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Wheat occupies a special role in global food security since, in addition to providing 20% of our carbohydrates and protein, almost 25% of the global production is traded internationally. The importance of wheat for food security was recognised by the Chief Agricultural Scientists of the G20 group of countries when they endorsed the establishment of the Wheat Initiative in 2011. The Wheat Initiative was tasked with supporting the wheat research community by facilitating collaboration, information and resource sharing and helping to build the capacity to address challenges facing production in an increasingly variable environment. Many countries invest in wheat research. Innovations in wheat breeding and agronomy have delivered enormous gains over the past few decades, with the average global yield increasing from just over 1 tonne per hectare in the early 1960s to around 3.5 tonnes in the past decade. These gains are threatened by climate change, the rapidly rising financial and environmental costs of fertilizer, and pesticides, combined with declines in water availability for irrigation in many regions. The international wheat research community has worked to identify major opportunities to help ensure that global wheat production can meet demand. The outcomes of these discussions are presented in this paper.

The threat of accelerating climate change on species distribution now and in the future is a topic of increasing research interest. However, little work has been undertaken to assess how shifting climates will affect the suitability of tea cultivation. Therefore, we used MaxEnt modelling to project the impact of current and future climatic scenarios on the potential distribution of tea across the four tea-producing countries of China, India, Kenya and Sri Lanka. Projections were made for the years 2050 and 2070 with three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) using seven bioclimatic predictors under three global circulation models (GCMs). The current and future habitat suitability for tea predicted by the models produced a high accuracy rate, with high areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs) for all tested RCPs under the three GCMs for the four countries. The mean true skill statistic (TSS) values for tea in Sri Lanka, Kenya, India and China were 0.80, 0.91, 0.91, and 0.74, respectively. The kappa values (k) of the current and future models for all four countries ranged from 0.40 to 0.75, which indicates that the overall performance of the model was good. The precipitation seasonality and annual precipitation were found to be the most influential variables in Sri Lanka and India, respectively, while annual mean temperature was the most effective contributor for determining the suitability of habitat for tea in Kenya and China. An important proviso is that some existing tea-growing areas will face reduced suitability for future tea cultivation suggesting that by 2050 there will be a drastic reduction in the optimal suitability by averages of 26.2%, 14%, and 4.7% in Kenya, Sri Lanka and China, respectively. The optimal suitability will be reduced by 15.1%, 28.6% and 2.6% in Kenya, Sri Lanka and China, respectively, by 2070. India displays an advantage in projected future climates as it gains optimal suitability areas of 15% by 2050 and 25% by 2070.

Under a changing climate, the biologically viable management of weeds and the exploration of the genetic divergence of spreading and towering cultivars of forage cowpea in different row configuration systems hold the potential to boost sustainable feed supply for dairy animals. A field study was undertaken to sort out the most nutritive and high-biomass-producing cultivar (Cowpea−,2007 and Rawan−,2010) of cowpea and optimize the row configuration (R × R of 15, 30, 45 and 60 cm) to manage the weed spectrum. The results revealed that Rawan-2010 remained superior in the 15 cm row configuration by recording 39% lesser weed density (WD) than the corresponding value recorded by the same cultivar sown in the 60 cm row configuration. The same treatment combination recorded a 20% lesser fresh weed weight than Cowpea−,2007 sown in the same row configuration, while it exhibited a 5.6 g m−2 lesser corresponding value of dry weed weight. In contrast, Cowpea-2010 sown in the 45 cm row configuration recorded the maximum yield attributes (stem girth, leaf and branch numbers, leaf area, fresh and dry weights per plant), except plant height (PH), which resulted in 7% and 13% higher green herbage yield (GH) and dry matter biomass (DM), respectively, than the same cultivar sown in the 30 cm row configuration. Pertaining to nutritional value, Rawan-2010 in the 45 cm row configuration yielded the maximum crude protein and minimum crude fiber content, while the same cultivar gave the greatest ash content in the wider row spacing. With GH, the correlation analyses indicated an antagonistic association for PH, a moderately linear relationship between stem girth and branch numbers and a strong direct association between leaf area and fresh plant weight.

Drought is one of the most harmful environmental stresses affecting the physiological, biochemical processes and growth of plants. Lucerne or alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), one of the most popular pasture species in arid and semi-arid regions, plays a critical role in sustaining agricultural systems in many areas of the world. In order to evaluate the effect of water shortage on water status, biomass distribution and proline content, the relative water content (RWC), biomass and proline concentration in the leaves, stems and roots of lucerne seedlings under three different water regimes were studied in pots under a rainout shelter. The results showed that after water was withheld, the RWC of the different organs decreased significantly; at the same soil water content, the leaf RWC was higher than that of the stem and root. The biomass of the leaves, stems and roots were all reduced by water stress, while the root–shoot ratio increased indicating that the roots were less affected than the leaves and stems. Proline concentration increased with decreasing soil water content with the leaf proline concentration increasing more than that of stems and roots. These results indicate that roots of lucerne seedlings show greater resilience to water deficits than shoots.

Due to the increasing concern about climate change and environmental sustainability, the investigation of energy consumption represents a very intriguing and undeniable subject. This study was directed to investigate energy footprints, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and life cycle assessment (LCA) of the main vegetable crops cultivated under open field conditions in southern Egypt. Potato production required the maximum energy amount (112.3 GJ/ha) compared to 76 GJ and 96 GJ for onion and tomato, respectively. Based on energy indices, potato gave (energy ratio > 1; energy productivity > 1; energy profitability > 1; net energy > 0), while onion and tomato production shared the same indicators (energy ratio < 1; energy productivity > 1; energy profitability < 0; net energy < 0). However, GHG emissions generated for producing one ton of potato tubers registered the least amount by 76.0 kg CO2 eq. The same GHG amount was produced by 834 kg of onion bulbs and 940.6 kg of tomato fruits. The emission rates were more a consequence of diesel, followed by inorganic fertilizer and manure. In addition to carbon emissions, every production process causes several other environmental problems, thus a comprehensive analysis of environmental impact categories is required. The openLCA program performed LCA and ten impact categories were considered to transform the inventory data into several indicators. Producing one ton of potato tubers has the least footprint on the environment and the ecosystem, such as global warming (GW)—238.8 kg CO2 eq. t−1; human toxicity (HT)—288.3 kg 1,4-DB eq. t−1; fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity (FAEF)—160.44 kg 1,4-DB eq. t−1; marine aquatic ecotoxicity (MAET)—365,636 kg 1,4-DB eq. t−1; and terrestrial ecotoxicity (TE)—1.18 kg 1,4-DB eq. t−1. The analyses indicated that machinery and diesel fuel had the highest impact on all the studied categories.

The dairy industry can be considered a contributor to biodiversity loss in Australia. To address this, many forms of governance can be enlisted, including traditional legislation and regulations, persuasive techniques such as publicly funded subsidy programs or education, and participation in voluntary stewardship programs. This paper explores the benefits of collaborative governance programs, which have international applications to reduce the impact of the dairy industry on biodiversity loss. However, as the Australian sector is unique, the specific opportunities and present challenges are discussed. This paper reports three important objectives that could underpin industry-led initiatives by supporting improved biodiversity conservation on dairy farms: (1) Increase the personal and financial capacities of individual farmers to operate profitable, biodiverse farms; (2) Facilitate market rewards to incentivise pro-conservation behaviours; and (3) Improve the effectiveness of the implementation of biodiversity protection laws and regulatory objectives via collaborative governance arrangements. Existing environmental programs that have been developed by the dairy industry could be suitable for incorporation into more formal co-governance structures sympathetic to biodiversity conservation. However, to be successful in addressing sustainability issues, including biodiversity loss, strengthening the integrity mechanisms around farmers’ self-reporting of performance is required to ensure that the industry can credibly refute claims of greenwashing and defend their environmental credentials in the global marketplace.

In glasshouse studies we have previously shown that endosperm-specific RNAi suppression of the primary starch phosphorylation enzyme, Glucan, Water Dikinase (GWD) leads to enhanced early vigor, greater leaf biomass, and increases in both head size and yield. To confirm these affects in a field setting, trials were conducted in three Australian environments. Field results were consistent with those in the glasshouse for increased flag leaf area and rachis nodes. However, there was also a decrease in tiller number and consequently a decrease in yield for one event at two sites. These findings provide potentially important information on plant vigor enhancement and highlight the challenges of transferring the modification of complex traits from single plants in controlled environments to the field.