Search Results (334)

Global population growth and the demand for sustainable food systems have pushed microalgae into the spotlight as promising novel food resources. They are rich in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and bioactive pigments including astaxanthin and phycocyanin. Unlike conventional farming, microalgae cultivation can be conducted on non-arable land and may reduce direct competition with conventional food crops for land resources, depending on the production system used. Regulatory progress in China, the European Union (EU), and the United States has resulted in the authorization or approval of several microalgal species and microalgae-derived ingredients for specific food and nutritional applications, including dietary supplements, infant nutrition products, and alternative protein ingredients. Despite these advances, broader commercial adoption remains constrained by several challenges, such as off-flavors and the dark green color, high production costs from closed photobioreactors and energy-intensive downstream purification, fragmented regulatory frameworks across jurisdictions and limited long-term data on bioavailability, allergenicity, safety, and dose–response relationships for some emerging strains. This review focuses on microalgae as novel food resources, covering regulatory approvals, strain selection, high-value utilization, and market translation, synthesizes evidence on nutritional evaluation, application scenarios, and global regulatory differences, analyzes key bottlenecks, and proposes pathways to bridge fundamental research with industrial practice. It also highlights unresolved knowledge gaps to guide future research and policy. Full article

In the context of global population growth and intensifying climate change, ensuring food security remains a critical challenge. Orchards are more productive than arable crops, contributing significantly to the nutrition of a growing population. Ecologically, due to the absence of frequent soil tillage, orchards resemble natural forest ecosystems more closely than other agricultural systems. Irrigated orchards are particularly productive and enhance biodiversity in territories where water scarcity is the limiting factor for ecosystems. This review, the result of extensive reflection and a comprehensive analysis of the literature on orchard sustainability, synthesizes evidence on the diverse ecosystem services provided by these perennial systems. Due to their structural complexity, well-managed orchards contribute significantly to climate regulation through carbon sequestration, microclimate cooling, and soil erosion prevention. Furthermore, they support nutrient cycling and provide cultural value. This paper establishes an integrated scientific framework to inform evidence-based policies and reshape societal perceptions. It argues that recognizing orchards as multifunctional landscapes, rather than mere resource consumers, is critical for environmental resilience, supporting their fair valuation as essential components of a sustainable bioeconomy. Full article

Attainable yields represent the yields that can be achieved under production conditions and are used to determine the exploitable yield gap. However, these yields are constrained by multiple factors, including soil properties that vary across different spatial scales, even within a single field. Thus, the attainable yields should be adjusted to specific soil units. This study uses results from multi-environment cultivar testing trials conducted by COBORU in Poland to estimate winter wheat attainable yields depending on arable land quality classes (ALQCs) and arable land suitability groups (ALSGs). The database comprises 10 years of observations from 18 locations and 156 experiments. The results indicate a clear relationship between the scores assigned to particular ALQCs and ALSGs in 1981. In contrast, the relationship between the average scores assigned to ALQCs within ALSGs was weaker. Attainable yields were estimated directly based on experimental data, using the median and 90th percentile (P0.9) of yields for well represented soil units, and regression analysis between the median and P0.9 and point scores for less-represented soil units. The results could be improved by using a more extensive dataset, particularly for underrepresented and not represented soils. The proposed method may be applied to estimate soil-adjusted attainable yields for other crops whose cultivars are tested by COBORU in multi-environment trials. Full article

Agriculture currently faces multiple challenges associated with climate change, the reduction in arable land, and the need to produce food more efficiently in terms of water and nutrient use. This study evaluated an Internet of Things (IoT)-based hydroponic monitoring system with threshold-controlled recirculation for lettuce (Lactuca sativa) under open-field thermal stress conditions, comparing it with a conventional closed recirculating PVC pipe-based hydroponic system operated using fixed pump timing. The architecture integrated an ESP32 microcontroller, sensors for nutrient solution temperature, pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity voltage, dissolved oxygen (DO), and electrical conductivity (EC), Wi-Fi/HTTPS connectivity, a PHP–MySQL server, and a web interface for near-real-time monitoring. During the growing period, 241,797 readings were recorded between 21 January and 13 February 2026. The threshold-based logic activated the pump mainly according to nutrient solution temperature and DO, while pH, EC, TDS, and relative turbidity voltage were monitored as operational indicators. The sensor-instrumented system operated with pump activation during approximately 28.5% of the monitoring period, while temperature exhibited high variability and peaks of 40.19 °C. Visual crop monitoring showed greater canopy uniformity in the sensor-instrumented system, supporting the technical feasibility of low-cost IoT-based monitoring and threshold-controlled recirculation for open-field hydroponic production of lettuce. Full article

Global warming and associated environmental changes are reducing arable land and intensifying salinization risks, posing growing threats to food security. Soil salinity is an increasing threat to agricultural productivity worldwide, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important and widely cultivated cereal crops for human consumption and livestock feed. However, with increasing water scarcity and the incidence of salt-affected lands, wheat productivity is increasingly affected by salinity. Previous studies have investigated salinity tolerance mechanisms mainly at the seedling and reproductive stages of wheat; however, comparatively fewer studies integrate rapid biochemical and physiological responses during the first hours of germination stress exposure together with transcriptional analyses during early seedling establishment, even though this stage is critical for stand establishment. Here, we evaluated early physiological and transcriptional responses of salt-tolerant, moderate, and sensitive wheat cultivars exposed to 0 or 150 mM NaCl during germination and the early seedling stage. Tolerant and sensitive cultivars showed contrasting germination performance under salinity. Physiological analysis showed that salt-tolerant cultivars exhibited higher proline accumulation and higher antioxidant enzyme activities (CAT, SOD, and GR), while maintaining lower MDA levels under salinity compared with sensitive cultivars. Notably, tolerant cultivars showed marked upregulation of TaHKT1;4, TaP5CS, TaMYB, and TaDHN genes associated with ion homeostasis, osmoprotectant metabolism, and stress-responsive regulation. These responses represent integrated early-stage biochemical, physiological, and transcriptional indicators of salinity responsiveness rather than direct predictors of final yield performance. Full article

Agriculture, as a production sector, is exposed to external shocks. The instability of agricultural markets, changes in prices of inputs, dropping crop prices, or changes in climate patterns put their economic resilience to the test. Agroecological diversification of production is widely cited as a key adaptive strategy to increase farms’ resilience to these shocks. At the same time, empirical evidence linking crop diversity to economic stability across different production systems remains limited. The aim of the study was to assess whether the integration of more complex crop rotations and livestock production increases the economic resilience of organic farms compared to stockless organic farms and conventional farms. The analysis utilized data from the Polish FADN covering the multi-crisis period of 2020–2022, which included the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and the sharp rise in fertilizer and energy prices. Farms were grouped by production type. Crop diversity was assessed using the Shannon–Wiener index (H′) and the Pielou evenness index (J′). The economic resilience of tested farms was determined based on their income, income variability during the study period, and the ability to maintain income above the parity threshold. The results indicated the existence of different pathways for building resilience. Organic farms with permanent crops and field crops were characterized by the highest crop diversity on arable land, while organic farms with dairy cows had the highest overall economic resilience, despite relatively low crop diversity on arable land. This phenomenon can be explained by the high proportion of permanent grasslands, which promoted feed self-sufficiency and the internal circulation of nutrients. The results indicate that in organic systems, the integration of crop and livestock production, based on permanent grassland, may be a more effective way to strengthen economic resilience than crop diversification on arable land alone. Full article

Monitoring cropland dynamics in arid regions is critical for balancing food security with water scarcity constraints. However, distinguishing fragmented agricultural oases from spectrally similar desert vegetation remains a persistent challenge due to spectral confusion and landscape heterogeneity. To address these challenges, this study developed the STGP-OCE feature cube on the Google Earth Engine platform (GEE) by integrating the Oasis Cooling Effect (OCE) into the commonly used STGP (Spectral, Textural, Geomorphic, and Phenological) feature space, coupled with the XGBoost ensemble model. Through ablation experiments and feature importance analysis, we quantified the feature construction mechanism for arid regions. Oasis Cooling Intensity emerged as the most influential variable (Gain score: 0.315), demonstrating that the thermal signature of continuous anthropogenic irrigation serves as a robust thermodynamic proxy to resolve the spectral ambiguity between crops and drought-tolerant desert vegetation. By hierarchically coupling this thermal indicator with textural features to suppress fragmentation noise, topographic constraints to filter non-arable terrain, and phenological trajectories, the STGP-OCE feature cube achieved an Overall Accuracy of 95.12% and a Precision of 94.95%, significantly outperforming models built on lower-dimensional cubes as well as existing global land cover products. We generated a 10 m annual cropland dataset for Xinjiang, China, revealing a substantial 32.9% expansion (19,360 km²) from 2015 to 2024, mainly occurring in vulnerable oasis–desert transition zones and coinciding with reported reclamation activities. These highlight the continuous agricultural encroachment into desert margins, while the proposed STGP-OCE cube provides a reliable methodology for high-precision cropland monitoring in arid regions. Full article

Growth chambers are vital in controlled environment agriculture (CEA), enabling precise regulation of environmental conditions for year-round crop production, especially in urban areas with limited arable land. This study retrofitted a nonfunctional cold room into a plant growth chamber with controlled temperature, humidity, and CO₂ levels to evaluate lettuce (Lactuca sativa) growth under three LED treatments: broad-spectrum white, combined white and far-red, and narrow amber (598 nm). Environmental parameters were controlled at 21 °C during the day and 19 °C at night, with 65% relative humidity, and 800 ppm CO₂. After 40 days, plants under combined white and far-red LEDs produced the tallest shoots (21.8 ± 0.3 cm) and highest leaf count (23.7 ± 0.9). No significant differences were observed among treatments for fresh mass, dry mass, head diameter, or relative chlorophyll content. The findings demonstrated the feasibility of retrofitting a nonfunctional cold room into a controlled environment growth chamber capable of supporting lettuce cultivation under the tested conditions. Full article

The wheat–soybean double-cropping system enables the continuous production of preceding and succeeding crops within the same growing season, providing an important approach for improving arable land-use efficiency, increasing output per unit area, and optimizing cropping structure. In Liaoning Province, where thermal resources and the frost-free period are relatively limited, this system places high requirements on the growth duration, yield stability, and succession compatibility of the preceding wheat crop with the succeeding soybean crop. To identify spring wheat cultivars suitable for this system, field trials were conducted from 2021 to 2023, using three representative ecological regions of Liaoning Province. Ten widely grown spring wheat cultivars were evaluated for major agronomic traits, grain quality, and disease resistance, and their stability and system adaptability were analyzed using a mixed linear model, GGE biplot analysis, and TOPSIS. The results showed clear differences among cultivars in growth duration, wheat yield, and succeeding soybean yield. Liaochun 33 and Liaochun 18 had relatively short growth durations of 78–84 days and 79–83 days, respectively, and showed favorable performance in wheat yield, succeeding soybean yield, and stability. Combined with grain quality, disease resistance, and TOPSIS-based comprehensive evaluation, Liaochun 33 showed the best overall performance, while Liaochun 18 also exhibited strong system adaptability. Overall, cultivar selection for the wheat–soybean double-cropping system in Liaoning Province should shift from single wheat-yield evaluation to overall system-benefit evaluation. Liaochun 33 and Liaochun 18 can be recommended as preferred spring wheat cultivars for this cropping system. Full article

Rising production costs have increased interest in lower-cost, non-inversion crop establishment systems in Ireland, yet uptake remains relatively limited. Growers’ perceptions of relative performance of innovations compared to current practice are key determinants of adoption. We surveyed 154 Irish arable growers (77 plough-based, 59 min-till, 18 direct drill) to assess perceived performance of min-till and direct drill across multiple parameters relative to ploughing to identify potential barriers to adoption. Respondents rated impacts on Likert scales; analyses summarized response distributions and between-system differences. For example: >30% of min-till growers believed min-till winter cereal yields exceed ploughing, compared with 0% of plough and <10% of direct drill growers. Growers generally favoured their own establishment system, consistent with adoption theory. Potential barriers to non-inversion adoption included perceived lower establishment reliability, crop performance concerns (especially spring crops), and anticipated increases in weed pressure, herbicide reliance, and herbicide resistance development risk. Several perceptions diverged from the Ireland-relevant literature, revealing both knowledge gaps (notably establishment stability and winter/spring crop performance of establishment systems) and misperceptions (including establishment system on soil structure). Targeted research to address knowledge gaps, combined with focused, grower-centred knowledge exchange, is required to support evidence-based evaluation and sustainable adoption of establishment systems in Ireland. Full article

The large-scale use of compost in arable cropping systems is often limited by the large quantities required to meet the crop’s nutritional needs. Palletization can increase the nutrient density of organic fertilizers and improve their logistical feasibility by reducing storage, transport and application costs. This study evaluated the agronomic and environmental performance of compost pellets derived from pig slurry solids and olive pomace, using them as an alternative nitrogen source for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivated under Mediterranean conditions. A field experiment was conducted during the 2022–2023 growing season, with four treatments arranged in 24 m² replicated plots: an unfertilized control (C); pelletized compost (PSCOP); fresh pig slurry (PS); and mineral fertilization based on monoammonium phosphate and urea (IN). Excluding the control treatment, all fertilized plots received a uniform nitrogen rate of 150 kg N ha⁻¹. Soil chemical properties and nutrient availability (Pext, NH₄⁺-N and NO₃⁻-N) were evaluated at the beginning and end of the experiment, while wheat yield and grain quality were assessed at harvest. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were monitored throughout the cropping season to evaluate environmental impacts. The results showed that the wheat yields achieved with PSCOP were comparable to those obtained with PS, although they remained lower than those achieved with mineral fertilization. Grain quality was not adversely affected by the application of PSCOP. Furthermore, PSCOP resulted in lower GHG emissions than mineral fertilization, with values closer to those observed in the unfertilized control. These findings suggest that pelletized organic fertilizers such as PSCOP may be a promising way to enhance nutrient circularity and reduce reliance on synthetic fertilizers and maintain crop productivity and limit environmental impact in Mediterranean agricultural systems. Full article

The way land is managed and utilized restricts agricultural development and food production. The fragmentation of arable land, characterized by “many plots and small areas,” is unfavorable for moderate-scale agricultural management and food production supply. Based on survey data of grain farmers in the Yellow River Basin, this study employs methods such as 2SLS, PSM, and IVQR to analyze the impact of average plot size on farmers’ grain production efficiency and its mechanisms. It also examines the differentiated effects of expanding plot size on different types of farmers, regions, and crops. The results show the following: (1) Expanding the arable land plot size (ALPS) helps improve farmers’ grain production efficiency, thereby enhancing the quality and benefits of agricultural development. (2) Expanding plot size can affect grain production efficiency through multiple pathways, including promoting machinery use and agricultural technology adoption, reducing material and labor input costs, and increasing grain yields. (3) Expanding plot size is more beneficial to farmers with higher production efficiency and smaller operation scales, as it both “supports the strong” and has a “pro-smallholders” characteristic, with more benefits for farmers in the western region and those growing wheat. Therefore, in order to promote high-quality agricultural development and ensure national food security, policies should focus on addressing land fragmentation and appropriately expanding the average plot size for farmers, especially smallholders. Full article

Agriculture must shift to sustainable practices that support mitigation and adaptation, with crop diversification highlighted as a key adaptive practice. A field experiment was conducted in central Italy to study forage and grain production of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and pea (Pisum sativum L.) intercropping (IC) comparing three nitrogen fertilizations (NF) (i.e., 0, 70, and 140 kg ha⁻¹) and two cropping systems (CS) (i.e., arable (AR) and silvo-arable (SIAR)) for two consecutive cropping seasons (2023–2024 and 2024–2025). Forage and grain production were determined at flowering and at maturity to identify temporal trends in resource use. Overall, the results demonstrated that poplar presence did not significantly impact IC productivity, as forage biomass at flowering was 5.00 t ha⁻¹ in AR and 4.77 t ha⁻¹ in SIAR in 2024, and 3.20 t ha⁻¹ in both cropping systems in 2025. Moreover, NF was the main driver of both forage and grain production, without significant interaction with the CS, and a moderate N rate (i.e., 70 kg ha⁻¹) was the most efficient, ensuring both wheat and pea productivity. The absence of a yield penalty in the IC in the SIAR supports the agroecological value of integrating annual intercrops with tree components. Full article

Salt stress is one of the major environmental constraints in agriculture, significantly limiting crop yield and causing substantial economic loss worldwide. Silicon (Si) and selenium (Se) are widely recognized as beneficial elements for plants, and the application of Si- and Se-based fertilizers is considered a promising strategy for promoting crop growth and sustainable agricultural production under expanding salinization of arable land. In this study, aiming for the targeted application of Si and Se in agricultural production, the individual and synergistic effects of Si and Se on salt stress resistance in tomato when applied via root application or foliar spray were comprehensively investigated. Plant growth parameters, photosynthesis performance, oxidative damage, the activity of the antioxidant system, sodium/potassium (Na/K) content, and the expression of genes related to Na/K homeostasis were determined and further compared using principal component analysis (PCA). The results showed that salt stress markedly inhibited plant growth and photosynthetic performance, while inducing oxidative damage and disrupting Na/K homeostasis in tomato seedlings. In contrast, the application of both Si and Se significantly promoted tomato growth and ameliorated the detrimental effects of salt stress. Moreover, Si and Se exhibited a synergistic effect in promoting salt stress resistance under both root and foliar application. Root application of Si and Se is more effective in enhancing ionic homeostasis, while foliar spray of Si and Se is more effective in promoting photosynthesis performance under salt stress. Overall, considering the convenience and use-cost efficiency of Si and Se application in agricultural practices, the results of this study showed that the synergy application of Si and Se via foliar spray is most effective in promoting salt stress resistance in tomato through modulating photosynthesis performance, antioxidant capacity, and ionic homeostasis. Full article

Understanding the intricate interrelationships among ecosystem services (ESs) is fundamental to advancing sustainable ecological management. This study focuses on the Taihu Basin and examines five representative ESs, including water yield (WY), carbon sequestration (CS), soil retention (SR), habitat quality (HQ), and crop production (CP), for the years 2000, 2010, and 2020. Spatial distribution characteristics and spatiotemporal dynamics were quantified through the combined application of the InVEST model, a food production model, and ArcGIS. Spearman correlation analysis and K-means clustering were then applied to characterize trade-offs and synergies among ESs and to delineate ecosystem service bundles at multiple spatial scales, including 1 km × 1 km grids, 10 km × 10 km grids, and the county level, while GeoDetector was used to identify the associated driving mechanisms. The results indicated that (1) between 2000 and 2020, the spatial distribution pattern of the ESs in the Taihu Basin underwent significant changes, with WY and SR increasing by 48.97% and 51.89%, respectively, while HQ, CS, and CP decreased by 17.2%, 15.5%, and 47.6%. (2) From an overall perspective of trade-offs and synergies, the interactions among ESs shifted from trade-offs (r < 0) to synergies (r > 0) as the scale increased. From the perspective of the spatial characteristics of trade-offs and synergies, the intensity of these interactions varied significantly with increasing scale, but the trend remained relatively stable. (3) The Taihu Basin can be categorized into six ES bundles (ESBs). ESB 1, ESB 3, ESB 4, and ESB 5 have relatively stable ES structures, whereas ESBs 2 and 6 display significant variations. (4) The primary factors influencing ESs vary significantly across different spatial scales, with land use/land cover (LULC) and the proportions of arable land, forestland, and buildings exhibiting strong explanatory power. This highlights the critical role of coupled natural and anthropogenic processes in shaping the spatial patterns of ESs. This study considers the spatiotemporal variation and scale dependence of ecosystem services, providing management recommendations tailored to different regions and spatial scales, and offering a scientific basis for regional ecological planning and watershed governance. Full article