumesate concentrations decreased significantly with chick age. This study provides the first evidence that non-persistent pesticide mixtures can decrease with age in wild nestlings. This has implications for understanding how chicks are contaminated and provides new insights on pesticide fate within organisms.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL AREAS IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA THROUGH INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE LAND RESOURCE USE IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

The evaluation of the agricultural land in the Republic of Moldova represents the main factor in the sustainable rural space development and it emphasizes economic criteria for the efficiency of land resources. The hedonic price in the sales-purchase transactions of parcels in agricultural land may be the scientific innovation and originality of the geographically weighted regression methodology with the spatial approach in the used econometric model. The price of agricultural land used parcels in Maiovca village, Ocnița district were evaluated by using the data from transactions registered in 2022 and the results of the geographically weighted regression stands up the suitable conclusions of the licensed assessors in the field. The autocorrelation coefficient value evaluated by SAR is ρ = 0.072 according to Cobb Douglas model confirms the high quality of the regression techniques carried out and the used spatial methodology can be implemented in cadastral practice for the taxation in the agrarian sector. The geographically weighted regression utility proposed in this methodology has advantage in research area because of the similar evaluation techniques carried out in the countries of the European Union that are adjacent to the Republic of Moldova.

Dynamic patterns and potential drivers of river water quality in a coastal city: Insights from a machine-learning-based framework and water management

River water quality continues to deteriorate under the coupled effects of climate change and human activities. Machine learning (ML) is a promising approach for analyzing water quality. Nevertheless, the spatiotemporal dynamics of river water quality and their potential mechanisms in changing environments remain incomprehensively understood through available ML-based researches. Here, we developed a ML-based framework integrating a self-organizing map (SOM) model with a random forest (RF) model. This framework was applied to simultaneously investigate the spatiotemporal patterns and potential drivers of river permanganate (CODMn), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), and total phosphorus (TP) dynamics across 34 sites from 2010 to 2020 in a coastal city threatened by deteriorating water environment in southeastern China. The sites were divided into two clusters in the spatial context with different water quality conditions. The year of 2015 for NH3-N and 2018 for CODMn and TP were identified as the key turning points of water quality variations. Features including sewage discharge, population dynamics, percentage of cultivated land, and fertilizer application contributed greatly to water quality deterioration. The increase in forest vegetation reflected by percentage of forest and leaf area index may improve water quality. The ML-based modeling framework demonstrated a promising way to address the spatiotemporal dynamics of river water quality, and provided insights for water management in a coastal city with intensifying human-nature interactions.

Landowner economy in the Kazan province in the first half of the 19th century

The article is devoted to the economic development of landowners in the Kazan province during the era of serfdom. The source base of the study contains published memoirs of representatives of the nobility, statistical publications, pre-revolutionary studies of the state of agriculture in private farms, as well as archival material containing economic descriptions of 12 districts of the province, compiled by local leaders of the nobility and individual landowners based on the questions of the questionnaire of the Free Economic Society in 1802. The author analyzed the natural and geographical factors that influenced economic life on the estates; characterized the working inventory and showed attempts to modernize it; studied the specialization of estates and identified the economy-forming industries; considered the features of the corvee and quitrent systems of peasant exploitation. In addition, the article shows examples of organizing market-oriented agricultural production. A conclusion is made about the subsistence nature of the landowner economy in the Kazan province in the pre-reform period, in which the sale of surplus did not mean the commercial nature of production. The availability of free labor deprived the incentive to introduce improved methods of land cultivation – use modern equipment, improved varieties of crops, as well as develop industries such as livestock and crop production. For citation: Mironova E.V. Landowner economy in the Kazan province in the first half of the 19th century. From History and Culture of Peoples of the Middle Volga Region. 2024, vol.14, no.3, pp.118–136. https://doi.org/10.22378/2410-0765.2024-14-3.118-136 (In Russian)

Nano Fertilizers: Revolutionizing Agriculture for a Sustainable Future

Nanotechnology, one of the advanced fields of study, is currently the focus of contemporary science and one of the most important ones in physics, chemistry, agriculture, and other fields. Nanotechnology provides superior quality, environmental safety, biological support, and financial stability as an environmentally sound substitute for traditional agriculture. Utilizing nanoparticles (NPs) in agriculture has introduced recently; examples like biosynthesis, the use of nanopesticides and fertilizers, improving biological function, and reducing heavy metal toxicity and abiotic stress. To focus on safe use and positive response of nano-particles, more research is required. There are gaps in the food supply compare to food production, which get worse over time due to rising food demands and nutrient depletion. Environmental degradation, changes in soil ecology, and problems with agricultural output are all brought on by synthetic fertilizer inputs. Adapting advanced agriculture technolgy for a sustainable future will be the main topic of this review.