20 pgs., Twelve U.S. states were tasked with developing nutrient reduction strategies to help address hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. To better understand the kinds of messages different stakeholders in these states are likely to encounter about such strategies, we conducted a content analysis focused on the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy (INRS). We examined 483 articles in two agricultural and two non-agricultural news outlets. We found that agricultural news outlets more often led with agricultural themes and more often used agricultural representatives as sources. The non-agricultural news outlets more often quoted representatives of environmental groups. News articles infrequently led with science or health themes. The volume of coverage over time in three of the four news outlets appeared followed similar issue attention cycles. Differences among the outlets may lead to differences in stakeholders’ knowledge or views about the INRS and conservation, posing challenges to consensus-building.
18 pages, Adaptation of the agricultural sector to climate change is crucial to avoid food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa. Farmers’ perception of climate change is a crucial element in adaptation process. The aim of this study was (i) to compare farmers’ perception of climate change with actual weather data recorded in central Mali, (ii) to identify changes in agricultural practices implemented by farmers to adapt to climate change, and (iii) to investigate the link between farmers’ perception of climate change and implementation of adaptation practices. Focus group discussions and individual surveys were conducted to identify climate-related changes perceived by farmers and agricultural adaptation strategies they consider relevant to cope with these changes. A majority (>50%) of farmers perceived an increase in temperature, decrease in rainfall, shortening of growing season, early cessation of rainfall, and increase in the frequency of dry spells at the beginning of the growing season. In line with farmers’ perception, analysis of climate data indicated (i) an increase in mean annual temperature and minimum growing season temperature and (ii) a decrease in total rainfall. Farmers’ perception of early cessation of rainfall and more-frequent drought periods were not detected by climate data analysis. To cope with the decrease in rainfall and late start of the growing season, farmers used drought-tolerant cultivars and implemented water-saving technologies. Despite a perceived warming, no specific adaptation to heat stress was mentioned by farmers. We found evidence of a link between farmers’ perception of climate change and the implementation of some adaptation options. Our study highlights the need for a dialogue between farmers and researchers to develop new strategies to compensate for the expected negative impacts of heat stress on agricultural productivity.
19 pages, The global climate change and rapid population increase are raising challenges for food security, and it demands efficient crop improvement methods that ensure superior quality and quantity of the crops. The advancements in nanotechnology can be explored to enhance sustainable crop improvement. Recently, nanotechnology has made massive revolutions in solving various problems faced by the human population, including the agriculture, environment and food sectors. In agriculture, nanotechnology has implications on every stage of farming, including seed germination, growth, harvest, processing, storage and transport of agricultural products. Nano fertilisers, nano herbicides, nano-fungicides, nano biosensors, nanoscale genetic carriers, nano-bioremediating agents and nanocomposites for packing are the novel applications of nanotechnology in the crop improvement area. Nanotechnology ensures the site-specific delivery of the nutrients in the plant's target region, which minimises the loss and increases efficiency. The reduced size of the nanomaterials offers a broader surface area for pesticides and fertilisers, drastically escalating disease and pest control in crops as they promise to overcome the shortcomings caused by traditional pesticide application. The advancement in nanotechnology is rapidly contributing to the digitalization of agriculture also. For example, nanotechnology widens the horizons of high-tech agricultural farms with the aid of biosensors.
The synthesis of nano enzymes also revolutionized the stress-tolerant mechanism of the plants by acting as an efficient antioxidant enzyme, and it has been widely used against salinity tolerance recently. The contribution of nanotechnology in effective transfer of genetic material in gene editing and genetic engineering techniques has also significantly contributed towards crop improvement. Nanobioremediation and nanophotocatalysis methods can also remove toxic substances from the environment. It is clear that, nanotechnology driven agri-food sector is expected to bloom in the near future. This review article summarizes the potential benefits of nanotechnology in agriculture and related fields, including the environment and food industry. Although nanotechnology has contributed a lot to the betterment of the world in various ways, they also face several limitations. Despite being a frontier of scientific advancement in the modern era, the negative impacts caused by nanotechnology cannot be sidelined. Therefore, this review also discusses the limitations of nanotechnology in the last section.
