Total Food Production Research Articles

Effects of winter soil warming on crop biomass carbon loss from organic matter degradation

Global warming poses an unprecedented threat to agroecosystems. Although temperature increases are more pronounced during winter than in other seasons, the impact of winter warming on crop biomass carbon has not been elucidated. Here we integrate global observational data with a decade-long field experiment to uncover a significant negative correlation between winter soil temperature and crop biomass carbon. For every degree Celsius increase in winter soil temperature, straw and grain biomass carbon decreased by 6.6 ( ± 1.7) g kg-1 and 10.2 ( ± 2.3) g kg-1, respectively. This decline is primarily attributed to the loss of soil organic matter and micronutrients induced by warming. Ignoring the adverse effects of winter warming on crop biomass carbon could result in an overestimation of total food production by 4% to 19% under future warming scenarios. Our research highlights the critical need to incorporate winter warming into agricultural productivity models for more effective climate adaptation strategies.

Noninvasive Raman spectroscopy for the detection of rice bacterial leaf blight and bacterial leaf streak

Plant diseases pose significant threats to agricultural yields and are responsible for nearly 20 % of losses in total food production. Therefore, the rapid detection of plant pathogens is critically important for preventing the rapid development of plant diseases and minimizing crop damage. Raman spectroscopy (RS) has been shown to be effective for detecting living biological samples. Compared with traditional detection methods, RS is fast, sensitive, and non-destructive; it also does not require sample labeling. In this study, we used Laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy combined with convolutional neural networks to detect two closely related strains of bacteria, Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola (Xoc), exuded from bacteria-infected rice leaves. The accuracy of this technique was 97.5 %. For the application of RS in the field, we used the portable Raman spectrometer to detect mock-inoculated as well as Xoo- and Xoc-infected rice leaves at different disease courses. The identification accuracy via this technique was 87.02 % in the early stage, in which no obvious symptoms were apparent. This method also revealed spectral differences in rice leaves caused by the two bacteria, which could be leveraged for subsequent analysis of the molecular mechanism of infection. Our results indicate that RS is a promising approach for the early detection of bacterial diseases in rice in the field, as well as for in-depth single-cell analysis in laboratory settings.

Morals over money: The relationship between moral motivations and consumers' food waste

Around 11% of the total global food production is wasted by households. People may avoid wasting food for various reasons, such as environmental, moral, financial and social motivations. To set up concrete interventions, it would be helpful to have better insight into which motivations more readily translate in actual food waste avoidance behaviors and less food waste. There may be a discrepancy between motivation and behavior, such that certain motivations have a stronger predictive power for food waste amount than others. This study aims to explore the predictive power of different motivations using observed household food waste data from a waste audit. Whereas we predicted, based on prior research, that financial motivations influence food waste most prominently due to its direct personal implications, moral motivations are shown to be the primary driver of reduced household food waste. This finding challenges prior assumptions and highlights the need for a nuanced understanding of the underlying factors contributing to food waste and waste-reducing behaviors. The implications of these findings extend to practitioners, policy makers, and theoretical perspectives in the field and suggest a prioritization of moral motivations when designing interventions, formulating policies, and developing theoretical frameworks to effectively address the pervasive issue of household food waste.

Balancing Freshness and Sustainability: Charting a Course for Meat Industry Innovation and Consumer Acceptance.

The agribusiness sector is constantly seeking solutions to enhance food security, sustainability, and resilience. Recent estimates indicate that one-third of the total food production remains unused due to waste or limited shelf life, resulting in negative environmental and ethical consequences. Consequently, exploring technological solutions to extend the shelf life of food products could be a crucial option to address this issue. However, the success of these technological solutions is closely linked to the perception of the end-consumers, particularly in the short term. Based on these considerations, this paper presents a systematic literature review of the main technological innovations in the fresh meat industry and of consumers' perceptions of such innovations. Regarding innovative technologies, this review focused on active and smart packaging. Amidst various technological innovations, including the utilization of fundamental matrices and natural additives, a noticeable gap exists in consumer perception studies. This study represents the first comprehensive compilation of research on consumers' perceptions and acceptance of innovations designed to extend the shelf life of fresh meat. Moreover, it sheds light on the existing barriers that hinder the complete embrace of these innovations.

Recalibrating Data on Farm Productivity: Why We Need Small Farms for Food Security

In 2009, the ETC Group estimated that some 70% of the food that people globally consume originates in the ‘peasant food web’. This figure has been both embraced and critiqued, and more recent critiques have focussed on analysing farm productivity to offer some more precise estimates. Several analyses suggest that the proportion of small farms’ contributions to total food production is closer to one-third, arguing that the role of small food producers in food security are grossly exaggerated. We challenge this argument by re-tabulating the available farm productivity data to demonstrate that smaller farms continue to provide a significant proportion of food and are consistently more productive than their larger counterparts. We further posit that even our own interpretation falls short of estimating the full extent of small farms’ contributions, including non-monetary ones, like ecosystem services and community life, many of which run counter to the productivist model that drives large-scale industrial agriculture. We conclude that policies that support small farms are a global necessity for food security, as well as for transitions to more sustainable and more equitable food systems.

Biorefinery concept in the meat industry: From slaughterhouse biowastes to superaborbent materials

The expansion of food production has a large environmental impact in many ways. More specifically, 30–40% of total food production is lost as wastes and/or by-products before it reaches the market. In this sense, blood is an inevitable by-product in the meat industry that typically consists of 3–5% of the total weight of the animal. The dry organic matter present in blood is mostly protein, which can be employed more efficiently as raw material in the development of biodegradable materials. In the present manuscript, the blood collected after slaughtering of Iberian pigs was centrifuged and the upper (i.e., plasma) and bottom (i.e., red cells) layers were separated. Three freeze-dried fractions were characterized and evaluated on terms of their potential in the field of bioplastics: whole blood, plasma and bottom layer. Albumin was detected clearly in the plasma fraction, while globulins in red cells. After their characterization samples were mixed thoroughly with glycerol and injection molded at 120 °C. Special applications may be proposed for every fraction (i.e., whole blood, plasma or red cells), as the materials displayed different properties depending on the raw material employed. Thus, plasma resulted in materials with a greater deformability and swelling capacity during immersion, resulting in superabsorbent materials when processed at milder conditions (80 °C).

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Cultivated Land from 2010 to 2020 in Long’an County, Karst Region, China

Spatio-temporal changes in cultivated land have a profound impact on food security and sustainable development. However, existing studies on spatio-temporal changes in cultivated land mostly focus on single factors, for instance quantity, quality and ecology, that cannot comprehensively reflect the changes in total production capacity and the sustainability of cultivated land. This study aims to construct a comprehensive analysis approach and to provide a reference basis for a comprehensive analysis of the extent of changes in overall cultivated land food-production capacity and the formulation of cultivated land conservation-related policies. This comprehensive analysis method constructed from three dimensions: quantity, production capacity and ecology, fully reflects the changes in the total amount, structure, rate of change, spatial distribution, quality, total production capacity and sustainability of cultivated land. The results from the application of this approach to Long’an County, Guangxi Province, China demonstrate that: (a) from 2010 to 2020, the total amount of cultivated land in Long’an County decreased sharply by 30.83%, accounted for mainly by the conversion into orchards, forest land and other garden land; (b) the quality of cultivated land improved by 2.71% on average, mostly in relation to natural factors; (c) the total food-production capacity of cultivated land decreased by 28.96% on average, mainly due to the decrease in the area of cultivated land; (d) both the ecological grade and the sustainability of cultivated land decreased slightly; (e) the barycenter of cultivated land migrated 3.3 km to the ecologically sensitive areas in the west, and the patch size of cultivated land decreased from an average of 2.60 hectares/pc in 2010 to that of 1.34 hectares/pc in 2020, suggesting increased fragmentation of cultivated land; and (f) the patch regularity of cultivated land decreased from 2.08 in 2010 to 1.76 in 2020, showing improved patch regularity and slightly better adaptability to mechanization. There were two main reasons for the lower, total food production capacity in Long’an County: first, the low comparative income of grain cultivation, because of which farmers spontaneously adjusted the agricultural cultivation structure to pursue high returns; and second, the lack of targeted government policies to protect cultivated land. In general, this comprehensive analysis method is applicable to other provinces in China or other regions abroad to provide a reference basis for a comprehensive understanding of changes in the food production capacity of cultivated land and the formulation of policies on cultivated land protection.

A descriptive study on local street vendors: a case study in dimapur district nagaland

The term “street vendor” refers to those who are unable to get regular jobs in the formal sector on account of their low level of education and skills. Street vending is an important activity for the urban areas. The study focuses on the street vending of Nagaland State. Nagaland is a mountainous state in northeast India, bordering Myanmar, and it is home to diverse indigenous tribes. It occupies about 70 percent of the total area under cultivation and constitutes about 75 percent of the total food production in the state. In Nagaland majority of the street vendors are women, belonging to diverse tribes and sell a variety of products ranging from vegetables to meat, fast food, handicraft, second-hand clothing, etc., to urban consumers. The study population in Nagaland is around 22.8 lakhs and around 30,000, people are street vendors. Street vending gives platform to earn income to the illiterate, low-class, and unemployed to sustain their life.

Fodder Grass Strips: An Affordable Technology for Sustainable Rainfed Agriculture in India

Rainfed agriculture, though resource-poor, contributes to around 40 percent of total food production in India. Fodder grass-strip-based systems improve soil’s physical and biological properties, control soil erosion, and help in slope stabilization without compromising productivity. Permanent fodder grass strips can effectively check the depletion of soil nutrients and can also act as sediment traps vis-à-vis meeting the green fodder requirement for small ruminants. This study was carried out with the major objective to quantify the impact of grass-strip-based cropping systems on soil quality. Further fodder quality assessment was carried out using the grass quality index for small ruminant feed and the profitability of different treatments was analyzed. Random block design (RBD) with three treatments which included two types of fodder grass (Brachiaria ruziziensis and Stylosanthes hamata) on both sides of the cropped field was used for the study. The results showed that the soil quality increased from 0.39 to 0.52 and the runoff reduced significantly with soil loss reduction by 65-70 percent. The fodder quality assessment showed that the palatability of Stylosanthes hamata and Brachiaria ruziziensis was about 65 percent and 40 percent, respectively. The fodder grass strip increased the net returns by 30 percent. This easily adaptable natural resource management technology reduces soil nutrient loss and will help resource-poor rainfed farmers to maintain soil health and productivity under variable rainfall conditions with fair support to small ruminants.

Differentiation of food preservation methods to avoid waste

Food waste is a problem that affects the food security of Mexican households, increases the erosion of ecological, social, and economic resources, and puts greater pressure on production systems, supply chains and consumers. Among members of society, the waste or discard of perishable products of agricultural origin, linked to intentional or unintentional human behavior and negligence, is in the last links of the food chain. The waste or discard of perishable products of agricultural origin, linked to human behavior and negligence, with or without intentionality, is located at the bottom of the food chain. It is the members of the household who waste the water-soil-energy resources used in food production. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that 17% of total food production worldwide is wasted; of this, 61% corresponds to households, with fruits and vegetables being the most important, representing 45% of the waste. The development of new practices associated with the reduction of food waste in households are key to the development of strategies that allow the gradual reduction of losses and contribute to the fulfillment of goal 12 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. The proposal to group different preservation methods, based on the differentiation of fruits and vegetables by organ of consumption in the home, will promote affordable options that contribute to the reduction of waste in households, improve food security, strengthen the household economy, and reduce the ecological impact caused by irresponsible consumption.

Scale and Environmental Impacts of Food Loss and Waste in China-A Material Flow Analysis.

Evidence of China's food loss and waste (FLW) and its increasing impacts on food security and environmental sustainability is urgently needed to guide policy intervention and avoid unnecessary damage to human health and the environment. This paper estimates the scale of China's FLW in 2019 and assesses the environmental impacts of major food types along the entire food supply chain (FSC) by using a food balance and material flow analysis (MFA) based on existing empirical research. The results show a total FLW of 422.56 Mt which is around 22.37% of total food production (1889.12 Mt). There are also serious environmental impacts on the land footprint (LF), water footprint (WF), and the carbon footprint (CF) estimation (4152.36 × 109 gm2, 613.84 × 106 t CO2e and 506.07 × 109 m3 on average, respectively), most of which are found in foods of animal products, cereals, vegetables and fruit at the stages of consumption, agricultural production, postharvest handling and storage. In addition, the root causes of FLW generation at different levels-micro, meso and macro-were also analyzed. These results will provide significant guidance to researchers and decision-makers on primary data collection and reduction-policy development for China's FLW.

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.

English

Waste-to-wealth is a notion describing the process of transforming waste, an end product to get rid of, into potential value-added products. The total global food waste is predicted to be approximately one third of the edible parts of food manufactured for human consumption, amounting to about 1 - 3 billion tonnes per year, which is equivalent to the total food production in sub-Saharan Africa; 842 million people in the world do not have enough food to eat. Food waste creates severe environmental and public health consequences that have a negative impact upon human well-being and their environments. This review sought to examine the nutritional, health benefits and potential of orange (Citrus sinensis), papaya (Carica papaya), pineapple (Ananas comosus), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) and banana (Musa sapientum) peels termed waste to be valorized to nutrient-rich products needed in food and pharmaceutical industries. The nutritional profile (gkg-1) dry weight revealed that the crude protein ranged from “[watermelon 0.55 - papaya 18.96]” and crude fiber “[watermelon 0.21 - pineapple 42.22]”. The mineral analysis (mg/kg-1) comprised Ca “[pineapple 8.30 - orange 162.03]”; Fe “[banana 15.15 - watermelon 45.58]”; and Zn “[banana 0.033 - orange 14.04]”. All the peels had good antioxidant potential. Glycemic index ranged from “[pineapple 19 - orange 32]”; and estimated glycemic load “[Watermelon 1.93 - Orange 27.51]”. Fruit peels waste can be minimized by creating public awareness on valorization of peels.   Key word: Food waste, fruit peels, nutritional analysis, antioxidant, health benefits.

Qualidade visual e desperdício de hortaliças folhosas no varejo

ABSTRACT Food waste at retail and consumer level is estimated by the United Nations to be around 17% of total global food production. From that, 2% is believed to happen in retail. However, this estimate has a great degree of uncertainty due to the very small data set on which it was built, coming almost exclusively from high income countries. The present research contributes to fill this gap, presenting primary data on waste of leafy vegetables at two supermarket chains in Federal District, Brazil. Both studies evaluated: 1) number of produce items delivered and discarded; 2) visual quality of produce at reception and 3) cause of discard. The majority of the produce, 37 out of 47, had more than 80% of the units with good visual quality, but this frequency varied from 62.0 to 88.4% among stores and from 56.0 to 97.1% among suppliers. Within a global waste equal to 20.0%, the amount observed for individual produce ranged from 1.0 to 83.0% and varied considerably across stores and suppliers. The presence of wilt- rotten and yellow- wilt- rotten leaves were the first and second main causes of discard. Vegetable waste at retail level in an upper middle-income country such as Brazil can be substantial, supporting the recent change in narrative that now considers food waste to be relevant in all countries, regardless of its income.

WAYS TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE AT THE LEVEL OF HOSPITALITY AND CONSUMER INSTITUTIONS

Against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic and military action in Ukraine, there is an acute shortage of food in the world and this figure continues to grow. The poor social strata of the middle- and even highly developed groups of the country found themselves in a difficult situation. At the same time, 17 percent (1.3 billion tons) of total world food production is wasted, many products are thrown away, forming food waste that negatively affects the state of the environment and can irreversibly change its quality. A significant amount of food is lost in retail and consumption. This amount of food is enough to feed 2 billion people. Such waste is estimated to cost the world economy more than $ 1 trillion a year. Reducing per capita food waste at the level of retail, hospitality and consumers themselves is important for food security and the transition to a resource-efficient economy. The classic linear model of product production can be replaced by a closed-loop economy that focuses on products and services that minimize waste and other types of pollution. A significant project of the closed-loop economy is Farm to Fork. The initiative acts as a link between all sectors of the food industry. A number of state and public initiatives are in place to prevent the negative consequences of irresponsible eating habits and to avoid the threat of hunger. Many countries around the world have established rules for restaurants and free food shops to food banks or charities. In order to reduce food losses in the world, there are three largest food banking networks: Global Food Banking Network (GFN), Feeding America – in the US and the European Federation of Food Banks; public initiatives are spreading; various volunteer programs provide tools that restaurants can use to achieve this goal, tracking their own costs; software will help to control food stocks and store products in hospitality establishments. Responsible consumption of food by the population, which is based on proper and balanced nutrition, will significantly reduce the amount of food wasted, so educational work with consumers is extremely important. Ukraine needs to develop clear programs aimed at reducing food waste and responsible consumption. Therefore, an effective food waste reduction strategy must take into account supply, demand, operations and outlets. It should be based on the participation in this process of the state (at the legislative level), entrepreneurs (at the level of production and services), as well as consumers (understanding and support of public initiatives, personal behavior with food).

Energy Systems in the Food Supply Chain and in the Food Loss and Waste Valorization Processes: A Systematic Review

The intensity in energy consumption due to food production systems represents a major issue in a context of natural resources depletion and an increasing worldwide population. In this framework, at least a third of global food production is being lost or wasted. Moreover, about 38% of the energy embedded in total food production is being lost. Consequently, the assessment of energy consumption in food systems, and in food loss and waste valorization systems, is an increasing trend in recent years. In this line, this work presents a systematic review, selecting 74 articles from a search of 16,930 papers regarding the key words “energy assessment food”. The aim was to determine the current and historical trends in this field of research. Results pointed to a worldwide acceleration in trends since 2014, standing out in China and other Asian countries. Concerning the topics of the publications, energy consumption in the food sector is a research field which has existed since 1979. Moreover, the study of energy valorization systems using food loss and waste is an increasing trend since 2010. Additionally, publications focused on the water–energy–food nexus appeared firstly in 2014 and have grown exponentially. Moreover, life cycle assessment highlights as the most widespread methodology used.

Financial Empowerment of Farmers Through Agricultural Credit by Commercial Banks: A Descriptive Analysis

According to the economic survey of India (2020-2021) stated that the total food production in the nation recorded at 296.65 million tonnes in the financial year and it has been increased by 11.44 million tonnes in the financial year 2019. The Indian government has set the goal to procure 42.74 million tonnes from the central pond in the financial year 2021. Similarly, the output of horticulture produce was estimated at 326.6 million tonnes in the financial year 2020. The sugar production has increased to 26.46 metric tonnes from 2019 to 2020. India is one of the prominent exporters of farm products across the world. The institutional loan is considered to play a very crucial role in the farm sector growth and development in India. The admission and delivery of rural credit are slanted in favour of healthier gifted regions and within the similar region posh towards better-off families. Agricultural credit is important to the farm credit system in India due to the capital accessibility of the farmers. It helps them to procure various raw materials such as seeds, fertilizers, land and other capital equipment. The agricultural credit is to be made accessible and available to agricultural and allied activities to promote agricultural output. The developing country like India, need greater support from the farmers for inclusive growth and development. This present study is followed the descriptive and analytical methods of research. Data for the present analysis is purely based on secondary data sources. The secondary information has been collected from various published reports such as NABARD and Reserve Bank of India for various years. During the 2004-2005 period, the target was aimed by the commercial banks was Rs.57000 crores. But the actual disbursement took place with Rs.81481 crores. It is evident from data sources that the disbursement amount was consistently increased from 2004-05 to 2007-08. The agricultural loan has been disbursed with Rs. 125477 crores, it was a huge increase as compared to the previous year disbursement of Rs. 81481 crores. It was reached 156850 crores rupees during 2007-2008

Control of crop diseases through Integrated Crop Management to deliver climate‐smart farming systems for low‐ and high‐input crop production

AbstractCrop diseases affect crop yield and quality and cause significant losses of total food production worldwide. With the ever‐increasing world population and decreasing land and water resources, there is a need not only to produce more food but also to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to mitigate climate change and avoid land use change and biodiversity loss. Thus, alternative climate‐smart farming systems need to adapt to produce more food per hectare in a more sustainable way than conventional high‐input farming systems. In addition to breeding new high‐yielding cultivars adapted to future climates, there is a need to deploy Integrated Crop Management (ICM) strategies, relying less on synthetic inputs for fertilization and crop protection and less on fossil fuel‐powered machinery to decrease yield losses due to pest and pathogens and guarantee food security. In this review, we compare some low‐input farming systems to conventional agricultural systems with a focus on ICM solutions being developed to reduce synthetic inputs; these include crop genetic resistance to pathogens, intercropping, canopy architecture manipulation, and crop rotation. These techniques have potential to decrease crop disease frequency and severity by decreasing amounts and dispersal of pathogen inoculum and by producing microclimates that are less favourable for pathogen development, while decreasing GHG emissions and improving environmental sustainability. More research is needed to determine the best deployment of these ICM strategies in various cropping systems to maximize yield, crop protection, and other ecosystem services to address trade‐offs between climate change and food security.

Food Self-Sufficiency of the SEE Countries; Is the Region Prepared for a Future Crisis?

Although the concept of self-sufficiency has been accepted both in developed and developing countries, alternated with periods of its rejections, the food crisis from 2007/08 and COVID-19 pandemic returned focus to the availability of countries to be self-sufficient in food production. Considering the concerns over ensuring food security in many countries, the main objective of this paper is to estimate the ability to fulfill the feed demand of the population in the eight countries of South-East Europe (SEE), which is in crisis conditions, such as pandemic especially important. In that context, the food self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) is calculated for total food production, as well as for different food groups. The next step in the methodological framework was to estimate the influence of different factors on the self-sufficiency ratio, as it depends on natural, financial, economic, and political factors. The results show that the SEE region expresses a high level of SSR in food, so it shows that the region is quite ready to respond to the challenges posed by the crisis. However, as the SEE region is a group of very different countries, regional cooperation should be strengthened as food production is considered.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the production of cereals and livestock across high-, middle- and low-income countries

AbstractThis study examines the effect of cereal and livestock production-induced greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) across high-, middle- and low-income countries from 2002 to 2016. A structural equation formulated within an environmental modeling framework is tested using the balanced panel-corrected standard errors estimation procedure. The findings showed that total food production is strongly correlated with methane and nitrous oxide in high-income countries and nitrous oxide emissions in middle-income countries. After disaggregating total food production into cereal and livestock production, the findings revealed that cereal production is positively and statistically significantly correlated with nitrous oxide emissions in high- and middle-income countries. The findings also confirmed that livestock production is positively and statistically significantly correlated with methane and nitrous oxide emissions in high-income countries. Incomes, industrial expansion, forest cover and education are other strong common determinants of GHGs in all three income categories of countries. The prime policy implication of this finding is the need for the food producers to transit toward environmentally cleaner and sustainable food production systems that mitigate GHGs and improve environmental performance and comply with the broader objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 12, 13 and 15 (United Nations, 2015a, p. 3) relating to sustainable production, climate action and life on land, respectively.