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Zuniga-Gonzalez CA. TFP Bioeconomy Impact post Covid-19 on the agricultural economy. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0288885. [PMID: 37976256 PMCID: PMC10656026 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND This research was focused on measuring the TFP bioeconomy post-Covid-19 in six regions of the world. METHODS The panel data was organized with FAO Statistics data. Linear programming with an enveloping data analysis (DEA) approach was used to measure the Malmquist TFP indices to determine the inter-annual productivity and technical efficiency changes by region. RESULTS The results show that the effect of Covid-19 on the bioeconomy productivity during the period 2012-2021 on average decreased by 11.6%. This effect was explained by the decomposition of the productivity change into the changes in technical efficiency. The workers decreased their efficiency by 11.7%. In the Northern American region, it decreased by 21.6%, in the Southern European region by 10.1, and in Western Europe by 11.7%. CONCLUSION The results show a downward trend that was affected in the year 2019 by Covid-19, however, it was possible to recover in the following year. One of the conclusions of these results is the effect of the immediate strategies that the governments of the region implemented. This effect was a little slower in the North American, Southeastern, and Eastern European regions. Finally, it is concluded that the measures implemented by the governments in the studied regions had an increasing effect in conditions of variable scale returns. In other words, the companies that remained on a constant scale decreased.
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Affiliation(s)
- C. A. Zuniga-Gonzalez
- Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences Faculty, Agroecology Department, Research Centre of Bioeconomy and Climate Change, National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, Leon, Nicaragua
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Zhu Y, Myint SW, Schaffer-Smith D, Sauchyn DJ, Xu X, Piwowar JM, Li Y. Examining ground and surface water changes in response to environmental variables, land use dynamics, and socioeconomic changes in Canada. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2022; 322:115875. [PMID: 36081259 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Revised: 07/24/2022] [Accepted: 07/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Canada's abundant and high-quality water resources support a growing human population, as well as thriving industrial and agricultural economies. However, recent intense drought conditions have raised concerns for current water resource availability. Patterns of long-term ground and surface water (GSW) changes, and their response to environmental conditions, land-use dynamics, and socioeconomic changes are not well-understood across this large and diverse country. To address this crucial gap, we identified regions of ground and surface water (GSW) changes in all the Provinces of Canada between 2002 and 2016 from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) datasets. We explored the relationships between GSW changes and environmental, socioeconomic, and land-use dynamics over time. We found that all the Provinces of Canada gained a net 4.46 mm Liquid Water Equivalent (LWE) per year, equivalent to a total increase of 66.9 mm LWE. GSW increases were significantly associated with the normalized difference vegetation index and evapotranspiration rates. In contrast, GSW declines were significantly related to deforestation rate, urban expansion, and economic development (median household income). Despite apparent widespread post-drought recovery detected from 2002 to 2016, the rapid GSW declines were also observed in almost all of Western Canada and part of Ontario, amounting to a net loss of 66.13 mm. This indicates that a pronounced drought had emerged. It is anticipated that Canada will be experiencing more frequent and severe droughts under ongoing climate change and increasing demand for water resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanhui Zhu
- School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; School of Geography and Remote Sensing, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Soe W Myint
- School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
| | - Danica Schaffer-Smith
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; The Nature Conservancy, Durham, NC, USA
| | - David J Sauchyn
- Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada; Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative (PARC), University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada
| | - Xiaoyong Xu
- Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada
| | - Joseph M Piwowar
- Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada
| | - Yubin Li
- School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
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Zerriffi H, Reyes R, Maloney A. Pathways to sustainable land use and food systems in Canada. SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE 2022; 18:389-406. [PMID: 36275780 PMCID: PMC9575642 DOI: 10.1007/s11625-022-01213-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED Meeting global sustainability targets under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement requires paying attention to major land-use sectors such as forestry and agriculture. These sectors play a large role in national emissions, biodiversity conservation, and human well-being. There are numerous possible pathways to sustainability in these sectors and potential synergies and trade-offs along those pathways. This paper reports on the use of a model for Canada's land use to 2050 to assess three different pathways (one based on current trends and two with differing levels of ambition for meeting sustainability targets). This was done as part of a large international consortium, Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land and Energy (FABLE), which allows for incorporating international trade in meeting both national and global sustainability targets. The results show not only the importance of increasingly stringent policies in meeting the targets, but also the role that population and consumption (e.g., diets) play in meeting the targets. Both the medium and high ambition sustainability pathways can drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions while protecting forestland. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11625-022-01213-z.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hisham Zerriffi
- Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4 Canada
| | - Rene Reyes
- Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4 Canada
- Instituto Forestal, Fundo Teja Norte sin número, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Avery Maloney
- Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4 Canada
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Zhu Y, Zhang Y, Piao H. Does agricultural mechanization improve agricultural environment efficiency? Evidence from China's planting industry. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2022; 29:53673-53690. [PMID: 35290580 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-19642-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Environmental problems caused by energy consumption in the rapid popularization of China's agricultural mechanization (AM) have caused increasing concern. Using the panel data of China's 30 provinces from 2001 to 2019, this article adopts a stochastic frontier analysis method with output-oriented distance function to measure agricultural environment efficiency (AEE) based on net carbon sinks and empirically analyzes the impact of AM on AEE. The main findings are as follows: Firstly, the AEE of the nation and all provinces shows an upward trend over time and has significant spatial positive autocorrelation characteristics. Secondly, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between AM and AEE. Meanwhile, AM has spatial spillover effect and time cumulative effect on AEE. These basic conclusions are still robust after using instrumental variables, spatial autoregressive model, sub-sample regression, changing spatial weight matrix, and independent variable. Thirdly, the effect of AM on AEE depends on the input effect and output effect caused by AM. The mechanism is mainly reflected in agricultural technology progress, expansion of the scale of farming operation, optimization of resource allocation, and spatial spillover. Given these findings, the paper adds considerable value to the empirical literature and provides various policy and practical implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingyu Zhu
- College of Economics and Management, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, 110866, China
| | - Yan Zhang
- College of Economics and Management, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, 110866, China.
- Institute of Higher Education, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, 110866, China.
| | - Huilan Piao
- College of Economics and Management, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, 110866, China
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Sustainable Agri-Food Systems: Environment, Economy, Society, and Policy. SUSTAINABILITY 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/su13116260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Agri-food systems (AFS) have been central in the debate on sustainable development. Despite this growing interest in AFS, comprehensive analyses of the scholarly literature are hard to find. Therefore, the present systematic review delineated the contours of this growing research strand and analyzed how it relates to sustainability. A search performed on the Web of Science in January 2020 yielded 1389 documents, and 1289 were selected and underwent bibliometric and topical analyses. The topical analysis was informed by the SAFA (Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems) approach of FAO and structured along four dimensions viz. environment, economy, society and culture, and policy and governance. The review shows an increasing interest in AFS with an exponential increase in publications number. However, the study field is north-biased and dominated by researchers and organizations from developed countries. Moreover, the analysis suggests that while environmental aspects are sufficiently addressed, social, economic, and political ones are generally overlooked. The paper ends by providing directions for future research and listing some topics to be integrated into a comprehensive, multidisciplinary agenda addressing the multifaceted (un)sustainability of AFS. It makes the case for adopting a holistic, 4-P (planet, people, profit, policy) approach in agri-food system studies.
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Governing Transitions towards Sustainable Agriculture—Taking Stock of an Emerging Field of Research. SUSTAINABILITY 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/su13020528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The need for fundamental changes in the way humans interact with nature is now widely acknowledged in order to achieve sustainable development. Agriculture figures prominently in this quest, being both a major driver and a major threat to global sustainability. Agricultural systems typically have co-evolved with other societal structures—retailers, land management, technology, consumer habits, and environmental and agricultural law—and can therefore well be described as socio-technical regimes in the sense of the sustainability transitions literature. This paper aims to give an overview of the emerging field of governing transitions to sustainability agriculture and the topics and trends covered, focusing on how agricultural transitions are being governed through a variety of actors and at a variety of levels. We conduct a systematic review of 153 articles published before the year 2019. We identify two main perspectives: papers that analyse the status quo in farming practices and reasons for lock-in, and papers that explore potential transition pathways and their governance. Predominantly, papers study (local) niche developments and discuss governance options for upscaling, rather than actual regime change. Seven distinct perspectives emerge from our reading of the selected articles: application of theoretical perspectives from the literature on socio-technical transitions; governance and regulation; knowledge and learning; concrete approaches to reduce the environmental impact of agricultural systems; urbanisation, urban agriculture, and local food networks; the role of agri-food businesses; as well as the role of gender. While a variety of local case studies shows potential for small-scale changes that might be transferable to other regions and higher levels of governance, it generally appears that more integrative, comparative work and perhaps more coherence in conceptual approaches would benefit the currently highly fragmented field.
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Hirschi KD. Genetically Modified Plants: Nutritious, Sustainable, yet Underrated. J Nutr 2020; 150:2628-2634. [PMID: 32725215 PMCID: PMC7549299 DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxaa220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2020] [Revised: 05/11/2020] [Accepted: 07/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Combating malnutrition is one of the greatest global health challenges. Plant-based foods offer an assortment of nutrients that are essential for adequate nutrition and can promote good health. Unfortunately, the majority of widely consumed crops are deficient in some of these nutrients. Biofortification is the umbrella term for the process by which the nutritional quality of food crops is enhanced. Traditional agricultural breeding approaches for biofortification are time consuming but can enhance the nutritional value of some foods; however, advances in molecular biology are rapidly being exploited to biofortify various crops. Globally, genetically modified organisms are a controversial topic for consumers and governmental agencies, with a vast majority of people apprehensive about the technology. Golden Rice has been genetically modified to contain elevated β-carotene concentrations and is the bellwether for both the promise and angst of agricultural biotechnology. Although there are numerous other nutritional targets of genetically biofortified crops, here I briefly summarize the work to elevate iron and folate concentrations. In addition, the possibility of using modified foods to affect the gut microbiota is examined. For several decades, plant biotechnology has measured changes in nutrient concentrations; however, the bioavailability of nutrients from many biofortified crops has not been demonstrated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kendal D Hirschi
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
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Income or Assets—What Determines the Approach to the Environment among Farmers in A Region in Poland? SUSTAINABILITY 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/su12124917] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The theory about the impact of farm size, income and assets on the environmental approach of farmers is ambiguous. We contribute to the existing discussion in two ways. Firstly, we look for the determinants of the environmental approach. Secondly, we treat farm size as a heterogeneous factor, affected not only by the value of assets but also flows of incomes. The main objective of the article is, therefore, to recognize the impact of assets and income on the environmental approach of agricultural producers. We analyze the results of surveys carried out in 2020 on a group of 120 farms from the Wielkopolska region (Poland), using structural equation modelling (generalized structural equation modelling (GSEM)-multiple indicators and multiple causes (MIMIC) model). Our results indicate that both the income and assets of the agricultural producers have a positive impact on their approach to the environment. However, to a greater extent, the farmer’s approach to the environment is influenced more by income than by assets. This may be influenced by the capitalization of subsidies in the price of agricultural land, which makes this element of farm assets detached from real processes. It is easier for farms with a higher income and assets to realize the orientation towards sustainability.
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Abstract
The implementation of the bioeconomy, i.e., the conversion of an economic system from fossil to biogenic, renewable resources, is seen as an important component of sustainable development by many bioeconomy strategies. What has hardly been taken into account and investigated are the spatial requirements for a sustainable transition to this new system. In order to clarify this, bioeconomy related strategies and policy papers were analyzed thematically. It was shown that spatially relevant issues are addressed to very different extents. Some strategies have a clear technological and economic orientation, while other documents point to the importance of the regional and local levels and the use of spatial planning measures to successfully and sustainably implement a bioeconomy. Overall, the picture emerged that many strategies are still a long way from mainstreaming Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as set out by the United Nations.
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Ahmed S, Downs S, Fanzo J. Advancing an Integrative Framework to Evaluate Sustainability in National Dietary Guidelines. FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2019.00076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
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Bordin ER, Frumi Camargo A, Rossetto V, Scapini T, Modkovski TA, Weirich S, Carezia C, Barretta Franceschetti M, Balem A, Golunski SM, Galon L, Funghetto Fuzinatto C, Reichert Júnior FW, Fongaro G, Mossi AJ, Treichel H. Non-Toxic Bioherbicides Obtained fromTrichoderma koningiopsisCan Be Applied to the Control of Weeds in Agriculture Crops. Ind Biotechnol (New Rochelle N Y) 2018. [DOI: 10.1089/ind.2018.0007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Eduarda Roberta Bordin
- Laboratory of Microbiology and Bioprocess, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, Brazil
| | - Aline Frumi Camargo
- Laboratory of Microbiology and Bioprocess, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, Brazil
| | - Vanusa Rossetto
- Laboratory of Microbiology and Bioprocess, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, Brazil
| | - Thamarys Scapini
- Laboratory of Microbiology and Bioprocess, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, Brazil
| | | | - Sabrina Weirich
- Laboratory of Agroecology, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, Brazil
| | - Carine Carezia
- Laboratory of Agroecology, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, Brazil
| | | | - Andressa Balem
- Ecology and Conservation Laboratory, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, Brazil
| | - Simone Maria Golunski
- Laboratory of Microbiology and Bioprocess, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, Brazil
| | - Leandro Galon
- Laboratory of Sustainable Management of Agricultural Systems, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, Brazil
| | | | | | - Gislaine Fongaro
- Laboratory of Microbiology and Bioprocess, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, Brazil
| | - Altemir José Mossi
- Laboratory of Agroecology, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, Brazil
| | - Helen Treichel
- Laboratory of Microbiology and Bioprocess, Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, Brazil
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Long X, Luo Y, Wu C, Zhang J. The influencing factors of CO 2 emission intensity of Chinese agriculture from 1997 to 2014. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2018; 25:13093-13101. [PMID: 29488199 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-1549-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2017] [Accepted: 02/13/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
In China, agriculture produces the greatest chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions in wastewater and the most methane (CH4) emissions. It is imperative that agricultural pollution in China be reduced. This study investigated the influencing factors of the CO2 emission intensity of Chinese agriculture from 1997 to 2014. We analyzed the influencing factors of the CO2 emission intensity through the first-stage least-square regression. We also analyzed determinants of innovation through the second-stage least-square regression. We found that innovation negatively affected the CO2 emission intensity in the model of the nation. FDI positively affected innovation in China. It is important to enhance indigenous innovation for green agriculture through labor training and collaboration between agriculture and academia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xingle Long
- School of Management, Jiangsu University, 212013, Zhenjiang, People's Republic of China.
- Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, 100081, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
| | - Yusen Luo
- School of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu University, 212013, Zhenjiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Chao Wu
- School of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu University, 212013, Zhenjiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Jijian Zhang
- School of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu University, 212013, Zhenjiang, People's Republic of China
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