Future Food Demand Research Articles

Sustainable Fertilizers: Publication Landscape on Wastes as Nutrient Sources, Wastewater Treatment Processes for Nutrient Recovery, Biorefineries, and Green Ammonia Synthesis.

The ability of modern agriculture to meet future food demand imposed by accelerating growth of the world's population is a major challenge, and fertilizers play a key role by replacing nutrients in agricultural soil. Given the need for fertilizers, their cost in nonrenewable resources and energy, and the consequences of the greenhouse gas emissions required to make them, people have begun to explore ways to make fertilizer manufacturing and use more sustainable. Using data from the CAS Content Collection, this review examines and analyzes the academic and patent literature on sustainable fertilizers from 2001 to 2021. The breakdown of journal and patent literature publication over time on this topic, country or region of publications, the substances included in published research, among other things allow us to understand the general progress in the field as well as the classes of materials and concepts driving innovation. We hope that this bibliometric analysis and literary review will assist researchers in relevant industries to discover and implement ways to supplement conventional fertilizers and nutrient sources while improving the efficiency and sustainability of waste management and ammonia production.

A REVIEW : APPLICATIONS OF REMOTE SENSING IN AGRICULTURE

Agriculture plays a central role in safeguarding the region’s food supply and achieving the second UN Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger by 2030. However, the agriculture sector faces challenges from changing consumer demand, demographics, inefficient value chains, climate change and water shortage. Climate change is already impacting significantly on agriculture and food production in developing countries. Agriculture has been able to keep up with the rising demand for food and other agricultural goods because of the development of new farming techniques throughout the previous century. Natural resources will undoubtedly be further stressed as result of rising food demand, population growth, income levels, etc. New methods and approaches should be able to meet future food demands while maintaining or lowering agriculture’s environmental imprint as the detrimental effects of agriculture on the environment become more widely acknowledged. The application of remote sensing in agriculture can aid the evolution of agricultural practices that face different types of challenges by providing information related to crop status at different scales all through the season. Making educated management decisions with the help of emerging technologies including geospatial technology, the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data analysis, and artificial intelligence (AI). To maximize agricultural inputs, boot agricultural production, and decrease input losses, precision agriculture (PA) uses a variety of such technologies. Over the past few decades, there has been a sharp expansion in the use of remote sensing technology for PA (precision agriculture). It is crucial to investigate and design an easy-to-use yet dependable workflow for the real-time use of remote sensing in PA (precision agriculture) given the complexity of image processing and the quantity of technical knowledge and skill required. Wider usage of remote sensing technologies in commercial and non-commercial PA (precision agriculture) applications is likely to result from the development of accurate yet simple-to-use, user-friendly systems.

Chemical strategies towards controlled release in agriculture

Abstract With an increasing world population of nearly eight billion which is expected to expand towards nine billion by 2050, future food demands will rise unavoidably. Primary productivity of crop is at the center of the food and feed value chain. Excessive and low efficiency fertilization cause severe environmental and ecological problems, along with economic wastage. Next to fertilizers, also pesticides, plant growth regulators and other agrochemicals (e.g., stored animal manure and hormones) pose environmental issues and require specific technologies to ensure security of human health and the global ecosystem while increasing food productions. There is an agronomic, legal and environmental ‘demand’ to develop controlled release solutions to optimize agricultural practices. In this regard, (polymer) chemistry can offer a wide range of strategies to cope with the current issues related to biodegradation, overfertilization, pesticide use, efficient precision agriculture etc. through tailored material design allowing controlled active components release. Therefore, this review focusses on (polymer) chemical strategies to design controlled release systems in the agricultural industry, covering specifically the state-of-the-art from the past four years.

The Potential of CRISPR/Cas Technology to Enhance Crop Performance on Adverse Soil Conditions.

Worldwide food security is under threat in the actual scenery of global climate change because the major staple food crops are not adapted to hostile climatic and soil conditions. Significant efforts have been performed to maintain the actual yield of crops, using traditional breeding and innovative molecular techniques to assist them. However, additional strategies are necessary to achieve the future food demand. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat/CRISPR-associated protein (CRISPR/Cas) technology, as well as its variants, have emerged as alternatives to transgenic plant breeding. This novelty has helped to accelerate the necessary modifications in major crops to confront the impact of abiotic stress on agriculture systems. This review summarizes the current advances in CRISPR/Cas applications in crops to deal with the main hostile soil conditions, such as drought, flooding and waterlogging, salinity, heavy metals, and nutrient deficiencies. In addition, the potential of extremophytes as a reservoir of new molecular mechanisms for abiotic stress tolerance, as well as their orthologue identification and edition in crops, is shown. Moreover, the future challenges and prospects related to CRISPR/Cas technology issues, legal regulations, and customer acceptance will be discussed.

Does Organic Farming Ensure Food Security? An Analysis of Developing Countries

Food insecurity is a major challenge in front of developing countries. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United States (FAO) [1] reported that 2 billion people face moderate or severe food insecurity, of which 1.02 billion are found in Asia, 674.5 million in Africa, and 205.3 million in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2019. Inadequate food creates serious health issues among people, especially children worst affected by it. The situation further deteriorates in developing countries where poverty and population rates are high. The overconsumption of fertilizers in agriculture leads to environmental degradation and severe human illness. The unsustainability of the current agriculture model has raised many concerns about the future demand for food for an ever-growing population. The alternative method as suggested by many experts is Organic farming. The positive externalities attached to organic farming have enormous potential and it plays a very significant role in protecting the environment, providing safe food, and eventually sustainability. Further, linking the goal of food security with organic farming can help developing countries provide nutritious food and help in protecting the environment. The paper explores the situation of food insecurity worldwide and the current agriculture model performance and failure to achieve food security in many developing countries. The paper also analyses the role of organic farming to attain food security and elaborate on the limitations of organic farming to ensure food security and provides alternative models for improvement in current situations. For this purpose, study uses secondary data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for analysis of the food production in these two regions and reviews various research articles, FAO documents, and reports based on conventional and organic farming. The literature was accessed using Google Scholar, Institutions and Government Websites. The conventional farming put developing countries into the dilemma, to ensure food security for its population or protect environment, due to its unsustainability in long run. However, the current status of organic agriculture production is still meagre compared to conventional food production. The low yield in organic farming does not ensure the food security for the distant future but in long run organic farming can ensure the food security. The study recommended policy makers to formulate such policies which ensure sustainable food production without compromising food security in developing countries.

Wheat area expansion into northern higher latitudes and global food security

Wheat is an important crop for global food security, but it is unlikely that the upper end of future global food demand projections can be satisfied from improving wheat yield on the existing cropping area. Climate warming is, however, enabling wheat to be grown on previously uncropped land at higher northern latitudes. There are numerous problems with growing wheat in these regions, including perhaps most importantly release of greenhouse gases. Research and development of wheat production techniques which minimise environmental damage in high latitudes is needed.

IMPACT OF GLOBAL WARMING ON AQUACULTURE IN NORWAY

While aquaculture is predicted to play a significant role in addressing future global food demands, climate change is having a complex impact on aquaculture output. Climate change will have an effect on output levels, growth, feeding efficiency, and consequently farm productivity and profitability. The most significant challenges facing aquaculture are current and future climate change, which affects the viability of fish farming in Norway and around the world. Global warming and climate change have resulted in a decline in lake waters, an increase in sea level, changes in streams, and changes in precipitation models, all of which have begun to have a negative influence on all aquatic animals. According to the findings of this study, the yearly maximum temperature was 21.1 °C in July and the lowest was -2.8 °C in January, with the minimum temperature ranging from 13.5 °C in July to -7.5 °C in January. The highest average temperature was 17.4 °C in July, and the lowest was -5.1 °C in January. In terms of precipitation, the greatest was 118 mm in August, while the lowest was 56 mm in March. In terms of rainy days, the highest total was 11 mm in August, while the lowest total was 6 mm in March. In November, the humidity reached 90%, whereas in June, it was 66%. On bright days, the highest daylight hours were recorded in June at 12.1 hours, and the lowest hours were recorded in December at 2.5 hours. In this research, we explicitly investigated how these climate components may affect aquaculture in Norway. As a result, because it affects the stability of fish farming, this significant environmental issue must be addressed. It is critical to shed light on and thoroughly analyse the elements related to climate change in order to avoid the damages that result from them, as well as to identify strategies to adapt to these conditions and limit their effects on production and productivity. Corrective efforts should be implemented to reduce climate change and its consequences on fish output.

Design and Development of Smart Irrigation System Using Internet of Things (IoT) - A Case Study

With India’s population growing at a rapid pace, traditional agriculture will have a tough time meeting future food demands. Water availability and conservation are major concerns for farmers. This paper aims to discuss the aspects related to designing and fabricating an automatic irrigation system using the Internet of Things (IoT) which will save the farmer’s time and money significantly. Human intervention in fields will be reduced. Changes in soil moisture are detected by soil moisture sensors and irrigation is automated using IoT. The proposed system is most economical for underdeveloped places because it is very cost-effective. Based on the soil moisture content, the sensor detects and sends signals to the node MCU, which activates the motor. When the plants receive enough water, the motor automatically shuts off. The user will be alerted about the soil’s moisture content through his mobile phone. The proposed smart irrigation system is implemented at our campus which conserves energy and water.

Optimal Contribution Selection Improves the Rate of Genetic Gain in Grain Yield and Yield Stability in Spring Canola in Australia and Canada.

Crop breeding must achieve higher rates of genetic gain in grain yield (GY) and yield stability to meet future food demands in a changing climate. Optimal contributions selection (OCS) based on an index of key economic traits should increase the rate of genetic gain while minimising population inbreeding. Here we apply OCS in a global spring oilseed rape (canola) breeding program during three cycles of S0,1 family selection in 2016, 2018, and 2020, with several field trials per cycle in Australia and Canada. Economic weights in the index promoted high GY, seed oil, protein in meal, and Phoma stem canker (blackleg) disease resistance while maintaining plant height, flowering time, oleic acid, and seed size and decreasing glucosinolate content. After factor analytic modelling of the genotype-by-environment interaction for the additive effects, the linear rate of genetic gain in GY across cycles was 0.059 or 0.087 t ha-1 y-1 (2.9% or 4.3% y-1) based on genotype scores for the first factor (f1) expressed in trait units or average predicted breeding values across environments, respectively. Both GY and yield stability, defined as the root-mean-square deviation from the regression line associated with f1, were predicted to improve in the next cycle with a low achieved mean parental coancestry (0.087). These methods achieved rapid genetic gain in GY and other traits and are predicted to improve yield stability across global spring canola environments.

Identification of Newer Stable Genetic Sources for High Grain Number per Panicle and Understanding the Gene Action for Important Panicle Traits in Rice

Rice is an important food crop extensively cultivated worldwide, and rice's grain yield should be improved to meet future food demand. Grain number per panicle is the main trait that determines the grain yield in rice, and other panicle-related traits influence the grain number. To study the genetic diversity, 50 diverse Indian-origin germplasm were evaluated for grain number per panicle and other panicle traits for two consecutive seasons (Rabi 2019 and Kharif 2020). The maximum genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was obtained for the number of spikelets and filled grains per panicle. The genotypes were grouped into eight clusters with Mahalanobis' D2 analysis and six groups using Principal component analysis. Based on, per se, performance for grain number per panicle and genetic distances, six parents were selected and subjected to full diallel mating. The genotypes CB12132, IET 28749, and BPT 5204 were the best general combiners for the number of filled grains per panicle and other panicle branching traits, viz., the number of primary and secondary branches per panicle. The hybrid BPT 5204 × CB 12132 identified as the best specific combination for most of the studied panicle traits. The additive gene effects were high for the number of filled grains per panicle, the number of primary branches, and secondary branches, whereas non-additive gene action was high for the number of productive tillers and grain yield per plant. The information obtained from this study will be useful in rice breeding programs to improve panicle traits, especially the grain number, which would result in higher grain yield.

Genetic monitoring of Indian rice (Oryza sativa) cultivars over decadal periods employing gene-specific markers and yield component traits

Context Regular genetic monitoring of rice diversity provides informed direction for plant breeders when selecting parents in breeding programs. Aims The investigation was conducted to assess the trends of decade-wise genetic diversity in popular Indian rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes. Methods We screened 62 genotypes including popular rice varieties released from the 1970s to 2010s in India along with landraces, using gene-specific markers and some of the key yield and yield-contributing traits. Key results Using gene-specific markers, genetic diversity has shown a downward trend from landraces to the 2010s. Qualitative analysis revealed that more alleles were present in landraces than released varieties. The disappearance of alleles was prominently observed in varieties released in the 1970s and even more so in the 2010s, which suggests that present-day cultivars are losing several valuable alleles of the key yield genes. Genetic diversity assessed using phenotypic data also exhibited a downward trend towards the 2010s. Molecular and phenotypic data on genetic diversity were used to group the rice genotypes, revealing that genotypes with common parents grouped together. Conclusions Genetic diversity has shown a downward trend from landraces to the 2010s, as assessed using both gene-specific markers and phenotypic data, although with slight deviations among various decades. Implications This study reinforces the fact that assessment of temporal trends in genetic diversity at regular intervals is warranted to meet future food demands while conserving on-farm crop diversity.

Six decades of soybean breeding in Ontario, Canada: a tradition of innovation

Soybean has been widely grown by Canadian farmers for more than 80 years, especially in southern Ontario. In recent decades, the Canadian growing region has expanded east and north. An average of 1% soybean yield improvement is achieved annually, thanks to efforts by public and private soybean breeding programs. However, to meet future food demands, an average 2.4% annual increase in soybean yield is required. Soybean breeders are mostly dealing with complex traits that are under control by several intrinsic and extrinsic factors, so sufficient information about past and current breeding efforts is required to modify future breeding programs accordingly. Here, we review public soybean breeding efforts over the past 25 years in southern Ontario, one of the most productive regions for Canadian soybean growers. Furthermore, we explain how recent advances could facilitate soybean breeding programs by reducing the time and cost and increasing selection accuracy in a large breeding population. Finally, we summarize future directions in three important sections, that is, multi-omics, environmental, and data-driven approaches, and provide a vision for future soybean breeding programs.

Rice-Based Integrated Farming System for Sustainable Coastal Agroecosystem of India

In comparison to industrial expansion, agriculture growth in recent years has been extremely slow. Future food demand is being impacted by the declining production of primary crops. Due to a modest shift of acreage for other purposes mainly industrialization and urbanization, net sown area in India has slightly declined in last two decades. A holistic approach is urgently required to generate positive growth rates in agriculture, particularly in coastal ecosystems. Sustainable agriculture aims to preserve the basis of natural resources, safeguard the environment, and promote wealth over a longer period. A farming system is a collection of agro-economic activities that interact and are connected in a specific agroecosystem. The term “Integrated Farming Systems” (IFS) refers to a strategic combination of one or more enterprise with crop production that produces complementary results through efficient waste and crop residue recycling and generates extra sources of income for farmers. The interdependent, connected, and interlinking production systems based on crops, animals, and related ancillary professions are what make up the IFS activity. Abundance of species diversity aids in improving soil health especially organic carbon, besides enhances ecological conditions, both of which are necessary for long-term sustainability of production system. Additionally, it inhibits the spread of pests and improves soil nutrient cycling. IFS approach with site-specific models offers gainful employment and is extremely profitable and sustainable in all environments. Along with IFS, other practices that promote fertilizer use efficiency include agroforestry, integrated nutrient management, and soil and water conservation.

Seaweeds cultivation methods and their role in climate mitigation and environmental cleanup

Seaweed cultivation is an emerging sector of food production that can full fill the future food demand of the growing population. Considering the importance, Asia is home to seven of the top ten seaweed-producing nations, and Asian countries contributed 99.1% of all seaweed cultivated for food. Besides, it can reduce the carbon budget of the ocean through seaweed farms and act as a CO 2 sink. In the context of climate change mitigation, the seaweed culture is the energy crop, and during its entire life cycle can serve as a bio-filter and bio-extractor. The climate change effect can be reduced by farming seaweed on a commercial scale and it will protect the coastal area by decreasing the physical damage through damping wave energy. The seaweed can reduce eutrophication by removing excess nutrients from water bodies and releasing oxygen as a byproduct in return. The cultivation of seaweed plays an important role as the source of bioenergy for full fill the future energy requirement and it will act as clean energy through the establishment of algal biorefinery along with the seaweed cultivation site. Thus, the marine energy industrial sector moves further toward large-scale expansion of this sector by adopting energy devices to offer power for seaweed growth for biofuel operation. The current reviews provides the evidence of seaweed farming methodology adopted by different countries, as well as their production and output. To mitigate climate change by direct measures such as carbon sequestration, eutrophication risk reduction, and bioenergy, as well as through indirect measures like supplying food for cattle and reducing the strain on aquaculture. The US, Japan, and Germany lastly suggest the large-scale offshore commercial farming as a feasible climate change mitigation strategy.

Application of crop wild relatives in modern breeding: An overview of resources, experimental and computational methodologies.

Global agricultural industries are under pressure to meet the future food demand; however, the existing crop genetic diversity might not be sufficient to meet this expectation. Advances in genome sequencing technologies and availability of reference genomes for over 300 plant species reveals the hidden genetic diversity in crop wild relatives (CWRs), which could have significant impacts in crop improvement. There are many ex-situ and in-situ resources around the world holding rare and valuable wild species, of which many carry agronomically important traits and it is crucial for users to be aware of their availability. Here we aim to explore the available ex-/in- situ resources such as genebanks, botanical gardens, national parks, conservation hotspots and inventories holding CWR accessions. In addition we highlight the advances in availability and use of CWR genomic resources, such as their contribution in pangenome construction and introducing novel genes into crops. We also discuss the potential and challenges of modern breeding experimental approaches (e.g. de novo domestication, genome editing and speed breeding) used in CWRs and the use of computational (e.g. machine learning) approaches that could speed up utilization of CWR species in breeding programs towards crop adaptability and yield improvement.

Evaluation of the effects of elevated CO2 concentrations on the growth of cassava storage roots by destructive harvests and ground penetrating radar scanning approaches.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) production will need to be improved to meet future food demands in Sub-Saharan Africa. The selection of high-yielding cassava cultivars requires a better understanding of storage root development. Additionally, since future production will happen under increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations ([CO2 ]), cultivar selection should include responsiveness to elevated [CO2 ]. Five farmer-preferred African cassava cultivars were grown for three and a half months in a Free Air CO2 Enrichment experiment in central Illinois. Compared to ambient [CO2 ] (~400 ppm), cassava storage roots grown under elevated [CO2 ] (~600 ppm) had a higher biomass with some cultivars having lower storage root water content. The elevated [CO2 ] stimulation in storage root biomass ranged from 33% to 86% across the five cultivars tested documenting the importance of this trait in developing new cultivars. In addition to the destructive harvests to obtain storage root parameters, we explored ground penetrating radar as a nondestructive method to determine storage root growth across the growing season.

Tenebrio molitor powder: an analysis of the techniques for the production of powder at an industrial level

The increase in the world’s population has been an issue for several years as the food industry struggles to provide the necessary solutions to meet future food demand. As a result, the industry has been looking for new and innovative ways to produce and provide sustainable and ecological solutions to meet future demands. The most obvious solution is the production, commercialisation, and acceptance of insects in the European market, as the species,Tenebrio molitor is one of the most promising novel foods to enter the market. In this study, we found that the blanching time had no effect on the organoleptic properties of the larvae and that after blanching there was an absorption of about 37% compared to the initial weight. We also confirmed that the binomial time/temperature in the dehydration process is extremely important for the product’s organoleptic properties, as the powder exhibited a lighter shade at 40 °C/22 h. We also discovered that the powder is the best way to go when it comes to product quality because dehydration of the whole larvae does not correspond to powder quality. We conclude that there are several issues to consider when scaling production facilities for a sustainable business model before taking this critical step. The increase in larval body weight after blanching presents some technical challenges as the capacity of the dehydrator decreases and an internal assessment must be performed to maximise production. The blanching time undoubtedly does not affect the colour of the larvae, which means that it is possible to drastically reduce the time of this particular process and accelerate the conversion process of the larvae into powder. Dehydration is the most important step in the whole industrial process, as it most affects the organoleptic proprieties of the final product, the powder.

Improving crop productivity and nitrogen use efficiency using sulfur and zinc-coated urea: A review.

Nitrogen (N) is an important macro-nutrient required for crop production and is considered an important commodity for agricultural systems. Urea is a vital source of N that is used widely across the globe to meet crop N requirements. However, N applied in the form of urea is mostly lost in soil, posing serious economic and environmental issues. Therefore, different approaches such as the application of urea coated with different substances are used worldwide to reduce N losses. Urea coating is considered an imperative approach to enhance crop production and reduce the corresponding nitrogen losses along with its impact on the environment. In addition, given the serious food security challenges in meeting the current and future demands for food, the best agricultural management strategy to enhance food production have led to methods that involve coating urea with different nutrients such as sulfur (S) and zinc (Zn). Coated urea has a slow-release mechanism and remains in the soil for a longer period to meet the demand of crop plants and increases nitrogen use efficiency, growth, yield, and grain quality. These nutrient-coated urea reduce nitrogen losses (volatilization, leaching, and N2O) and save the environment from degradation. Sulfur and zinc-coated urea also reduce nutrient deficiencies and have synergetic effects with other macro and micronutrients in the crop. This study discusses the dynamics of sulfur and zinc-coated urea in soil, their impact on crop production, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), the residual and toxic effects of coated urea, and the constraints of adopting coated fertilizers. Additionally, we also shed light on agronomic and molecular approaches to enhance NUE for better crop productivity to meet food security challenges.

Glycine betaine increases salt tolerance in maize (Zea mays L.) by regulating Na+ homeostasis.

Improving crop salt tolerance is an adaptive measure to climate change for meeting future food demands. Previous studies have reported that glycine betaine (GB) plays critical roles as an osmolyte in enhancing plant salt resistance. However, the mechanism underlying the GB regulating plant Na+ homeostasis during response to salinity is poorly understood. In this study, hydroponically cultured maize with 125 mM NaCl for inducing salinity stress was treated with 100 μM GB. We found that treatment with GB improved the growth of maize plants under non-stressed (NS) and salinity-stressed (SS) conditions. Treatment with GB significantly maintained the properties of chlorophyll fluorescence, including Fv/Fm, ΦPSII, and ΦNPQ, and increased the activity of the antioxidant enzymes for mitigating salt-induced growth inhibition. Moreover, GB decreased the Na+/K+ ratio primarily by reducing the accumulation of Na+ in plants. The results of NMT tests further confirmed that GB increased Na+ efflux from roots under SS condition, and fluorescence imaging of cellular Na+ suggested that GB reduced the cellular allocation of Na+. GB additionally increased Na+ efflux in leaf protoplasts under SS condition, and treatment with sodium orthovanadate, a plasma membrane (PM) H+-ATPase inhibitor, significantly alleviated the positive effects of GB on Na+ efflux under salt stress. GB significantly improved the vacuolar activity of NHX but had no significant effects on the activity of V type H+-ATPases. In addition, GB significantly upregulated the expression of the PM H+-ATPase genes, ZmMHA2 and ZmMHA4, and the Na+/H+ antiporter gene, ZmNHX1. While, the V type H+-ATPases gene, ZmVP1, was not significantly regulated by GB. Altogether these results indicate that GB regulates cellular Na+ homeostasis by enhancing PM H+-ATPases gene transcription and protein activities to improve maize salt tolerance. This study provided an extended understanding of the functions of GB in plant responses to salinity, which can help the development of supportive measures using GB for obtaining high maize yield in saline conditions.

Future Food Security in Africa Under Climate Change

AbstractAfrica is a major hotspot of food insecurity with climate change and population growth as major drivers. Irrigation expansion can sustainably increase agricultural productivity and adapt crops to climate change. We use agro‐hydrological, climate, and socio‐economic models to quantify crop production with irrigation expansion and perform food security analyses for different adaptation scenarios for African countries under baseline and 3°C warmer climate conditions. We find that under a 3°C warmer climate the total food production in Africa can only feed 1.35 billion people, when the continent's population is expected to reach 3.5 billion, leaving a food deficit equivalent to 2.15 billion people. Increasing agricultural productivity with irrigation alone will not be enough to achieve food self‐sufficiency. Therefore, future food demand will likely be met by other means such as cropland expansion or greater reliance on imports which would further expose African populations to uncertainty from the volatility in global food prices.