Implications For Food Security Research Articles

Design and Experiment of an Agricultural Field Management Robot and Its Navigation Control System

The application of robotics has great implications for future food security, sustainable agricultural development, improving resource efficiency, reducing chemical pesticide use, reducing manual labor, and maximizing field output. Aiming at the problems of high labor intensity and labor shortage in the fields of pesticide application, weeding, and field information collection, a multifunctional and electric field management robot platform is designed, which has four switching steering modes (Ackermann steering, four-wheel steering, crab steering, and zero-radius steering), and its wheel-track can be automatically adjusted. Commonly used spraying booms, weeders, crop information collectors, and other devices can be easily installed on the robot platform. A multi-sensor integrated navigation system including a satellite positioning system, an RGB camera, and a multi-line lidar is designed to realize the unmanned driving of the robot platform in a complex field environment. Field tests have shown that the robot can follow the set route, and tests under simulated conditions have indicated that it can also dynamically correct paths based on crop rows by using a visual system. Results from multiple trials showed that the trajectory tracking accuracy meets the requirements of various field management operations.

Linkages of soil and microbial stoichiometry to crop nitrogen use efficiency: Evidence from a long-term nitrogen addition experiment

Increasing crop nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) has important implications for food security and agricultural sustainability. Changes in nutrient availability due to stoichiometric imbalances in soil under long-term application of nitrogen (N) can limit crop NUE and yield. However, little is known about the linkages across stoichiometric balance, N fertilizer application, and N uptake. We investigated the changes in soil stoichiometry, microbial community, and crop NUE relative to N fertilizer application in a 16-year field experiment in which five levels (0, 70, 140, 210 and 280 kg N ha−1) of mineral N fertilizer treatment were applied to wheat and maize cropland. The results showed that the P storage decreased from 4.3 Mg P ha–1 under the fertilizer dose of 0 kg N ha−1 to 3.5 Mg P ha–1 under the fertilizer dose of 280 kg N ha−1. Thus, long-term N application increased soil C/P and N/P ratios, in a marked decrease in the content of soil available P. The microbial community based on phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) increased with increasing N addition rates, from 0 to 140 kg N ha−1, but significantly decreased at application rates above 210 kg N ha−1. Thus, applying N at a rate of 140 kg ha−1 resulted in the N threshold rate for microorganism survival being reached or exceeded. The crop NUE peak occurred at the urea application rate of 140 kg N ha−1 (60.4 %), after which NUE declined. The soil elementary and enzymatic stoichiometric ratios under long-term N addition directly affected crop NUE in the topsoil. Soil elementary stoichiometric ratios affected crop NUE by indirectly altering microbial biomass of the subsoil. Overall, soil stoichiometric imbalances under long-term N addition were the key factors driving NUE across N gradients.

Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture: A Review

Climate change presents unprecedented challenges to global agriculture, affecting crop yields, livestock productivity, water availability, soil health, and ecosystem stability. This review examines the multifaceted impacts of climate change on agriculture, encompassing changes in temperature, precipitation patterns, extreme weather events, pest and disease dynamics, and soil degradation. Through synthesizing existing literature, the review elucidates the complex interactions between climate change and agricultural systems, highlighting the implications for food security, rural livelihoods, and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, the review discusses adaptive strategies, policy interventions, and technological innovations aimed at enhancing agricultural resilience and mitigating the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture.

Projecting a food insecure world: Equity implications of land-based mitigation in IPCC mitigation pathways

All modelled global mitigation pathways assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report (IPCC AR6) project rapid deployment of land-based mitigation measures for staying within the remaining carbon budget for 1.5°C or 2 °C. However, there is sparse literature on the burden-sharing and equity implications of the IPCC-assessed global mitigation pathways. This is a severe lacuna given the influential role of the IPCC assessments in shaping political deliberations about possible futures and in informing the sectoral guidance and strategy documents of multilateral climate funds and organisations. This paper addresses this gap by evaluating the distributional implications of IPCC AR6 global mitigation pathways for land-based mitigation, specifically focusing on the Global North and South and socio-economic and political implications for food security. Our findings reveal that the modelled pathways disproportionately distribute the burden of land-based mitigation onto the Global South with an adverse impact on food security, raising questions about the normative choices embedded in cost-optimizing Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs). Furthermore, we examine existing scenarios and policy recommendations for addressing food security concerns in stringent climate change mitigation pathways and find them both to be inequitable with attendant feasibility concerns. Our analysis underscores the need for equity-based scenarios in IPCC assessments and calls for transparency in communicating regional distributional assumptions and results of the global mitigation pathways.

Effect of Transplanting Date and Harvesting Period on Bulb Production of Winter Onion (Allium cepa L.)

Climate change has brought about unpredictable temperature fluctuations and altered rainfall patterns, which directly impact onion cultivation. Adjustment in planting and harvesting schedules in the context of changing climate and environmental factors is not only academically significant but also holds practical implications for agriculture, resource management, climate adaptation, economic development, and food security in Bangladesh. The present study was carried out to observe the influence of the transplanting and harvesting time on maximizing onion production. The experiment followed a RCB design with three replications, involving the cultivation of BARI Piaz-1 as the test crop with varying transplanting dates on November 1st, November 15th, and December 1st, and harvesting periods at 120, 130, and 140 days after planting (DAP). The study's results indicated that the choice of transplanting date and harvesting period had significantly influenced onion yield and yield attributes. Improved performances, including increase in plant height, number of leaves per plant, neck diameter, bulb diameter, bulb length, bulb weight, and overall yield were observed when onions were transplanted on November 15th and harvested after 130 days from planting. The highest yields, specifically 10.32 t/ha in 2018 and 11.33 /ha in 2019, were achieved under this conditions. Conversely, the lowest yields 6.28 t/ha in 2018 and 6.70 /ha in 2019 were obtained when onions were transplanted on December 1st and harvested after 120 days from planting. Additionaly, early planting (November 1st) exhibited a higher incidence of bolting, while late planting (December 1st) showed a higher disease incidence. Therefore, optimizing transplanting dates to align with November 15th and a 130-day harvesting period proved to be the most effective strategy for maximizing onion yield and other attributes, while late planting and early harvesting adversely affected these key attributes.

The dynamics between soil erosion, nutrient variability, land use, topography, and implications for food security in Southern Ethiopia

The dynamics between soil erosion, nutrient variability, land use, topography, and implications for food security in Southern Ethiopia

Governing soils sustainably in India: Establishing policies and implementing strategies through local governance

Years of chemical-intensive agricultural practices following the Green Revolution in the late 1960s have led to extensive soil degradation in India. This has implications for food security, farmers’ incomes, and the country's economy. However, domestic top-down policy mandates in recent times have favoured practices like natural farming with a view to slow down and eventually halt soil degradation. This is in line with the international Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), one of which is focused on restoring degraded lands (SDG 15.3 aims to strive achieve land degradation neutrality). Taking cue from recent policy mandates on soil and land, this chapter posits the historical significance of the Panchayat — a village-level administrative institution in India — and argues for its involvement in policy implementation for soil rehabilitation at the village level, The article also makes a case for the introduction of an overarching National Soil Policy to encourage natural farming practices and biofertilizer use.

The power of on-farm data for improved agronomy

Advances in technology and analytics to support data-driven agriculture has important implications for global food security and environmental sustainability. However, relatively few studies have investigated the potential to leverage the power of on-farm data for improved agronomy at scale using geospatial machine learning methods. Working in high-yielding rice systems of Uruguay, we developed a geospatial framework to identify yield-limiting factors across 55,000 ha annually of cropland over four seasons (2018–2021 harvest years), while also testing for tradeoffs in the environmental footprint related to nitrogen (N) fertilizer use. Our application of geographically-weighted random forest models showed that crop management decisions influenced rice yield more than variation in soil properties, highlighting the potential for improved agronomy to boost crop production by 1.4–1.8 Mg ha−1 across regions. Seeding date, variety, P rate, and K rate were the most important variables controlling yield, but with significant variation across fields. When these factors were optimized by farmers, the risk of environmental N losses or soil N mining did not increase, highlighting the potential for sustainable intensification by improving N use efficiency. These findings present a pathway for harnessing the benefits of increasingly available on-farm data to identify yield-limiting factors while minimizing negative environmental externalities at the field-level. To enable the development of such geospatial frameworks in other regions, new partnerships are required to engage stakeholders and promote data sharing and collaboration among farmers, researchers, and industry, helping guide regional extension programs and orient future investments in agricultural research.

Half of twenty-first century global irrigation expansion has been in water-stressed regions

The expansion of irrigated agriculture has increased global crop production but resulted in widespread stress on freshwater resources. Ensuring that increases in irrigated production occur only in places where water is relatively abundant is a key objective of sustainable agriculture and knowledge of how irrigated land has evolved is important for measuring progress towards water sustainability. Yet, a spatially detailed understanding of the evolution of the global area equipped for irrigation (AEI) is missing. In this study, we used the latest subnational irrigation statistics (covering 17,298 administrative units) from various official sources to develop a gridded (5 arcmin resolution) global product of AEI for the years 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. We found that AEI increased by 11% from 2000 (297 Mha) to 2015 (330 Mha), with areas of both substantial expansion, such as northwest India and northeast China, and decline, such as Russia. Combining these outputs with information on green (that is, rainfall) and blue (that is, surface and ground) water stress, we also examined to what extent irrigation has expanded unsustainably in places already experiencing water stress. We found that more than half (52%) of the irrigation expansion has taken place in areas that were already water-stressed in the year 2000, with India alone accounting for 36% of global unsustainable expansion. These findings provide new insights into the evolving patterns of global irrigation with important implications for global water sustainability and food security.

A Synopsis of Crimes in the South African Beekeeping Industry: Contextualising the Industry Harms, Malpractices, and Risks

Honeybee species have received widespread attention of late, concerning various threats and criminal activity within the industry. As beekeeping involves human–environment interactions, it is situated at the interface between the human social system and the ecosystem. This is primarily owing to the role of pollination in regulating the ecosystem and its implications for global food security. Seed dispersal is also important for biodiversity conservation and environmental sustainability. However, capitalistic economic drivers continue to mismanage natural resources, threatening beekeepers, and honeybee species. This article sheds light on two major issues in the beekeeping industry in South Africa: hive theft and vandalism, and malpractices related to eco-labelled honey. It discusses these as instances of green crimes and provides insights into their implications.

Seed Priming: A Strategy to Mitigate Flooding Stress in Pulses

Aim: This study delves into the multifaceted role of seed priming in mitigating flooding stress, with a specific focus on its applications in pulse crops.
 Area of Study: Through controlled hydration-dehydration cycles and the utilization of specific priming agents, seed priming emerges as a powerful tool to enhance germination seedling vigor and stress tolerance. The impact of flooding stress on pulse plants, encompassing morphological changes, physiological alterations, and yield reduction, underscores the urgency of developing effective mitigation strategies. Seed priming mechanisms, including enhanced nutrient uptake, activation of antioxidant defenses and hormonal modulation, are explored in detail. The study not only provides insights into the integration of seed priming into crop management practices but also offers practical recommendations for farmers and agricultural practitioners. The implications for agriculture and food security are significant, as seed-primed crops demonstrate increased resilience to environmental stresses, ensuring more stable yields. The economic implications for farmers, coupled with the potential for sustainable agricultural practices, highlight the transformative potential of seed priming in addressing global challenges.
 Conclusion: The dissemination of knowledge and implementation efforts are crucial for bridging the gap between research findings and on-field applications. Policymakers and stakeholders are urged to support and incentivize the adoption of seed priming technologies, contributing to the long-term resilience of crops, and ensuring global food security. In conclusion, seed priming stands as a promising solution, offering a pathway towards sustainable and resilient agricultural systems in the face of environmental challenges.

H7N6 highly pathogenic avian influenza in Mozambique, 2023

ABSTRACT On 13 October 2023, the National Directorate for Livestock Development in Mozambique was notified of a suspected outbreak of avian influenza in commercial layers. Samples were screened by real-time and conventional RT–PCR and were positive for both H7 and N6. Full genome sequences were obtained for three representative samples. Sequence analysis of the H7 cleavage site confirmed that the viruses were highly pathogenic (i.e. 333- PEPPKGPRFRR/GLF-346). In addition, the H7 and N6 sequences were highly similar (from 99.4-99.5% and 99.6-99.7% for the HA gene and the NA gene, respectively) to the sequences of a H7N6 virus identified in the Republic of South Africa in May 2023 indicating a similar origin of the viruses. The identification of H7N6 HPAIV in Mozambique has important implications for disease management and food security in the region.

Food Security and Health Outcomes following Gray Divorce.

The study evaluates the immediate and long-term consequences of gray divorce (i.e., marital dissolution after age 50) for the food security, depression, and disability of older Americans. Staggered Difference-in-Difference models were fitted to a nationally representative longitudinal sample of adults aged ≥ 50 years from the Health and Retirement Study, 1998-2018. Food insecurity and disability increase in the year of gray divorce and remain significantly elevated for up to six years or more following the event, consistent with the chronic strain model of gray divorce. Gray divorce has particularly adverse consequences for the food security of older women, while no gender differences were observed for disability. Increasing trends in gray divorce have important negative implications for food security and health of older Americans, particularly women, who appear to be less prepared to financially withstand a marital collapse in older age. Targeted policies to provide nutrition assistance and support in reemployment might be necessary to reduce the burden of food insecurity in the wake of gray divorce among women.

Linkage mapping and genomic prediction of grain quality traits in tropical maize (Zea mays L.).

The suboptimal productivity of maize systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a pressing issue, with far-reaching implications for food security, nutrition, and livelihood sustainability within the affected smallholder farming communities. Dissecting the genetic basis of grain protein, starch and oil content can increase our understanding of the governing genetic systems, improve the efficacy of future breeding schemes and optimize the end-use quality of tropical maize. Here, four bi-parental maize populations were evaluated in field trials in Kenya and genotyped with mid-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Genotypic (G), environmental (E) and G×E variations were found to be significant for all grain quality traits. Broad sense heritabilities exhibited substantial variation (0.18-0.68). Linkage mapping identified multiple quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for the studied grain quality traits: 13, 7, 33, 8 and 2 QTLs for oil content, protein content, starch content, grain texture and kernel weight, respectively. The co-localization of QTLs identified in our research suggests the presence of shared genetic factors or pleiotropic effects, implying that specific genomic regions influence the expression of multiple grain quality traits simultaneously. Genomic prediction accuracies were moderate to high for the studied traits. Our findings highlight the polygenic nature of grain quality traits and demonstrate the potential of genomic selection to enhance genetic gains in maize breeding. Furthermore, the identified genomic regions and single nucleotide polymorphism markers can serve as the groundwork for investigating candidate genes that regulate grain quality traits in tropical maize. This, in turn, can facilitate the implementation of marker-assisted selection (MAS) in breeding programs focused on improving grain nutrient levels.

Projected Increase in Compound Drought and Hot Days over Global Maize Areas under Global Warming

Compound drought and hot events can lead to detrimental impacts on crop yield with grave implications for global and regional food security. Hence, an understanding of how such events will change under unabated global warming is helpful to avoid associated negative impacts and better prepare for them. In this article, we comprehensively analyze the projected changes in compound drought and hot days (CDHDs) occurring within the maize-growing season of 2015–2100 over dynamic global maize areas using 10 downscaled Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) models and four socio-economic scenarios (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5). The results demonstrate a notable increase in the frequency and severity of CDHDs over global maize areas under all four SSPs, of which SSP5-8.5 has the fastest rise, followed by SSP3-7.0, SSP2-4.5 and SSP1-2.6. By the end of 21st century, the global average frequency and severity of CDHDs will reach 18~68 days and 1.0~2.6. Hotspot regions for CDHDs are mainly found in southern Africa, eastern South America, southern Europe and the eastern USA, where drought and heat show the most widespread increases. The increase in CDHDs will be faster than general hot days so that almost all increments of hot days will be accompanied by droughts in the future; therefore, compound dry and hot stresses will gradually become the predominant form of dry and heat stress on maize growth. The results can be applied to optimize adaptation strategies for mitigating risks from CDHDs on maize production worldwide.

Agricultural commercialisation among women smallholder farmers in Nigeria: Implication for food security

Agricultural commercialisation among women smallholder farmers in Nigeria: Implication for food security

Analysis of the enablers to deal with the ripple effect in food grain supply chains under disruption: Implications for food security and sustainability

Because of the massive globalization process, market volatility, and today's ever-changing business environment, managing grain supply chains (GSCs) is becoming increasingly challenging. In addition, the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict is causing significant disruptions in global supply chains, adding to the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the last couple of years. The ongoing socio-economic disruptions have created a ripple effect in the global supply chains worldwide, especially in emerging economies, which also happen to be the major global exporters of food grains. In this regard, the key enablers of the GSC must be identified to address the impact of the ripple effect and ensure sustainability and food security. This paper addresses these challenges and amalgamates the knowledge on ripple effects, sustainability, and food security. The study aims to identify, prioritize, and delineate the systemic interrelationships among enablers to address the ripple effect of GSC in emerging economies like Bangladesh. A multi-method approach integrating Pareto analysis, total interpretive structural modeling (TISM), and matrice d'impacts croisés multiplication appliquée à un classement (MICMAC) was employed for this purpose. The findings of this study indicate that geological sourcing diversification, governing cash flow to avoid the liquidity crisis, and supplier clustering according to disruptive risks are the most significant enablers. The insights from this study can potentially assist industry leaders and GSC practitioners in making strategic decisions to achieve sustainability in the grain management sector and thus improve future food security in emerging economies.

Declining Rural Population in Nigeria: Implication for Food Security

This study is geared towards investigating the influence of rural population growth on food production in Nigeria from 1961 to 2018. The data was analyzed using the Johhansen cointegration test, ordinary least squares (OLS), dynamic (OLS), and fully modified OLS. The findings portrayed that a long-term link exists between food production and rural population growth in Nigeria. From the dynamic OLS, which is the lead model, it was observed that the influence of rural populations on food production has been negative and significant. This negative effect is linked to the continuous rural-urban migration that has left agriculture in the hands of the elderly. To curb this, the paper suggested that by making agriculture attractive through aggressive mechanization and the provision of inputs, the rural population will be able to accelerate food production and ensure food sufficiency in the country.

Strategic Foresight analysis of droughts in southern Africa and implications for food security

Southern Africa has been experiencing long-term changes in its climate and future projections imply that droughts should last longer and become more intense in southern Africa. Already, the region has been experiencing an increase in consecutive drought years. This study contributes to the literature by using bio-economic modeling to simulate the impact of future droughts on food security in southern Africa and identify plausible pathways for enhancing regional food security under drought. Food production and food security in southern Africa were projected under drought using an adjusted version of a multi-market and multi-commodity global model, the International Model for the Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade (IMPACT), version 3.2. The results suggest that with moderate economic growth and no drought, southern Africa would not become wealthy enough to mitigate food insecurity by 2040. In this context, recurrent droughts would worsen food security by severely affecting the production of maize, the key staple food in the region. With consecutive two-year regional droughts, like what was experienced in 2014/15 and 2015/16, most countries would experience an increase of at least 10% in the number of people at risk of hunger within a single year. Key measures which could help enhance food security under droughts include (1) breeding for stress-resilient maize (resistance to both heat and drought stresses); (2) promote crop and diet diversification, especially in countries highly dependent on maize as a staple food crop; and (3) invest in rainwater harvesting.

Indigenous Preservation Practices and Shelf Life of Stored Yams in Benue State, Nigeria: Implication for Post-Harvest Management and Food Security

Several empirical studies have been conducted on the relationship between indigenous practices and yam tuber preservation. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence regarding the extent of effectiveness of the existing indigenous preservation practices in reducing yam postharvest losses with regard to prolonging the shelf life, which underscores an existing gap in knowledge. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of effectiveness of existing indigenous preservation practices in prolonging the shelf life of stored yam tubers in Benue State, Nigeria, using a cross-sectional survey design based on a proportional sampling technique involving 255 respondents. The result of the chi-square test shows the probability value of 0.000<0.05; hence, the study rejected the null hypothesis. A symmetric Phi value of 0.635 was obtained, showing a positive association between the variables. Thus, application of the existing indigenous yam preservation practices led to the overall improvement in the shelf life of stored yams by 34%. The study recommends that government and nongovernmental organizations should provide both financial and technical assistance to rural yam farming families, in the form of loan facilities. Yam farmers should also form cooperative societies in order to borrow more funds from financial institutions. This will boost the expansion of storehouses to accommodate the increasing quantity of yam tubers harvested, provide good ventilation in stores, and enhance free traffic during the removal of sprout development in storehouses to avert yam tuber postharvest losses and prolong the shelf life of the stored yam tubers in the study area.