Food and Energy Security最新文献

Improving carbon (C) sequestration has become a critical research priority for global agricultural sustainability. Carbon-dynamics and their influences on microbial-populations and crop-productivity in maize-soybean intercropping system (MSI) remain unclear. Experiments were carried out at Renshou, Lezhi, and Yaan to investigate the carbon-balance in terms of C-sequestration across plants-organs and its mechanistic influences on microbial-populations and crop-productivity in MSI. Soybean was planted with maize in two different relay-intercropping patterns (R11, 40:60 cm and R12, 50:50 cm) and the results compared against maize-monoculture (MM) and soybean-monoculture(SM). Results showed that carbon-accumulation in MSI was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than in sole-cropping. Carbon accumulation was 5.96%, 23.9%, and 217.6% higher in MM, SM and R11 respectively, compared to the R12. Contrast to MM, the two MSI pattern (R11 and R12) showed increased carbon accumulation by 27.5% and 18.1% in straw, 19.1% and 15% in grains, and 22.2% and 18.6% in roots, respectively. Compared to the SM and MM, the MSI (R11 and R12) improved the fungi by 45%–60% and 33%–45%, bacteria by 51%–56% and 33%–35%, and actinomycetes by 47%–49% and 35%–38%, respectively. Maximum grain-yield of 11356.2 kg ha⁻¹ and 10370.3 kg ha⁻¹ in R11 and R12 at the Lezhi, which were 117.76% and 452.02%, higher than MM and SM, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that PC1 explained 93.89%, and PC2 explained 5.2% of the variation. Microbial-numbers showed strong positive-correlation with carbon-accumulation in root (R² = 0.9207, p < 0.05), straw (R² = 0.8683, p < 0.05) and grain-yield (R² = 0.8639, p < 0.05). These findings suggest that intercropping enhances soil-fertility, microbial-community, and mitigation of climate-change and boosts crop-productivity.

Frequent global geopolitical conflicts, climate change and food security are threatening the global human living environment. This study aims to investigate the spatial and temporal dynamic evolution and spatial correlation between agricultural mechanization and agricultural energy efficiency in China in the context of sustainable development, and to explore whether agricultural mechanization in China can contribute to the improvement of agricultural energy efficiency in China. Based on panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2010 to 2022, this study calculated China's agricultural energy efficiency and agricultural mechanization levels, and used spatial analysis methods to explore the spatiotemporal dynamics of these two factors. Furthermore, the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) was used to analyze the impact of agricultural mechanization on agricultural energy efficiency at the provincial level. The results show that China's total agricultural energy consumption has been increasing annually, with a shift in energy structure from indirect to direct energy. Agricultural energy efficiency has generally improved, but significant regional differences persist. Between 2010 and 2022, agricultural mechanization exhibited clear spatial correlation and agglomeration effects. Prior to 2014, agricultural energy efficiency showed no spatial correlation, but after 2014, spatial correlation gradually emerged. A U-shaped relationship exists between agricultural mechanization and agricultural energy efficiency: initially, higher mechanization is negatively correlated with energy efficiency, but after reaching a critical point, this correlation becomes positive. This study innovatively combines the EBM-DEA model with spatial econometrics to more comprehensively capture efficiency measures and spatial spillover effects. It identifies and verifies the U-shaped nonlinear relationship between agricultural mechanization and agricultural energy efficiency in China. The study also reveals significant regional differences and spatial agglomeration patterns in both agricultural mechanization and agricultural energy efficiency, enriching theoretical and empirical research in the field of agricultural energy efficiency. The study concludes that the promotion of agricultural mechanization should be combined with the promotion of energy-saving equipment, the utilization of renewable energy, and regionally differentiated policies to achieve the goal of sustainable agricultural development.

As China advances its ecological civilization goals, understanding the role of social capital in shaping ecosystem service outcomes is critical for ensuring long-term food and energy security. This study examines how social capital influences ecosystem services across 28 counties in the Qinba Mountains area of southern Shaanxi Province. A comprehensive social capital index is constructed using the entropy method, while ecosystem services are evaluated through the value equivalent factor per unit area method. The results indicate that social capital exerts a significant positive influence on ecosystem services, and ecological compensation policies are shown to strengthen this relationship. Furthermore, the impact of social capital and the moderating effect of ecological compensation policies exhibit pronounced regional heterogeneity across different areas and land types. Regionally, social capital most strongly promotes ecosystem services in Ankang, whereas ecological compensation policies exert the most pronounced positive moderating effect in Shangluo. Regarding land type heterogeneity, social capital enhances ecosystem service value in grasslands and watershed areas but suppresses it on unutilized land. In woodland regions, ecological compensation policies significantly amplify the positive effects of social capital. These findings highlight the importance of regionally tailored compensation mechanisms and the strategic use of social capital to sustain critical ecosystem functions and promote food and energy security.

Global wheat production is extending to dryland and tropical environments prone to drought and heat stress due to breeding and deploying new-generation ideotypes with desirable product profiles. However, yield gains are low and stagnant under these environments, attributable to abiotic stresses, primarily drought. Genotypes with drought-adaptive root traits will enhance grain yield and productivity under dryland and drought-stress conditions. Root traits are valued and related to high biomass production, nutrient and water extraction, ultimately boosting yield and yield components, notably in dryland agro-ecologies. Hence, the objective of the current review is to explore and document the opportunities, challenges and progress in wheat breeding targeting novel root traits to enhance drought adaptation and improve productivity under dryland agro-ecologies. The review presents a detailed account of the available genetic resources of wheat possessing desirable root traits for breeding programs. This is followed by outlines on the genetic gains for breeding for wheat root system architecture traits and the potential of high-throughput phenotyping techniques. Challenges and limitations on root phenotyping methods are presented. Lastly, the paper discusses the potential utilities of molecular breeding approaches, including marker-assisted selection, genomic-assisted breeding, and next-generation sequencing for accelerated breeding targeting root system architecture traits. The review can guide wheat breeders and agronomists in developing drought-tolerant varieties by exploiting the root system and climate-smart wheat varieties for moisture-deficient production environments.

Food security is a core issue for ensuring national economic development, stabilizing food-related industries, and safeguarding national security. China's food production exhibits significant regional disparities. In-depth research on these regional differences and their spatial distribution characteristics is of great importance for optimizing resource allocation and formulating targeted policies. Based on data from 31 provinces in China between 2001 and 2023, this paper measures the Comprehensive Food Production Capability across the whole country and the four major regions—East, Central, West, and Northeast—using the entropy method. It also systematically analyzes the dynamic changes, regional disparities, and their sources by combining methods such as the Dagum Gini Coefficient, Kernel Density Estimation, and Spatial Autocorrelation Analysis. The study finds: (1) From 2001 to 2023, China's Comprehensive Food Production Capability has steadily improved, with a significant overall increase, but the disparities between and within regions have gradually expanded, exhibiting obvious imbalance; (2) Regional differences are the primary source of the overall disparity, accounting for 45.79%. The gap between the Northeast and other regions continues to widen, while the gap between the Central and Eastern regions has slightly increased, and the gap between the East and West regions remains stable, showing convergence; (3) Regarding intra-regional differences, the Eastern region exhibits relatively small and stable internal disparities, the Western region shows a trend of expansion followed by stabilization, while the Central region has significantly expanded; (4) Spatial autocorrelation analysis shows that food production capacity exhibits significant negative spatial correlation at the provincial scale, manifested as “heterogeneous agglomeration” between high and low-capacity regions. With the advancement of agricultural modernization and policy implementation, regional disparities have gradually intensified, and high-capacity regions are forming stable clusters. The study indicates that, despite the overall improvement in food production capacity, regional differences are becoming more entrenched. Future efforts should focus on agricultural technological innovation, precise support, and optimal resource allocation. Differentiated policies should be formulated for different regions to achieve balanced regional development and ensure the sustainable security of food supply.

Energy poverty, deforestation, and environmental degradation are pressing challenges in rural areas, threatening both local livelihoods and forest ecosystems. Significant efforts have been made to address these issues, with community-based organizations (CBOs) playing a crucial role in promoting forest conservation and sustainable energy practices. Yet not all communities have equal capacity to address energy poverty, influence conservation efforts, or shape sustainable environmental outcomes. In this study, we examine the intensity of wood energy usage, perceptions of fuelwood-driven deforestation, and factors influencing the adoption of alternative energy and participation in forest conservation. Data was collected from 300 rural households in Dir Kohistan, and the analysis employed ordered logit and probit models. The results reveal a heavy dependence on fuelwood, with 89% of respondents relying on it as their primary energy source. Membership in CBOs such as Village Development Committees (VDCs) is associated with higher wood energy usage, but the presence of functional VDCs in a village reduces reliance on fuelwood. Urban influence, notably from urban residents within rural households, is a strong driver of increased wood energy consumption and deforestation concerns. Additionally, education, family size, and ethnic harmony emerge as significant factors in shaping both energy consumption behaviors and conservation participation. Functional VDCs significantly increase participation in forest conservation, while urban residents exhibit a negative impact on conservation efforts. The study highlights the need for integrated policies for sustainable energy transitions that account for local governance, urban–rural dynamics, and the socio-economic factors driving energy use and conservation practices.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of pruning period and intensity on the growth and yield of Rosa roxburghii Tratt, a shrub fruit species with significant economic value, to inform optimized pruning practices for its cultivation and management. The experiment was conducted in a 7 year old R. roxburghii orchard in southwest China. A randomized block design with two factors, pruning period (maturity period, dormancy period, and germination period) and pruning intensity (no pruning, light pruning, moderate pruning, and severe pruning), was employed. Growth indicators such as the number, diameter, and length of new shoots, as well as single fruit weight and yield per tree, were measured to assess the effects of pruning. Data were statistically processed using two-factor analysis of variance and principal component analysis. Both pruning period and intensity significantly affected the number of new shoots, new shoot diameter, new shoot length, single fruit weight, and yield of R. roxburghii trees. Moderate pruning during the dormancy period was most effective in increasing the number and diameter of new shoots, while light pruning during the germination period also showed positive effects. An increase in pruning intensity led to higher single fruit weight across all pruning periods, with no significant effect of the pruning period. There was a significant interaction between pruning intensity and period on yield per tree, with moderate pruning during the dormancy period being the most effective in enhancing yield. Moderate pruning, particularly during the dormancy period, is an effective strategy for improving the growth and yield of R. roxburghii. This approach not only controls tree height and crown width effectively but also significantly promotes yield. The study recommends “moderate pruning during the dormancy period” as the optimal practice for the production and management of R. roxburghii, especially in biogeographically suitable areas.

Water, nitrogen, and silicon fertilizers are key factors influencing rice productivity and lodging resistance. In recent years, alternate wetting and drying irrigation (AWD) and deep nitrogen placement (DNP) have been identified as effective agronomic strategies to improve yield, nitrogen use efficiency, and reduce lodging risk. However, the combined effects of these strategies and foliar silicon fertilizer application on rice yield, nitrogen use efficiency, and lodging resistance remain unclear. To address this, a 2-year field experiment was conducted with the rice cultivar Nangeng 5718, comparing four water and fertilizer management practices: control (CK), conventional water and nitrogen management (CON), AWD combined with DNP (OPT1), and a split application of panicle fertilizer with foliar silicon application on the basis of OPT1 (OPT2). Results showed that OPT1 and OPT2 treatments increased grain yield and nitrogen recovery efficiency by 5.3%–25.9% and 56.2%–114.7%, respectively, compared to CON, but also increased the lodging index by 15.0%–38.2%. While both OPT treatments enhanced rice productivity, AWD and DNP under high nitrogen levels did not improve lodging resistance. OPT2 further increased yield and recovery efficiency by 0.9%–8.8% and 4.7%–23.4%, respectively, while reducing the lodging index by 4.7%–12.6%. The decrease in the lodging index under OPT2 was associated with improved breaking strength, breaking force, lignin, and cellulose, while yield gains were mainly driven by enhanced recovery efficiency. This study demonstrates that while OPT1 boosts yield at the cost of higher lodging risk, the additional foliar silicon application in OPT2 effectively counteracts this drawback. Therefore, OPT2 offers a viable pathway to synergistically enhance rice productivity and lodging resistance under high nitrogen inputs.

The metropolis Shanghai was selected as the research object for this study due to its high rate of land transfer. Based on theoretical analysis and using panel data from its nine suburbs from 2008 to 2018, the authors constructed a multiple intermediary model to describe the impact of the transfer of contracted land on agricultural ecological efficiency. The results show the direct impact of this land transfer to be insignificant, though two factors, planting structure and agricultural green production technology, both present a significant negative intermediary effect. The development of contracted land transfer has led to “non-grained” planting, but also inhibits improvements from being made to the level of agricultural green production technology. In fact, it leads to decreases in agricultural ecological efficiency. In the process of promoting the transfer of contracted land, it is necessary not only to pursue a high rate of land transfer but also not to ignore the quality of transferred land. Therefore, the principle of green production and operation should be taken as the prerequisite for the transfer of contracted land. We recommend increasing the certification of green agricultural products and the construction of production bases, and controlling the “non-grain” utilization of contracted land by adjusting and optimizing the planting structure so as to effectively improve the efficiency of agricultural production.

Alleviating the fiscal difficulties of local governments and establishing a long-term mechanism for grain production growth and farmers' income increase are key issues in safeguarding national food security. To address the deep-seated contradictions that restrict agricultural development, the Chinese government has implemented a series of agricultural support measures. Among them, the Major Grain-producing County Reward Policy is regarded as a representative vertical interest compensation mechanism. In terms of institutional design, this policy basically has the potential to solve the problem of interest losses in major grain-producing counties arising from the externality of grain production and opportunity cost. However, its policy implementation effect and impact mechanism still need to be further clarified. Thus, this study takes the Major Grain-producing Counties Reward Policy as an example and examines the effects of the policy through the perspectives of grain production and farmers' incomes. The research found that under the constraints of limited cultivated land area and worsening climate change, financial support serves as a crucial measure to alleviate food security issues. In particular, targeted fiscal incentives with clear eligibility criteria for local governments are conducive to stimulating their enthusiasm for ensuring grain production. Further, the reward policy can promote grain output growth by increasing grain yield per unit area, the level of agricultural mechanization, and the sown area of crops. This study helps to understand the response of local governments to fiscal transfer payments for grain production and the contribution of such transfer payments to food security, thereby providing empirical evidence for optimizing agricultural support policies in similar countries and regions.