Authors:Bruno Losch Abstract: Decent employment in agriculture is part of the general narrative about working conditions. It is an unquestionable objective but its position high in the international agenda contributes to sideline major structural issues faced by many agricultures around the world. This is particularly the case in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, which represent about 90% of global agricultural workers, and where agriculture still plays a major role in employment and the economy. Different trajectories of structural transformation and rates of demographic growth result in different employment challenges which are central for possible improvement of work conditions in agriculture. However, the existing narrative about agricultural development remains shaped by the modernization paradigm based on technical progress and the centrality of the productive optimum. Its progressive adoption around the world has resulted in major productivity increases which deeply impacted agriculture through farm differentiation and concentration followed by a massive exit of farm workers. This process of change results today in major environmental and social sustainability challenges which prevent the replication of previous structural transformation pathways. Yet, the current policy architecture supporting agriculture promoted by international agencies and relayed in national policies continue to focus on the same modernization recipes. Framed by a market-led agenda, they are based on increased productivity and improved access to markets, and focus on a better provision of public goods. They target the “agripreneurs” who are able to adapt to the competitive economic environment. Attention is progressively paid to environmental challenges which results in a “smart-modernization” agenda based on sustainable intensification, while alternative approaches like agro-ecology remain limited to local experiences. Mainstream policies prevent addressing the continuing structural issues faced by many developing countries, as well as global sustainability issues. In that context, improving working conditions in agriculture is part of a necessary global approach about the development of the sector, where the multiple roles that agriculture plays beyond the production of food and feed must be acknowledged and discussed. It implies a reinvestment in strategic thinking which has to be supported by new research about the labor content in agriculture and the agri-food sector, and by a consideration of existing local dynamics in order to identify adequate development models for agriculture. PubDate: 2022-05-17T00:00:00Z
Authors:Miguel Ángel Garcia-Parra, Diego Fernando Roa-Acosta, Jesús Eduardo Bravo-Gomez, Juan Carlos Hernández-Criado, Héctor Samuel Villada-Castillo Abstract: The protein, carbohydrate, and fat characteristics of quinoa grains reflect in their techno-functional potential. This aspect has been little studied in quinoa, while some physicochemical and rheological characteristics have been generalized for all cultivars under all primary production conditions. The aim of this research is to determine the agro-industrial potential of different quinoa cultivars evaluated under different environments through physicochemical and rheological responses. This study has a factorial design with a first level corresponding to cultivars and a second level to production zones. The results showed that the cultivars present high compositional variability. It was also found that the altitudinal gradient changes protein and starch composition, protein secondary structure, and starch structural conformation. In addition, significant variations were found in viscosity, breakdown, and dispersion setback for all treatments. However, there were no differences between treatments before heating/cooling and after heat treatment. PubDate: 2022-05-16T00:00:00Z
Authors:Ikram Elsadig Suliman Mohamed, Haruka Oe, Nasrein Mohamed Kamal, Hala Mohammed Mustafa, Yasir Serag Alnor Gorafi, Izzat Sidahmed Ali Tahir, Hisashi Tsujimoto, Hiroyuki Tanaka Abstract: Narrow genetic diversity in the wheat gene pool restricts the improvement of wheat quality traits. Aegilops tauschii possesses valuable genetic diversity that can be used to improve not only biotic and abiotic stresses in arid regions but also wheat yield and quality. Our study, which used 392 multiple synthetic derivatives (MSD) panel developed with Ae. tauschii Coss. introgressions, had three main aims: to explore the genetic diversity of high-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS), to investigate the dough strength and the relationship between protein content and grain yield, and to identify lines with a good flour quality. A wide range of allelic diversity was observed at the Glu-D1 locus, reflecting the impact of the different introgressed portions of Ae. tauschii, and a wide variation was found in dough strength even between lines having the same composition of HMW-GS. We report a negative impact on dough strength of subunit 5t+10t from Ae. tauschii and a relatively positive impact of subunit 2t+12.1t. We identified four MSD lines with significantly enhanced flour quality. Regressing the grain yield of the MSD lines against protein content showed no correlation between the two traits and identified lines with comparable grain yield to the recurrent parent and higher protein content. The identified MSD lines could provide a valuable genetic resource for enhancing the end-use quality of flour without any loss in productivity. PubDate: 2022-05-16T00:00:00Z
Authors:Maximilian Manderscheid, Valentin Fiala, Ferne Edwards, Bernhard Freyer, Ina Säumel Abstract: Within the broader framework of the EU-H2020 EdiCitNet project—a large-scale collaborative project with a multi-stakeholder approach—there is the opportunity to observe participatory planning approaches to mainstream nature-based, edible solutions to solve specific social urban problems in an international group of six cities—Berlin (Germany), Carthage (Tunisia), Sant Feliu de Llobregat (Spain), Letchworth (United Kingdom), Šempeter pri Gorici (Slovenia), and Lomé (Togo). One year after the project started, the COVID-19 pandemic made it necessary to transfer most participatory planning processes to online platforms. This new format presented challenges to planning and voluntary stakeholder engagement due to different capacities regarding technical requirements as well as location-specific social circumstances. In this paper, we aim to shed light on the potentials and trade-offs in shifting to online participation and who gets to participate under digital Participatory Action Research (PAR) circumstances. We used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the planning progress and the transition to working online in the six cities during the first wave of the pandemic. The study identifies critical implications of COVID-19 on participatory planning processes, the challenges for online participation, and the effectiveness of measures applied to tackle those challenges. The transition to online participatory planning described in this paper emphasizes organizational rather than technical remedies. While the planning progress in all cities was delayed, some faced significant challenges in the transition to online due to the lack of technical or community capacities. This was fostered through the diverse and new realities of the stakeholders ranging from meeting existential needs to adapting to alternative forms of working and caring. The reflections in this paper offer learnings from the disruptions caused by COVID-19 to better understand how participatory planning processes can be managed online along the lines of equity, access, and participation. The findings demonstrate how participatory processes in the ongoing crisis can be maintained, with relevance to future waves of this and other pandemics. PubDate: 2022-05-16T00:00:00Z
Authors:Vicente Ortiz-Gómez, Jhon Edinson Nieto-Calvache, Diego Fernando Roa-Acosta, Jose Fernando Solanilla-Duque, Jesús Eduardo Bravo-Gómez Abstract: Protein functional properties are related to physical and chemical parameters that influence protein behavior in food systems during processing, storage and consumption. The structural and rheological properties of three quinoa hyperprotein flours (without defatting, WD, chemically defatted, CD, and mechanically defatted, MD) were evaluated. The values of the fluidity index (n) were significantly different (p < 0.05), which was associated with changes in protein or starch structures due to solvent treatments or heating of the flour during pressing. In addition, a strong dependence of the consistency index (k) on the shear rate was observed. For dispersions with a concentration of 12% (w/v), CD and WD had a significantly lower setback value than MD. The viscosity peak was affected by the presence of lipid molecules. Greater changes were evident in the β-sheet (1,610 and 1,625 cm−1) and β-spin (1,685 and 1,695 cm−1) structures. The changes identified in these structures were associated with the defatting treatment. Consequently, the intensity ratio 2,920/1,633 cm−1 was more sensitive to changes in the fat content of the flours. It was shown that defatting conditions increase the protein adsorption kinetics and that the viscoelastic properties of the protein increase when the flour has a lower fat content. Hyperprotein quinoa flour could be used to improve the protein content of products such as snacks, pastas, ice cream, bakery products, meat extenders, among others, due to its foaming, gelling or emulsifying capacity. The objective of this work was to study the effect of two types of defatting of hyperprotein quinoa flour on its structural and rheological properties. PubDate: 2022-05-11T00:00:00Z
Authors:Afeez Adesina Adedayo, Ayomide Emmanuel Fadiji, Olubukola Oluranti Babalola Abstract: The microorganisms inhabiting soil perform unique functions in the growth and development of plants. However, little is known about how plant health status affects their potential functions. We examined the functional diversity of the microbiome inhabiting the rhizosphere of powdery mildew diseased and healthy tomato plants alongside the bulk soils in South Africa's Northwest Province employing a shotgun metagenomics approach. We envisaged that the functional categories would be abundant in the healthy rhizosphere (HR) of the tomato plant. We collected soil from the rhizosphere of healthy, powdery mildew diseased tomato plants (DR), and bulk soil (BR). After that, their DNA was extracted. The extracted DNA was subjected to shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Our result using the SEED subsystem revealed that a total of fifteen (15) functional categories dominated the healthy rhizosphere, seven (7) functional categories dominated the diseased rhizosphere. At the same time, six (6) functions dominated the bulk soil. Alpha (α) diversity assessment did not reveal a significant difference (p> 0.05) in all the soil samples, but a considerable difference was observed for beta (β) diversity (P = 0.01). The functional categories obtained in this research were highly abundant in HR. Therefore, this study shows that the functions groups of the rhizosphere microbiomes were more abundant in HR samples as compared to others. The high prevalence of functions groups associated with rhizobiomes in the tomato rhizosphere indicates the need for more research to establish the functional genes associated with these rhizosphere microbiomes. PubDate: 2022-05-11T00:00:00Z
Authors:Alfonso Rodríguez-Vila, Laura Atuah, Abdul Halim Abubakari, Dickson Worlanyo Atorqui, Alhassan Abdul-Karim, Sean Coole, John Hammond, Steve Robinson, Tom Sizmur Abstract: Biochars have been proposed as a novel biotechnology to increase crop yields in acidic soils due to a liming effect. However, the application of biochar to soils with a neutral soil pH is less likely to improve yield. A rise in pH typically increases the availability of macronutrients (e.g., PO43-, NO3-) but biochar is known to immobilize some elements due to a pH increase and adsorption on the biochar surface. Therefore, biochar application may reduce the uptake of important micronutrients (e.g., Cu, Fe, and Zn) into the edible portions of food crops. Before recommending indiscriminate biochar application to tropical soils, an understanding of the potentially negative impacts of biochar application to contrasting soil types should be fully appreciated to prevent unintended consequences. Our aim was to determine the impact of biochar amendment to an acidic soil and a neutral soil on micronutrient availability and uptake into leafy greens. We produced biochars from 3 different organic feedstock materials (corn cobs, rice husk and teak sawdust) and applied these in pot experiments to an acidic tropical soil (pH 4.5) and a neutral tropical soil (pH 6.9) collected from urban farms in Tamale and Kumasi, respectively, in Ghana. We grew leafy greens (Amaranthus, Corchorus, and Lettuce) and measured their growth and the uptake of Cu, Fe, and Zn, alongside supporting measurements of soil pH and micronutrient availability in the soil. We also measured water soluble Cu, Fe, and Zn in the soils amended with biochars pyrolyzed at different temperatures. The corn cobs biochar increased soil pH and considerably increased plant growth in the acidic soil from Tamale. In the neutral soil from Kumasi we found that, while corn cob biochar increased soil pH, rice husk biochar decreased soil pH. Furthermore, corn cob biochar considerably reduced plant growth in the neutral soil. The concentration of micronutrients in the edible portions of leafy greens was not greatly affected by biochar application, but the total uptake (i.e., concentration multiplied by biomass) of micronutrients into leaves was generally increased by biochar application in the acidic (Tamale) soil and application of the corn cob biochar generally decreased total uptake of micronutrients in the neutral (Kumasi) soil. Our results highlight the need for site-specific information on biochar feedstock and soil pH prior to recommending biochar application to tropical urban soils so that the benefits can be optimized and unintended consequences can be prevented. PubDate: 2022-05-10T00:00:00Z
Authors:Jan H. Schmidt, Leonard V. Theisgen, Maria R. Finckh, Adnan Šišić Abstract: Legumes are important drivers of soil fertility, however, their frequent use in rotations fosters long-lived soil-borne pathogens that can seriously compromise legume root health and nitrogen fixation. To overcome this, the current study aims at improving the general soil suppressiveness toward pests and diseases by agroecosystem management that can be predicted by nematode-based bioindicators. Two long-term organically managed agroecosystems comparing plow and shallow non-inversion tillage were analyzed for free-living nematode communities. Soils out of these agroecosystems were evaluated further in a greenhouse assay for their ability to suppress pea root rot caused by Didymella pinodella, Fusarium avenaceum, and F. redolens. There was a general trend for higher levels of pea root rot disease severity following inoculations with single pathogens, however, this effect was heterogeneous among experiments and tillage systems. This was mainly due to an already very high resident population of D. pinodella in soil and the presence of seed-borne F. oxysporum determined by their high incidence in pea roots irrespective of the soil and inoculated pathogens. Additional inoculation with D. pinodella, for example, resulted in only 8.5% biomass reduction compared to the non-inoculated control, in both tillage systems. Similar biomass losses were recorded in non-inversion tilled soils inoculated with F. redolens. When analyzed across inoculation treatments, the pea root rot disease severity was only slightly reduced in non-inversion tilled soils when compared to the plough systems (11% in Exp 1 and, 9% in Exp 2), however in both experiments non-inversion tillage resulted in greater pea biomass (33 and 19% in Exp1 and 2, respectively). Furthermore, the metabolic, enrichment, and bacterivore carbon footprints of nematodes were 88, 81, and 97% higher, respectively, in the non-inversion tilled soils compared to the plough. The metabolic carbon footprint of nematodes correlated negatively with pea root rot disease severity (rho = −0.71, p = 0.047). Hence, non-inversion tillage was effective in controlling pea root rot. The use of nematode metabolic footprints for predicting soil health should be extended for various agroecosystems aiming for its general use in evaluating effects of agroecosystem management through researchers and potentially farm management advisors. PubDate: 2022-05-10T00:00:00Z
Authors:Bronwyn Dowd, Declan McDonnell, Maria G. Tuohy Abstract: Paunch contents are the recalcitrant, lignocellulose-rich, partially-digested feed present in the rumen of ruminant animals. Cattle forage in Europe is primarily from perennial and Italian ryegrasses and/or white clover, so paunch contents from forage-fed cattle in Europe is enriched in these feedstuffs. Globally, due to its underutilisation, the potential energy in cattle paunch contents annually represents an energy loss of 23,216,548,750–27,804,250,000 Megajoules (MJ) and financial loss of up to ~€800,000,000. Therefore, this review aims to describe progress made to-date in optimising sustainable energy recovery from paunch contents. Furthermore, analyses to determine the economic feasibility/potential of recovering sustainable energy from paunch contents was carried out. The primary method used to recover sustainable energy from paunch contents to-date has involved biomethane production through anaerobic digestion (AD). The major bottleneck in its utilisation through AD is its recalcitrance, resulting in build-up of fibrous material. Pre-treatments partially degrade the lignocellulose in lignocellulose-rich wastes, reducing their recalcitrance. Enzyme systems could be inexpensive and more environmentally compatible than conventional solvent pre-treatments. A potential source of enzyme systems is the rumen microbiome, whose efficiency in lignocellulose degradation is attracting significant research interest. Therefore, the application of rumen fluid (liquid derived from dewatering of paunch contents) to improve biomethane production from AD of lignocellulosic wastes is included in this review. Analysis of a study where rumen fluid was used to pre-treat paper sludge from a paper mill prior to AD for biomethane production suggested economic feasibility for CHP combustion, with potential savings of ~€11,000 annually. Meta-genomic studies of bacterial/archaeal populations have been carried out to understand their ruminal functions. However, despite their importance in degrading lignocellulose in nature, rumen fungi remain comparatively under-investigated. Further investigation of rumen microbes, their cultivation and their enzyme systems, and the role of rumen fluid in degrading lignocellulosic wastes, could provide efficient pre-treatments and co-digestion strategies to maximise biomethane yield from a range of lignocellulosic wastes. This review describes current progress in optimising sustainable energy recovery from paunch contents, and the potential of rumen fluid as a pre-treatment and co-substrate to recover sustainable energy from lignocellulosic wastes using AD. PubDate: 2022-05-04T00:00:00Z
Authors:Walaa Ahmed Elsayeh, Chelsea Cook, Geraldine A. Wright Abstract: Insects require dietary sources of B-vitamins, but relatively little is known about whether they regulate B-vitamin intake in the same way they regulate other nutrients. Honey bees meet their B-vitamin requirements mainly from the pollen they collect. Employing the geometric framework for nutrition, we found that honey bees actively regulate their vitamin intake following Bertrand's rule. We fed bees with a diet of essential amino acids (EAAs) and carbohydrate (C) to identify how the addition of B-vitamins affected the regulation of these macronutrients. In our experiments, honey bees preferred vitamins in concentrations comparable to those found in honey bee food (pollen, beebread, and royal jelly). Honey bees actively regulated niacin around an optimal value. Supplementing honey bee diets with B-vitamins influenced the amount of EAAs and carbohydrate ingested differently depending on the type of the vitamin. The impact of these vitamins was observed over the course of seven days where honey bees' mortality increased on diets of low and medium folic acid concentrations. This study provides insights into honey bee food intake regulation and the feeding preferences and sets the basis for future studies considering B-vitamins in honey bees diets. PubDate: 2022-05-04T00:00:00Z
Authors:Andrew F. Brown, Victor Rodriguez, Camille Brzoska, Judith Pfister, Peter Neumann, Gina Retschnig Abstract: Gut microbiota are known to foster pollen digestion in honey bee workers, Apis mellifera, thereby enhancing longevity and body weight gain. However, it is currently not known how longevity and body weight gain are effected when gut microbiota are reduced in bees with or without access to pollen. Here, using a hoarding cage set-up with freshly emerged summer workers, we manipulated the gut microbiota of half the bees with the antibiotic tetracycline (ABX), and left the other half untreated on a sucrose solution diet. Afterwards, all bees were assigned to either sucrose diets or sucrose plus ad libitum access to pollen (N = 4 treatments, N = 26 bees/treatment, N = 10 replicates/treatment, N = 1,040 total workers). The data confirm that pollen has a positive effect on longevity and body weight in workers with an unmanipulated gut microbiota. Surprisingly, the antibiotics alone also improved the longevity and body weight of the workers fed a strictly sucrose diet, potentially explained by the reduction of harmful bacteria. However, this positive effect was reversed from an observed antagonistic interaction between pollen and antibiotics, underscoring the innate value of natural microbiota on pollen digestion. In conclusion, a combination of adequate pollen supply and an unmanipulated gut microbiota appears crucial to honey bee worker health, calling for respective efforts to ensure both in managed colonies. PubDate: 2022-05-03T00:00:00Z
Authors:Harriet V. Kuhnlein, Sinee Chotiboriboon Abstract: Indigenous Peoples' food systems contain extensive and sophisticated knowledge that is often undocumented and underutilized in contemporary society that has increasingly poor nutrition and loss of food biodiversity. Indigenous Peoples in all global regions are among the most vulnerable to marginalization, food insecurity and chronic disease and will benefit greatly from strengthening their resource-rich food systems to make them more resilient and sustainable. It is in this spirit that we contribute to the databases of Indigenous Peoples' food system knowledge with information on unique traditional foods from the Nuxalk Nation in British Columbia, Canada, and the Pwo Karen People of Sanephong Community, Thailand. Several publications from these case studies originated from interdisciplinary mixed-method research, in part through the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. We highlight selected foods with nutrient data and various qualitative and quantitative methods used to identify and promote their use within these unique communities. Our intent is to stimulate complementary strengthening efforts among other traditional and Indigenous Peoples that will contribute to global intercultural food system evidence and advances. PubDate: 2022-05-03T00:00:00Z
Authors:Timothy E. Crews, Laura Kemp, James H. Bowden, Ebony G. Murrell Abstract: The UN's Sustainable Development goal of Zero Hunger encompasses a holistic set of targets that range from ending hunger by 2030, to increasing environmental sustainability and resilience of food production. Securing and managing soil nutrients remains one of the most basic challenges to growing adequate food while simultaneously protecting biodiversity and the integrity of ecosystems. To achieve these objectives, it is increasingly clear that the management of ecological processes will need to supplant reliance on non-renewable and environmentally damaging inputs. In recent years, progress has been made in developing perennial grain crops that show promise to improve on a range of ecological functions such as efficient nitrogen cycling and soil carbon accretion that tend to be well-developed in natural ecosystems but become compromised following land conversion to row crop agriculture. Here we report on a multi-faceted, 5-year experiment in which intermediate wheatgrass (IWG) (Thinopyrum intermedium), a perennial relative of wheat that is bred to produce the grain Kernza®, was intercropped in alternating rows with the perennial legume alfalfa (Medicago sativa). The performance of the unfertilized intercrop was compared to monocropped IWG treatments, with and without urea-N applications, planted at two row densities such that the intercrop could be interpreted as either an addition or substitution design. Comparisons of relative IWG yields (RYs) in the intercrop with unfertilized monocrops suggest net competitive interactions between alfalfa and IWG in the establishment year, followed by increasing degrees of facilitation over the next 4 years. Evidence from N fertilizer responsiveness, SPAD readings, net N mineralization assays, and N balance calculations suggest that alfalfa contributed to an aggrading pool of soil organic nitrogen over the course of the experiment. Comparisons of grain RYs of intercropped IWG and fertilized IWG monocultures suggest N-limitation in the first half of the experiment, and N sufficiency in the second half. Grain yields in the intercrop did not decline significantly over 5 years in contrast to all IWG monocrop treatments that did significantly decline. This study contributes to a growing literature on approaches to ecological nutrient management that incorporate diversity and perenniality to increase food security and resilience. PubDate: 2022-04-29T00:00:00Z
Authors:Grace Dewi, Anup Kollanoor Johny Abstract: Lactobacillus, the largest genus within the lactic acid bacteria group, has served diverse roles in improving the quality of foods for centuries. The heterogeneity within this genus has resulted in the industry's continued use of their well-known functions and exploration of novel applications. Moreover, the perceived health benefits in many applications have also made them fond favorites of consumers and researchers alike. Their familiarity lends to their utility in the growing “clean label” movement, of which consumers prefer fewer additions to the food label and opt for recognizable and naturally-derived substances. Our review primarily focuses on the historical use of lactobacilli for their antimicrobial functionality in improving preharvest safety, a critical step to validate their role as biocontrol agents and antibiotic alternatives in food animal production. We also explore their potential as candidates catering to the consumer-driven demand for more authentic, transparent, and socially responsible labeling of animal products. PubDate: 2022-04-29T00:00:00Z
Authors:Daniel Pleissner, Sergiy Smetana Abstract: Microalgae are utilized for various purposes through cell content extraction and application. Cell walls are not utilized and not studied in an extensive manner. At the same time, composition of multilayer and fibrillar structures with various chemical compositions depends on microalgae species, they present an interesting object for chromatography. However, it requires the application of novel processing technologies (such as pulsed electric fields [PEFs]), which are able to selectively permeabilize the cell walls with pores of various sizes and shapes. The current review indicates the application of potential of microalgae cell walls for separation by size exclusion, ion-exchange, and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. However, such a hypothesis should be further experimentally proven. PubDate: 2022-04-29T00:00:00Z
Authors:Alejandro Castillo Nolte, Sascha Buchholz, Nadja Pernat, Monika Egerer Abstract: The urban heat island (UHI) effect remains a major threat to society as cities densify and sprawl. Urban greening through local to landscape management is a proposed strategy to combat UHI and improve environmental justice in city neighborhoods. For example, urban community gardens are multifunctional green spaces that play an important role for biodiversity and for civic engagement. But the role of urban gardens in urban cooling and relieving UHI remain unclear, specifically how temperatures fluctuate within gardens in relation to garden management factors and city landscape context, and how this relates to urban heat in city neighborhoods. We investigated diurnal and nocturnal temperature ranges, and daily maximum and minimum temperatures in 18 urban gardens over the peak of the summer agricultural growing season. We then analyzed how temperatures were correlated to local land cover factors within the garden, to surrounding landscape imperviousness at various spatial scales, and to environmental justice indicators (stressors) of garden neighborhoods. We found that nocturnal temperature range is negatively correlated to landscape imperviousness, and that the relationship decreases in strength with increasing spatial scale. This result supports the importance of evapotranspiration processes of surrounding green areas for nocturnal cooling. Some local land cover factors were important for temperatures, indicating heating or cooling management mechanisms from within urban gardens. Finally, the mean number of environmental stressors in neighborhoods negatively related to temperature variation. The results of this work can inform resource use and crop selection in urban agriculture, as well as how temperature-related ecosystem services of gardens relate to environmental justice of city neighborhoods. PubDate: 2022-04-29T00:00:00Z
Authors:Rechiatu Asei, Robert C. Abaidoo, Andrews Opoku, Samuel Adjei-Nsiah Abstract: Studies have shown that the continuous application of N, P, and K fertilizers has led to the depletion of secondary and micronutrients, which have become limiting nutrients hindering crop growth and yield. An on-farm trial was conducted to determine the effect of site-specific nutrient fertilizers and compost on soybean yield, phosphorus use efficiency, and soil properties, at Nyong Guma, Serekpere, Daffiama Saapare, and Naaga in northern Ghana. Nine (9) treatments (3 rates of mineral fertilizer × 3 rates of FertiSoil) were applied in a factorial combination arranged in randomized complete block design with three replications. On average, the soybean grain yield increased significantly with the combined application of FertiSoil and mineral fertilizer at full rates at Nyong Guma, Serekpere, and Naaga from 1,500 kg ha−1. The co-application of 50% recommended rate (RR) of mineral fertilizer and 5 t ha−1 FertiSoil increased soybean grain yield by over 250% at Daffiama Saapare. The application of 50% RR mineral fertilizer significantly increased phosphorus use efficiency by 5–55% compared to its combination with FertiSoil or FertiSoil alone at different rates across locations. Incorporation of 5 t ha−1 FertiSoil and 100% RR mineral fertilizer significantly increased exchangeable K, Ca, and Mg, and microbial C and P by 0.33, 2.84, 0.56 cmol(+) kg−1 and 102.7, 33.37 mg kg−1, respectively, at Serekpere. The combined application of 5 t ha−1 FertiSoil and 50% RR mineral fertilizer relatively increased soil organic C (42%) and available P (12%) at Naaga. The soil quality index revealed that the addition of 5 t ha−1 FertiSoil to 100% RR mineral fertilizer was the most sustainable nutrient management option across the study sites. Sole mineral fertilizer treatments at 50% RR were the most profitable in all the study locations ranging from value cost ratio (VCR) of 2.7–7.6. The application of limiting nutrients and organic amendments serves as an efficient nutrient management option to improve soil health, crop production and economic profitability on smallholder non-responsive soils. PubDate: 2022-04-29T00:00:00Z
Authors:Renata Carneiro, Kyle Adie, Dajun Yu, Mariah Beverly, Clinton Neill, Bo Zhang, Thomas Kuhar, Steven Rideout, Mark Reiter, Haibo Huang, Sean O'Keefe, Susan Duncan Abstract: Appearance properties of vegetables can affect consumers' acceptance toward them as well as purchase intent. Hence, appearance is highly associated with quality of edamame (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), a protein-rich vegetable that is experiencing increased sales in the USA. Edamame is a high-value specialty crop and its production has been promoted in Virginia and other states in the USA where the tobacco production has decreased in the last decade. To support current efforts to develop the edamame industry in the USA, consumer and color data of 10 edamame genotypes grown in Virginia were analyzed in this follow-up study to understand the role of overall appearance and color characteristics in consumers' acceptability of edamame beans. In two consecutive years, untrained adult volunteers used 9-point hedonic scales (1 = “dislike extremely”, 9 = “like extremely”) to evaluate appearance and overall liking of edamame samples (cooked and shelled edamame beans) and our researchers measured the reflective color of the samples with a chroma meter. In the first year, sensory panelists also completed a choice-based conjoint analysis to determine their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for dark vs. light green edamame beans in a salad. Edamame genotypes were significantly different in appearance and overall liking (p < 0.05) and the genotype R14-16195 was the most liked overall. Hedonic scores and color were significantly affected by “year” (p < 0.05), so intentional changes between years (e.g., sample preparation) should be avoided in future studies. Consumers showed higher WTP for dark green edamame beans. Additionally, green intensity (color index) and a* color coordinate were correlated to appearance liking scores (p < 0.05), which suggests color data can support breeding selection criteria and possibly predict consumer acceptability. Employing color measurement as quality control method can help improve harvest procedures, post-harvest handling, and define edamame quality standards for the USA market. PubDate: 2022-04-29T00:00:00Z
Authors:Rotem Zelingher, David Makowski Abstract: This study analyses the quality of six regression algorithms in forecasting the monthly price of maize in its primary international trading market, using publicly available data of agricultural production at a regional scale. The forecasting process is done between one and twelve months ahead, using six different forecasting techniques. Three (CART, RF, and GBM) are tree-based machine learning techniques that capture the relative influence of maize-producing regions on global maize price variations. Additionally, we consider two types of linear models—standard multiple linear regression and vector autoregressive (VAR) model. Finally, TBATS serves as an advanced time-series model that holds the advantages of several commonly used time-series algorithms. The predictive capabilities of these six methods are compared by cross-validation. We find RF and GBM have superior forecasting abilities relative to the linear models. At the same time, TBATS is more accurate for short time forecasts when the time horizon is shorter than three months. On top of that, all models are trained to assess the marginal contribution of each producing region to the most extreme price shocks that occurred through the past 60 years of data in both positive and negative directions, using Shapley decompositions. Our results reveal a strong influence of North-American yield variation on the global price, except for the last months preceding the new-crop season. PubDate: 2022-04-28T00:00:00Z
Authors:Ridhima Kapoor, Manisha Sabharwal, Suparna Ghosh-Jerath Abstract: India is endowed with several indigenous foods (IFs), that hold special cultural significance among local and ethnic caommunities, yet no attempts have been made till date to systematically compile their nutritive values. As per FAO's recent mandate on creation of “Global-Hub on Indigenous Food Systems,” IFs have received renewed global recognition for their potential to contribute to improved food security while enhancing biodiversity across the world. Hence, the useful properties of wild IFs require proper study and documentation in order to bridge the gap between scientific evidence generation and indigenous peoples' ancestral knowledge. For this purpose, we conducted a literature search in two scientific databases: PubMed and Google Scholar, between July 2020 and December 2021, to identify studies reporting nutritive values and/or antinutrient content of IFs (not included in Indian food composition database), consumed by Indian indigenous communities. A total of 52 Indian research articles were included, from which data was selected and extracted, to create a compendium on nutrient (n = 508) and antinutrient (n = 123) content of IFs, followed by computation of antinutrient-to-mineral molar ratios for 98 IFs to predict their mineral bioavailability. Maximum nutritive values were available for green leafy vegetables (n = 154), followed by other vegetables (n = 98), fruits (n = 66), cereals (n = 63), roots & tubers (n = 51) and nuts and legumes (n = 36). Several IFs seen to have better nutritional content than conventional foods and were found to be rich (i.e.,>20% Indian recommended dietary allowances per reference food serve) in iron (54%), calcium (35%), protein (30%), vitamin C (27%), vitamin A (18%), zinc (14%) and folate (13%). Some IFs displayed high levels of antinutrients, however, anti-nutrient-to-mineral molar ratios were found to be low (for mainly leafy vegetables, other vegetables, and roots and tubers), thus indicating high mineral bioavailability. Hence, efforts are desirable to encourage the inclusion of these nutritionally superior IFs into the usual diets of indigenous communities. The IF database collated in our review can serve as a resource for researchers and policymakers to better understand the nutritional properties of region-specific IFs and promote them through contextual food-based interventions for improved dietary quality and nutrition outcomes in indigenous population of India. PubDate: 2022-04-28T00:00:00Z
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