Search Results (2,671)

Cereal crops, including wheat and barley, are essential for global food security, but their productivity is strongly affected by nitrogen availability and water limitation. This study investigated the phenotypic responses of two commercially significant spring wheat cultivars, Videodur (DU) and Sensas (SW), and two spring barley cultivars, Tiroler Imperial (SG1) and Amidala (SG2), exposed to two nitrogen regimes, low nitrogen at 25 kg N/ha (N25) and high nitrogen at 130 kg N/ha (N130), under drought and well-watered conditions. Plants were monitored from the late vegetative stage through maturity under controlled multivariable climatic conditions similar to field settings. A high-throughput phenotyping workflow was applied, combining precision watering, RGB imaging, infrared thermography, and VNIR–SWIR hyperspectral imaging to quantify plant growth, projected digital biomass, plant temperature, water use efficiency, and spectral vegetation indices associated with pigment dynamics, water status, maturation, and senescence. The results revealed cultivar-specific responses to combined nitrogen and drought stress. Under drought conditions, the high nitrogen treatment (N130) increased plant temperature (Tplant) for barley (cv. SG1) and wheat (cv. SW) compared to N25, thereby accelerating early maturation. However, the decline in chlorophyll was not uniformly faster across all cultivars tested. The DU cultivar exhibited superior chlorophyll absorption and reflectance, indicating better drought adaptation compared to other tested species. The high nitrogen treatment (N130) reduced water use efficiency (WUE) in the SW and SG2 cultivars compared to N25, implying that these cultivars used more water. Enhanced nitrogen did not consistently improve water use efficiency but did accelerate the growth cycle. SG2 was particularly sensitive to drought, showing declines in vegetation indices, except for the Water Content Index, highlighting the need for precise water and nitrogen management. Overall, the integration of hyperspectral, thermal, RGB, and water use measurements enabled the identification of trait signatures linked to drought adaptation, nitrogen response, maturation, and senescence. These findings provide practical insights for optimizing nitrogen and irrigation management and for supporting breeding strategies aimed at improving cereal crop resilience under climate-change-associated stress conditions. Full article

Drought poses a major threat to global food security, making it critical to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying plant responses to water scarcity. Epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation and histone alterations, play central roles in regulating genes and hormonal pathways essential for drought adaptation. MicroRNAs, while primarily functioning as post-transcriptional regulators, can also influence epigenetic pathways and contribute to chromatin remodelling, suggesting a role in modulating epigenetic memory. Investigating these interactions is essential for understanding how plants integrate epigenetic and post-transcriptional regulation during stress. Epigenetic memory in drought-adapted plants provides insights into the transgenerational inheritance of adaptive traits and reveals how plants balance genome stability with flexibility. The crosstalk between epigenetic mechanisms and hormonal signalling is crucial for fine-tuning gene expression, promoting drought resilience. This review proposes a conceptual framework integrating epigenetic, hormonal, and miRNA-mediated regulation of drought responses. It emphasizes the impact of advanced technologies, such as bisulfite sequencing and CRISPR-Cas9, in dissecting plant epigenetic responses to drought. These approaches improve our understanding of drought tolerance mechanisms and offer promising strategies for developing resilient crops for sustainable agriculture. However, direct evidence linking epitranscriptomic modifications to long-term drought memory remains limited, and this emerging regulatory layer requires further experimental validation. Full article

The adoption of circular economy (CE) in agri-food systems has been accelerated by rising environmental pressures and resource inefficiencies. This systematic review examines the thematic and conceptual evolution of CE research in agri-food systems between 2018 and 2025, focusing on the transition from waste management toward the strategic integration of circular principles across food value chains. By combining bibliometric mapping with a structured literature review, the study analyzes publication trends, intellectual structures, dominant research themes, and emerging directions within the field. The findings reveal a rapid growth in scientific output and a shift from conceptual frameworks toward applied management strategies, including performance measurement, organizational innovation, and decision-support tools. Technological solutions for waste valorization increasingly support regenerative food system models. Despite these advances, important research gaps remain, particularly regarding geographical concentration, the limited integration of consumer perspectives, and the need for broader assessment frameworks capable of evaluating the systemic impacts of circular strategies. Although nutrition-related aspects appear only marginally in the current literature, they represent a promising avenue for future interdisciplinary research rather than a dominant research theme. Overall, the field is evolving toward a more systemic and implementation-oriented perspective capable of supporting resilient and sustainable food systems. Full article

Investigating the dynamic interplay between population shrinkage and water resource carrying capacity holds critical implications for safeguarding national food security and ecological resilience. This study systematically examines the underlying mechanisms and spatiotemporal evolution of their coupling relationship in Northeast China, thereby advancing the theoretical framework of human–land systems and delivering empirically grounded insights for sustainable regional development. Drawing on balanced panel data from 34 prefecture-level cities in Northeast China over the period 2010–2023, this study develops a population shrinkage index grounded in registered population dynamics. Building upon the DPSIR (driving forces–pressures–state–impacts–responses) conceptual framework, we construct a comprehensive evaluation system for agricultural water resource carrying capacity, explicitly operationalizing each of its five dimensions. Employing a spatial Durbin model (SDM), we rigorously estimate the direct effect of population shrinkage on carrying capacity, while simultaneously testing the mediating pathways through human capital accumulation and fiscal policy interventions. The empirical analysis reveals that (1) over the study period (2010–2023), population shrinkage in Northeast China intensified progressively, expanding spatially from initially localized pockets to widespread, regionally contiguous areas. Concurrently, agricultural water resource carrying capacity displayed pronounced spatial heterogeneity and statistically significant spatial clustering. (2) Overall, the degree of population decline significantly negatively affects agricultural water resource carrying capacity. Further heterogeneity tests showed that this negative effect exhibits significant variation across different population-contracted regions and provinces. Among the control variables, urbanization rate, per capita GDP, and total water resources availability exhibit statistically significant positive associations with agricultural water resource carrying capacity (3) Over the study period, higher human capital endowment and greater fiscal intervention intensity significantly attenuated the adverse effect of population shrinkage on agricultural water resource carrying capacity. Full article

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element in animals and humans, usually acquired via nutrition and thus often dependent on the Se content of the soil from where the food crops originate. The uneven distribution of Se in soils may therefore result in regional Se deficiencies, often further exacerbated due to climate change and its subsequent effects on Se speciation (i.e., the chemical forms in which Se occurs) and the element’s mobility. In recent years, biofortification has emerged as a promising approach to address this issue. This review provides an overview of how climate-driven changes in Se cycling influence soil Se availability and discusses the resulting implications for plant resilience, crop biofortification and dietary Se supply. Although plants do not require Se per se, an increased Se content of plants may improve their yields, antioxidant defences, and tolerance to various—climate (change)-related—stresses such as drought, salinity, and oxidative stress at low concentrations. So far, selenite (SeO₃²⁻) and selenate (SeO₄²⁻) are the most commonly employed Se species in agriculture, often via foliar and soil applications, and due to their excellent solubility in water are subject to leaching or other weather-related limitations. Alternative Se compounds, such as Se nanoparticles (SeNPs) and selenium sulfide (SeS₂) present promising approaches that may enable a more controlled Se release in soils. Nonetheless, their long-term agronomic performance and environmental behaviour require further investigations. Full article

Global agricultural productivity is increasingly threatened by climate change, soil salinization, and freshwater scarcity. In response, edible halophytes such as Crambe maritima L. (sea kale) are emerging as resilient, promising alternative crops for biosaline agriculture. This review comprehensively evaluates the agronomic, phytochemical, and commercial potential of C. maritima and related Crambe species. We examine current propagation protocols and highlight the application of controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) to leverage “saline eustress,” strategically enhancing secondary metabolite biosynthesis without penalizing harvestable biomass. Nutritionally, Crambe species exhibit a highly favorable profile, selectively accumulating essential macro- and micro-minerals alongside potent bioactive compounds, particularly characteristic glucosinolates, including sinigrin, together with diverse phenolic acids. These specific secondary metabolites confer antioxidant defense system and antimicrobial properties, positioning the genus as an unexploited resource for functional foods, nutraceuticals, and cosmeceuticals. However, successfully transitioning C. maritima from a wild coastal halophyte into a reliable horticultural crop necessitates overcoming critical domestication bottlenecks, including mechanical seed dormancy, polygenic salinity tolerance, and a scarcity of long-term field data. By addressing these multidisciplinary challenges through targeted breeding and advanced agronomy, C. maritima represents a highly promising candidate for dietary diversification and the advancement of climate-resilient agricultural systems. Full article

Regenerative agriculture is increasingly promoted as a pathway towards sustainable food production, climate resilience, and the restoration of soil ecosystem functions. However, evidence on the actual uptake of regenerative practices and the factors influencing their adoption remains limited. This study compared the self-reported prevalence of 17 soil-health-oriented regenerative practices among farmers in Poland, Germany, and Belarus using a questionnaire survey conducted in 2025 (N = 150). The survey also examined farmers’ motivations, perceived barriers, knowledge sources, and definitions of regenerative agriculture. Adoption frequencies were assessed using a five-point Likert scale and analysed using non-parametric statistical methods. Several practices, including crop rotation and soil pH management, were widely implemented across all three countries and showed only slight variation. In contrast, more complex, system-based practices, such as agroforestry, biological soil monitoring, and crop–livestock integration, showed lower and more variable levels of adoption. Additional subgroup analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of the observed cross-country patterns. Although some associations weakened after stratification, many significant differences persisted. Across all countries, improving soil health was the primary motivation for adopting regenerative agriculture, whereas financial constraints and limited equipment access were the main barriers. Digital media served as the primary source of knowledge about regenerative agriculture across the surveyed countries, although in Belarus, peers and neighbours also represented a highly important source of information. Farmers in all three countries expressed a preference for online communication channels for further learning about regenerative agriculture; however, Polish and Belarusian farmers prefer social media, whereas German farmers preferred webinars and dedicated websites. In-person training sessions also attracted considerable interest among Polish and Belarusian farmers, but were the least preferred information source among German respondents. On the basis of these results, targeted investment support and direct financial incentives appear to be key priorities for promoting the further uptake of regenerative agriculture across all surveyed countries. However, communication and knowledge-transfer strategies are likely to require greater adaptation to country-specific preferences, although digital media are likely to represent the most effective primary channel for disseminating information on regenerative agriculture. Full article

With the rapid development of the Thai economy and the continuous improvement of national living standards, the Thai people’s demand for freshness, quality, and diversity of agricultural products is constantly increasing. Efficient agricultural product logistics can not only ensure the supply and quality of agricultural products, but also promote the optimization of resource allocation and logistics infrastructure construction, with direct implications for reducing food loss, lowering energy consumption, and enhancing the resilience of regional food systems—key dimensions of sustainable agricultural development. In order to analyze the development status of agricultural product logistics in Thailand, the paper constructed an evaluation system consisting of four dimensions and seven indicators. Factor analysis and natural break point method were used to measure the development level of agricultural product logistics in 77 provinces of Thailand from 2012 to 2023, and the spatial pattern evolution characteristics were analyzed. The research conclusion is as follows: (1) From 2012 to 2023, the comprehensive score of agricultural product logistics in Thailand increased from 24.01 to 30.89, indicating a significant enhancement in overall strength; (2) the logistics level of agricultural products in various provinces of Thailand shows heterogeneous characteristics; (3) by calculating the strength of agricultural product logistics attraction between cities, the Central Plains Agricultural Product Logistics Circle centered on Bangkok, the Northern Plains Agricultural Product Logistics Circle centered on Chiang Mai Province, and the Southern Logistics Circle centered on Pattani and Yala provinces were determined. Full article

Amid intensifying global geopolitical conflicts and increasingly frequent market fluctuations, enhancing the resilience of agricultural sustainable development has become a core issue for ensuring food security and promoting rural revitalization. Digital infrastructure offers a crucial pathway for addressing the pain points in agricultural development and improving resilience levels. Using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces over the period 2013–2024, this paper employs the entropy method to measure agricultural sustainable development resilience and the level of digital infrastructure development. It empirically examines the empowering effect and mechanism of digital infrastructure on agricultural sustainable development resilience through FE two-way models, mediation models, and other econometric approaches. The findings are as follows: (1) digital infrastructure can enhance agricultural sustainable development resilience in the long term; (2) digital inclusive finance plays a significant partial mediating role, and this empowering effect exhibits a double-threshold characteristic; (3) marketization exerts a positive moderating effect; (4) the empowering effect is more pronounced in the central region. Accordingly, this paper proposes policy recommendations including optimizing the regional layout of digital infrastructure, implementing threshold-based differentiated policies for digital inclusive finance, and improving market-oriented supporting mechanisms, thereby providing practical support for international academic research on enhancing agricultural sustainable development resilience. Full article

Against the backdrop of increasing global uncertainty and the growing acceptance of sustainable development principles, enhancing supply chain resilience has become a core issue for enterprises in managing risks and ensuring operational security. Based on a review of the literature and theoretical analysis, this study constructs an evaluation system comprising 12 third-level indicators across three dimensions: proactive defense capability, green operational capability, and collaborative recovery capability. When determining whether there are interdependent relationships among the indicators, this study introduces an extended Bayesian fusion method based on trapezoidal fuzzy numbers to evaluate and confirm these relationships, thereby reducing biases arising from subjective judgments. By quantifying experts’ assessments of the relationship strength and confidence levels between indicators using trapezoidal fuzzy numbers, this method effectively integrates the opinions of multiple experts, reducing the randomness and subjectivity associated with individual judgments. During the ANP weight calculation stage, to overcome the ambiguity and uncertainty inherent in traditional pairwise expert comparisons, trapezoidal fuzzy numbers were similarly used to quantify the comparison results. These were then defuzzified using the mean area metric to construct a precise judgment matrix. Finally, using the publicly available annual reports and ESG disclosure data from three multinational corporations—one in the semiconductor manufacturing sector (Company T), one in industrial digital manufacturing (Company S), and one in the food and beverage industry (Company N)—as empirical samples, the cross-industry applicability and validity of the constructed evaluation system were verified. The results demonstrate that this method can systematically reflect the key factors influencing sustainable supply chain resilience and their weighting structure. Full article

Food security faces significant challenges due to the growing threat of insect pests and global climate change, making it essential to adopt sustainable agricultural strategies. Plants possess intrinsic defense systems that are activated in response to herbivore attack, including the emission of specialized volatile organic compounds (VOC) known as herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs). These volatiles aid the foraging of natural enemies (predators and parasitoids), thereby contributing to biological control of pest populations. Harnessing these chemical defense mechanisms offers a promising avenue for pest management, although natural enemy attraction does not necessarily result in pest suppression or increased crop yield. This review synthesizes plant and insect-derived chemical signaling mechanisms with direct relevance to biological control in crop agroecosystems, including field crops, orchards, vegetable systems, and protected cultivation. We emphasize recent applied research while retaining selected foundational studies that established the principal concepts and mechanisms underlying chemically mediated pest management. Considering the importance of chemical signaling in sustainable agriculture, we propose four key research directions: (1) optimizing plant defense induction mechanisms; (2) integrating HIPVs with natural enemy pheromone-based attractants; (3) combining habitat management with the provision of plant-derived food resources; and (4) harnessing plant defenses through breeding and infochemical-based genetically modified crops. Additionally, we examine the potential impacts of environmental stressors on plant–herbivore chemical communication, underscoring their importance for resilient and environmentally sustainable agricultural systems. Full article

Agro-food processing activities are increasingly recognized as important levers of sustainable rural development, contributing to territorial attractiveness, local economic diversification, and more resilient rural livelihoods. However, despite growing recognition of their contribution to sustainable rural transformation, the territorial implications of agro-food processing remain insufficiently documented and quantified in Sub-Saharan Africa, a gap that is particularly pressing in the current context of Benin’s ongoing decentralization reforms, which increasingly call for territorially grounded evidence to inform local development policy. This study addresses this gap by assessing the contribution of agro-food processing to territorial attractiveness in central Benin, as a pathway toward more sustainable and spatially balanced local economic development. Data were collected from 204 individual and cooperative processing units surveyed via KoboCollect (version 2025.3.3) using snowball sampling. As the data are cross-sectional, the reported associations should be interpreted as descriptive rather than causal. A Territorial Attractiveness Index (TAI), combining indicators of investment, business creation, and agglomeration effects, was developed as a quantitative tool to measure and monitor this contribution. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and, following verification of ANOVA assumptions, the non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis test with Bonferroni-adjusted pairwise comparisons. The results show that 74% of surveyed units made investments (mean CFAF 248,919.5), 76% reported an association with local business creation, and 90.7% reported agglomeration effects linked to economic concentration. The mean TAI was 4.559 out of 7, indicating a substantial association with territorial attractiveness. Significant differences were observed among municipalities (Kruskal–Wallis χ² = 43.27, df = 5, p < 0.001), with Bantè exhibiting markedly lower attractiveness than the other five municipalities, which did not differ among themselves, a pattern that appears more closely linked to structural deficits in collective coordination than to a general absence of processing activity. These findings suggest that sustainable rural development policies should promote context-specific, territorially anchored agro-industrial clusters to reduce spatial disparities and strengthen the long-term economic sustainability of rural territories. Full article

A maritime chokepoint shock can spread beyond the countries directly connected to the affected route. We develop a monthly resilience screening model for a hypothetical Strait of Hormuz closure that separates direct disruption, scarcity-driven trade squeeze, household access pressure and delayed production risk. Hormuz severity variants and related Red Sea, Black Sea and fertilizer node scenarios test the stability of the modeled mechanism ordering. A three-event historical panel provides a limited external consistency check, not full model validation. In the baseline Hormuz stress test, mean modeled import availability pressure ranges from 0.0023 to 0.0076 on the normalized scale during March–August 2026. Trade squeeze accounts for 92.1–94.5% of that pressure, compared with 5.5–7.9% for direct disruption. Of 161 countries entering model-Alert, 39 later enter model-Crisis or a higher internal state. Crossings concentrate where reallocation pressure coincides with weak household access and delayed production risk. Historical estimates are directionally consistent for some events, although the Suez window exhibits non-flat pre-event coefficients and is not interpreted causally. The state labels are internal thresholds, not humanitarian classifications. The model identifies which propagation layer is binding and how quickly the associated intervention window closes. Full article

Climate change is increasingly recognized as a defining global health crisis, yet its impacts on brain health, encompassing neurological function, mental health, cognitive abilities, and psychosocial behavior, and the resulting implications for planetary health more broadly remain under-recognized, fragmented, and insufficiently translated into action. Emerging evidence links climate-related stressors, including extreme heat, air pollution, environmental toxins, food insecurity, and vector-borne diseases, to neurological and mental health outcomes across the lifespan. At the same time, brain health and planetary health are interconnected, as brain health plays a critical role in shaping how individuals and societies respond to planetary crises through cognition, behavior, and decision-making. Addressing these interconnected challenges requires new models of collaboration that move beyond disciplinary research silos toward integrated, solution-oriented, and community-engaged approaches. In this Perspective, we argue that advancing brain and planetary health demands global, transdisciplinary networks capable of bridging science, policy, and lived experience. We present the International Neuro Climate Working Group (NCWG) as a case study of such a model, an action-oriented, globally distributed network that integrates research, policy translation, advocacy, and community engagement, with a strong focus on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Through transdisciplinary research initiatives such as the Brain-CLIMA project in Latin America, emerging work in South Asia, and global resilience frameworks, NCWG provides an example of how multi-factor, mechanism-informed, and policy-integrated approaches may generate actionable insights and equitable solutions. We propose that scaling similar collaborative models may provide a promising approach to addressing the complex, multidimensional challenges at the intersection of climate change, planetary health, and brain health. Full article

Dual-purpose cattle systems are among the most important livestock production systems in tropical regions, contributing significantly to food production and rural livelihoods. However, their considerable diversity in management practices, resource endowments, producer-reported climatic stressors, and production intensity remains insufficiently characterized for effective policy design. Therefore, this study aimed to identify and characterize farm typologies by integrating productive, structural, environmental, and management dimensions and to describe differences in farm-system vulnerability among them. Data were collected from 132 commercial farms using structured surveys. Twenty-three variables were analyzed using Principal Component Analysis of which 22 reached the predefined absolute loading threshold for component interpretation. The resulting component scores were subsequently used in the hierarchical cluster analysis. Seven principal components with eigenvalues > 1 were identified, explaining 68.87% of the total variance. Cluster 1 comprised extensive, milk-oriented farms with the lowest milk productivity but the greatest pasture availability and diversity; nevertheless, these farms were particularly affected by drought. Cluster 2 represented the predominant dual-purpose model, with intermediate productive, environmental, and diversification characteristics. Cluster 3 included more intensive and productive farms with limited land availability, the lowest soil conservation and pasture availability scores, high maintenance expenditure, and low investment capacity. Cluster 4 showed the highest milk productivity but also the greatest exposure to excessive rainfall and northerly winds. Accordingly, appropriate strategies should prioritize drought preparedness and forage conservation in Cluster 1, gradual improvements in efficiency and environmental management in Cluster 2, soil and pasture restoration and reduced maintenance dependence in Cluster 3, and climate-resilient infrastructure and risk-management measures in Cluster 4. These findings demonstrate that dual-purpose cattle systems are highly heterogeneous systems structured by multiple productive, environmental, and organizational dimensions. The results demonstrate that typology-specific interventions are more appropriate than uniform recommendations and provide a framework for improving productivity, sustainability, and climate resilience in tropical livestock systems. Full article