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Generating electricity from renewable energy instead of fossil fuels brings great benefits to the environment and sustainable development. Thus, assessing the potential of wind and solar energy in agricultural coastal areas can identify sustainable energy solutions for meeting energy demand and producing fresh water for agricultural applications and domestic use. However, it is difficult to accurately assess the wind and solar energy potential in Libya due to the civil war, lack of measured data, and its limited availability. Consequently, this concise work is unique because it is the first to use daily measurement data from Az-Zāwiyah, Libya, for evaluating wind and solar energy based on one year of measured data for 2022. Moreover, the present study aims to investigate the potential of wind and solar energy as promising renewable sources for meeting energy demand in coastal agricultural regions in Libya using multiple datasets for the first time. In this paper, five satellite products (TerraClimate, ERA5, ERA5-Land, MERRA-2, and CFSR) were assessed and compared against measured data for January 2022–December 2022 to understand their suitability, accuracy, and reliability. The results showed that CFSR and ERA5-Land demonstrate the most favorable performance for assessing the wind resource, while all satellite products can be utilized for preliminary solar resource assessment. Then, the assessment of wind and solar resources was evaluated in five agricultural coastal regions (Aljmail, Az-Zāwiyah, Castelverde, Msallatah, and Sabratah) based on the best satellite product for the period of 2000–2022. Furthermore, the performance of the wind and solar power systems was investigated for typical farms, which were chosen to estimate the required energy demand according to daily electrical consumption. The results show that the positive outcomes of implementing these systems were highlighted, with an emphasis on their potential benefits to the entire Libyan agricultural sector. Accordingly, scaling up and generalizing the proposed systems and generalizing them to include all farms in Libya could have a significant impact on national electricity generation, mitigate greenhouse gases, and contribute to the development of the agricultural sector and the country's economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precise delineation of marine aquaculture areas is vital for the monitoring and protection of marine resources. However, due to the coexistence of diverse marine aquaculture areas and complex marine environments, it is still difficult to accurately delineate mariculture areas from very high spatial resolution (VHSR) images. To solve such a problem, we built a novel Transformer–CNN hybrid Network, named TCNet, which combined the advantages of CNN for modeling local features and Transformer for capturing long-range dependencies. Specifically, the proposed TCNet first employed a CNN-based encoder to extract high-dimensional feature maps from input images. Then, a hierarchical lightweight Transformer module was proposed to extract the global semantic information. Finally, it employed a coarser-to-finer strategy to progressively recover and refine the classification results. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of TCNet in accurately delineating different types of mariculture areas, with an IoU value of 90.9%. Compared with other state-of-the-art CNN or Transformer-based methods, TCNet showed significant improvement both visually and quantitatively. Our methods make a significant contribution to the development of precision agricultural in coastal regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, China has exerted great efforts to develop agro-industrial agglomerations and optimize the agricultural industry's regional distribution to increase farmers' income. This study posits that agro-industrial agglomeration should be "dual body," provides a theoretical framework for agro-industrial agglomeration's effects on farmer income, and uses a spatial panel model to prove its influence on farmers' income and the spatial spillover effect. The results show that agro-industrial agglomeration in a specific region significantly impacts farmers' income and also has a spillover effect on income in adjacent regions. Further research shows that, contrary to traditional agglomeration theory, agricultural industry agglomeration has little impact on farmers' agricultural production but primarily promotes the establishment and development of agricultural organizations, thus improving farmers' income. Finally, the paper discusses the positive and negative effects of agro-industrial agglomeration on the Global Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs), and proposes some useful suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Salt stress can reduce growth and physiochemical characteristics of Zea mays. • Application of zinc oxide NPs improved growth, yield and biochemical parameters of the Z. mays crop. • Priming and foliar spray of ZnO-NPs also fortified the crop with enhanced zinc content. • Application of zinc oxide in form of nanoparticles can activate anti-oxidative defensive approach. Use of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) has the potential to increase the plant growth and development in agricultural sectors. Mode of application of NPs to plants is also of considerable importance. In present study, zinc oxide nanoparticles were prepared by using black seed extract and zinc salt. Characterized zinc oxide nanoparticles were then used to treat Zea mays L. in two types of treatments namely nano-priming and foliar nano-spray of zinc oxide nanoparticles. For each treatment a range of concentration was used i.e., 100, 200, 400, and 1000 mg/L. Experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design. Hydro-priming was used as a control. Whereas foliar spray was given after 30, 45, and 60 days of sowing. Plants were harvested after 90 days and various growth, physiological, biochemical, yield and stress parameters were studied. Results showed that monodispersed nanoparticles of average size of 45.56 nm were synthesized. Priming with ZnO NPs showed better results as compared to foliar spray of ZnO NPs. Highest germination (100%), Leaf length (350 cm), plant height (65 cm), and no. of leaves (10 leaves per plant) were recorded for corn plants with seed priming treatment of 200 mg/L of ZnO NPs. These values were significantly higher than comparative positive control treatment values (salt-treated plants) as well. Whereas biochemical analysis also supported the results of growth parameters i.e., ZnO NPs treated plants (200–1000 mg/L) showed higher values of sugar (0.6 µg), chlorophyll (1800 µg) and carotenoid content (400 µg). Protein and proline content was higher for zinc salt-treated (positive control) plants. Photosynthetic rate, CO 2 sub-stomatal conductance, stomatal conductance and rate of transpiration was also higher for ZnO NPs treated plants particularly in nano-primed plants. Whereas study of yield attributes showed highest cob length (14 cm), cob weight (80 g), cobs per plant (4) in ZnO NPs treated plants that was significantly higher than the both controls. Stress studies of plant samples showed that peroxidase activity was highest in plants treated with 1000 mg/L zinc salt-treated salts, both in case of priming and foliar spray. Whereas catalase activity was found highest in ZnO NPs (200 mg/L) foliar spray treated plants. Zinc content analysis of plant sample showed significantly higher amount of zinc in ZnO NPs treated corn plants. It is concluded from present study that ZnO NPs in priming treatment significantly enhanced the growth and yield attributes of corn plants through the balance of biochemical and stress indicators. Priming and foliar spray of ZnO NPs also fortified the crop with enhanced zinc content. Future study with combination of both priming and foliar spray may be further optimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmers' homesteads reform is an important measure to improve land use efficiency and achieve high-quality development of villages. And village planning under the background of territorial and spatial planning is one of the important ways to implement this measure. In Harbin, the large-scale agricultural development is an obvious characteristic of its rural areas. With the rapid agricultural modernization and industrialization of Harbin, the rural population is constantly migrating with a large amount of rural land is left idle, and the phenomenon of "hollow village" in rural areas gets increasingly serious. Therefore, it is urgent to carry out the reform of the homestead system to integrate resources and promote the land use efficiency. Responding to the characteristic of rural development in Harbin, this paper suggests to implement the homestead reform through village planning. Balancing the benefits of the country, the collectives, and farmers, it proposes to restrict the size of homestead through the control method with two planning lines, i.e., the homestead control line of the village and the single-family homestead control line. What's more, the paper also suggests to replan the saved land and explore multiple ways of land use in large-scale agricultural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The supply capacity of water resources, food and meat products is of great importance to the people's livelihood of a country. In recent years, although China has introduced many policies on water resources and grain production, the current situation of China's food self-sufficiency and imbalance between supply and demand of water resources has not been fundamentally changed. Food security and water security are facing a serious situation. This paper takes the water footprint as the connection point, and combines the water food meat system with mutual influence, mutual causation and dynamic feedback into a composite system. At the same time, the simulation model of the composite system is established by using system dynamics, and the dynamic simulation of water grain meat in China from 2000 to 2050 is carried out to explore the current situation and future development trend of China's water, grain and meat supply capacity. It was found that during the simulated period, the agricultural blue-green water footprint on the demand side would continue to dominate, followed by the gray water footprint. The blue water footprint on the supply side remained stable, whereas the green water footprint and the circulating water footprint showed an upward trend. According to the contemporary social and economic development and the model of water resources in China, there will be no meat shortage in the future, but issues have been found in the ability to guarantee water and food supply. The root of China's food support capability problem is excessive grain consumption due to meat production, whereas the cause of the water support capability problem is the slow development of the water conservation. Food support capability issues can be solved by regulating the meat output of livestock farming and fishery operations, reducing excess production capacity, and stabilizing the meat supply and demand. To solve the water support capability issue, China should focus on accelerating the pace of agricultural water-conservation development, improving the sewage treatment system, building rainwater-collection projects, and promoting the research and development of water recycling technology. This study provides support for optimizing the structures of the meat and grain industries and the policy formulation of the efficient use of water resources in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Enhancing grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of rice is of great importance for sustainable agricultural development. Little effort has been made to increase grain yield and NUE of direct‐seeded rice under the double‐cropping system in South China. Field trials were conducted during 2018–2020 with four treatments, including nitrogen‐free, farmers' fertilization practice (FP), 'three controls' nutrient management (TC), and simplified and nitrogen‐reduced practice (SNRP). Results: Grain yield under SNRP averaged 6.46 t ha−1 during the three years and was 23.0% higher than that of FP but comparable to that of TC. Recovery efficiency (REN), agronomic efficiency (AEN), and partial factor productivity (PFPN) of nitrogen under SNRP increased by 12.0–22.7%, 159.3–295.0% and 94.6–112.5% respectively compared with FP. Harvest index and sink capacity increased by 7.3–10.8% and 14.9–21.3% respectively. Percentage of productive tillers (PPT) and biomass after heading increased by 24.0% and 104.5% respectively. Leaf nitrogen concentration at heading and nitrogen accumulation after heading increased by 16.3% and 842.0% respectively. Grain yield was positively correlated with PPT, sink capacity, harvest index, biomass and nitrogen accumulation after heading, REN, AEN, and PFPN. Conclusion: Grain yield and NUE under SNRP were superior to those under FP and comparable to those under TC. Increase in sink capacity, higher PPT, more biomass and nitrogen accumulation after heading, and greater harvest index were responsible for high grain yield and NUE in SNRP with reduced nitrogen fertilizer and labor input. SNRP is a feasible approach for direct‐seeded rice under a double‐cropping system in South China. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to explore farmer knowledge and learning practices with a focus on the role of informal knowledge and learning in strengthening agricultural sustainability and resilience. This research was conducted from May-June 2023 in the village of Waihatu, Kairatu District, West Seram Regency, Maluku Province, which is a center for horticultural crop production. This research uses a qualitative research design using case studies and in-depth interviews, observation, and document research. The results showed that the diversity of knowledge sources and forms of learning used by farmers and the special role of local farmer knowledge. That the knowledge potential of farmers is not utilized optimally and there are several ways in which various types of knowledge can be integrated by individual farmers by synthesizing knowledge from various sources, through farmer networks, both facilitated by formal agriculture and knowledge institutions, through collaboration between farmers and researchers as knowledge generators, and through multi-actor knowledge networks that bring together various fields. That dynamic context, complexity and local specificity of today's challenges facing agriculture and the many roles it is asked to fulfill requires more inclusive, flexible modes of knowledge generation, integration and sharing. All stakeholders and all types of knowledge need to be brought together on the same basis in the innovation process. To this end, policy frameworks and initiatives that promote interactive multi-actor approaches to development agriculture, can play a sizeable role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to energy economists, the energy factor underlies economic growth and development. In this approach, energy is accepted as an indispensable production factor in the production of all goods and services. In addition, it is known that agricultural activities are at the forefront at the beginning of development, and a structural transformation has taken place from agriculture to industry and from the industrial sector to the service sector. However, due to the developments in the world economy in recent years and the fact that the agricultural sector plays a key role in the country, many countries attach special importance to the development of this sector. The development of the agricultural sector brings the need to increase the amount of energy used by this sector. The increase in energy costs day by day puts the agriculture sector in a difficult situation, and how the increasing energy consumption will affect the economic growth of the country emerges as a research topic. The literature investigating the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth rarely addresses this issue on a sectoral basis. In this context; It is important whether energy consumption in the agricultural sector can affect economic growth. This study aims to investigate the relationship between agricultural energy consumption and economic growth for the Turkish economy in the period of 1990-2018. The results of the ADF and PP unit root tests used for the stationarity analysis of the variables reveal that the variables become stationary at the first difference. The long-term relationship between the variables is investigated using the Hatemi J-Irandoust hidden cointegration test, which is one of the new generation tests. The coefficients of the variables and the causality relationship are examined with the FMOLS technique and the hidden error correction model, respectively. The findings show the existence of a cointegration between the + component of agricultural energy consumption and the + component of economic growth. The findings also indicate the existence of a positive relationship between the + component of agricultural energy consumption and the + component of economic growth. Finally, there is a unidirectional causality running from the + component of economic growth to + component of agricultural energy consumption. These results show that agricultural energy consumption has an impact on Turkey's economic growth. The study can offer some policy recommendations related to the agricultural sector for the growth of the Turkish economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although past studies have separately explored the direct impact of agriculture official development assistance (ODA) and foreign development investment (FDI) on agricultural production, the nexus between these two elements is often neglected. This article aims to understand the linkage between agricultural ODA and FDI, using data from 63 developing countries from 1991 to 2019. Poisson pseudo maximum likelihood estimations reveal that agricultural ODA considerably promotes FDI in the agriculture, fishery and forestry sectors (FDI_aff) by approximately 0.5%, while its impact on FDI in the food, beverages and tobacco industries (FDI_fbt) is overall insignificant. Geographical and ecological conditions play a decisive role in accounting for FDI in agriculture. While coastal and land‐rich countries receive a significantly higher amount of FDI_aff and FDI_fbt, tropical countries are evidently more attractive destinations for FDI_fbt. The empirical analysis also shows that a peaceful social environment encourages FDI_aff. Well‐established legal systems and reductions in corruption facilitate FDI_aff, whereas the impact of overall institutional quality on agricultural FDI is insignificant. Results suggest that donors prioritise agricultural initiatives with higher positive spillover effects, such as programmes supporting food crop production and agricultural research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid technological, industrial and agricultural development has resulted in the release of large volumes of pollutants, including metal ions, into the environment. Heavy metals have become of great concern due to their toxicity, persistence, and adverse effects caused to the environment and population. In this regard, municipal and industrial effluents should be thoroughly treated before being discharged into natural water or used for irrigation. The physical, chemical, and biological techniques applied for wastewater treatment adsorption have a special place in enabling effective pollutant removal. Currently, plenty of adsorbents of different origins are applied for the treatment of metal-containing aqueous solution and wastewater. The present review is focused on mesoporous materials. In particular, the recent achievements in mesoporous materials' synthesis and application in wastewater treatment are discussed. The mechanisms of metal adsorption onto mesoporous materials are highlighted and examples of their multiple uses for metal removal are presented. The information contained in the review can be used by researchers and environmental engineers involved in the development of new adsorbents and the improvement of wastewater treatment technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Translation, broadly defined as the articulation of the relationship between different cultural, social and legal systems, is at the heart of the anthropologist's or linguist's role as an expert witness in a native title hearing. It occurs at the level of individual lexemes, in categorising cultural concepts, and in the frame of the legal context. We exemplify the interrelationships between these by focussing on the quasi-legal use of the English word 'permission', a key concept in native title and land claim discourse. In the Blue Mud Bay case, Yolngu Matha was the first language of the witnesses, and there is no straightforward translation for this use of 'permission' in Yolngu Matha. As the 'experts' we needed to anticipate how Yolngu would understand the concept and its relevance to the court case. We first summarise our exploration of 'permission' with the claimants and show how a cross-cultural understanding of the 'legal' English concept emerged. We then focus on one of the court's main artefacts of translation—the witness statement—which must be produced or be translated into English. In our experience the witness statement is a product of a dialogical process involving the close collaboration of applicant (witness), counsel and expert. We reflect on the complexity of this process and how it operated in the Blue Mud Bay case. We conclude that translation is both possible and necessary in the conduct of native title cases. But it is not straightforward, nor should it be an unexamined process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimates of future changes in the characteristics of the air temperature regime in Northern Eurasia over a five-year time interval are presented. The estimates are based on the forecasts of the Earth climate model developed at Marchuk Institute of Numerical Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The skill of the forecasts for the territory of Northern Eurasia is discussed using standard skill scores for long-range forecasts. Regions where surface air temperature anomalies are likely to exceed the threshold targets of the Paris Agreement are identified. The consequences of a possible change in the growing season and dates of the stable air temperature above 5°C for agriculture are analyzed. The presented estimates of possible changes in the air temperature characteristics in Northern Eurasia over a five-year interval provide a more objective pattern of expected climate change and can be useful to determine optimal solutions for the development of agricultural sector in the changing climate and to minimize possible negative consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to a new reference period of 1991–2020 requires updating the estimates of agroclimatic resources in agricultural regions. The paper summarizes the results of the annual monitoring of agroclimatic conditions over 1961–1990 and 1991–2020 obtained by both the statistical analysis and the Climate–Soil–Yield simulation system and provides their comparative evaluation. It has been noted that along with growing aridity of the most fertile areas of the steppe and forest-steppe zones, there is an almost universal growth of spring precipitation, which compensates to some extent the negative impact of high summer temperatures on the yield. A significant decrease in the climate-driven productivity of spring wheat from the period of 1961–1990 to the new reference period of 1991–2020 has been revealed for the main grain-producing regions. Estimates of productivity trends for major grain crops, spring and winter wheat, are given in connection with climate change and the development of agricultural technologies. Estimates of changes in the wintering indices and sown areas for winter wheat are also given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore the coordinated and adaptative relationship between agricultural modernization and rural tourism within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, to promote coordinated development and enhance development sustainability in the region. We established an index system for evaluating three aspects of agricultural modernization and rural tourism（economy, ecology, and society）, based on a comprehensive evaluation method, an entropy value method, and a coupling coordination degree model. We then analyzed the temporal and spatial variation of the coupling and coordination relationships between agricultural modernization and rural tourism in 13 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration from 2010 to 2019. During 2010—2019, overall, agricultural modernization showed a fluctuating upward trend, with 27% increase. Rural-tourism showed a robust and continuous upward trend, with 134% increase. The comprehensive level increase of rural tourism was greater than agricultural modernization. Moreover, agricultural modernization and rural tourism have a strong coupling interaction. The coupling degree has risen from the running-in to benign-coupling stage, and the coupling coordination degree has steadily improved to being mildly coordinated from the verge of maladjustment. Spatial distribution characteristics have consistently been low in the north and high in the south. Apparent shortcomings have been observed in the development of rural tourism in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from 2010 to 2019. In terms of overall performance, rural tourism lagged behind agricultural modernization; however, the gap is narrowing. Based on the results, countermeasures and suggestions are provided to improve the coupling and coordinated development of agricultural modernization and rural tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical indication（GI）tags help some agricultural products to be noticed among numerous agricultural commodities and serve as the“golden signboard”for local development. The evolution of GI agricultural products has played a significant role in the preservation of regional environments as well as the perpetuation of traditional cultures and skills. Influenced by factors such as geographical and cultural resources and political and economic conditions, the distribution and development of GI agricultural products in China is not even. Many regions have low public awareness and weak influence of their GI products. This study aimed to promote the highquality development of GI agricultural products by tracing the development trajectory of these products with a special focus on the relationship between GI agricultural products and the environment of the production area. We integrated existing zoning schemes for the production areas of GI agricultural products with the results of previous studies. Subsequently, we classified the production environments of GI agricultural products, conducted planning research, and investigated the layout of supply chain of different GI agricultural product industries. Our findings indicate that geographical factors, such as climate characteristics, topography, soil conditions, and water resources, of the production areas affect the safety, category distribution, and flavor characteristics of GI agricultural products. The cultural connotations carried by GI agricultural products are endowed by the human history of their production areas. Based on the environmental quality standards of GI agricultural product production areas and the corresponding advantages of their production, we divided the production environments into four categories：green multi-advantage product areas, pollution-free multi-advantage product areas, green few-advantage product areas, and pollution-free few-advantage product areas. The production of GI agricultural products should be tailored to local conditions of the production area. Ecological agricultural technology can help improve different production environments, which can enhance agricultural ecosystem functions. Furthermore, the development and protection of germplasm resources can enhance the species diversity of GI agricultural products and promote their development. Some practices to promote the development level of GI agricultural products in China and enhance their competitive advantage include elevating the energy level of the industry chain, achieving industry chain integration, activating the cluster effect of the industry, strengthening the supervision and protection of GI agricultural product production, and constructing a mutual promotion and benefit-sharing mechanism among the government, enterprises, and farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting rural environmental planning is an important measure to optimize the allocation of spatial resources, balance economic development and ecological protection, and realize the green transformation of agriculture and rural areas. It is a specific starting point to address the current problems that are hindering increasing farmers′ income, and agricultural development and rural stability, in order to realize the coordinated development of living, ecological, and agricultural environments. It is also an inevitable requirement for realizing the rural revitalization strategy and promoting the green and sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas. At present, rural development is subject to the drawbacks of the development of China ′ s urban-rural dual structure, in which long-term industrialization and urbanization have given rise to a series of significant problems, including rural aging, pollution, and emptying, and have become key bottlenecks to green sustainable development. Therefore, in order to achieve the necessary planning requirements, this paper deconstructs all elements of the current rural environmental planning process as a systematic overall plan, defines the development orientation and objectives of the current policy system, elucidates the basic connotation of rural environmental planning, and proposes a theoretical system of rural environmental planning, which includes agricultural, human settlement, and ecological environments. In the context of rural environmental planning alongside green development, our analysis identified problems and shortcomings in current practices, including a lack of connection between different types of rural environmental planning, a lack of scientific and technological innovation, and a lack of understanding with regards to new development concepts. To address these issues, problem-oriented corresponding solutions and management approaches are put forward to provide theoretical and policy support for the better construction of rural ecological environments and the realization of rural green development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultivated land use quality refers to the degree to which it can meet human well-being under different environmental conditions and utilization. The comprehensive effect can originate from the background of regional natural resources, socioeconomic environment, and cultivated land protection. An accurate evaluation of cultivated land use quality has been the theoretical and practical significance for food security in sustainable agricultural development. Among them, Guangdong Province is one of the most typical regions of agricultural transformation during rapid urbanization and industrialization. In this study, the pressure-state-response (PSR) framework and the exploratory spatial-temporal data analysis (ESTDA) were utilized to reveal the spatiotemporal characteristics of cultivated land use quality in Guangdong Province at county scale from 2005 to 2020. The barrier model was also established to diagnose the obstacle factors. The results showed that the index of cultivated land use quality was gradually enhanced from 0.302 to 0.352 with an average annual growth rate of 1.03%, indicating a better overall improvement. There were also outstanding stages and regional differences. The index of cultivated land use quality was ranked in the descending order of the Mountainous area, the Pearl River Delta, East wing, and West wing. The growth rate was then ranked in the descending order of the Pearl River Delta, West wing, East wing, and the Mountainous area. 2) 49.09% of the total county-level units were found with a LISA (local indicators of spatial association) time path length greater than 1. By contrast, 70.00% of the total was represented by the county-level units with a LISA time path curvature smaller than the average. Meanwhile, 60.91% of the total county-level units shared the coordinated growth in the direction of time paths. Furthermore, there were significant spatial fluctuations in the land use quality of some counties in the Pearl River Delta, the western region, and the mountainous areas. Overall, the strong spatiotemporal dependence was observed in the spatial structure in the quality of land use, together with the transitional inertia and activity. 3) The top three factors hindering the cultivated land use quality were ranked as follows: per capita agricultural output value, terrain distribution index, and per unit agricultural output value. Correspondingly, the output efficiency of cultivated land and resource endowment were the main obstacles to the high cultivated land use quality. It is necessary to the vigilance against falling into the “comparative advantage trap” and the “generalization” of the cultivated land planting structure in the protection and utilization of cultivated land. Three policy recommendations were proposed to realize the agricultural layout modernization and high-quality development. Firstly, modern agricultural industrial parks can be constructed to fully leverage the exemplary effect of agriculture demonstration. Secondly, the “non-grain” governance of cultivated land can be orderly promoted to consider the spatial structural differences of land resources. Lastly, the pilot projects can be implemented to explore the fragmented contracting of land, particularly on comprehensive territorial management at the regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various types of crop diseases have posed a serious threat to the high-quality development of crops in agricultural production. A timely identification of disease types can greatly contribute to the prevention and control of crop diseases. However, the convolutional neural networks (CNN) recognition of crop leaf diseases cannot fully meet the large-scale production in recent years, due to the numerous parameters, high computational complexity, and poor real-time performance. There is a high demand to improve the accuracy of lightweight CNN models under the relatively complex background of crop leaf images in natural environments. In this study, a lightweight re parameterized leaf diseases identification network (RLDNet) was proposed to identify crop leaf diseases. Firstly, reparameterization was introduced into the MobileNetV2. The inverted residual blocks were reparameterized to construct the reparameterized inverse residual (RIR) block for the high inference speed. A multi-branch architecture was adopted during the training phase. The diversity of the feature space was enriched to improve the representation learning of the network. The reparameterization was used to equivalently convert the multi-branch architecture into a single path structure for the inference after training. The output of the transformed inference model was the same as the original multi-branch. The parameter identity transformation was achieved to improve the inference speed of the model with high recognition accuracy. There was a decrease in the number of output channels and the stacking times of core modules. A shallow and narrow network structure was obtained to enhance the extraction of shallow features, such as the disease colors and textures, indicating the reduced number of model parameters. Secondly, a lightweight ultra lightweight subspace attention module attention mechanism (ULSAM) was added to the last two RIR blocks of the model. Leaf disease characteristics were combined to more effectively distinguish between backgrounds and prospects for better target classification. The interference was reduced in the disease areas from the complex backgrounds. Finally, the DepthShrinker pruning was utilized to learn the importance of the activation function in the model. The redundant parameters were removed to further reduce the space occupation. The lossless lightweight and high accuracy of the model were achieved using knowledge distillation. The recognition accuracy of 99.53% was achieved in the RLDNet on the PlantVillage dataset, whereas 98.49% on the self-built leaf disease dataset with a parameter size of 0.65 M. The inference time for a single-leaf disease image was 2.51 ms. RLDNet shared a performance similar to the Transformer-based models (such as MobileVit-S) and CNN-based models (such as ResNet18) on both datasets, with a significant reduction in parameter, respectively, compared with MobileVitS and ResNet18. The higher recognition accuracy and lighter weight were obtained in the RLDNet, compared with the lightweight models, such as MobileNetV3 and ShuffleNetV2. The improved model can be expected to effectively identify the leaf diseases in the complex backgrounds, with less parameter memory and faster inference speed. The findings can also be applied in the practical production and application of smart agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main functional zone (MFZ) planning is one of the most important national strategies in economic development and ecological environment protection. It is very necessary to analyze the evolution characteristics of territorial space patterns and the carbon emission in the MFZ system. This study aims to determine the spatial and temporal evolution of territorial spatial patterns in the Yangtze River Delta region before and after the MFZ implementation using the land use data from 2000 to 2020. The spatial transfer of territorial space was then evaluated using carbon emission data and contribution rate analysis. The results show that: 1) Urban and ecological space continued to increase, whereas, the agricultural space decreased in the study area. The agricultural main production, the optimized and the key development zones were dominated by the transfer of agricultural production space, while the ecological function zone was dominated by the mutual conversion of forest ecological space and agricultural production space. The rate of change in the territorial space tended to slow down after the MFZ implementation. 2) Agricultural production space was the main type of transfer out, whereas, the transfer in was the agricultural living space, urban living space, and urban production space. There was a negative correlation between the increase and decrease in the number of spatial changes in the territory within each MFZ, indicating the significant spatial heterogeneity. 3) Net carbon emissions decreased (in C units) by 14 956.57 kg/(m² ·a) with a spatial distribution of high in the west and low in the east. Among them, the high-value areas were clustered and distributed in the key development zones and the agricultural main production zone. Regional agglomeration was enhanced by the net carbon emissions enhancement in the key development and ecological function zone. The reduction zone was distributed mainly in the main production areas of agricultural products. There was an increase in the number of carbon emissions that converted to carbon sinks on the grid scale after the MFZ implementation. 4) The reduced net carbon emissions were attributed to the conversion of agricultural production space into forest ecological space. There was a decrease in the carbon emissions in other main functional zones, due mainly to the conversion of agricultural living space to agricultural production space. Furthermore, the conversion of agricultural to urban space was attributed to the increase in carbon emissions in each subjective functional area. A diversified type of territorial space was attributed to the variations in the carbon emissions after the implementation of the MFZ planning. As such, the MFZ system should be further improved to reduce carbon but increase sinks in the territorial space. Territorial spatial planning should be compiled with the local conditions in low-carbon-oriented activities. Therefore, green and low carbon utilization can be realized with the goal of reducing carbon and increasing sinks in the territorial space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of agricultural and rural modernization, the informatization of rural roads has been an inevitable requirement for promoting rural revitalization. To date, however, the vast majority of road extraction methods mainly focus on urban areas and rely on very high-resolution satellite or aerial images, whose costs are not yet affordable for large-scale rural areas. Therefore, a deep learning (DL)-based super-resolution mapping (SRM) method has been considered to relieve this dilemma by using freely available Sentinel-2 imagery. However, few DL-based SRM methods are suitable due to these methods only relying on the spectral features derived from remote sensing images, which is insufficient for the complex rural road extraction task. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a spatial relationship-informed super-resolution mapping network (SRSNet) for extracting roads in rural areas which aims to generate 2.5 m fine-scale rural road maps from 10 m Sentinel-2 images. Based on the common sense that rural roads often lead to rural settlements, the method adopts a feature enhancement module to enhance the capture of road features by incorporating the relative position relation between roads and rural settlements into the model. Experimental results show that the SRSNet can effectively extract road information, with significantly better results for elongated rural roads. The intersection over union (IoU) of the mapping results is 68.9%, which is 4.7% higher than that of the method without fusing settlement features. The extracted roads show more details in the areas with strong spatial relationships between the settlements and roads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is an essential instrument for development, poverty alleviation, and food security in developing countries, such as Iran. The agricultural sector of Iran is dominated by small-scale farming, and the yield of most crops is low. A well-designed and well-functioning agricultural extension system can facilitate the transition toward productive, profitable, and sustainable agriculture. However, the top- down agricultural extension system of Iran has left most smallholder and resource-poor farmers with no access to advisory services, and their problems have remained unresolved. The new agricultural extension system (NAES) was initiated in 2014 to better respond to the problems of smallholder farmers. However, there is still no definite reflection on the influences of the NAES on agricultural development. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the performance of the NAES. Also, it purposed to identify the blocking mechanisms hindering the NAES’ function. In this regard, qualitative research was planned and conducted in Fars Province, Southern Iran. The findings revealed that NAES has managed to enhance the availability of extension services for smallholder farmers, improve the productivity and profitability of agriculture, and reduce livelihood vulnerability. However, it has failed in facilitating access to remunerative markets, mobilizing sustainable financial and human resources, and being entirely demand-driven because of financial, physical, institutional, market, natural, informational, capability, and psychological constraints. Some recommendations and implications are offered to improve the effectiveness of the NAES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural method of sun drying is weather dependent and time consuming which leads to spoilage and contamination of food crops. This research designed and experimentally tested a multi agricultural dryer using solar energy and biomass, capable of drying agricultural produce anytime of the day in a hygiene environment. The experimental setup consists of the biomass combustion chamber with inbuilt heat exchanger, the dryer and data collection instruments. Tomatoes, Okra and bitter leaf were dried, their relative humidity, moisture content, weight loss and temperature variation in the drying chamber were monitored. The maximum temperature reached in the drying chamber when drying tomato, okra and bitter leaf were 95.7ºC, 87.1ºC 73.4ºC respectively, with a drying rate of 0.1248, 0.1876 and 0.0780 kg h-1, respectively at a steady air flow rate of 1.3 m s-1. The dryer had an efficiency of 45% and effectiveness of the heat exchanger is 0.07 at an average combustion temperature of 1300ºC. The uniqueness of the machine is that it reduces the drying time and products are free from environment contaminations and rodents' invasion. Thus agricultural crop samples can be preserved year-round irrespective of weather conditions and at a faster rate with the developed machine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding gender disparities in production resource allocation is critical for agricultural development and cannot be overstated. The study evaluated farmers' access to cocoa production resources and its implication for food security in Ogun State, Nigeria. The data were collected from 813 respondents with the use of structured questionnaire which involved 420 male and 393 female farmers. Frequencies, percentages, household dietary diversity score (HDDS) and logit regression were used to analyse the data while the hypotheses were tested with t-test. The t-tests showed significant differences in access to labour, credit and extension service but no difference in access to land as farmers have land either through purchase or inheritance. The mean score for access to credit by male farmers was 0.05 and 0.01 by female farmers with a mean difference of 0.04 which was significant at 0.01 level of significance (t = 4.69, p ≤ 0.01). The mean score for access to labour by male farmers was 0.398 and 0.099 by female farmers with a mean difference of 0.298 which was significant at 0.01 level of significance. Lastly, mean score for access to extension service by male farmers was 0.145 and 0.048 by female farmers with a mean difference of 0.096 which was significant at 0.01 level of significance (t = 4.69, p ≤ 0.01). Male dominance was seen in the household with regard to decisions on farm activities. The household diversity score showed that female farmers consumed more food groups making them more food secure than their male counterparts. Age, education, access to labour, farm size and monthly income were found to be significant drivers of food security of farmers in study area. It was recommended that policies that ensure equal opportunities for male and female farmers should be put in place. There is also a need for improvements on credit facilities and extension services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the consolidation process in Brazil of an agrarian administration that required scientific and professional training of technical cadres in rural issues between 1930-1955 and sought to understand objectives of the Brazilian government in increasing techno-scientific cooperation in agrarian matters in the context South-South in those years. Through the documentary analysis of the Ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Relations of Brazil, it was noted that this political orientation was articulated with the growing need of the countries of the region to have technical and scientific support in tropical and subtropical crops, both for supplying internally as well as to strengthen their own markets in the face of the scenario that emerged with the Great World Wars. Under Tore Olsson's concept of agrarian crossings, scientific exchanges in agricultural and veterinary matters were analyzed, especially in livestock and wheat cultivation, as well as the dissemination of agrarian knowledge, technical advisory missions, and also the action of research institutes that sought to both expand technical cooperation and secure Brazilian geopolitical interests on the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzed the application of the law of agricultural centers of 1887 in the Buenos Aires province. For this, the agricultural center La Constancia, in the Ayacucho district, located in the southeast of the provincial territory, was taken as the object of the investigation. Through the interweaving of various sources and the approach to the existing bibliography on the subject, an attempt was made to account for the details of its implementation in a case in which, contrary to what happened at a general level, it was possible to achieve, in the early years, some objectives of the law linked to the distribution of land, the development of agricultural production and the settlement of population in rural areas. Although the center was dismantled as such at the end of 1894, as a result of the general lack of success of the law and the economic crisis that the province and its banking institutions were going through, the population settled in the area remained and shaped a community that at the beginning of the 20th century it was thriving and it still remains today, although reduced to a minimum expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving agricultural energy efficiency is essential in reducing energy consumption and achieving agricultural sustainable development. This paper aims to measure the agricultural total-factor energy efficiency in China rather than the partial-factor energy efficiency while taking full account of regional heterogeneity and to investigate the driving factors of agricultural total-factor energy efficiency. The empirical results showed that the average value of agricultural total-factor energy efficiency is 0.814 in China, and the technological gap ratio is 0.853. The regional difference in agricultural total-factor energy efficiency was quite obvious. Higher agricultural energy inputs are associated with higher agricultural total-factor productivity. The total value of potential agricultural energy savings in 30 provinces of China reached 1704.41 billion tons of standard coal. In terms of the absolute amount of agricultural energy saving, the amount was largest in the low-energy-input area, which was 113.87 million tons of standard coal, accounting for 66.81% of the total potential saving amount. Furthermore, we used the Tobit model to analyze the influencing factors of agricultural total-factor energy efficiency. We found that the proportion of agriculture to GDP has a positive impact on agricultural total-factor energy efficiency, while the per capita income of farmers, fiscal support for agriculture, the illiteracy rate of farmers, agricultural labor input, and agricultural capital stock have a negative impact on agricultural total-factor energy efficiency. Finally, we proposed policy implications in terms of agricultural technological progress, agricultural infrastructure, technical training, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South African smallholders have disengaged from cultivation in recent decades despite the lack of alternative incomes. The Covid-19 pandemic led to further rises in poverty and food insecurity. Between March and May 2022, we asked respondents from all 104 households in one village in the Eastern Cape province about how the pandemic had impacted their lives, and their perspectives on and engagement in agriculture. The majority reported that school closures and loss of incomes had led to increased food insecurity. Overall the respondents did not report that the pandemic had had any significant positive or negative impact on cultivation. Material limitations (purchased seed, fertiliser, fencing and traction) were widely mentioned as hampering the possibility of cultivating land already before the pandemic. At the same time, many respondents expressed a love for farming. Future agricultural development support could be directed at promoting farming systems that are less dependent on external inputs and that can support rural livelihoods in the face of external shocks and crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women are recognized as proactive catalysts for societal change in rural Bangladesh because of their significant socio-economic contributions to agricultural practices. Historically, they have been closely associated with various agricultural activities ranging from seed preservation to crop harvesting. Despite their vital role in the rural economy, women farmers have encountered a number of obstacles resulting from the adaptation of neoliberal agrarian policies. In recent decades, women's participation in the agricultural sector has declined, which can be attributed to the influence of capitalist patriarchy on agricultural practices. Grounded on this argument, this present study aims to investigate a research question: What are the major challenges to women's participation in agricultural practices in Bangladesh? In order to answer this question, data has been collected through in-depth interviews and household surveys from three villages of Jaldhaka Upazila in the Nilphamari district of northwestern Bangladesh. The findings of this paper argue that women's participation in agriculture is challenged by the effects of the neoliberal policy perspective, such as the mechanization of agriculture, commercial land use, and land inequality, which continue to ratify patriarchy in agriculture. In such a situation, this study suggests women's empowerment could be effectively facilitated by adopting agricultural policies that are specifically tailored to address gender dynamics, emphasizing the active engagement and meaningful representation of women in the processes of policy formulation and execution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical fertilizer (CF) has been widely applied to promote agricultural production in recent years. However, the high solubility of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the traditional CF can reduce the nutrient absorption rate of crops, leading to serious environmental issues. Therefore, an alternative fertilizer is required to recover the N and P organic matter from water, in order to promote the sustainable development of agricultural production. Fortunately, biochar can serve as one type of potential cost-effective adsorbent to reclaim the nutrients (e.g., phosphate and ammonium) from wastewater. A win-win strategy can be expected to develop a biochar-based fertilizer for the remediation of wastewater. In this work, the agricultural wastes (such as corn straw and eggshell) were employed to prepare the Ca/Mg-enriched biochar fertilizer (Ca/Mg-BCF) via magnesium salt impregnation, pyrolysis transformation process, and high-efficiency reclaiming of N- and P-containing nutrients from biogas effluent. Then, a series of leaching experiments and kinetics analysis were performed to explore the N and P slow-release behavior of Ca/Mg-BCF. Meanwhile, a systematic investigation was implemented to clarify the effects of environmental factors (pH and temperature) on the N and P slow-release performance. The physical and chemical properties of Ca/Mg-BCF before and after nutrient release were also characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX). In addition, a comparison was made to determine the effects of Ca/Mg-BCF on the seed germination and early-stage seedling growth of corn. The results demonstrated that the final accumulative release ratios of N and P from the Ca/Mg-BCF at 48 h were 16, and 9.6 times lower than those of CF, respectively. The leaching experiment indicated that the Ca/Mg-BCF exhibited excellent slow-release performances of the total P and N with sustainable release rates. Moreover, there was no significant effect on the nutrient release from the Ca/MgBCF at temperatures between 10-40 ℃. The N- and P-release were stable between pH 1-7 and pH 3-10, respectively. The SEM characterization showed that the remarkable morphological transformation occurred after Ca/Mg-BCF released nutrients, due to the dissolving of struvite and the formation of CaHPO4 and Ca3 (PO4 )2 . The P-release performance of Ca/Mg-BCF was controlled by the low solubility of Mg-P precipitates that formed on the biochar surface, and then enhanced by the ‘P-trap’ effect of Ca(OH)2 and CaCO3 in the re-precipitation process of 4 3− . Therefore, the N and P-release performance of Ca/Mg-BCF was attributed to the multiple effects, including the dissolution rate of N/P precipitates, re-precipitation of PO4 3− by Ca(OH)2 and CaCO3, electrostatic attraction, hydrogen bonds, pore-filling, and the confinement of biochar. In addition, the Ca/Mg-BCF greatly promoted the seed germination and the growth of corn seedlings, compared with the control and CF. Specifically, the Ca/Mg-BCF-0.8 treatment exhibited a higher seed germination rate of 100%, compared with the control (80%) and CF treatments (40%) in the first five days. This was probably because the fast release rate of N and P from CF caused the salt-stress effect on the seed germination. The height, root length, stem diameter of the corn seedlings, and dry weight of the shoot and root increased by 9.50%, 24.63%, 14.53%, 16.59%, and 38% respectively, after Ca/Mg-BCF-0.8 treatment, compared with the CF. It infers that sufficient nutrients were supplied for the plant growth in a longer period, indicating that the slow-release performance of Ca/Mg-BCF was better matched with the nutrient requirement of plants. In addition, the excellent properties of biochar carriers can be expected to improve the soil environment for a favorable rhizosphere of root growth. Therefore, the Ca/Mg-BCF can be promising potential for sustainable agriculture application with multiple environmental benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of precise agricultural fields can drive the intelligent development of agricultural production, and high-resolution remote sensing images provide convenience for obtaining precise fields. With the advancement of spatial resolution, the complexity and heterogeneity of land features are accentuated, making it challenging for existing methods to obtain structurally complete fields, especially in regions with blurred edges. Therefore, a multi-task learning network with attention-guided mechanism is introduced for segmenting agricultural fields. To be more specific, the attention-guided fusion module is used to learn complementary information layer by layer, while the multi-task learning scheme considers both edge detection and semantic segmentation task. Based on this, we further segmented the merged fields using broken edges, following the theory of connectivity perception. Finally, we chose three cities in The Netherlands as study areas for experimentation, and evaluated the extracted field regions and edges separately, the results showed that (1) The proposed method achieved the highest accuracy in three cities, with IoU of 91.27%, 93.05% and 89.76%, respectively. (2) The Qua metrics of the processed edges demonstrated improvements of 6%, 6%, and 5%, respectively. This work successfully segmented potential fields with blurred edges, indicating its potential for precision agriculture development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green development is an inevitable trend in the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, and promoting the green development of agriculture has always been an important measure for China's sustainable growth. However, due to the influence of diverse regional environments and the wide range of landscapes in China, a largely agricultural country, China is facing ongoing challenges in improving the overall level of agricultural green development and narrowing regional differences, which has recently garnered worldwide attention. This study aims to measure and analyze the agricultural green development level of 30 provinces in China (Tibet, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan are not included in the target areas of this research due to a lack of data). Here, we applied GIS technology, an entropy-TOPSIS (technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution) model, quantitative analysis methods such as global spatial autocorrelation analysis, coldspot and hotspot analysis, and a spatial Durbin model to construct measurement models and index systems, after which we performed a comprehensive spatiotemporal analysis of China's agricultural green development level. Furthermore, the present study also analyzed the factors that influence agricultural green development in China. The present study demonstrated that: (i) between 2005 and 2020, China's overall level of agricultural green development exhibited a fluctuating upward trend, with significant improvement and enhancement in most provinces. However, the overall level of China's agricultural green development remains low, and differences at the provincial level are particularly prominent, with the main regions displaying the following descending development pattern: Eastern > Central > Western regions. (ii) The level of China's agricultural green development shows clear signs of spatial aggregation, characterized by spatial dependence and heterogeneity. Although this phenomenon is gradually weakening over time, the high levels of agricultural green development in the eastern regions and low levels in the western regions are likely to persist in the near future. (iii) Green agricultural structure, technology supply, agricultural mechanization level, and arable land area are the key factors influencing China's level of agricultural green development. Among these factors, technology supply, agricultural mechanization level, and arable land area have the largest direct impact, whereas green agricultural structure has a positive spatial spillover effect on the level of agricultural green development. Technology supply has both a positive direct impact and a negative indirect impact on the level of agricultural green development. Therefore, further improving technology supply and agricultural mechanization level can directly promote China's agricultural green development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed to obtain land characters and qualities data and to determine land suitability for clove and nutmeg and their spatial distribution in Nusalaut Island, Central Maluku Regency. The results showed that the land suitability for clove are marginally suitable class (S3) with the coverage area is 1452.38 ha or 66.51%, and the limiting factors are water availability and nutrient retention (wa, nr) limiting factors and unsuitable class (N) of 731.52 ha or 33.50 %. While the land suitability for nutmeg are moderate suitable (S2) with root media and nutrient retention (rc, nr) limiting factors and the coverage area is 123.75 ha or 5.66%, S2nr of 409.93 ha or 18.77%, slope (S2eh) limiting factor with the coverage area is 918.7 ha or 42.1% and the unsuitable class (N) with the area of 731.52 ha or 33.50 %. The land suitability of the clove and nutmeg is located in the Other Used-Areas (APL) with the area of 2183.63 ha, while total land units in the study area is 2697 ha. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modernization of agriculture is conducive to building a solid foundation for rural industrial revitalization, consolidating the foundation for rural talent revitalization, enhancing food security guarantee capabilities, and promoting rural ecological revitalization. It is an important lever to help rural revitalization start a new era. In the context of the new era, the development of agricultural modernization empowers rural revitalization, mainly undertaking the important tasks and missions of ensuring the supply security of food and important agricultural products, promoting the steady growth of farmers' income, promoting the organic connection between small farmers and modern agriculture, and empowering rural sustainable development. In order to fully leverage the empowering effect of agricultural modernization on rural revitalization, it is necessary to consolidate the foundation of modern agricultural industry to improve the supply guarantee level of food and important agricultural products, vigorously developing rural digital industries to stimulate the internal driving force of agricultural modernization development, strengthen the new agricultural management entities to empower small farmers to organically connect with modern agriculture, improve rural infrastructure to enhance the level of rural modernization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is essential to adhere to the optimization of national land use development patterns and the green development policy for achieving ecological conservation and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin. This paper used the undesirable output SBM model to measure the green development efficiency of 36 prefecture-level cities in the restricted development zones of the Yellow River Basin from 2010 to 2019. It also used the Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA) method to explore the complex influence mechanism of the linkage of various influencing factors on the efficiency of green development. The results showed that: ① The green development efficiency of the restricted development zones in the whole basin showed an overall fluctuation and upward trend, and the green development efficiency of various regions in the basin varied significantly. The downstream restricted development zones had the highest green development efficiency, followed by the middle stream restricted development zones, with the upstream restricted development zones having the lowest efficiency. ② The areas with high green development efficiency in the restricted development zones of the whole basin changed from cluster distribution to contiguous distribution, the effective efficiency areas changed from being concentrated in the upper and middle reaches to the middle and lower reaches of the areas, and the green development efficiency of the restricted development zones on the southern bank of the Yellow River was significantly higher than that of the areas on the northern bank. ③ Each of these factors--the level of economic development, urbanization, environmental regulation, degree of trade openness, advanced industrial structure, and investment in science and education--could not singularly become a necessary condition for promoting the formation of high green development efficiency in the restricted development zone of the Yellow River Basin. ④ Four models were identified as those that could promote green development efficiency in the restricted development zones in the Yellow River Basin. In terms of the different types of cities, the 'environmental regulation + export-oriented economy' linkage model could promote the green development efficiency of agricultural cities in the restricted development zones of the Yellow River Basin. The linkage model of 'basic dynamic + environmental regulation + export-oriented economy + industrial upgrading' could promote the green development efficiency of resource-based cities in the restricted development zones of the Yellow River Basin. The two models of 'export-oriented economy + industrial upgrading' linkage and 'basic dynamic + industrial upgrading + science and education investment' linkage could promote the green development efficiency in the old industrial bases in the restricted development zones of the Yellow River Basin. Based on the perspective of configuration association, this paper provides policy suggestions for promoting green development in agricultural cities, resource-based cities, and old industrial base cities in the restricted development zones of the Yellow River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Climate change, socioeconomic, market demands and labor restructuring have led to the need for agricultural restructuring in coastal areas in Vietnam. This study was conducted to assess the factors affecting agricultural production and analyze land use scenarios to support the agricultural transformation in the coastal area of the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. Methods: The implementation method is based on surveying the necessary dynamic level of socioeconomic and environmental factors affecting land use; the connection between the land area optimization using linear programming and the CLUMondo. Result: The results proposed 3 scenarios to improve the efficiency of state land management for socioeconomic development and agricultural restructuring in the study area. Scenario 1 (the land-allocated results were similar to the land use map) and scenario 2 (extensive shrimp farming areas in the coastal zone will be firmly converted to intensive shrimp farming) are suitable for the district in the short term. However, Scenario 3 (the shrimp-rice area tends to convert to rice land, while agricultural land near the town will be firmly converted to non-agricultural land) is the most appropriate option when funds are available for high technology advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building a more resilient response system to climate change for sustainable development and reducing uncertainty in China's food markets, requires access to historical research gaps and mapping future research progress for decision making. However, the lack of quantitative and objective analyses to ensure the stability and development of agroecosystems increases the complexity of agro-climatic mechanisms, which leads to uncertainty and undesirable consequences. In this paper, we review the characteristics of climate change in China (1951–2020), reveal the mechanisms of agroecosystem structure in response to climate, and identify challenges and opportunities for future efforts in the context of research progress. The aim is to improve the scientific validity and relevance of future research by clarifying agro-climatic response mechanisms. The results show that surface temperature, precipitation, and frequency of extreme weather events have increased to varying degrees in major agricultural regions of China in 1951–2020. And they have strong geographic variation, which has resulted in droughts in the north and floods in the south. Moreover, climate change has complicated the mechanisms of soil moisture, Net Primary Productivity (NPP), soil carbon pool, and crop pest structure in agroecosystems. This lends to a reduction in soil water holding capacity, NPP, soil carbon content, and the number of natural enemies of diseases and insects, which in turn affects crop yields. However, human interventions can mitigate the deterioration of these factors. We have also realized that the methodology and theory of historical research poses a great challenge to future agroecosystem. Historical and projected climate trends identified current gaps in interdisciplinary integration and multidisciplinary research required to manage diverse spatio-temporal climate change impacts on agroecosystems. Future efforts should highlight integrated management and decision making, multidisciplinary big data coupling, and numerical simulations to ensure sustainable agricultural development, ecological security, and food security in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of modern agriculture, China has increasingly attached importance to the protection and development of agricultural cultural heritage, but it has encountered severe challenges in reality. By analyzing the connotation and current situation of agricultural cultural heritage, to address the issues faced by China, such as imbalanced theoretical and practical development, difficulty in grasping the boundaries of protection and development, inadequate research and management mechanisms, large funding gaps, lack of talent, and insufficient international influence, targeted solutions are proposed based on relevant information and literature. This aims to strengthen the protection, activation, and inheritance of agricultural cultural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus) is a weed crop in the temperate and Mediterranean areas. Its sweet almond-like tubers are considered important for their health and nutritional. Recent investigations have shown that tiger nuts are a valuable source of vegetable oils, rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, polyphenols, tocopherols, and phytosterols, as well as high-value compounds such as proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and bioactive compounds. Despite its high nutritive quality, tiger nut oil is used in the food industry compared to other vegetable oils. These dietary fibers are being used to prepare of fiber-rich meat products with higher physicochemical and nutritional properties. Since these by-products contain polyphenols, their application may be extended to control or inhibit lipid oxidation in foods. Tiger nuts and their by-products from the "horchata de chufa" production process have a resources for large of vitamins and minerals, fiber and bioactive compounds. Collected data that present the possible uses of this fantastic plant to the food industry, pharmaceutical application, agricultural development, and the generation of biofuels are also clarified. The aim of this study is to review the findings of the research on tiger nut and its food applications. The current review presents an overview of these studies and seeks to reveal possible future avenues for further research in the economic interests of tiger nuts and their by-products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural production mode has been required for the intelligence and digitization of agricultural machinery. An automatic control system has gradually been the research interest of agricultural machinery in recent years. Among them, the navigation system with path tracking control can be expected to improve the accuracy of the agricultural machinery and the adaptability to the environment. Specifically, the accuracy and efficiency of agricultural production can be improved to realize more complex tasks, in order to avoid the wide crop coverage due to leakage testing. In this review, the types of agricultural machinery models were evaluated with/without the navigation path tracking control system. Three categories were also divided into the path-tracking control system with the kinematic or dynamic models, as well as the model-independent path-tracking control. Agricultural machinery was assumed as a rigid or single rigid body system for control with the kinematic model. The kinematic model of agricultural machinery included pure tracking, linear quadratic optimal control, and the model predictive control. By contrast, the dynamic model of agricultural machinery considered the influence of the mass and inertia of agricultural machinery on the control, particularly with the sliding mode variable structure control. The path-tracking control method unrelated to the agricultural machinery model was utilized to directly extract the features from the sensor data or visual information. The PID, and fuzzy control were the widely-used path-tracking control systems in the path-tracking control methods unrelated to the agricultural machinery model. The optimal path-tracking control of the agricultural machinery was achieved to correct the control system using the error between the sensor feedback and reference input values. The pros and cons of various control methods were clarified to evaluate the existing solutions. The current research progress was reviewed on the general and specific existing solutions to the navigation path tracking control of agricultural machinery. The applicability of various control methods was also evaluated for the current development status of agricultural machinery navigation products. The development prospects were then proposed for a navigation path tracking control of agricultural machinery. Some recommendations were as follows: (1) The current model was limited to describing the motion process of agricultural machinery. There was a high demand for the high precision model research of agricultural machinery; (2) In order to improve the adaptability and robustness of the control method, the research should be extended from the conventional to extreme and complex conditions; (3) The single control method was confined in the navigation path tracking control method of agricultural machinery. It can be expected to require the development trend of multi-method fusion control. This finding can provide strong references for subsequent research on the path-tracking control methods, particularly for the intelligent development of agricultural machinery in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open data is increasingly being promoted as a route to achieve food security and agricultural development. This article critically examines the promotion of open agri-food data for development through a document-based case study of the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) initiative as well as through interviews with open data practitioners and participant observation at open data events. While the concept of openness is striking for its ideological flexibility, we argue that GODAN propagates an anti-political, neoliberal vision for how open data can enhance agricultural development. This approach centers values such as private innovation, increased production, efficiency, and individual empowerment, in contrast to more political and collectivist approaches to openness practiced by some agri-food social movements. We further argue that open agri-food data projects, in general, have a tendency to reproduce elements of "data colonialism," extracting data with minimal consideration for the collective harms that may result, and embedding their own values within universalizing information infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite what some may believe, the agriculture industry is really more accurate, data-driven, and intelligent than ever before in today's modern farming business. In practically each business, particularly "smart agriculture," the fast development of Internet-of-Things (IoT)-based technology has led to a redesign that has switched from statistical to numerical techniques. Such radical developments are upending traditional agricultural practises and opening up new possibilities alongside a number of difficulties. This article discusses the promise of wireless sensor nodes and the Internet of Things (IoT) in agricultural in addition to the difficulties that will inevitably arise when combining this technology with conventional agricultural methods. In-depth analysis is done on IoT devices and communications methods related to wireless sensors used in agricultural applications. There is a list of the sensors that are suitable for various agricultural applications, such as land preparation, crop condition, watering, and pest and insect detection. It is stated how well this technology assists farmers in all crop-related processes, including planting, growing, harvesting, packing, and transportation. This article also takes into account the usage of unmanned drones for agricultural monitoring as well as other advantageous purposes like increasing crop output. Modern IoT-based technologies and architectures utilised in farming also are emphasised where appropriate. We conclude by highlighting future research difficulties and identifying existing and future IoT in agricultural developments based on our in-depth assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this article is to predict the further development of the market price of farmland in Czechia. As part of this goal, the environmental and socio-economic factors affecting the quantity and quality of farmland and, subsequently, the amount of its market price will be discussed. In addition to the quality of the farmland, the market price of individual plots of land is influenced by a number of other factors, such as the size and shape of the plot, location, erosion risk, the concluded usufructuary lease agreements, competition from buyers in the vicinity, and other factors. The average market price of farmland in Czechia was 29.4 CZK/m2 in 2021, which represents an increase of 16.1% against the amount of 25.3 CZK/m2 in 2020. According to the results of the statistical analysis, it is possible to assume a constant increase in the prices of farmland precisely because of the ever-decreasing area of land intended for agricultural production. Another factor for the increase in prices can be increased inflation. In 2027, market prices for farmland could reach up to 40 CZK per m2. Nevertheless, Czechia is among the countries with the lowest market price of farmland; the price is even lower than in neighboring Poland or Spain. This also contributes to the fact that the market prices of farmland in Czechia are increasing at a relatively fast pace every year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research aimed at addressing the trends, challenges, and opportunities in agricultural economics. The constant development in agricultural economics warrants a better understanding of such changes to help with effective decision making in agriculture. Consecutively, a review of literature has enabled the research to identify three trends; organic farming, agroforestry, and climatesmart agriculture. The research used secondary data and primary data when conducting the thematic analysis. The findings from the analysis revealed that opportunities such as consumer demand, profitability, and government subsidies motivated the farmers into undertaking sustainable practices. Meanwhile, the challenges such as time constraint, farm size, and access to equipment and expert skills acted as barriers that prevented the farmers from adopting sustainable practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indole‐3‐acetic acid (IAA) is emerging as a key intra‐ and inter‐kingdom signal molecule that modulates a wide range of processes of importance during plant–microorganism interaction. However, the mechanisms by which IAA carries out its functions in bacteria as well as the regulatory processes by which bacteria modulate auxin production are largely unknown. Here, we found that IAA synthesis deficiency results in important global transcriptional changes in the broad‐range antibiotic‐producing rhizobacterium Serratia plymuthica A153. Most pronounced transcriptional changes were observed in various gene clusters for aromatic acid metabolism, including auxin catabolism. To delve into the corresponding molecular mechanisms, different regulatory proteins were biochemically characterized. Among them, a TyrR orthologue was essential for IAA production through the activation of the ipdc gene encoding a key enzyme for IAA biosynthesis. We showed that TyrR specifically recognizes different aromatic amino acids which, in turn, alters the interactions of TyrR with the ipdc promoter. Screening of mutants defective in various transcriptional and post‐transcriptional regulators allowed the identification of additional regulators of IAA production, including PigP and quorum sensing‐related genes. Advancing our knowledge on the mechanisms that control the IAA biosynthesis in beneficial phytobacteria is of biotechnological interest for improving agricultural productivity and sustainable agricultural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting the agricultural sustainable development is one of the core objectives of agricultural comprehensive development (ACD), and the core of agricultural sustainable development lies in enhancing agro-ecological efficiency (AEE). Based on inter-provincial panel data from 2003-2017, the AEE was measured by a unexpected super-efficient SBM model. From the perspective of investment scale and investment structure, the impact of investment scale in ACD on AEE was examined using a panel econometric model, then characterizing the investment structure by the proportion of government funds in the investment of ACD, examining the non-linear relationship between investment structure of ACD and AEE seeking a reasonable proportion of government expenditure. Finally, a spatial econometric model was constructed to test the spatial spillover effect of the scale and structure of investment in ACD on AEE. Results showed that: (i) AEE of China is on the rise overall, but the efficiency level is still low and there is large scope for improvement. (ii) Due to the inefficient use of funds and the lag in the transformation of agricultural benefits, the scale of investment in ACD has a significant negative impact on AEE in the current period. (iii) The impact of investment structure of ACD on AEE presents a significant “inverted N” relationship, and the optimal proportion of government fund investment structure is 76.71%. The reasonable structure of investment in ACD at different food functional areas shows differences. (iv) After considering the spatial effect, the impact of ACD remains robust, but the spatial spillover effect prolongs the time lag of this impact of investment scale and starts to have a positive impact in the 2nd year after the investment. Guarantee the investment scale in ACD, reduce financial redundancy, establish a cooperation mechanism between ACD and agricultural ecological protection in neighboring areas, and increase the introduction of private capital can achieve sustainable development of agricultural economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] The study aimed to expiore the carrying capacity of cultivated land resources and its internal driving mechanism, formulate cultivated land policies and efficiently manage and protect cultivated land, maintain the sustainable utilization of cultivated land resources and ensure food security. [ Method] Theil index, coefficient of variation, center of gravity model and other methods were used to analyze the spatial and temporal differentiation characteristics of cultivated land resources carrying capacity in Guangdong province at the secondary, municipal and county levels. On this basis, the geographical detector was used to explore the driving mechanism of its spatial differentiation. [Result] ( i) From 2000 to 2020, the Theil index and coefficient of variation of the carrying capacity of cultivated land resources in Guangdong province at the secondary district, municipal and county scales showed an increasing trend and increased with the decrease of spatial scale, and the imbalance of the carrying capacity of cultivated land resources at the county level was the most significant. ( ii) During the study period, the overall carrying capacity of cultivated land resources in Guangdong province continued to decline, with the largest change at the county level. The low-value areas formed an aggregated distribution in the Pearl River Delta region and gradually formed an inverted ' U' pattern. The gravity center of the carrying capacity of cultivated land resources moved to the southwest in a wave-like manner. (iii) The driving factor force at the municipal scale was generally greater than that of the county scale. The carrying capacity of cultivated land resources at the municipal scale was significantly affected by the per capita gross agricultural product, and at the county scale was significantly affected by the per capita cultivated land area. The carrying capacity of cultivated land resources in Guangdong province was generally driven by social and economic development and resource endowment conditions. ( iv) The factor interactions at different scales was characterized by two-factor enhancement and nonlinear enhancement, and the factor interaction showed a synergistically enhanced effect. Factors such as natural site conditions and production factor input levels can significantly enhance the interaction between two factors. [ Conclusion] Therefore, it is suggested to increase the income from agricultural production in Guangdong province, balance the contradiction between food supply and demand, help agricultural development, provide technical and financial capital for rural production system, increase financial support, and promote the transformation of food production, so as to improve the carrying capacity of cultivated land resources in Guangdong province and ensure the sustainable utilization of cultivated land resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agrometeorological observation is an important cornerstone of agricultural modernization development. This study comprehensively sorted out the development process, business status and existing problems of agricultural meteorological observation in China, and discussed the development prospects of agrometeorological observation in the future, in order to provide a reference for escorting the sustainable development of modern agriculture and national food security. The development of China's agrometeorological observation operation has roughly experienced six stages: theoretical exploration, organization establishment, pilots construction, scale formation, optimization and adjustment, and stable and rapid development. At present, China has established a network of observation stations based on 653 agrometeorological observation stations (including 70 agrometeorological experimental stations) to carry out observation and research on crops, soil moisture, natural phenology, animal husbandry, fruit trees, trees, vegetables and agricultural microclimate. Based on the development of observation business, a national, provincial, municipal and county agrometeorological operational service system with scientific structure and advanced functions has been established. The national agrometeorological monitoring and evaluation, crop yield forecast, agrometeorological disaster monitoring and evaluation and impact forecast, agricultural weather forecast, meteorological grade forecast of occurrence and development of agricultural and forestry diseases and insect pests, agricultural soil moisture, drought relief, and ecological meteorological monitoring and prediction have been relatively mature and service results remarkable. In the past ten years, China's agricultural industry layout, planting structure and planting methods have undergone tremendous changes, and automatic observation technique such as automatic crop meteorological observation and automatic phenology observation have also developed rapidly. The agrometeorological observation operation also gradually shows a series of questions, such as the layout of the network of observation station and the observation tasks needs to be adjusted and optimized, the observation specifications need to be revised and supplemented, the modern technology and automatic observation equipment need to speed up the application and the operational service capacity needs to be improved and strengthened. From the perspective of the strategic deployment of the Party Central Committee of the CPC, the State Council and the China Meteorological Administration for the development of agrometeorological observation operation, the goal of high-quality development of agrometeorological observation, and the demand of modern agricultural development for agrometeorological operation, the future agrometeorological observation operation in China will gradually form a network of observation stations with reasonable layout, perfect specifications, advanced technical equipment, diversified and sophisticated service products, a modern agrometeorological observation and operational service system that can be in line with international standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The land‐ocean dissolved organic carbon (DOC) flux represents a significant term within the global carbon budget, with peatland‐dominated regions representing the most intense sources of terrestrial DOC export. As the interface between freshwater and marine systems, estuaries have the potential to act as a filter of the land‐ocean carbon flux, removing terrestrially derived DOC, which is present at low concentrations in the oceans, via a combination of physicochemical and biological processes. However, the fate of peat‐derived DOC within estuaries remains poorly quantified, partly due to the complicating influences of heterogeneous soils, land‐use, point sources, and upstream modification of organic matter. To minimize these modifying factors, we studied DOC and inorganic nutrients in four small, peat‐dominated, minimally disturbed, and oligotrophic Falkland Island estuaries. Contrary to expectations, we found limited evidence of physicochemical estuarine DOC removal, and instead observed apparent "hot zones" of biogeochemical activity, where terrestrially‐derived silicate mixed with inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus entering the estuaries from the nutrient‐rich marine ecosystem. In two estuaries, this coincided with apparent in situ DOC production. We suggest that the observed phenomena of marine nutrient subsidy of estuarine productivity, and flexible utilization of multiple nutrients within the oligotrophic system, may once have been widespread in temperate estuaries. However, this function has been lost in many ecosystems due to catchment eutrophication by agricultural and urban development. We conclude that the estuaries of the Falkland Islands provide a valuable pre‐disturbance analogue for natural biogeochemical functioning in temperate estuaries receiving high organic matter inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crop coefficient (Kc) is a scaling factor to calculate crop evapotranspiration (ETc). Accurate prediction of Kc affects planning to allocate water resources, especially in arid and semi-arid areas with limited water sources availability. The conventional FAO approach has some limited applications due to using plant characteristics. However, existing artificial intelligence approaches have high performances, but encounter some instability in prediction. In the present study, the generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation (GLUE) approach was applied to assess uncertainties arising from both model structure and input parameters. In addition, this study aims to derive the explicit predictive and usable equation for calculating the monthly Kc of maize. The equations were developed from the best hybrid MLP model using minimal meteorological data in four regions of Egypt. For this, the predictive utility of MLP-based models that hybridized with meta-heuristic optimization algorithms was examined. The rat swarm optimization (RSO), firefly algorithm (FFA), bat algorithm (BA), and genetic algorithm (GA) hybridized with MLP (MLP-RSO, MLP-FFA, MLP-BA, and MLP-GA) are used as equation derivation tools. The results showed that a unique hybrid Gamma Test-RSO is a powerful approach for determining the optimal combination (Tmax, Tmin, Rs) as the best input vector. The results showed that the hybrid MLP-RSO model decreased the average RMSE by 13.87, 39.95, 45.68, and 53.09% than MLP-BA, MLP-FFA, MLP-GA, and MLP models, respectively. In addition, the uncertainty results showed that the Kc predictions were more stable and confident in MLP-RSO, while the average of 95PPU covered 94.5 and 91.5% of actual Kc for input parameters and model structure uncertainties, respectively. In conclusion, the developed hybrid model and the techniques illustrated in the current study suggest substantial benefits for other researchers to derive mathematical equations from easily available meteorological variables in different regions and climates. Also, the findings provide a fundamental guideline for the local water users and agricultural development planners to achieve accurate and fast irrigation scheduling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]