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Copyright of Journal of Henan Agricultural Sciences is the property of Editorial Board of Journal of Henan Agricultural Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

From the perspective of project and paper datasets, research frontier recognition in the field of agricultural resources and the environment using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic extraction model was studied. By combining the wisdom of domain experts to judge the similarities and differences of clustering topics between the two data sources, multidimensional indicators, such as the emerging degree, attention degree, innovation degree, and intersection degree, were comprehensively constructed for frontier identification. The methods for hot research frontiers, emerging research frontiers, extinction research frontiers, and potential research frontiers were proposed. The empirical research in the field of agricultural resources and the environment showed that the "interaction mechanism of plant–rhizosphere–microbial diversity" was a hot research frontier in the years 2016–2021. The themes of "wastewater treatment technology and efficient utilization of water resources", the "value-added utilization of agricultural wastes and sustainable development", the "soil ecological response mechanism under agronomic management measures", and the "mechanism of soil landslide, erosion, degradation and prediction evaluation" were judged as potential research frontiers. The theme of "ecosystems management and pollution control of agricultural and animal husbandry" was recognized as an emerging research frontier. The results confirm that the fusion method of extracting topics from project and paper data, combined with expert intelligence and frontier indicators for fine classification of frontiers, is an optional approach. This study provides strong support for accurately identifying the forefront of scientific research, grasping the latest research progress, efficiently allocating scientific and technological resources, and promoting technological innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated whether small additions to soil of primary paper-mill sludge, a wood fibre residue from paper production (fibre sludge), caused temporary N immobilization and thereby reduced the amount of inorganic nitrogen leached from agricultural land. This was achieved by measuring respiration and immobilization of N in incubation studies at 8°C, with fibre sludge added at rates varying from 63 to 1000?mg?C?kg -1 soil. Glucose added at rates of 63–250?mg?C?kg -1 soil was used as a reference. Respiration in soil after glucose addition followed an exponential course with the highest rates on days 2–4. During this period maximum peaks of net N immobilization were measured. Even addition of only 63?mg glucose-C?kg -1 soil caused significant immobilization of N in soil. Fibre sludge additions to soil caused lower respiration activities, characterized by two initial peaks followed by somewhat higher respiration rates during the remaining incubation than for glucose. It was likely that hemicellulose, which amounted to 14% of the total C, was the initial available energy source in the sludge as concentrations of water-soluble C were very low. Addition of at least 250?mg?C?kg -1 soil as fibre sludge was required to cause significant N immobilization in soil corresponding to 5?kg?N?ha -1 . Both nitrate and ammonium were immobilized. Relating maximum N immobilization data during days 2 to 10 to corresponding respiration data for glucose and fibre sludge revealed that microbes utilised similar amounts of C per unit N immobilized. On average, 175.6±74.8?mg CO 2 -C were respired to immobilize 1?mg?N and the relationship between C respiration and N immobilization was linear ( R 2 =0.984). To make soil application of fibre sludge a realistic counter-measure against N leaching from agricultural soils, pre-treatment is necessary to increase the content of energy readily available to microbes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a reprint of the article "Organic matter and water-stable aggregates in soils," by J. M. Tisdall, and J. M. Oades, which appeared in a 1982 issue of the journal. The article says that the water-stability of aggregates in many soils is dependent on organic materials. It also describes the effectiveness of various binding agents at different stages in the structural organization of aggregates.

Simple Summary: The spread of invasive wild pigs across the United States has been successfully slowed due to the establishment of a national management program. In this paper, we study the effectiveness of the national program by modeling the spread of wild pigs in the absence of intervention. Further, we use the models to assess the value of resources safeguarded from the threat of wild pigs. Our findings indicate that, on average, invasive wild pigs were prevented from spreading to 724 counties, and USD 40.2 billion in resource value was safeguarded over the first eight years of the program. Continuation of the program will deliver additional benefits and further research is critical to understand its comprehensive economic effects. Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are one of the most destructive invasive species in the US, known for causing extensive damage to agricultural commodities, natural resources, and property, and for transmitting diseases to livestock. Following the establishment of the National Feral Swine Damage Management Program (NFSDMP) in 2014, the expansion of wild pig populations has been successfully slowed. This paper combines two modeling approaches across eight separate models to characterize the expansion of wild pig populations in the absence of intervention by the NFSDMP and forecasts the value of a subset of resources safeguarded from the threat of wild pigs. The results indicate that if wild pigs had continued spreading at pre-program levels, they would have spread extensively across the US, with significant geographic variation across modeling scenarios. Further, by averting the threat of wild pigs, a substantial amount of crops, land, property, and livestock was safeguarded by the NFSDMP. Cumulatively, between 2014 and 2021, wild pig populations were prevented from spreading to an average of 724 counties and an average of USD 40.2 billion in field crops, pasture, grasses, and hay was safeguarded. The results demonstrate that intervention by the NFSDMP has delivered significant ecological and economic benefits that were not previously known. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering is the property of Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Promoting green and sustainable agriculture is of great significance for ensuring food security and addressing global challenges. Meanwhile, health has increasingly become a global concern. Nutrition and health are the purpose of agricultural production. As two major global issues, how agriculture empowers human health has long been discussed. Based on the provincial panel data of China from 2003 to 2021, this paper studies the impact of agricultural green transformation (AGT) on residents' health and explores its impact mechanism. The empirical results show that: (1) AGT in China has significantly reduced the average mortality rate and maternal mortality rate and significantly increased the average life expectancy, indicating that AGT in China has significantly improved the health level. The conclusions of robustness testing methods such as replacing AGT indicators and controlling endogeneity are still valid; and (2) The impact of AGT on residents' health depends on the regional economic level, and there is a threshold effect. Compared with low-income areas, the positive effects of AGT in high-income areas on residents' health are more pronounced; and (3) Agricultural carbon emissions play an intermediary effect between AGT and residents' health, and AGT can improve residents' health by reducing carbon emissions. The level of local education development plays a moderating role in the relationship between AGT and residents' health. Agricultural policy implications include enhancing the ability to protect and utilize agricultural resources, promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of agriculture, and taking a more scientific and systematic approach towards the complex diversity of health risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continued expansion of the world population, increasingly inconsistent climate and shrinking agricultural resources present major challenges to crop breeding. Fortunately, the increasing ability to discover and manipulate genes creates new opportunities to develop more productive and resilient cultivars. Many genes have been described in papers as being beneficial for yield increase. However, few of them have been translated into increased yield on farms. In contrast, commercial breeders are facing gene decidophobia, i.e., puzzled about which gene to choose for breeding among the many identified, a huge chasm between gene discovery and cultivar innovation. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the shortfalls in current gene discovery research and to emphasise the need to align with cultivar innovation. The methodology dictates that genetic studies not only focus on gene discovery but also pay good attention to the genetic backgrounds, experimental validation in relevant environments, appropriate crop management, and data reusability. The close of the gaps should accelerate the application of molecular study in breeding and contribute to future global food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research is to explore the impact mechanism of agricultural digital transformation in alleviating the mismatch of agricultural land resources and provide an effective path for the formation of new quality agricultural productivity. Using the balance panel data of 29 provinces in China from 2011 to 2022, this paper analyzed the mitigation effect and mechanism of agricultural digitalization on agricultural land resource misallocation from the perspectives of land scale management and agricultural socialization services. The results indicate that agricultural digitalization can alleviate the misallocation of agricultural land resources, promote the large-scale management of agricultural land, and improve the level of agricultural socialization services, all significant ways to reduce the mismatch of agricultural land resources. The heterogeneity test showed that the mitigation effect of agricultural digitalization on the agricultural land resource mismatch in eastern and central China and major grain-producing areas was better than that in western China and non-major grain-producing areas. Hence, we ought to strengthen the construction of agricultural digital infrastructures and play into the role of agricultural land scale management and agricultural socialization services in slowing down the mismatch of agricultural land resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial paper takes the form of a concise report and delves into a critical and intricate issue essential for the sustainability of agriculture. It centers on the intricate relationship between agri-cultural water resource management and agronomical practices, as well as their ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change while ensuring both the quantity and quality of crop yields. Specifically, this paper serves as a synopsis of how the far-reaching consequences of climate change for water resources impact agricultural production. It also highlights primary adaptation strategies for managing agricultural water resources, as drawn from the existing literature. Such strategies are designed to counteract the potentially adverse impacts of climate change on the rural sector. Fur-thermore, this brief report offers a valuable overview of the 17 selected papers featured in this Special Issue (SI) on Water, published by MDPI. These papers serve as exemplars of cutting-edge approaches to adaptability in water resource management and resilient crop production systems, as these fields attempt to thrive in an ever-changing environmental landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the global population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, the agricultural sector faces the challenge of achieving an increase of 60% in food production without using much more land. This paper explores the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to bridge this "land gap" and mitigate the environmental implications of agricultural land use. Typically, the problem with using AI in such agricultural sectors is the need for more specific infrastructure to enable developers to design AI and ML engineers to deploy these AIs. It is, therefore, essential to develop dedicated infrastructures to apply AI models that optimize resource extraction in the agricultural sector. This article presents an infrastructure for the execution and development of AI-based models using open-source technology, and this infrastructure has been optimized and tuned for agricultural environments. By embracing the MLOps culture, the automation of AI model development processes is promoted, ensuring efficient workflows, fostering collaboration among multidisciplinary teams, and promoting the rapid deployment of AI-driven solutions adaptable to changing field conditions. The proposed architecture integrates state-of-the-art tools to cover the entire AI model lifecycle, enabling efficient workflows for data scientists and ML engineers. Considering the nature of the agricultural field, it also supports diverse IoT protocols, ensuring communication between sensors and AI models and running multiple AI models simultaneously, optimizing hardware resource utilization. Surveys specifically designed and conducted for this paper with professionals related to AI show promising results. These findings demonstrate that the proposed architecture helps close the gap between data scientists and ML engineers, easing the collaboration between them and simplifying their work through the whole AI model lifecycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of farmers operating in a market economy is to maximize profit. In view of the changing political situation, the main social interest, in addition to food security, should be energy security. Here is a refined version of that sentence: This article examines the production efficiency of selected crops grown in the EU and how well their production can ensure both the economic security of the producers, i.e., the farmers, and Europe's energy security. In addition, it aims to determine which costs incurred in the production process have the greatest impact on productivity. The paper uses data obtained from the Cash Crop agricultural benchmarking database, covering 19 crops and 39 cost categories for each crop. The data (averaged for 2019–2021) came from 30 farms located in 11 EU member states. The DEA method and stepwise multiple regression were used. Research has shown that crops are already being grown in Europe that provide high energy efficiency in production without compromising farm performance (including oats, peas, and winter rye). Moreover, improving the involvement of certain inputs results in improved production efficiency (e.g., through spending on agricultural consulting services). In addition, crop economic efficiency, as assessed by profit with and without subsidies, was found to be strongly correlated with production efficiency. This could indicate that subsidies do not play a key role in farm efficiency within the EU. Crop productivity remains a key factor in achieving economic and energy efficiency. The significance of the findings presented in connection with the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the escalation of the armed conflict in Ukraine has led to renewed interest in EU energy security, i.e., generating as much EU energy as possible for food and non-food production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The rapid aging of the labor force has serious implications for socioeconomic development and poses challenges to food sustainability. Existing studies have focused on the impact of labor force aging on land productivity, but little attention has been paid to the comprehensive capacity of agricultural production, namely the total factor productivity of agriculture. Methods: We estimate the impact of labor force aging on total factor productivity in agriculture using data from 170,506 sample farm households from the National Fixed Point Survey data from 2003 to 2020. We estimate the results using a panel fixed effects approach and mitigate the endogeneity problem using an instrumental variables approach to ensure the robustness of the estimates. Results and discussion: The results show that labor force aging has an adverse effect on the agricultural total factor productivity of farm households and remains robust after addressing endogeneity and substituting explanatory variables. The aging effect shows significant heterogeneity across different food functional areas with different types of farm households. The negative impact of labor force aging on total factor productivity in agriculture is mainly concentrated in the main grain-production and grain-producing and marketingbalanced areas. We also find that the negative impact of labor force aging is more significant among large-scale farmers. The mechanism analysis finds that the aging of the labor force adversely affects the agricultural total factor productivity by inhibiting technological progress and reducing the efficiency of agricultural resource allocation. These insights, when considered in the light of global trends towards agricultural labor aging, suggest that policy interventions aimed at promoting technological adoption, enhancing resource allocation efficiency, and supporting the transitioning of older farmers may hold promise for maintaining food sustainability and addressing the challenges posed by an aging agricultural workforce in numerous developing nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environment Statistics (JABES) special issue on Recent Advances in Design and Analysis of Experiments and Observational Studies in Agriculture covers a select set of topics currently of primary importance in the field. Efficient use of resources in agricultural research, as well as valid statistical inference, requires good designs, and this special issue boasts seven papers providing both review and cutting-edge methodology for the purpose. A broad range of methods for analysis of data arising in different branches agricultural research is covered in another five exciting papers. This special issue highlights the importance of and opportunities for applied statistics in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Irrigation & Drainage is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The integral development of agriculture and tourism heavily depends on natural resources, especially agricultural resources, and it also may contribute to the sustainability of agriculture. The sustainability of agriculture is usually measured by the agricultural eco-efficiency. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate the impact of the agriculture and tourism integration on agricultural eco-efficiency, so as to reflect the role of the agriculture and tourism integration on promoting agricultural sustainability. Applying panel data of 19 provinces in Yangtze River Basin and Yellow River Basin in China from 2008 to 2019, this paper uses a PSTR model to demonstrate the impact of agriculture and tourism integration on agricultural eco-efficiency and its mechanisms. It is found that in the study area, the integration of agriculture and tourism can contribute to improvements in agricultural eco-efficiency, and when levels of integration are high, the promotional effect is enhanced. However, impacts vary among different regions to some extent. In terms of influencing mechanisms, inputs of agricultural labor, sown crop area, effective irrigation area and other factors decrease with continuous improvements of integration. The input of pesticides, fertilizers and other factors does not decrease in the initial stage of integration but undergoes a rapid decrease after crossing a threshold value. And it demonstrates that the integration of agriculture and tourism is beneficial for improving the agricultural eco-efficiency, so that it will contribute to agricultural sustainability. Meanwhile, this paper offers a new research perspective for discovering effects of agriculture and tourism integration, providing implications for formulating regional policies for the integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the architecture and efficient algorithm of a novel autonomous robotics application. The proposed system is used for telepresence control of a laboratory-like robotic arm. The system uses an artificial intelligence approach and includes three different modules. One module performs perception to obtain data about the environment, such as position and velocity vectors of objects. A second module outputs decisions based on this data, such as grasping movements to pick up objects or gestures to speak. It also includes an autonomous navigation module that produces navigation commands which are used in the third module, which controls the robotic arm directly by using sequences of movement commands based on trajectory prediction and sensor information about object states. The research study measures that impact of domain-based knowledge acquisition and text mining. Many applications of the expert framework have been developed and published in the literature over the past few decades. Usually, research papers of such applications provide an extensive overview of the problem field, the methods of knowledge acquisition used, and some measure of the application's relative performance. The results of a thorough content review conducted in the IT field also operating management for over data collected from 200 respondent persons. The research analysis discussed here describes the methods of knowledge acquisition of information and the problem area addressed by the applications. This research-based on quantitative and its data sampling depended upon primary. Data collected from questions and put into smart PLS software. For the measuring impact of domain-based knowledge acquisition and text, mining used different tools and techniques, including R square values, the value of F square, model fitness analysis, and the present text mining graph. This is also the first research to give more practical proof that problems are more pragmatically connected with domain-based knowledge techniques than previously. This research discussed domains related problems such as analysis problems, combination problems, etc. results indicate a positive impact of domain-based knowledge acquisition and text mining. The findings of this study will provide managers with real guidance in the context of declining IT budgets on which programs have the most significant potential effect on their organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the effectiveness of the management of land resources for agricultural enterprises suggested factors affecting the market for agricultural products, which integrates a system of environmental, economic and social indicators in this area. The paper highlights main theoretical aspects of the land resource management of the agricultural enterprises. The essence of land resource management is shown based on the definition of the objects of management, which are land resources of agricultural enterprises, subjects of management, which are landowners and employees of such agricultural enterprises, and objective of management, which is providing and maintaining the efficiency of land resources usage as a key factor of agricultural production. The land market and its structure are presented in detail. Described prospects management of land resources of agricultural enterprises. A complete analysis of mortgage lending secured by agricultural lands has been carried out. A decrease in the number of agricultural enterprises, which is mostly connected with imperfections of land governance, formed in the state, has been identified. Relationships between strengths and weaknesses of agricultural enterprises, opportunities, and threats of efficient land use have been identified. Scenarios of economic development have been considered, which should be taken into account while developing a strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Blackfeet Nation in northwestern Montana, United States, is implementing its Agriculture Resource Management Plan (ARMP), an Indigenous-led, sustainable agriculture plan prioritizing economic development for Indigenous producers, intergenerational health and well-being of Amskapi Piikani Blackfeet people, and ecological and cultural sensitivities within this sovereign nation and its traditional territories. Since the passage of the American Indian Agricultural Resource Management Act of 1993, only three Tribes have drafted and finalized Agricultural Resource Management Plans (ARMPs). The Blackfeet ARMP is now being held up as a national model of Tribal sovereignty. "Blackfeet Innovation Pathways to Food Sovereignty," an Indigenous-led research project, emerged from the Blackfeet Nation's community-based strategic planning process identifying gaps, systemic barriers and impactful solutions for achieving Blackfeet food sovereignty through the implementation of the Blackfeet Nation ARMP, along with research influenced by the ARMP. This paper provides a community case study of the ongoing process and offers a translational model of sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty within Indigenous lands to improve the economic futures of producers and their families, as well as health outcomes for Native communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Agricultural Outlook (1673-3908) is the property of Institute of Agricultural Information, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In Romania, excessive fragmentation of croplands remains persistent in areas of significant agricultural potential as a consequence of combined factors involving both land governance and farms' characteristics. This paper examines the fragmentation of agricultural land use in the Romanian Plain, focusing on the impact of land policies implemented in Romania during the past three decades. The analysis relies on a survey of local policies that helps to distinguish three phases that marked the evolution of the fragmentation of agricultural land during 1990–2020. Additionally, metrics derived from remote sensing time series further assist in capturing the fragmentation levels during the identified phases and the spatial differences for the analyzed period. The fragmentation levels appear strikingly contrasting between the western part of the Romanian Plain and the Danube alluvial areas; this has been attributed as being the joint result of various land governance components which both enabled and constrained proper utilization of agricultural land, and concurrent factors related to economic and sociodemographic changes. We find excessive fragmentation emerged in plain field areas, triggered by the high overall rates of institutional change. The findings underscore the importance of jointly considering the fragmentation phenomenon in its evolution, intensity and spatial differences for effective land use policy formulation, emphasizing the need for proactive governance to support the efficient use of agricultural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Straw return is a crucial method for utilizing agricultural waste as a resource. Against the backdrop of increasing straw production in China, most scholars focus only on the behavioral decision of whether farmers choose to transfer land. However, few studies have touched on the specific content of the land transfer contract and its impact on farmers' behavior. This paper innovatively starts from the perspective of land transfer contracts to explore the impact of land transfer contracts on straw return in terms of standardization, stability, and profitability and to make theoretical contributions to the rational use of straw and the protection of arable land resources. Using data from the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey (CRRS) database, this study empirically analyzed the effects of different elements of land transfer contracts on straw returns to the field. The results show that: (1) Written transfer contracts are more effective than verbal contracts in encouraging farmers to adopt the straw return behavior. (2) Fixed-term contracts are more stable and can effectively promote farmers' adoption of straw return technology. (3) The remunerative transfer method is more profitable and can effectively encourage farmers to adopt straw return technology compared to the non-remunerative transfer method. (4) Farmers in mountainous areas or with smaller areas of farmland have a lower probability of adopting straw return technology. Therefore, the important role of remunerative, fixed-term, written land transfer contracts in the process of straw return should be emphasized, and the adoption rate of straw return should be increased through differentiated policy guidance and comprehensively promoting the sustainable development of agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integrative role of human resource management continues to rise as a topic in sustainable and smart agriculture. This dual focus emphasizes new solutions for agricultural businesses and rural areas, incorporating academic concepts with practical implementations to address the pressing challenges coming from the implementation of labor-saving technologies. The study employs the integrative review method, along with science mapping of literature. After a careful selection of studies from the Scopus database, we included 149 papers for our analysis. Our findings suggest that the overall scholarly work has been concentrated on the topics of entrepreneurship and organizational structure. We conclude that the literature is mostly directed toward sustainability development goals such as gender, diversity, and youth. The current trends topics are "collective action" and "artificial intelligence". Furthermore, our study offered insights into developing and emerging themes, trends, and future directions. The HRM functions that play a pivotal role in the adoption of labor-saving technology adoption are knowledge management, change management, labor allocation, sustainability allocation, and regulatory compliance. Moreover, we provided the practical implementation of the HRM roles and future directions. This study benefits agricultural researchers, agricultural managers, and policymakers because it gives a comprehensive and interdisciplinary perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an attempt to understand a mesh of complex relationships among tangible and intangible socio-economic factors that turned a desert city into the headquarters of one of the mighty polities in the Middle East in the fourteenth century CE. This paper argues that proto-industrialization led to the growth of 'virtual water' that helped the city of Yazd, in central Iran, to break free from its water limitation for the first time in its history. Yazd was almost absent in history until the twelfth century, as a peripheral oasis whose sparse population lived off subsistence agriculture irrigated by qanat systems (groundwater-mining subterranean channels). Following the Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century, the influx of landless refugees changed the relations of production and paved the way for proto-industrialization whose development hinged on skill and capital rather than water and land. Sufism and waqf (endowment tradition) contributed to the expansion of trading routes that facilitated the mobility of goods and people. The qanats were urbanized, and Yazd became an industrial hub where raw materials were processed into tradable products with considerable value added. This paper contributes to a broader understanding of the historical geography of the arid Middle East. • The Iranian city of Yazd rode out the Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century. • A surge of refugees upset the balance between population and agricultural resources. • Abundance of skilled workers led to a Middle Eastern mode of proto-industrialization. • Proto-industrialization engendered virtual water as an adaptation strategy. • Virtual water made a transition to a non-hydraulic society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facility agriculture is an important initiative to adopt an all-encompassing approach to food and build a diversified food supply system. Understanding the evolution of facility agricultural land and the factors that drive it can contribute to the development of scientifically strategic agricultural planning and agricultural modernization. Therefore, this paper constructs a "situation-structure-behavior-value" theoretical framework; quantifies the relevant driving factors (physical, proximal, and socioeconomic) and their impacts on the development and layout of facility agriculture land by using a multivariate logistic regression model; and provides a strategy for optimizing land use. The results showed that the area of facility agriculture in Huzhou is rapidly expanding. Regarding drivers, facility agricultural land tends to be located in areas with higher slopes according to plot selection. Facility agriculture is more likely to develop in plots with convenient transportation and closer proximity to markets. At the economic level, economic efficiency, agricultural resource superiority, and policies significantly impact facility agriculture expansion. Finally, we propose three land use policy options to facilitate the sustainable development of facility agriculture. This study elucidates the underlying factors driving different types of facility agricultural land and offers methodological guidance for policy support, planning, control, and optimization strategies for facility agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study aims to explore various factors that affect students' satisfaction regarding postgraduate agricultural programs and the likelihood of recommending such programs to others. Methods: Data were collected using structured paper-based questionnaires from a random sample of 127 students who were undertaking master and doctoral programs in eight different disciplines within agricultural sciences at King Saud University. Results: The findings showed that majority of the students expressed high academic learning experiences and were satisfied with their program of study. Multiple regression analysis revealed that students' academic learning experience, faculty support, and the rationale for attending the university had significant positive influence on their satisfaction with the enrolled programs. Moreover, the students' satisfaction and faculty support also showed significant positive correlation with their likelihood to recommend agricultural programs to others. Suggestions: In order to further enhance the impact of agricultural programs, we suggest improvements in the university curriculum as well as faculty services to make current agricultural programs up-to-date and relevant to meet the kingdom's national agricultural and human resource development goals. There should be a particular focus on enhancing students' research and written communication skills as postgraduate agricultural programs entail a significant component of these highly essential skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the most significant challenges many rural farmers face in sub-Saharan Africa, as most agricultural practices are rainfed dependent. Many of these rural farmers are small-scale farmers with limited access to financial assets, agricultural equipment, and inputs. With a rapidly changing climate and limited access to agricultural resources, many rural farmers in Zimbabwe have found it extremely difficult to engage in meaningful crop production activities and secure their livelihoods and incomes. This paper employs participatory research methods to examine adaptive strategies adopted by rural farmers. The strategies include optimal water resource utilisation, early maturing seed adoption, soil and water conservation (SWM), and nutrient management techniques (NMT). Cost-effective integration of labour and post-harvest storage facilities is also considered. Rural farmers, despite constraints, actively engage in these adaptive practices. The study assesses the effectiveness of initiatives to enhance crop production and build resilience against climate variability. Discussion centers on the comprehensiveness of these adaptive techniques within the broader framework of sustainable development goals, focusing on goals 1 (No Poverty) and 2 (Zero Hunger). The findings contribute to understanding and promoting resilience among vulnerable households facing climate-related challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh is blessed with various agro-based natural resources like Date sap, extracted from date trees. As this date sap is found in rural areas in large quantities annually but a very small fraction is converted into some value-added delicious foods at a domestic level while a large portion is left underutilized due to negligence, improper collection, and preservation system from the industry level. The processed delicious foods have conspicuous demand in the national market due to their nutritious value and the growth of the national economy. Despite its economic importance, very little researches have been conducted in this field for its industrial processing. So, this research implies to improve this straggled sector providing much attention for collecting raw sap from source and processing into value-added products from industrial level cost-effectively. The key objectives of this paper are to determine optimal facility location for processing date sap and set vehicle routes that can pick up date sap from source to processing plant simultaneously curtailing operational transportation costs. Initially, a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model is introduced to determine optimal facility location. Besides, the Large Neighborhood Search (LNS) algorithm has been used to find the optimal set of vehicle routes. This paper outlines a summary of final results that Jessore (A south-western city in Bangladesh) is an optimal plant location and 10 vehicles are necessary for covering 15 areas which ultimately optimize the total supply time, respecting constraints concerning routing, timing, capacity, and supply as well transportation costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at Rabindranath Tagore, the great Indian writer, as a polymath, a man crossing literary, artistic, intellectual, linguistic and civilizational borders of all kinds, and as someone whose imagination was always in flight. It sees him as someone who, time and again, kept trying his hand at all sorts of things, despite the difficulties he faced and the challenges ahead of him. He thus worked also as a reform-oriented educator and as someone committed to educational and agricultural ventures. The paper also notes the polymathic travails Tagore occasionally encountered and the indiscretions that sometimes resulted from his scanting of borders. It traces the main features of his polymathic voyaging from his youth to the final months of his life and stresses the growth and vitality of his imaginings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present elemental, lipid biomarker and compound-specific isotope (δ13C, δ²H) data for soils and leaf litter collected in the catchment of Lake Ohrid (Albania, Macedonia), as well as macrophytes, particulate organic matter and sediments from the lake itself. Lake Ohrid provides an outstanding archive of continental environmental change of at least 1.2 M years and the purpose of our study is to ground truth organic geochemical proxies that we developed in order to study past changes in the terrestrial biome. We show that soils dominate the lipid signal of the lake sediments 1r3a ther 2t han the vegetation or aquatic biomass, while compound-specific isotopes (δ13C, δ²H) determined for n-alkanoic acids confirm a dominant terrestrial source of organic matter to the lake. There is a strong imprint of suberin monomers on the composition of total lipid extracts and chain-length distributions of n-alkanoic acids, n-alcohols, ω-hydroxy acids and α,ω-dicarboxylic acids. Our end-member survey identifies that ratios of mid-chain length suberin-derived to long-chain length cuticular-derived alkyl compounds as well as their average chain length distributions can be used as new molecular proxies of organic matter sources to the lake. We tested these for the 8.2 ka event, a pronounced and widespread Holocene climate fluctuation. In SE Europe climate became drier and cooler in response to the event, as is clearly recognizable in the carbonate and organic carbon records of Lake Ohrid sediments. Our new proxies indicate biome modification in response to hydrological changes, identifying two phases of increased soil OM supply, first from topsoils and then from mineral soils. Our study demonstrates that geochemical fingerprinting of terrestrial OM should focus on the main lipid sources, rather than the living biomass. Both can exhibit climate-controlled variability, but are generally not identical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The planning and management of water resources are becoming more and more important, and the forecast of water demand as the prerequisite and foundation of the entire planning has become a very important task in agricultural development. This paper combines the particle swarm algorithm to construct the agricultural water resource demand forecasting model, analyzes the shortcomings of the traditional particle swarm algorithm, and makes appropriate improvements to the quantum particle swarm algorithm. Moreover, this paper constructs the functional structure of the agricultural water resource demand forecast model based on the forecast demand of water resources, and analyzes the application process of the particle swarm algorithm in the system of this paper. After the model is constructed, the performance of the model is verified, and the simulation test is designed to evaluate the effect of system forecast with actual data. At the same time, this paper uses the model constructed in this paper to analyze the factors affecting water resources forecast demand. From the results of the experimental analysis, it can be seen that the model constructed in this paper is more effective in the forecast of water resources demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]