Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems最新文献

{"title":"How does the development of rural broadband in China affect agricultural total factor productivity? Evidence from agriculture-related loans","authors":"Ying Li","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2024.1332494","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1332494","url":null,"abstract":"The construction of digital villages is widely acknowledged as a way to achieve the “dual goals” of high quality of the agricultural and rural economy and common prosperity under the digital China strategy. Studies have explored the socio-economic benefits of different aspects of rural digitization, but few have focused on the productivity role of rural broadband development in the context of the urban-rural broadband divide. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between rural broadband development and agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) and the intrinsic mechanism of action, and to provide empirical evidence on the productivity effect of promoting digital transformation in rural agriculture.Using panel data from 31 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020, this paper investigates the impact and mechanism of rural broadband development on agricultural TFP from the perspective of agriculture-related loans by setting up a two-way fixed effects model, a mechanism effects model and a threshold effects model.The results find that rural broadband development has a significant role in enhancing agricultural TFP. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the productivity-enhancing effect of rural broadband development is remarkable only in the central region and the region with higher rural disposable income. Mechanism analysis points out that rural broadband development can increase agricultural TFP by influencing the share of farm-related loans. Threshold analysis further reveals that the role of increasing the share of farm-related loans on agricultural TFP is marked only after rural broadband development reaches a certain level.These findings can provide practical guidance for other developing countries in accelerating the digital transformation of villages and optimizing factor allocation to achieve high-quality agricultural development.","PeriodicalId":504481,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"103 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140089238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Embroidering care and reciprocity: contributions to food sovereignty by feminist peasant women from the mountains of Veracruz, Mexico","authors":"Thelma Mendes Pontes, Juliana Merçon, Citlalli López Binnqüist, Carlos Roberto Cerdán, Gisela Illescas Palma, Denisse García Moreno, Mónica Severiano Hernández, Helda Morales","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2024.1294043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1294043","url":null,"abstract":"Different authors from academia and social movements point to agroecology as a path to food sovereignty and as a way out of multiple social-ecological crises. Peasant feminism (feminismo campesino) informs the daily practice of women, and has contributed to broaden the meanings of food sovereignty as a political framework. Vinculación y Desarrollo Agroecológico en Café (VIDA) is a Mexican coffee growers’ organization that is centrally guided by principles of agroecology, food sovereignty, and peasant feminism. A transdisciplinary study held with VIDA members shows how food sovereignty is based on more dimensions than the official ones. In this paper, we use the Mexican art of embroidery as an integrating metaphor to analyze how female coffee growers’ practices around integral health, food gathering, and bartering contribute to food sovereignty. Our intention is also to analyze how these activities expand from the family unit to the territory, as well as from human to more than human beings. Based on their agroecological knowledge and practice, VIDA’s feminist peasant women invite us to consider agroecology and food sovereignty as key dimensions of Earth stewardship.","PeriodicalId":504481,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"108 33","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140090139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nutritional composition, phytochemicals, and antioxidant activities of Abies marocana Trab. needles","authors":"Malak Zirari, M. Aouji, Hamada Imtara, Driss Hmouni, Mahmoud Tarayrah, O. Noman, Nouredine EL MEJDOUB","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2024.1348141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1348141","url":null,"abstract":"Finding natural sources of bioactive compounds is turning into a cutting- edge task for the scientific community and industry alike. Abies marocana, Moroccan fir, holds great importance due to its ecological, economic, social, and cultural significance.The current study aimed to evaluate the needles of Abies marocana in terms of its nutritional and anti-nutrient content, bioactive components, and antioxidant capacity. The AOAC technique was used to determine the composition of the needles. Mineral content was analyzed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Phytochemical screening of methanol extract was performed using standard procedures, and multiple assays evaluated antioxidant activity. The extract’s volatile profile was elucidated using GC-MS method.The presence of various components in the needles was discovered through proximate analysis, including carbohydrates, crude protein, crude fiber, crude fat, ash, and moisture. Anti-nutrients such as chlorophyll, carotenoids, and vitamin A were confirmed. Needles are a rich source of mineral elements and contain significant levels of phenols, flavonoids, tannins, and phytosterols. Palmitic acid, 17-octadecynoic acid, and (Z)-18- octadec-9-enolide were the main components identified by GC-MS analysis. The methanolic extract exhibited substantial antioxidant capacity. The DPPH scavenging activity displayed a remarkable percentage inhibition. The integration of Abies marocana needles into sustainable diets can contribute to the well- being of humans and the planet, since the nutrient and bioactive compounds present have potential applications in the pharmaceutical and food industries.","PeriodicalId":504481,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"124 32","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140090207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhanced viability and stability of the Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 probiotic strain following microencapsulation in pea and rice protein-inulin conjugates","authors":"Priti Mudgil, Fatima Alkaabi, Hina Khan, Miral Javed, Abdul Razack Hajamohideen, Fatallah Hamed, S. Maqsood","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2024.1284069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1284069","url":null,"abstract":"Probiotics, which offer various health benefits can face challenges in terms of stability during food processing, storage, and gastrointestinal digestion. Therefore, this study aimed to improve the stability and survival of probiotics during various processing conditions and storage. To address this issue, the study was designed to microencapsulate Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 within plant proteins (specifically rice protein (RP) and pea protein (PeP)) and their Maillard reaction conjugated with inulin by spray-drying. The encapsulation efficiency (EE%), stability during storage and temperature, and the viability after simulated gastrointestinal digestion of the microcapsules were examined. The results demonstrate that individual proteins exhibited lower EE%; however, the Maillard conjugates showed increased EE%, with RC (rice protein conjugates) displaying a higher EE% (96.99%) than PC (pea protein conjugates) (92.87%) (p < 0.05). Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy verified the interaction between different functional groups of the proteins and Maillard conjugated and indicated the successful encapsulation of Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 cells. The results also suggested that RC-encapsulated probiotic cells exhibited maximum survival upon gastrointestinal transit, with a decline of only 1.24 and 1.52 log CFU/g after gastric and complete simulated gastrointestinal digestion, respectively. The viability of probiotics encapsulated with RC and PeC showed improvement compared to those encapsulated with RP and PeP, particularly during refrigerated and room temperature storage, thermal challenge, and simulated gastrointestinal transit. Overall, these findings suggest that plant proteins and prebiotic inulin conjugates could serve as promising new encapsulation matrices for the encapsulation of probiotics in food applications.","PeriodicalId":504481,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"30 16","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140084472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Promotion paths for regional public brand development of agri-products in urban areas: resource and institutional perspectives","authors":"Pu Xu, Jie Huang, Min Liu, Yufeng Li","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2024.1327574","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1327574","url":null,"abstract":"This study aimed to find the determinants of regional public brand development of agri-products in urban areas and to explore the specific enhancement paths for the regional public brand development of agri-products. The regional public brand of agri-products in Shanghai was selected as the research object. The study utilized stratified and random sampling techniques to collect data from 320 questionnaires of agricultural business entities in Shanghai. Then a covariance-based structural equation model with institutional factors as mediating variables was constructed. Furthermore, the study empirically analyzed the mechanism of the role of resource endowment on regional public brand development of agri-products. The study showed that the main factors affecting regional public brand development of agri-products are market maintenance, public marketing, industrial resources, and regional resources, in order of importance. Regional and industrial resources positively affected agricultural regional public brand development through the masking effect of public marketing and the partially mediating role of market maintenance. Among them, market maintenance reversed the significant negative impact of regional resources on the regional public brand development of agri-products. The findings of the study contribute to enriching the existing theoretical literature on regional public branding of agri-products, and provide practical implications for the government to help formulate and improve regional brand development policies in urban areas.","PeriodicalId":504481,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"2009 14","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140416559","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Agricultural industrial scale, price random fluctuation, and profitability levels: evidence from China’s pig industry","authors":"Qing Yang, Shiyan Qiao, Ruiyao Ying","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2024.1291743","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1291743","url":null,"abstract":"Promoting the development of large-scale pig farming is a crucial measure implemented by the Chinese government to regulate the pig market.By utilizing panel data from 30 provinces in China spanning from 2003 to 2020 and employing the PVAR model, this study examines the relationships among price random fluctuations, profftability levels, and industrial scale.The findings reveal that industrial scale can effectively mitigate price random fluctuations; however, it also leads to a decrease in relative hog prices. Moreover, there exists significant heterogeneity in the impact of scaling on price random fluctuations. Increasing the proportion of farmers engaged in pig farming with a scale ranging from 500 to 9,999 heads reduces random price fluctuations, while increasing the proportion of farmers involved in pig farming with a scale exceeding 10,000 heads has no effect on stabilizing such fluctuations. Additionally, threshold effects are observed for epidemics and environmental regulations. When environmental regulations are less stringent, industrial scale enhances relative prices and stabilizes random fluctuations; nevertheless, once certain thresholds are surpassed, industrial scale diminishes relative prices and eliminates its stabilizing effect on random fluctuations. Similarly, after an epidemic surpasses its threshold level, industry scale fails to stabilize random price fluctuations. These findings provide valuable insights for governments when formulating industrial policies aimed at mitigating agricultural market risks.","PeriodicalId":504481,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"13 22","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140410930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of green and low carbon agricultural production on farmers’ income in minority areas: a case study of Y Town, Zhijin County, Guizhou Province","authors":"Yanju Liang, Taoyun Pan, Yu Cai, Jinna Yu, Lychhe Choun","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2024.1358471","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1358471","url":null,"abstract":"Developing green and low-carbon agriculture is an important and effective way to promote farmers’ income growth. Given the country’s “dual carbon” goal, the study of the impact of green and low-carbon agriculture on the income of farmers in ethnic minority areas is crucial for China to achieve the goals of socialist modernization and common prosperity. Taking Y Town, Zhijin County, Guizhou Province as an example, this paper uses the OLS regression method to empirically study the impact of green and low-carbon agricultural production methods on the income of farmers in ethnic minority mountainous agricultural areas based on the field survey data of 881 farmers. The regression results indicate that there is a positive correlation between green and low-carbon agricultural production and the household income levels of farmers; adopting green and low-carbon agricultural production technologies can effectively promote the growth of farmers’ household income. In addition, education level, health status, and the new rural social pension insurance have all had a significant effect on the income of rural households, however, due to the difficulty in establishing trust relationships, agricultural service outsourcing has reduced the household income level of farmers. As an example, the land transfer behavior in Y Town has no significant effect on increasing farmers’ incomes. Finally, it is recommended to increase fiscal and financial support as well as effectively enhancing farmers’ policy awareness and perception of green and low-carbon agricultural production technologies by improving farmers’ general trust and institutional trust by strengthening farmers’ agricultural education and skills training while cultivating technology-based farming. At the same time, it is necessary to break the geographical restrictions on land transfer scale and achieve moderate-scale land management while promoting the use and adoption of green and low-carbon agricultural production technologies, thereby improving agricultural production efficiency and product quality, and increasing the sustainable growth of farmers’ income. The main contribution of this study is to expand the research scope of green and low-carbon agriculture to ethnic minorities and mountainous agricultural areas.","PeriodicalId":504481,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"26 61","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140409044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A study of the impact of digital financial inclusion on multidimensional food security in China","authors":"Yunshu Tan, Qiuwang Cheng, Xiaojin Ren, Xiang Huang, Qin Chen, Qiuyi Zhang","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2024.1325898","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1325898","url":null,"abstract":"With frequent occurrences of global public events, the prices of national grains continue to soar. As one of the countries with the largest populations globally, China has always regarded food security as a fundamental cornerstone of its development. However, with the continuous emergence of factors such as urbanization, scarcity of land resources, and climate change, China’s food security faces unprecedented challenges. Hence, this study empirically examines the impact of digital inclusive finance on multi-dimensional food security based on panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2011–2020. The research found that China’s multi-dimensional food security level from 2011–2020 showed a stable yet rising trend, with the spatial pattern of each location generally consistent with the overall trend. The Theil index for China’s multi-dimensional food security showed an upward trend from 2011–2020. Digital inclusive finance can promote multi-dimensional food security. The breadth of coverage and depth of use of digital inclusive finance have a significant promoting effect on safeguarding multi-dimensional food security, while the degree of digitization has not played a promoting role. Digital inclusive finance mainly ensures multi-dimensional food security through two pathways: promoting urbanization levels and enhancing marketization levels.","PeriodicalId":504481,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"56 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140420509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Farmer-preferred traits and variety choices for finger millet in Uganda","authors":"Sophia Hamba, Faizo Kasule, Ibrahim Mayanja, Moses Biruma, Hedwig Natabirwa, Losira Nasirumbi Sanya, Deborah Rubin, M. Occelli, Scovia Adikini","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2024.1282268","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1282268","url":null,"abstract":"Finger millet is a climate-resilient crop providing food and nutrition security and income In Uganda. However, the current productivity of finger millet in farmers’ fields is low and among other factors, this is due to the poor adoption of improved varieties. With this study we aim to identify and profile varietal traits preferred by finger millet farmers and consumers in Uganda. We specifically focus on how these traits vary among women and men in the Ugandan finger millet value chain. We collect data using semi-structured questionnaires among 170 households growing millet in Bushenyi, Lira, and Nwoya districts, and we triangulate questionnaires replies with qualitative information from 11 focus group discussions and 3 key informant interviews. Using descriptive statistics and probit regression models, we find that the majority of the farmers (97%) prefer growing landrace varieties of finger millet compared to only 3% growing improved varieties. The most preferred varieties were Kaguma in Bushenyi, Ajuko Manyige in Nwoya, Kal Atar, and Okello Chiba in Lira. Farmers’ choice of variety depends on a combination of traits including agronomic, marketing, and consumption traits. Gender, marital status, education levels, and occupation are the major socio-demographic factors that influence specific preferences related to finger millet variety. This study lays a foundation for designing a gender-responsive finger millet product profile to guide the development and release of new varieties by the finger millet crop improvement program.","PeriodicalId":504481,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"165 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140422108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sensory and nutritional evaluation of nine types of millet substituted for polished white rice in select Indian meal preparations","authors":"S. Anitha, Priya Arjun, Nagarekha C. Palli, N. Sreekanth, S. A. Miruthika Devi, Sangeeta Pandey, Sridhar Krishnan, Shyam Prasad, Shashi Sharma, K. N. Chidambara Murthy, R. Botha, S. Upadhyay, J. Kane-Potaka","doi":"10.3389/fsufs.2024.1331260","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2024.1331260","url":null,"abstract":"This study was conducted to test the suitability of using nine types of millets namely finger millet, pearl millet, white and yellow sorghum, little millet, barnyard millet, proso millet, kodo millet, and browntop millet in seven popular Indian meal preparations based on sensory characteristics and nutrient value. The popular Indian meal preparations tested were boiled grain, dosa, idli, bisi belle bath, pulao, puttu, and pongal. In total, 53 variations in meal preparations were developed using the millets and seven polished white rice-based meal preparations were developed as control. The main findings indicated that meal preparation crafted from various millets garnered overall sensory scores closely resembling to those derived from polished white rice. Notably, little millet exhibited high scores in pongal and dosa, and achieved elevated overall sensory scores compared to meal preparation from polished white rice. Bisi belle bath made of barnyard millet scored higher in overall sensory score than polished white rice. Moreover, there was significant association between some types of millets’ overall sensory characteristics (p < 0.005) with polished white rice-based meal preparations. In terms of nutrient value, all the millet-based meal preparations had significantly high nutritional value compared to those made with polished white rice (p < 0.05). Especially calcium content of the meal prepared with finger millet was significantly higher compared to polished white rice-based meals (p < 0.05). Puttu, idli, and dosa prepared with finger millet had calcium content of 59.4, 10.8, and 70.9 mg/100 g compared to those prepared with the polished white rice which had only 1.3, 6.3, and 9.2 mg/100 g. The magnesium content of all millet-based meal preparations was generally several-folds higher compared to the polished white rice-based meal preparations (p < 0.05). There is a significant difference in the fiber content of the meals prepared with millets compared to the meals prepared with polished white rice (p < 0.05). This study was conducted using millets that are locally available and does not represent all the millet varieties available globally, as each type of millet has a wide range of varieties. Therefore, it is important to understand and choose the type and variety of millet while enhancing the nutritional value of diets.","PeriodicalId":504481,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems","volume":"16 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140419249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}