Hydrologic variability governs GHG emissions in rice-based cropping systems of Eastern India

Reducing methane (CH4) emissions is increasingly recognized as an urgent greenhouse gas mitigation priority for avoiding ecosystem 'tipping points' that will accelerate global warming. Agricultural systems, namely ruminant livestock and rice cultivation are dominant sources of CH4 emissions. Efforts to reduce methane from rice typically focus on water management strategies that implicitly assume that irrigated rice systems are consistently flooded and that farmers exert a high level of control over the field water balance. In India most rice is cultivated during the monsoon season and hydrologic variability is common, particularly in the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) where high but variable rainfall, shallow groundwater, and subtle differences in topography interact to create complex mosaics of field water conditions. Here, we characterize the hydrologic variability of monsoon season rice fields (n = 207) in the Indian EGP ('Eastern India') across two contrasting climate years (2021, 2022) and use the Denitrification Decomposition (DNDC) model to estimate GHG emissions for the observed hydrologic conditions. Five distinct clusters of field hydrology patterns were evident in each year, but cluster characteristics were not stable across years. In 2021, average GHG emissions (8.14 mt CO2-eq ha-1) were twice as high as in 2022 (3.81 mt CO2-eq ha-1). Importantly, intra-annual variability between fields was also high, underlining the need to characterize representative emission distributions across the landscape and across seasons to appropriately target GHG mitigation strategies and generate accurate baseline values. Simulation results were also analyzed to identify main drivers of emissions, with readily identified factors such as flooding period and hydrologic interactions with crop residues and nitrogen management practices emerging as important. These insights provide a foundation for understanding landscape variability in GHG emissions from rice in Eastern India and suggest priorities for mitigation that honor the hydrologic complexity of the region.

Recent trends in bioartificial muscle engineering and their applications in cultured meat, biorobotic systems and biohybrid implants

Recent advances in tissue engineering and biofabrication technology have yielded a plethora of biological tissues. Among these, engineering of bioartificial muscle stands out for its exceptional versatility and its wide range of applications. From the food industry to the technology sector and medicine, the development of this tissue has the potential to affect many different industries at once. However, to date, the biofabrication of cultured meat, biorobotic systems, and bioartificial muscle implants are still considered in isolation by individual peer groups. To establish common ground and share advances, this review outlines application-specific requirements for muscle tissue generation and provides a comprehensive overview of commonly used biofabrication strategies and current application trends. By solving the individual challenges and merging various expertise, synergetic leaps of innovation that inspire each other can be expected in all three industries in the future.

Systematic review of products with potential application for use in the control of Campylobacter spp. in organic and free-range broilers

Campylobacter spp. are some of the most important food-borne zoonoses in Europe and broiler meat is considered the main source of Campylobacter infections. Organic and free-range broilers have access to outdoor reservoirs of Campylobacter and are more frequently infected at slaughter than the conventional broiler flocks. Limitations to biosecurity and treatment options in these production types calls for additional solutions. This review examines intervention methods with sufficient strength and quality, which are able to reduce the load of Campylobacter safely and efficiently and discuss their applicability in organic and free-range broiler production. Four different products passed the inclusion criteria and their quality examined: ferric tyrosine chelate, a prebiotic fermentation product of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, short-chain fatty acid butyrate coated on microbeads added to feed, and a mix of organic acids added to the drinking water. Though potential candidates for reducing Campylobacter in broilers were identified, there is a lack of large scale intervention studies that demonstrate an effect under field conditions of a free-range broiler production.

Contribution of Livelihoods to the Well-Being of Coffee-Growing Households in Southern Colombia: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Coffee cultivation is one of the main agricultural activities in Colombia, which increases the well-being of coffee-growing families. In order to determine the impact of coffee production, the capital endowment and well-being of coffee-growing families in the municipality of Pitalito, in the south of Colombia, were analyzed using the community capital index (CCI). Likewise, the relationships between the variables were identified through a Pearson correlation analysis, and the increase in well-being was identified and modeled by employing structural equations. The structural equation model showed a suitable fit to the data, indicated by the non-significant value of the χ2 statistic (p = 0.85), a high CFI (0.97), a low RMSEA (<0.001), a low stability index (0.23) and a low variance inflation factor (VIF = 1.42). At the capital level, political capital in synergy with social capital increased the well-being of coffee-growing families; meanwhile, capitals such as natural and physical-built capital did not have the greatest impact on well-being. Political capital variables such as the “possession of the coffee identification card” (CPI), as well as the variable “participates in the activities carried out by the community action board of the village” (PAC), increased by 9.9% and 8.66%, respectively, in the well-being of coffee-growing families measured by the CCI. The social capital variables that boosted the CCI were the benefits of the National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC) (BFN, %V(variation): 8.32) and associativity (Aso, %V: 7.51). Other variables that make up human capital with high incidence in the CCI were family size (FSi) and the number of people who can read in the family (FLE) with a variation of 9.12% and 8.6%, respectively. However, other variables such as labor cost for disease management (CDM) and labor cost for harvesting (HCL) had no significant effect on the variation of the CCI. It was found that the level of well-being increases due to variables such as associativity and participation in grassroots organizations in the community, such as being a member of the National Federation of Coffee Growers, a quality represented by the possession of a coffee identification card that, in synergy with other variables, reduce inequality and poverty.

How do farmers adapt to agricultural risks in northern India? An agent-based exploration of alternate theories of decision-making

Agricultural decision-making processes occur in complex and dynamic environments and are highly contextual. Despite evidence to the contrary, utility maximization is often the implicit theoretical assumption underlying agricultural decision-making processes. This study undertakes an exploratory approach to test alternative theories of human decision-making on the process of agricultural adaptation of farmers in India by synthesizing multiple sources of social and environmental data. We developed an empirical agent-based model (ABM) to simulate past adoption decisions of six agricultural adaptation strategies of 959 farmers in northern India. The model assessed the fit of four major decision-making rules - utility maximization, self-satisficing, social norms, and random choice for farmers differentiated by farm size. Scenario analysis was conducted to test whether (and which) alternative decision-making rules offered a better explanation of the adoption of (which) adaptation strategies. Results demonstrated that the utility-maximizing decision rule had a higher fit for productivity-enhancing adaptation strategies, such as adopting high yield varieties and enhanced fertilizer use, with model performance increasing, generally, with farm size. The adoption of climate tolerant varieties by farmers was most closely guided by self-satisficing and social norms decision-rules, with the model performance, under both scenarios, highest for marginal landholders. Marginal farmers are more likely to use these heuristics to adopt climate tolerant varieties as their decisions may not necessarily be geared towards increasing profit, unlike larger farmers. Social norms had a higher fit for the adoption of climate-related strategies, including enhanced irrigation, with model fit increasing, generally, with farm size. Agricultural policy and extension efforts that incorporate the varied motivations and heuristics of agricultural decision-making, rather than assuming adaptation as a utility maximization exercise, can better design, develop, and disseminate solutions to support the adaptive capacity of farmers.

Puerto Rican Farmers' Obstacles Toward Recovery and Adaptation Strategies After Hurricane Maria: A Mixed-Methods Approach to Understanding Adaptive Capacity

Farmers across the globe are experiencing compounding shocks that make evident the need to better understand potential drivers and barriers to strengthen adaptive capacity. This is especially true in the context of a disaster, where a disruption in the natural and built environment hinders livelihood strategies and exposes the underlying dynamics that perpetuate vulnerability to natural hazards. As such, the interconnections of structural and individual attributes must be considered when evaluating adaptive capacity. This paper uses a convergent mixed-methods approach to assess Puerto Rican farmers' actual and intended adoption of adaptation practices, in light of the obstacles they faced toward recovery after 2017's category four Hurricane Maria, to contribute to better understanding adaptive capacity. This study uses data from 405 farmers across Puerto Rico (87% response rate), surveyed 8 months after Maria by agricultural agents of the Extension Service of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Quantitative data was assessed through negative binomial regressions (actual adoption) and generalized linear models (intended adoption), while qualitative data (reported obstacles) were analyzed through thematic analysis. This study found that almost half of farmers adopted an adaptation practice after Maria, and that in many cases, broader structures, such as systems of governance, farmers' social networks, and infrastructure, affect adaptive capacity more than individual perceptions of capacity. Future adaptation strategies and interventions, especially in the context of disaster, should consider the extent to which structural factors hinder individuals' ability to prepare for, respond, and recover from the impacts of these shocks. Our results show that there might be opportunity to enact new systems in light of catastrophic events, but this does not solely depend on individual actions. The mixed-methods approach used can inform future studies in better assessing adaptive capacity from a standpoint that incorporates individual and structural components.

The fermented soy beverage Q-CAN® plus induces beneficial changes in the oral and intestinal microbiome

Background

Soy products are associated with many beneficial health consequences, but their effects on the human intestinal microbiome are poorly characterized.

Objectives

To identify the changes in the oral and fecal microbiome in lean and obese participants due to consumption of Q-CAN®, and to assess the expected consequences of these changes based on the published literature.

Methods

Prospective study of lean (10) and obese (9) participants consuming Q-CAN® twice daily for 4 weeks with 8 weeks follow-up. Microbial DNA was extracted from saliva and stool samples, amplified against the V4 region of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene and data analyzed using QIIME 1.9.1 bioinformatics. Four hundred forty-four samples were collected in total, 424 of which were productive and yielded good quality data.

Results

STOOL. In the lean population Bifidobacteria and Blautia show a significant increase while taking Q-CAN®, and there was a trend for this in the obese population. ORAL. There were relatively fewer major changes in the oral microbiome with an increase in the family Veillonellaceae in the lean population while on Q-CAN®.

Conclusion

Q-CAN® consumption induced a number of significant changes in the fecal and oral microbiome. Most notably an increase in the stool microbiome of Bifidobacteria and Blautia, both of which are associated with positive health benefits, and in the saliva an increase in Veillonellaceae.

Trial registration

This trial was registered with Clinicaltrials.gov on January 14th 2016.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02656056

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40795-021-00408-4.

Impact of transnational land acquisitions on local food security and dietary diversity

Foreign investors have acquired approximately 90 million hectares of land for agriculture over the past two decades. The effects of these investments on local food security remain unknown. While additional cropland and intensified agriculture could potentially increase crop production, preferential targeting of prime agricultural land and transitions toward export-bound crops might affect local access to nutritious foods. We test these hypotheses in a global systematic analysis of the food security implications of existing land concessions. We combine agricultural, remote sensing, and household survey data (available in 11 sub-Saharan African countries) with georeferenced information on 160 land acquisitions in 39 countries. We find that the intended changes in cultivated crop types generally imply transitions toward energy-rich, but nutrient-poor, crops that are predominantly destined for export markets. Specific impacts on food production and access vary substantially across regions. Deals likely have little effect on food security in eastern Europe and Latin America, where they predominantly occur within agricultural areas with current export-oriented crops, and where agriculture would have both expanded and intensified regardless of the land deals. This contrasts with Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where deals are associated with both an expansion and intensification (in Asia) of crop production. Deals in these regions also shift production away from local staples and coincide with a gradually decreasing dietary diversity among the surveyed households in sub-Saharan Africa. Together, these findings point to a paradox, where land deals can simultaneously increase crop production and threaten local food security.

Accessing p-Hydroxycinnamic Acids: Chemical Synthesis, Biomass Recovery, or Engineered Microbial Production?

p-Hydroxycinnamic acids (i. e., p-coumaric, ferulic, sinapic, and caffeic acids) are phenolic compounds involved in the biosynthesis pathway of lignin. These naturally occurring molecules not only exhibit numerous attractive properties, such as antioxidant, anti-UV, and anticancer activities, but they also have been used as building blocks for the synthesis of tailored monomers and functional additives for the food/feed, cosmetic, and plastics sectors. Despite their numerous high value-added applications, the sourcing of p-hydroxycinnamic acids is not ensured at the industrial scale except for ferulic acid, and their production cost remains too high for commodity applications. These compounds can be either chemically synthesized or extracted from lignocellulosic biomass, and recently their production through bioconversion emerged. Herein the different strategies described in the literature to produce these valuable molecules are discussed.