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Sustainability of agro-food supply chains has recently become the subject of greater interest from consumers, firms, governmental organizations and academia as the environment continues to deteriorate. One of the most critical factors influencing the sustainability of an agro-food supply chain is its network design. A particularly challenging aspect in this context is the broad range of influencing indicators associated with the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) of sustainability that need to be considered. However, many of these indicators could not be fully integrated or measured by single-step optimization problems. This paper presents a critical literature review of operational research methods for the design of sustainable supply chains. A novel two-stage hybrid solution methodology is proposed. In the first stage, a partner selection is performed using a hybrid multi criteria decision making based on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and the Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) aggregation method. The result obtained in the first stage is used in the second stage to develop a multi-objective mathematical model to optimize the design of the supply chain network. This approach allows the simultaneous consideration of all three dimensions of sustainability including carbon footprint, water footprint, number of jobs created and the total cost of the supply chain design. The proposed approach generates a Pareto frontier to aid users in making decisions. Numerical experiments are completed utilizing data from an agro-food company to demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed solution methodology. The analyzes of the numerical results provide important organizational, practical and policy insights on (1) the impact of financial and environmental sustainability on supply chain network design (2) the tradeoff analysis between environmental emission, water footprint, societal implications and associated cost for making informed decision on supply chain investment.

AbstractA large number of small- to medium-sized community ponds exist in most parts of the Terai region in Nepal. Such ponds could be a viable alternative for other forms of surface irrigation. But, with the lack of efficient management, many of these ponds remain underutilized. An effort was made to facilitate the rehabilitation of such a pond in a selected village of Rupandehi District in Western Terai region of Nepal. This paper aims to evaluate the changed water availability situation in post-monsoon seasons after the pond rehabilitation. The paper also evaluates the feasibility of such interventions especially focusing on the potential to provide additional water and improve agricultural productivity. Results showed small increases in quantifiable indicators such as water availability, cropping intensity, productivity and income. The new institutional setup improved water allocation, improved operation and maintenance, and increased social awareness among the people about the importance of underutilized water resources. The intervention has the potential to be replicated in similar contexts.

A natural holm oak forest was selectively thinned to test thinning as a tool to reduce tree mortality, increase productivity, and reverse the recent regression of the dominant species (Quercus ilex) induced by climate change. Thinning increased aboveground productivity and reduced stem mortality in this Mediterranean forest during four years just after thinning, contributing to the maintenance of forest functioning under changing climatic conditions. Q. ilex was the only species positively affected by the thinning: stem growth increased for all stem sizes, and mortality was significantly lower in thinned plots. On the contrary, mortality rates of Phillyrea latifolia and Arbutus unedo were not significantly lower. Stem growth increased for P. latifolia only in the smallest stem-size class. Our results highlight the suitability of selective thinning for improving the forest productivity and ensuring the conservation of Mediterranean coppices. Other benefits of selective thinning, such as a decrease in the risk of fire dispersion and an increase in the water supply for human populations, are also discussed.

It is increasingly acknowledged that climate change is influencing terrestrial ecosystems by increased drought and rainfall intensities. Soil microbes are key drivers of many processes in terrestrial systems and rely on water in soil pores to fulfill their life cycles and functions. However, little is known on how drought and rainfall fluctuations, which affect the composition and structure of microbial communities, persist once original moisture conditions have been restored. Here, we study how simulated short-term drying and re-wetting events shape the community composition of soil fungi and prokaryotes. In a mesocosm experiment, soil was exposed to an extreme drought, then re-wetted to optimal moisture (50% WHC, water holding capacity) or to saturation level (100% WHC). Composition, community structure and diversity of microbes were measured by sequencing ITS and 16S rRNA gene amplicons 3 weeks after original moisture content had been restored. Drying and extreme re-wetting decreased richness of microbial communities, but not evenness. Abundance changes were observed in only 8% of prokaryote OTUs, and 25% of fungal OTUs, whereas all other OTUs did not differ between drying and re-wetting treatments. Two specific legacy response groups (LRGs) were observed for both prokaryotes and fungi. OTUs belonging to the first LRG decreased in relative abundance in soil with a history of drought, whereas OTUs that increased in soil with a history of drought formed a second LRG. These microbial responses were spread among different phyla. Drought appeared to be more important for the microbial community composition than the following extreme re-wetting. 16S profiles were correlated with both inorganic N concentration and basal respiration and ITS profiles correlated with fungal biomass. We conclude that a drying and/or an extreme re-wetting history can persist in soil microbial communities via specific response groups composed of members with broad phylogenetic origins, with possible functional consequences on soil processes and plant species. As a large fraction of OTUs responding to drying and re-wetting belonged to the rare biosphere, our results suggest that low abundant microbial species are potentially important for ecosystem responses to extreme weather events.

SummaryConservation agriculture (CA) practices such as zero tillage (ZT) and permanent raised beds (PB) accelerate deposition of soil organic matter and augment associated biological properties of soil through enhanced inputs of organic carbon. However, the potential benefit of CA under intensive cereal‐based systems for key soil health indicators (such as carbon pools and biological activities) is only partially known. Therefore, we analysed the effect of three medium‐term tillage practices and four intensive crop rotations on selected soil organic carbon pools and microbial properties. The tillage practices consist of ZT, PB and conventional tillage (CT) in main plots and four crop rotations (MWMb, maize–wheat–mungbean; MCS, maize–chickpea–Sesbania; MMuMb, maize–mustard–mungbean; MMS, maize–maize–Sesbania) in subplots. The experimental design was split‐plot with three replications. After 6 years, we observed a significant positive effect of CA practices on soil organic carbon (SOC) content, labile SOC fractions, soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and dehydrogenase activity (DHA). The total organic carbon (TOC) was greatly affected by medium‐term tillage and diversified cropping systems; it was larger for CA and MCS and MWMb systems. The interaction effect between tillage and cropping systems for SOC content was not significant at all soil depths. Significantly larger contributions (8.5–25.5%) of labile SOC pools to TOC at various soil depths were recorded in PB and ZT. There was a significant positive effect of CA practices and diversified crop rotations on MBC and DHA at all the soil depths and sampling times, but the interaction effect between tillage and cropping systems was not significant. Thus, our medium‐term (≥ 5‐years) study showed that the combination of CA (PB and ZT) practices and appropriate choice of rotations (MCS and MWMb) appears to be the most appropriate option for restoration and improvement of the soil health of light‐textured Inceptisols through the accumulation of soil organic matter (SOM) and improvement in soil biological properties.Highlights Effect of conservation agriculture (CA) on soil labile carbon inputs and biological properties. Observed changes in SOC stock and C‐pools at different soil depths after 6 years. Significant effects of tillage and crop rotations observed for labile‐C pools. Adoption of ZT and PB enhanced SOC stock, C‐pools and microbial activity compared to CT.