Yield Of Food Crops Research Articles

Evaluation of coconut biochar as a soil amendment for enhanced productivity of sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) in Joanna, Black Bush Polder, Corentyne, Berbice, Guyana

Agriculture plays a vital role in providing food globally including Guyana, however, the increase in the human population adversely decreases farm size, which results in nutrient depletion on existing farms due to extensive farming activities on the same land season after season. Biochar is commonly used as a non-conventional farming system to enhance the soil’s quality and simultaneously to produce better yield of various staple food crops. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of coconut biochar as a soil amendment and to quantify its impact on the growth performance of sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) in Joanna, Black Bush Polder, Corentyne, Berbice, Guyana. A field trial was carried out using the randomized block experimental design with 15 g, 30 g, 45 g biochar; 2 g NPK; and control, each replicated on clayey loam soil. The physico-chemical characteristics of biochar were determined along with the soil-biochar mixture before and after cultivation. In addition, vegetative and reproductive parameters of the sweet peppers, nutrient content of the fruits and chlorophyll content of the leaves were examined. The results obtained from this study revealed that biochar played a minor role in enhancing the yield of the sweet peppers (31.44 g) and amending the soil characteristics when compared to the control. It was observed in this study that soil pH (8.4), organic carbon (1.9 %), carbohydrates concentration (1.25 %) of fruits and chlorophyll content (a:5.6097µM, b: 5.4833 µM, total: 11.093 µM) of the leaves increased with the application of biochar. Based on the obtained results, it can be inferred that biochar may potentially be recommended in the range of 30 g to 45 g as a soil amendment to enhance the growth performance of sweet peppers, however, further experiments with diverse crops and soils are still required to investigate the use of the exact quantity of biochar sourced from different materials.

Comparison of drip-irrigated or injected allyl isothiocyanate against key soil-borne pathogens and weeds.

Allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) is a soil biofumigant used for controlling soil-borne pests that reduce the growth, quality, and yield of food crops. Its effectiveness against pathogens depends largely on its distribution in the soil, which is influenced mainly by the soil water content and application method. The distributions of AITC when injected with different moisture content or drip-irrigated into soils were compared. AITC injected at 50 g m-2 only diffused 10 cm deep in soil column with 5, 10 or 15% soil moisture content. The gas AITC peak concentration was 0.64 μg cm-3 at 5% moisture content. Diffusion was reduced when moisture content increased to more than 15%. The results of adsorption kinetics and release indicated that AITC's limited distribution was due to its low vapor pressure. AITC applied by drip irrigation at 7.5 g m-2 diffused 15 cm laterally and 30 cm deep where it reached concentrations of 0.022 μg cm-3 and 0.035 μg g-1 , respectively. Some soil-borne pathogens, nematodes and weed seeds closed to the point of AITC release were effectively controlled under drip irrigation, but efficacy decreased with increased distance. AITC applied by drip irrigation at 7.5 g m-2 and covered with PE film for 5 days provided a satisfactory efficacy against soil-borne pathogens and weeds without any phytotoxicity. Our results indicated that AITC applied by drip irrigation was more effective than injection, which will guide applicators on methods to optimize the application of AITC for efficient control of key pests and weeds. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Обеспечение устойчивого развития хозяйств населения для интеграции в продуктовые подкомплексы АПК

The article reveals the results of research on the farms of the population of Russia for 2016-2022. Based on the analysis of the number of private farms, agricultural production indices, the dynamics of acreage, gross yields and yields of major food crops (potatoes, vegetables) and livestock products (production and sale of livestock and poultry, milk and eggs), the share of household production in the structure of agricultural production in the agro-industrial complex is determined, which indicates the importance of households of the population in improving the socio-economic situation in rural areas and ensuring food security. The trends of instability of households of the population due to a weak material and technical base are revealed, which leads to a reduction in acreage, gross potato and vegetable harvests, and a decrease in the production of livestock products. 
 The proposals for achieving sustainable development of households on the basis of state support and integration with economic entities of food subcomplexes of the agro-industrial complex, which will ensure an increase in the efficiency of production of agricultural products and access to sales markets, are substantiated.

THE IMPACT OF ABIOTIC STRESSES ON PLANT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Drought, cold, excessive salt, and heat are key abiotic factors limiting global food crop yields. Due to the multigenic nature of tolerance to stress, traditional cultivating plant techniques for improving agricultural tolerance to abiotic stress have had little effectiveness.Plants are regularly exposed to unfavorable environments such as abiotic stresses, which significantly influence yield determination and the distribution of distinct plant species in various situations. Plants respond to adversity by activating enzymes, creating intricate gene linkages, and engaging with molecular processes.In contrast, plant tolerance to heat stress is mediated by several processes and genes that can be directly introgressed into high-yielding modern crop cultivars. The important issue here is identifying the metabolic and cellular pathways damaged because of heat stress find methods to decrease the detrimental impacts on crop productivity.

Smallholder Farmers’ Coping Strategies to Perceived Climate Change and Variability in Isingiro District, South Western Uganda

Climate change and variability pose a major challenge facing the agricultural sector around the world and trends are feared to intensify by 2050. This is likely to complicate agricultural decisions affecting local communities who depend on the sector for their livelihood. Seasonal changes in weather patterns are projected to reduce food production due to the reduction in average yields of common food crops. With the majority of smallholder farmers in Uganda depending on agriculture for survival, building their adaptive capacity to climate change is vital to ensure household food and income security. This study aimed at establishing the smallholder farmers’ perceptions of climate change and their initiatives to cope with and manage the associated risks. A sample of 126 farming households were randomly selected from three Sub counties in Isingiro District and studied using field observations and questionnaires. Key informant interviews were also conducted with three extension workers. The collected data was analysed using Stata 14 and Excel. The findings revealed that there was increasing awareness of the climate change and variability challenge among smallholder farmers with the increasing need to take on adaptation strategies. The results showed that the major perceived changes were, increased intensity and frequency of droughts (98%), increase in daytime temperatures (92.7%), decrease in rainfall intensity (92.1%) and changes in rainfall distribution patterns (90%). It also showed that different initiatives had been taken by farmers to cope with the changes like changing planting dates (92.1%), growing crop variety mixtures (73.8%) and practising soil and water conservation (62.7%). Based on the findings of this study, smallholder farmers greatly perceived climate change and variability with negative impacts imposed on their farming operations. Although farmers have tried to adapt, there is still a need to support their coping strategies through appropriate policies. This will facilitate increased adoption of adaptation measures, thereby reducing the negative consequences of climate change in future

66 Randel Lecture: Ensuring a Leading Role for USA Animal Protein in Our World’s Food Future

Abstract Global population is expected to increase by 2.5 billion people by 2072 according to UN projections made recently. Africa will lead growth by adding.8 billion people to its continent (147% increase), and 45 of 50 global countries with greatest percentage growth will be in Africa. Europe’s population will decline by an estimated 100 million people (13% decline), Asia’s population will increase by 12%, and North and South America will increase about 20%. North and South America have 3- to 4-fold more cropland per capita than Africa, but East and South Asia have about one half as much as Africa. Coincidental with this growth in population, changes in climate will reduce yields of food crops in equatorial regions and in regions with shortages of water. Simultaneously, climate change will create an estimated 1.5 billion hectares of usable cropland that currently does not have a growing season sufficiently long to produce a crop, virtually all of this will be in northern Canada and Russia. Diets that include animal products feed more people than vegan-only diets, because essential amino acids and limiting nutrients are provided more efficiently through animal products. Among various diets, dairy and vegetable, egg and vegetable, and omnivore and vegetable diets can feed more people than vegan diets. Animal products must be produced efficiently and have limited detrimental impacts on environments and ecosystems. Currently, GHGs per unit of animal food are 7-fold greater in Africa than in North America and Europe, because yields per animal and output per hectare are up to 50-fold greater in Europe and North America. Two primary goals for the next 50 years are to improve outputs per animal and per hectare in poorly productive regions, and to produce affordable and acceptable animal products that can be exported to these regions from regions that have more land and produce products with low environmental impacts. A major challenge in improving productivity in African countries will be to alter cultural practices that are linked to inefficient production of animal products. Overeating is an issue in many countries, and it will be important for people in these regions to alter diets to reduce obesity and over-consumption of calories and protein. Historically, diets change over time, and during the last century there has been a significant increase in intake of plant-based products in the USA and other countries. Unfortunately, the primary plant-based products that make up more of our diet today are oils and sweeteners, both of which contribute to increased obesity. Thus, simply eating more plant-based products does not guarantee a healthier diet.

Child Survival and Annual Crop Yield Reductions in Rural Burkina Faso: Critical Windows of Vulnerability Around Early-Life Development.

Populations that are reliant on subsistence farming are particularly vulnerable to climatic effects on crop yields. However, empirical evidence on the role of the timing of exposure to crop yield deficits in early-life development is limited. We examined the relationship between child survival and annual crop yield reductions at different stages of early-life development in a subsistence farming population in Burkina Faso. Using shared frailty Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for confounders, we analyzed 57,288 children under 5 years of age followed by the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System (1994-2016) in relation to provincial food-crop yield levels experienced in 5 nonoverlapping time windows (12 months before conception, gestation, birth-age 5.9 months, ages 6.0 months-1.9 years, and ages 2.0-4.9 years) and their aggregates (birth-1.9 years, first 1,000 days from conception, and birth-4.9 years). Of the nonoverlapping windows, point estimates were largest for child survival related to food-crop yields for the time window of 6.0 months-1.9 years: The adjusted mortality hazard ratio was 1.10 (95% confidence interval: 1.03, 1.19) for a 90th-to-10th percentile yield reduction. These findings suggest that child survival in this setting is particularly vulnerable to cereal-crop yield reductions during the period of nonexclusive breastfeeding.

Potential of Rejected Sago Starch as a Coating Material for Urea Encapsulation.

Increases in food production to meet global food requirements lead to an increase in the demand for nitrogen (N) fertilizers, especially urea, for soil productivity, crop yield, and food security improvement. To achieve a high yield of food crops, the excessive use of urea has resulted in low urea-N use efficiency and environmental pollution. One promising alternative to increase urea-N use efficiency, improve soil N availability, and lessen the potential environmental effects of the excessive use of urea is to encapsulate urea granules with appropriate coating materials to synchronize the N release with crop assimilation. Chemical additives, such as sulfur-based coatings, mineral-based coatings, and several polymers with different action principles, have been explored and used for coating the urea granule. However, their high material cost, limited resources, and adverse effects on the soil ecosystem limit the widespread application of urea coated with these materials. This paper documents a review of issues related to the materials used for urea coating and the potential of natural polymers, such as rejected sago starch, as a coating material for urea encapsulation. The aim of the review is to unravel an understanding of the potential of rejected sago starch as a coating material for the slow release of N from urea. Rejected sago starch from sago flour processing is a natural polymer that could be used to coat urea because the starch enables a gradual, water-driven mechanism of N release from the urea-polymer interface to the polymer-soil interface. The advantages of rejected sago starch for urea encapsulation over other polymers are that rejected sago starch is one of the most abundant polysaccharide polymers, the cheapest biopolymer, and is fully biodegradable, renewable, and environmentally friendly. This review provides information on the potential of rejected sago starch as a coating material, the advantages of using rejected sago starch as coating material over other polymer materials, a simple coating method, and the mechanisms of N release from urea coated with rejected sago starch.

Effect of Temperature and Rainfall Variability on Selected Crop Yields in Wenchi Municipality of Ghana

The paper examines how rainfall and temperature variability affect the yields of selected food crops in the Wenchi municipality of Ghana. The study employed the quantitative research method to achieve its objective. The datasets consisted of historical records of monthly observational data of temperature and rainfall collected over 22 years (2000-2021), and yearly records of cassava, yam, and maize yield data collected over 22 years (2000 to 2021). Trend analysis was conducted to examine the trend in the climate variables (temperature and rainfall) and the yield of the selected food crops (cassava, yam, and maize) over the study period. A marginal variation in annual rainfall and temperature was observed over the study period. The municipality experienced slightly decreasing trends in annual rainfall and increasing trends in annual temperatures. Significant variations and increasing trends in the yields of the respective food crops were observed. Using standard regression methods, the result shows that maximum and minimum temperatures are associated with increased yields for yam, maize and cassava, but annual rainfall is not significantly associated with the variations in the yields of the selected food crops. The study, therefore, suggests that further research be undertaken to investigate how other environmental and non-climatic factors influence crop production in the Wenchi municipality.

An Endophytic Fungal Isolate Paecilomyces lilacinus Produces Bioactive Secondary Metabolites and Promotes Growth of Solanum lycopersicum under Heavy Metal Stress

Heavy metal (HM) contamination in the soil and accumulation in plants poses a serious threat to crops and human health. HMs such as cadmium, mercury, lead and arsenic are widely acknowledged for their adverse effects on plants such as chlorosis, necrosis, low food quality and crop yields. Endophytic fungi secrete secondary metabolites and enhance the plant’s ability to tolerate stressful conditions. However, the role of most fungal endophytes in their host plant growth or production of metabolites under HM stress conditions needs further understanding. In the present study, we studied the HM stress alleviation capability of the endophytic fungus, Paecilomyces lilacinus (MRF), isolated from the roots of Justicia adathoda. We studied two heavy metals, namely lead and cobalt. The culture filtrate (CF) of P. lilacinus revealed IAA (68.17 µg/mL), phenols (43.31 µg/mL), flavonoids (40.59 µg/mL), sugar content (97.83 µg/mL) and proline (17 µg/mL). Additionally, DPPH-free radical scavenging activity and the antibacterial potential against Salmonella typhi and Shigella sonnei of the CF demonstrated positive results. The gas chromatography mass spectrometry analysis of the CF manifested different constituents, including (1) Trichloromethane, (2) 3,7,11,15-Tetramethyl-2-hexadecen-1-ol, (3) phytol, (4) 1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, (5) bis(2-ethylhexyl) ester, (6) squalene and (7) Cyclotrisiloxane Hexamethyl. Moreover, the plant growth-promoting activity of the P. lilacinus (MRF) strain revealed a robust increase in root and shoot growth, and the fresh and dry weight of S. lycoprsicum. Further, the IAA, phenols, flavonoids, sugar, proline, relative water content and protein contents also increased in the S. lycoprsicum inoculated with P. lilacinus as compared to the control plants. The present study revealed that the inoculation of P. lilacinus alleviates the damages of HM stress and improves the physicochemical characteristics of S. lycoprsicum.

Impact of Futuristic Climate Variables on Weed Biology and Herbicidal Efficacy: A Review

Our changing climate will likely have serious implications on agriculture production through its effects on food and feed crop yield and quality, forage and livestock production, and pest dynamics, including troublesome weed control. With regards to weeds, climatic variables control many plant physiology functions that impact flowering, fruiting, and seed dormancy; therefore, an altered climate can result in a weed species composition shift within agro-ecosystems. Weed species will likely adapt to a changing climate due to their high phenotypic plasticity and vast genetic diversity. Higher temperatures and CO2 concentrations, and altered moisture conditions, not only affect the growth of weeds, but also impact the effectiveness of herbicides in controlling weeds. Therefore, weed biology, growth characteristics, and their management are predicted to be affected greatly by changing climatic conditions. This manuscript attempted to compile the available information on general principles of weed response to changing climatic conditions, including elevated CO2 and temperature under diverse rainfall patterns and drought. Likewise, we have also attempted to highlight the effect of soil moisture dynamics on the efficacy of various herbicides under diverse agro-ecosystems.

Analysis of Food Security in Regional Context: West Java Provincial Government as a Case Study

Food security in Indonesia is still experiencing problems, especially in the West Java region, starting from the problem of food availability and the ability of the community to meet food needs. The goal of food security is access for every household or individual to obtain food for the purposes of a healthy life with requirements for receiving food in accordance with prevailing values or culture by taking into account socio-economic conditions, access and availability of food. This study describes the condition of food security in the West Java Region as an implementation of food security policies issued by the Regional Government of West Java. This study uses a qualitative method. The data collected is sourced from primary and secondary data. The primary data comes from interviews with informants, including the heads of farmer groups, millers, rice and grain marketers and related agencies at the provincial level of West Java. Secondary data is sourced from the West Java Province Agriculture and Food Crops Office, the West Java Provincial Food Security Agency, and the West Java Regional Division of Bulog (Divre). The results of the study show that the food security policy of the West Java regional government in realizing food security has not made any significant changes to the yields of food crops obtained in West Java, even though the Regional Regulation of West Java Province No. 4 of 2012 concerning Regional Food Independence and other policies has been enacted in terms of food policy.

Controlled synthesis and computational analysis of gold nanostars for the treatment of Fusarium oxysporum.

Fusarium oxysporum (F. oxysporum) is linked to the widespread fusarium wilt in plants affecting the quality and yield of food crops. Management of fusarium wilt by synthetic fertilizers poses safety concerns. Safer-by-design nanomaterials synthesized with a greener approach can meet the needs of commercial antifungal drug resistance. Herein, a simple aqueous reduction method has been adopted for the synthesis of anisotropic gold nanostars (AuNSs) using quercetin-para aminobenzoic acid (QPABA) as both a reducing and stabilizing agent at room temperature for the treatment of F. oxysporum. QPABA was used to control the growth of Au3+ star-shaped nanoparticles at increasing concentrations in the ratio of 2 : 1 (QPABA : Au3+ ions) respectively. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the as-prepared gold nanoparticles confirmed the formation of nanostars with sizes of 40 ± 2 nm. The formation of anisotropic gold nanoparticles was evaluated by UV-vis characterizations which showed longitudinal surface plasmon modes at 540 and 800 nm. The gold nanoparticles exhibit excellent antifungal activity against F. oxysporum with the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 100 μg mL-1 using an agar well-diffusion assay. AuNSs proved to be efficacious in controlling F. oxysporum, as shown in the SEM analysis with a disintegrated cell membrane upon treatment. Computational analysis was performed to determine the specific binding sites on the QPABA ligand for gold ion interactions using the DFT B3LYP method, with a 6-31+G(d) basis set. Results showed that the interaction between Au3+ and QPABA at the 4 and 3 positions yielded the highest stability and formation of gold nanostars. The results suggest that the synthesized AuNSs act as a promising antifungal agent with great potential in treating frequent fungal infections that affect agricultural production.

Effect of rainfall and temperature variability on maize yield in the Asante Akim North District, Ghana

One of the largest consumed and grown cereals in Ghana is maize. However, there is a dearth of research on the response of maize yield to rainfall and temperature variability in Ghana. Precisely, prior studies conducted in Ghana have employed only quantitative approaches to explore the effect of climate variability on the yield of food crops including maize. However, this study combined both quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate the effect of rainfall and temperature variability on maize yield in the Asante Akim North District of the Ashanti Region, Ghana. Since research will help the decision-making process of the policymakers at several cadres of managerial leadership of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) all around the world where the goals are intended, this study will have significant implications on the attainment of the SDGs particularly Goals 1 (no poverty), 2 (zero hunger), and 13 (climate action). Pragmatic research philosophy was utilized with the aid of questionnaire surveys involving 150 maize farmers and three focus group discussions in three purposively chosen communities (Ananekrom, Juansa, and Agogo). The Mann-Kendall trend test was used to evaluate the trends of rainfall, temperature, and maize yield data for the period 2012 to 2021 in the study district. Multiple regression was used to assess the effect of rainfall and temperature variability on maize yield. Results showed that the surveyed maize farmers perceived rising temperatures and erratic rainfall patterns. Similarly, the Mann-Kendall trend test results revealed a significant temperature rise (p < 0.05) and an increasing rainfall pattern (p > 0.05). The increasing annual rainfall and rising temperature trends increased maize yield significantly (p < 0.05) in the district from 2012 to 2021 contributing about 70% of the yield variation. The surveyed maize farmers implemented key on-farm and off-farm practices including planting drought-resistant maize varieties, crop rotation, changing diets, and selling assets to adapt to the rainfall and temperature variability. The increasing annual rainfall and temperature patterns significantly affect maize yield positively in the Asante Akim North district stressing the need for continued implementation of adaptation practices such as planting high-yielding and drought-resistant maize varieties to enhance household food security. Furthermore, the results demonstrate the urgent need for policy formulation by policymakers to make maize production resilient to the adverse impacts of the changing rainfall and rising temperature trends in Ghana.

Penerapan Metode K-Means Clustering Untuk Mengelompokkan Ketahanan Pangan

Food is a basic need that must be fulfilled and easily accessible by all people. After the end of the pandemic, it still caused several sectors to experience a decline, including the agricultural sector, which experienced a decline which resulted in crop yields also declining. The problem faced by several regions in Indonesia, one of which is the area of Indonesia, is the availability of food yields which has decreased and increased unstable due to lack of information about the grouping of harvest resilience each year. As a result, the food needs of the people in each region are not fulfilled. The purpose of this study was to classify regions with increasing and decreasing yields of food crops in Indonesia using the K-Medoids algorithm. The K-Means algorithm includes a clustering algorithm that is quite efficient in grouping small data and finding the most representative point and being able to overcome outliers. So that it can be used in grouping the effect of productivity and the level of food security.

Determining reclaimed water quality thresholds and farming practices to improve food crop yield: A meta-analysis combined with random forest model

Irrigated agricultural systems with reclaimed water (RW) play a crucial role in alleviating global water scarcity and increased food demand. However, appropriate reclaimed water quality thresholds and farming practices to improve food crop yield is virtually unclear. Therefore, for the first time, this study made a large compilation of previous studies using meta-analysis combined with a random forest (RF) model and analyzed the impact of RW versus freshwater (FW) on the yield of food crops (cereals, vegetables, and fruits). It was found that magnesium ion (Mg2+), calcium ion (Ca2+), electrical conductivity (EC), total nitrogen (TN), and potential of hydrogen (pH) were the most important factors for RW quality indicators. Based on the results, water managers should establish more conservative RW quality thresholds to promote food crop production, especially for salts and pollutants in RW. Compared to international water quality standards, it could be slightly relaxed the restrictions of TN in RW. The optimal farming practices obtained that irrigation amount of the mixed RW and FW (RW + FW) was from 1000 m3 ha−1 to 5000 m3 ha−1, and the cultivation period was no more than three years. Flood irrigation (FI) and drip irrigation (DI) for cereals were also recommended. Finally, a comparison of the determined results from this method with other scenarios published, finding a good agreement.

Plant leaf proteins for food applications: Opportunities and challenges.

Plant-based proteins are gaining a lot of attention for their health benefits and are considered as an alternative to animal proteins for developing sustainable food systems. Against the backdrop, ensuring a healthy diet supplemented with good quality protein will be a massive responsibility of governments across the globe. Increasing the yield of food crops has its limitations, including low acceptance of genetically modified crops, land availability for cultivation, and the need for large quantities of agrochemicals. It necessitates the sensible use of existing resources and farm output to derive the proteins. On average, the protein content of plant leaves is similar to that of milk, which can be efficiently tapped for food applications across the globe. There has been limited research on utilizing plant leaf proteins for food product development over the years, which has not been fruitful. However, the current global food production scenario has pushed some leading economies to reconsider the scope of plant leaf proteins with dedicated efforts. It is evident from installing pilot-scale demonstration plants for protein extraction from agro-food residues to cater to the protein demand with product formulation. The present study thoroughly reviews the opportunities and challenges linked to the production of plant leaf proteins, including its nutritional aspects, extraction and purification strategies, anti-nutritional factors, functional and sensory properties in food product development, and finally, its impact on the environment. Practical Application: Plant leaf proteins are one of the sustainable and alternative source of proteins. It can be produced in most of the agroclimatic conditions without requiring much agricultural inputs. It's functional properties are unique and finds application in novel food product formulations.

Global food crop redistribution reduces water footprint without compromising species diversity

Food crop yield and species diversity are critical for global population growth, undernourishment, and environmental burden. Crop redistribution is a practical solution to the sustainable intensification of agricultural systems by replacing existing crops with more suitable ones. Here we test this redistribution theory and its impacts on species diversity using six decades of data on the annual world production of 137 food crop products and their average water footprint (WFP). We find the global food crop effective species diversity had an increasing trend from 21 to 27 in recent six decades. Then, we develop a nutrient water footprint productivity index (WFPPI) to optimize crop distribution. Large calorie (+14%), mineral (+25%), and vitamin (+26%) production increases are possible from reshaping the global distribution of 100 crops within the current total WFP and area harvested. Wheat and paddy rice area can reduce by 31% and 34%, respectively, while increasing maize and soybean area by 18% and 40%, respectively. The global redistribution could feed an additional 866 million people while supplying 37% more than the caloric demand for the projected biofuel growth between 2020 and 2030 in the Net Zero Scenario. Such an optimization process does not entail a loss of crop species diversity. With a change of no more than 5%, the stability of the total area harvested for the four largest crops (wheat, maize, paddy rice, and soybeans) is critical for both production and species diversity of all crops. Our results suggest that global crop redistribution provides a promising solution to sustainable production.

Impact of climate change on wetland paddy yield in Indonesia: analysis from crop-cutting survey (Ubinan) results

Our study aims to examine farmers’ perceptions of the impact of climate change on their wetland paddy yield in Indonesia. We analyse the results of the Crop-Cutting Survey or Ubinan conducted by BPS-Statistics Indonesia annually to measure the yield of food crops in Indonesia. Applying a logistic regression model to the microdata of the survey, we found that farmers experiencing the impact of climate change in the form of either drought or flood are more likely to experience a significant drop in the yield than those who did not experience those impacts. Moreover, the Kernel Density estimation plot of the yield pointed out that farmers experiencing the impact of climate change have lower harvest yields than those who did not face any impact of climate change. Our findings confirm the importance of climate change impact mitigation on wetland paddy cultivation in Indonesia. It is pivotal to maintain Indonesian food security since rice is still the main staple food for most parts of the country.

Analysis of Gaps Yield and Resource use Efficiency of Cold-Region Japonica Rice

Rice is the primary staple food for more than 50% of the world’s population. Narrowing the gap between the maximum potential food crop yield and actual yield is critical for improving the current yield, resource use efficiency, and global food security. Here, we examined the fertilizer use efficiency (FUE), radiation use efficiency (RUE), and temperature production efficiency (TPE) of four management treatments (super high yield [SH], high yield and high efficiency [HH], farmer level [FP], and basic production level [CK]). SH and HH treatments significantly reduced the yield gap by 22.4 and 9.5%, respectively. The large yield gap between HH and FP was mainly attributed to high specific leaf weight at the jointing stage (7.5–7.7 mg·cm−2), and the high leaf area maintained during tillering–jointing stages (35.4–37.6 m2·m−2·per day). Compared with FP, HH increased the specific leaf weight in the heading stage (8.2–8.4 mg·cm−2), relative crop growth rate, net assimilation rate (NAR), and mean leaf area index (> 2.6). Moreover, compared with FP, HH significantly increased partial factor productivity (PFP) of nitrogen, FUE, TPE, and RUE owing to greater yield and NAR after the full heading stage. Although the HH yield was 93.32% that of SH, HH increased PFP of fertilizer (12.5%), fertilizer nitrogen (9.07%), and fertilizer K2O (36.34%), and required 26% less fertilizer than SH. The findings of this study could facilitate high-efficiency rice production and bridging of yield gaps.