Science-based intensive agriculture: Sustainability, food security, and the role of technology

A scoping review on technology applications in agricultural extension

Agricultural extension plays a crucial role in disseminating knowledge, empowering farmers, and advancing agricultural development. The effectiveness of these roles can be greatly improved by integrating technology. These technologies, often grouped into two categories-agricultural technology and educational technology-work together to yield the best outcomes. While several studies have been conducted using technologies in agricultural extension programs, no previous reviews have solely examined the impact of these technologies in agricultural extension, and this leaves a significant knowledge gap especially for professionals in this field. For this scoping review, we searched the five most relevant, reliable, and comprehensive databases (CAB Abstracts (Ovid), AGRICOLA (EBSCO), ERIC (EBSCO), Education Source (EBSCO), and Web of Science Core Collection) for articles focused on the use of technology for training farmers in agricultural extension settings. Fifty-four studies published between 2000 and 2022 on the use of technology in agricultural extension programs were included in this review. Our findings show that: (1) most studies were conducted in the last seven years (2016-2022) in the field of agronomy, with India being the most frequent country and Africa being the most notable region for the studies; (2) the quantitative research method was the most employed, while most of the included studies used more than one data collection approach; (3) multimedia was the most widely used educational technology, while most of the studies combined more than one agricultural technology such as pest and disease control, crop cultivation and harvesting practices; (4) the impacts of technology in agricultural extension were mostly mixed, while only the educational technology type had a statistically significant effect or impact of the intervention outcome. From an analysis of the results, we identified potential limitations in included studies' methodology and reporting that should be considered in the future like the need to further analyze the specific interactions between the two technology types and their impacts of some aspects of agricultural extension. We also looked at the characteristics of interventions, the impact of technology on agricultural extension programs, and current and future trends. We emphasized the gaps in the literature that need to be addressed.

Bread Products from Blends of African Climate Resilient Crops: Baking Quality, Sensory Profile and Consumers' Perception

With food insecurity rising dramatically in Sub-Saharan Africa, promoting the use of sorghum, cowpea and cassava flours in staple food such as bread may reduce wheat imports and stimulate the local economy through new value chains. However, studies addressing the technological functionality of blends of these crops and the sensory properties of the obtained breads are scarce. In this study, cowpea varieties (i.e., Glenda and Bechuana), dry-heating of cowpea flour and cowpea to sorghum ratio were studied for their effects on the physical and sensory properties of breads made from flour blends. Increasing cowpea Glenda flour addition from 9 to 27% (in place of sorghum) significantly improved bread specific volume and crumb texture in terms of instrumental hardness and cohesiveness. These improvements were explained by higher water binding, starch gelatinization temperatures and starch granule integrity during pasting of cowpea compared to sorghum and cassava. Differences in physicochemical properties among cowpea flours did not significantly affect bread properties and texture sensory attributes. However, cowpea variety and dry-heating significantly affected flavour attributes (i.e., beany, yeasty and ryebread). Consumer tests indicated that composite breads could be significantly distinguished for most of the sensory attributes compared to commercial wholemeal wheat bread. Nevertheless, the majority of consumers scored the composite breads from neutral to positive with regard to liking. Using these composite doughs, chapati were produced in Uganda by street vendors and tin breads by local bakeries, demonstrating the practical relevance of the study and the potential impact for the local situation. Overall, this study shows that sorghum, cowpea and cassava flour blends can be used for commercial bread-type applications instead of wheat in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Assessing the association of sustainable agriculture with rural household food security (considering ecological, economic, and social aspects)

Due to the importance of sustainability in the world, we follow the missing pieces of the puzzle of sustainable agriculture and food security as a huge gap in the literature. To achieve this goal, a survey was analyzed to assess the linkage between these two concepts in the rural areas in Lorestan province in Iran. The status of food security was assessed using US Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM). A standard questionnaire extracted from the related literature was applied to calculate sustainability indicators. The results showed that the status of food security among households with no children (70%) was better than those with one or more children (28%). According to the Tobit model, none of the sustainability dimensions had a significant association with food insecurity. The results support the fact that the assessment of agricultural sustainability at the microeconomic level, short-term period, and a small, specified location cannot lead to reliable results due to the similar behaviors of farmers in these areas. The low level of agricultural sustainability is due to the lack of macroeconomic policies in the region to promote and disseminate the principles of sustainability, lack of plans and actions to promote sustainability by stakeholders and policymakers, ignorance of the target community, as subsistence producers who fall into a deprivation trap. The results suggest that policymakers should use two short-term and long-term strategies to improve the level of agricultural sustainability and increase food security status.

Arable land and water footprints for food consumption in China: From the perspective of urban and rural dietary change

Since the adoption of the open-door policy, the Chinese dietary pattern has changed greatly. Based on the dietary changes, this study analyzed the arable land and water footprints (WFs) for the food consumption of urban and rural residents in China. The results showed that the arable land demand and WFs for meat, vegetable oil, soybeans and liquor exceeded those for other foods, and the per capita arable land and WFs for food consumption of urban residents were higher than those of rural residents. The total arable land and WFs for the food consumption of residents increased by 16.9 million ha (from 91.1 to 108 million ha) and 214.5 billion m³ (from 457.9 to 672.4 billion m³), respectively, from 1983 to 2017. Specifically, the total arable land and WFs for the food consumption of urban residents increased by 45.9 million hm² (from 22.6 to 68.5 million hm²) and 318.3 billion m³ (from 113.2 to 431.5 billion m³), respectively. Additionally, those of rural residents decreased by 29.7 million hm² (from 69.2 to 39.5 million hm²) and 103.9 billion m³ (344.8 to 240.9 billion m³), respectively, mainly due to the migration of the rural population to cities and the reductions in per capita arable land and WFs due to increased crop yields. The arable land and blue WFs required for food consumption will reach 127.7 million hm² and 221.1 billion m³, respectively, in 2030. However, these values will be reduced by approximately 23% and 20%, respectively, to 98.9 million hm² and 177.8 billion m³ under a balanced dietary pattern. Measures such as improving the investment in agricultural research and development, advocating a balanced diet, and increasing the import of resource-intensive foods could alleviate the pressure on land and water resources.

On the genetic architecture in a public tropical maize panel of the symbiosis between corn and plant growth-promoting bacteria aiming to improve plant resilience

Exploring the symbiosis between plants and plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) is a new challenge for sustainable agriculture. Even though many works have reported the beneficial effects of PGPB in increasing plant resilience for several stresses, its potential is not yet widely explored. One of the many reasons is the differential symbiosis performance depending on the host genotype. This opens doors to plant breeding programs to explore the genetic variability and develop new cultivars with higher responses to PGPB interaction and, therefore, have higher resilience to stress. Hence, we aimed to study the genetic architecture of the symbiosis between PGPB and tropical maize germplasm, using a public association panel and its impact on plant resilience. Our findings reveal that the synthetic PGPB population can modulate and impact root architecture traits and improve resilience to nitrogen stress, and 37 regions were significant for controlling the symbiosis between PGPB and tropical maize. In addition, we found two overlapping SNPs in the GWAS analysis indicating strong candidates for further investigations. Furthermore, genomic prediction analysis with genomic relationship matrix computed using only significant SNPs obtained from GWAS analysis substantially increased the predictive ability for several traits endorsing the importance of these genomic regions for the response of PGPB. Finally, the public tropical panel reveals a significant genetic variability to the symbiosis with the PGPB and can be a source of alleles to improve plant resilience.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-021-01257-6.

In pursuit of a better world: crop improvement and the CGIAR

The CGIAR crop improvement (CI) programs, unlike commercial CI programs, which are mainly geared to profit though meeting farmers' needs, are charged with meeting multiple objectives with target populations that include both farmers and the community at large. We compiled the opinions from >30 experts in the private and public sector on key strategies, methodologies, and activities that could the help CGIAR meet the challenges of providing farmers with improved varieties while simultaneously meeting the goals of: (i) nutrition, health, and food security; (ii) poverty reduction, livelihoods, and jobs; (iii) gender equality, youth, and inclusion; (iv) climate adaptation and mitigation; and (v) environmental health and biodiversity. We review the crop improvement processes starting with crop choice, moving through to breeding objectives, production of potential new varieties, selection, and finally adoption by farmers. The importance of multidisciplinary teams working towards common objectives is stressed as a key factor to success. The role of the distinct disciplines, actors, and their interactions throughout the process from crop choice through to adoption by farmers is discussed and illustrated.

Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis of a Stand-Alone Photovoltaic System for Combined Aquaponics on Drylands

An open-field cultivation combined-type aquaponic system (OCAS) was developed to effectively utilize saline groundwater and prevent soil salinization while ensuring food production in drylands. To achieve the sustainable food production of the OCAS in power-scarce areas, a stand-alone photovoltaic system (PVS) for the OCAS was designed through a feasibility study of utilizing solar energy to meet its power demand. As a case study, the OCAS was established in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, with power consumption 22.72 kWh/day and annual average daily global horizontal irradiation (GHI) 6.12 kWh/m2/day, considering the 2017 meteorological data. HOMER software was employed for performance analysis and techno-economic evaluation of an appropriate PVS. Thousands PVS configurations were evaluated in terms of total net present cost (NPC) and levelized cost of energy (COE). The PVS that fulfilled the power demand and had the smallest NPC was proposed, for which the NPC and COE were calculated as $46,993 and $0.438/kWh, respectively. The relationship between its annual power supply and power demand of the OCAS was also analyzed in detail. It was found that the operation hours and the amount of power generation by the proposed PVS were 4156 h and 19,106 kWh in one year. Additionally, it was predicted that the excess power would occur almost every afternoon and reach 43% of the generated power. Therefore, the COE can be further reduced by rationally utilizing the excess power during operation.

Bare Earth's Surface Spectra as a Proxy for Soil Resource Monitoring

The Earth’s surface dynamics provide essential information for guiding environmental and agricultural policies. Uncovered and unprotected surfaces experience several undesirable effects, which can affect soil ecosystem functions. We developed a technique to identify global bare surface areas and their dynamics based on multitemporal remote sensing images to aid the spatiotemporal evaluation of anthropic and natural phenomena. The bare Earth’s surface and its changes were recognized by Landsat image processing over a time range of 30 years using the Google Earth Engine platform. Two additional products were obtained with a similar technique: a) Earth’s bare surface frequency, which represents where and how many times a single pixel was detected as bare surface, based on Landsat series, and b) Earth’s bare soil tendency, which represents the tendency of bare surface to increase or decrease. This technique enabled the retrieval of bare surfaces on 32% of Earth’s total land area and on 95% of land when considering only agricultural areas. From a multitemporal perspective, the technique found a 2.8% increase in bare surfaces during the period on a global scale. However, the rate of soil exposure decreased by ~4.8% in the same period. The increase in bare surfaces shows that agricultural areas are increasing worldwide. The decreasing rate of soil exposure indicates that, unlike popular opinion, more soils have been covered due to the adoption of conservation agriculture practices, which may reduce soil degradation.