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This study examined the effects of climate change on rice production in 30 Chinese provinces spanning 1998–2017. The study used the pooled mean group technique to capture the long-run and short-run effects of changing climatic conditions on rice production. It further employed the Dumitrescu–Hurlin panel causality test to examine the path of causality between the key variables and rice production. The study found that, in the long run, average temperature negatively influenced rice production, but average rainfall had a positive effect on rice production. The results indicated that the cultivated area and fertilizer usage were positively related to rice production in the long run. The short-run results accentuated that average temperature favourably influenced nationwide rice production, whereas average rainfall had no substantial effect on national rice production. The cultivated area had a significant positive short-term relationship with rice production, although the impact of fertilizer usage on rice production was negligible in the short run. Besides, the results established a bidirectional causality between rice output and the cultivated area, but there was a one-way causality running from fertilizer usage to rice output. Finally, the results indicated that, except for rainfall, a unidirectional causality exists between temperature and rice production. The study, therefore, recommends that in the case of crop failure due to weather conditions, policymakers could implement a new pricing policy to mitigate the deterioration of the farmers’ income. The government must also develop and implement an insurance scheme that compensates farmers for catastrophes induced by rainfall deficiency.

We contribute to the literature on the effectiveness of aid and to energy poverty literature by providing the first study that examines the effect of aid on energy poverty. Using eight rounds of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and sub-national aid data for Senegal, we find that aid lowers the probability of energy poverty. Our main results show that living within a 25km radius of an aid project reduces the likelihood of being energy poor by 4.5 percentage points. This finding is robust to a suite of sensitivity checks. We also examine four channels through which aid could influence energy – income poverty, education, health and economic growth – and find that income poverty, education and economic growth are mechanisms through which aid transmits to energy poverty.

The ability to reuse winery wastewater would be of significant benefit to the wine industry, as it could potentially be a cost-effective method of wastewater management, whilst at the same time providing a valuable water resource. This study investigated the effects of different dilutions of a semi-synthetic winery wastewater on the growth and germination of four common crop species in a glasshouse study; barley (Hordeum vulgare), millet (Pennisetum glaucum), lucerne (Medicago sativa) and phalaris (Phalaris aquatica). The wastewater caused a significant delay in the germination of lucerne, millet and phalaris, although overall germination percentage of all species was not affected. Vegetative growth was significantly reduced in all species, with millet being the most severely affected. The germination index of barley correlated very highly (r(2)=0.99) with barley biomass, indicating that barley seed germination bioassays are highly relevant to plant growth, and therefore may be of use as a bioassay for winery wastewater toxicity.

The development of perennial wheat could have a number of advantages for improving the sustainability of Australian dryland agricultural systems. The profitability that might be expected from perennial wheat of different types was investigated using MIDAS (Model of an Integrated Dryland Agricultural System), a bioeconomic model of a mixed crop/livestock farming system. Although perennial wheat may produce a lower grain yield and quality than annual wheat, it is expected inputs of fertiliser, herbicide and sowing costs will be lower. Perennial wheat used solely for grain production was not selected as part of an optimal farm plan under the standard assumptions. In contrast, dual-purpose perennial wheat that produces grain and additional forage during summer and autumn than annual wheat can increase farm profitability substantially (AU$20/ha over the whole farm) and 20% of farm area was selected on the optimal farm plan under standard assumptions. Forage from perennial wheat replaced stubble over summer and grain supplement at the break of season and increased farm stock numbers. The additional value added by grazing also reduced the relative yield required for perennial wheat to be profitable. This analysis suggests perennial wheat used for the dual purposes of grain and forage production could be developed as a profitable option for mixed crop/livestock producers.

Abstract Background Environmental awareness and consumer demand for healthy diets and wellness have directed the attention of academia and the food industry towards discovering sustainable packaging materials, including active edible type of packaging. Numerous active edible films and coatings use milk proteins in their formulations. Milk proteins, comprising of caseins and whey proteins, are important for human nutrition, but also gain importance as natural product polymers with potential to be used as encapsulation carriers for nutraceuticals for various food and biotechnological applications. Scope and approach This review provides an overview of the recent trends and advances in active edible packaging materials originating from milk proteins and their technological characteristics (delaying moisture loss, providing oxygen barriers, exhibiting good tensile strength and elongation, offering flexibility, and generally having neutral taste and flavour). Recently, significant achievements have been made to increase the shelf life of perishable food and control the release and transport of nutraceuticals and bioactive molecules by using milk proteins. The results presented here show that packaging materials comprised of milk proteins can be optimised by the food industry and be employed as active edible packaging for improved quality and safety features of fresh food products. Key findings and conclusions Active edible packaging materials made from milk proteins provide great potential for improving food safety, quality and versatility, and could potentially decrease the number of concerns from suppliers and consumers. Nevertheless, certain critical aspects, such as regulatory issues (migration of active substances, labelling, and allergenicity), economics and customer desires, should be considered for the successful introduction of active edible packaging solutions in the food sector. It is to be expected that the milk protein-based vehicle systems present alone or as part of novel sustainable packaging forms will become an essential strategy for launching safe food products, and therefore have the potential for increasing profit margins for the food industry.

Application of organic waste products as amendments has been proposed as a management option whereby soil quality of Vertisols could be improved. An incubation experiment was, therefore, conducted for 4 weeks under controlled temperature conditions (30°C) to identify those potential organic amendments that might improve the quality of a Vertisol. Twelve organic amendments were investigated: cotton gin trash from three sources, cattle manure from two sources, green waste compost, chicken manure from three sources including a commercial product, biosolids and two commercial liquefied vermicomposts. Except for the biosolids, no other organic amendments had any effect on soil microbial biomass and respiration. Compared with NO3-N levels in the control, there was a 50% decrease in soil amended with 10 t ha—1 green waste compost (65 µg g—1). The three different types of chicken manures increased the NO3-N concentration from 75% (228 µg g—1) to 226% (424 µg g— 1) over the control. Approximate recovery of P added by the amendment as resin-extractable soil P was 53% for cattle manure and 39% for chicken manure. Application of cattle manure resulted in a 22% increase in soil-exchangeable K over levels found in control. Organic amendments application also resulted in a significant increase in exchangeable Na concentration. Some of the organic wastes, viz. cotton gin trash (10 t ha— 1), cattle manure (10 t ha—1), biosolids (10 t ha—1) and composted chicken manure (3 t ha—1) have value as a source of nutrients to soil and hence showed potential to improve Vertisol properties.

Abstract Current definitions of energy poverty oversimplify the fluid and dynamic nature of the lived experiences of the energy impoverished. By drawing on empirical observations in the aftermath of Nepal’s humanitarian crises in 2015, we showcase the vulnerability of vital energy systems that threatens human security and negatively impacts on the lives and livelihoods of those affected. In search of greater human security, we observed a reverse energy transition whereby people abandoned modern fuels and returned to biomass-based traditional cooking practices. These observations in Nepal suggest that people respond and adapt to energy insecurity with strategies that move them in and out of energy impoverishment in a much more fluid process than many of the contemporary statistics and known indicators imply. After presenting the case in Nepal, we invoke several questions that challenge conventional ways of conceptualising, identifying and defining energy poverty and present a research agenda for strengthening scholarship in this field.

Abstract Anaerobic digestion of animal dung generated combustible gas – this fact has been known since over 130 years and has been gainfully utilized in generating clean energy in the form of methane-rich ‘biogas’. During 1970s it was found that aquatic weeds and other phytomass, if anaerobically digested, also produced similarly combustible ‘bio’ gas. It raised great hopes that anaerobic digestion of phytomass will also enable generation of biogas that too on a much larger scale than is possible with animal manure. This, it was hoped, would also provide a means for utilizing weeds, crop wastes, and biodegradable municipal solid waste which otherwise cause environmental pollution. It appeared to be a ‘no lose’ possibility; it was hoped that soon the problems of weeds (and other biosolid wastes) as well as energy shortage, would vanish. At that time there was little realization of the global warming (GW) potential of methane nor of the fact that natural degradation of phytomass in the environment is causing massive quantities of GW gas emission. Hence, at that time, the potential benefits from anaerobic digestion of phytomass were perceived only in terms of pollution control and energy generation. But four decades have since elapsed and there is still no economically viable technology with which weeds and phytowastes can be gainfully converted to energy. This paper takes a look at what has happened and why. It also points towards the possibility of success finally emerging on the horizon. It would, hopefully, give a fresh impetus to the entire field of biomethanation R&D because all ‘methane capture’ technologies also indirectly contribute to very significant reduction in global warming.

The cost effective production of cellulolytic enzymes and their use for generating higher reducing sugars from lignocellulosic biomass is critical for attaining the commercial viability of lignocellulosic biofuels production. Optimizing the use of locally available agroresidues and natural nutritional alternatives for fungal growth and enzyme production can reduce the cost of enzyme production. In the present work, maximum cellulolytic activity of 30.85 IU/gds was obtained from Trichoderma reesei NCIM 1186 using wheat bran as the substrate and coconut water as the nutritional supplement. The produced cellualse was used for enzymatic saccharification of phosphoric acid pretreated wheat straw. The enzymatic sachharification was optimized through central composite design (CCD) based response surface methodology (RSM). Maximum reducing sugar yields of 371.44 mg/g dry substrate were obtained at 18% (w/v) substrate concentration, 50°C and 24 h of incubation time. Further, the saccharified sugar hydrolysate was fermented using S. cerevisiae NCIM 3215. Maximum ethanol production (2.58% w/v) obtained after 24 h of fermentation at 30°C. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 34: 1243–1248, 2015