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Tropical forests are a source of several high-value products that provide livelihood to small communities in different regions. Exotic fruits such as annatto are feedstock sources containing bioactive compounds with important applications in the food industry. Nevertheless, the integral use of annatto for community improvement and the crop’s contribution to carbon sequestration in tropical forests have not been analyzed. This paper aims to demonstrate the economic and environmental performance of small-scale alternatives to obtain natural colorants using annatto seed. The extraction of natural colorants (bixin and norbixin) was analyzed using ethanol and NaOH as solvents. The experimental results were used to simulate two scenarios. Scenario one involved bixin production, and scenario two comprised bixin and norbixin production. The economic and environmental assessments were performed considering the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology based on a Colombian context. The best extraction yield was 72.65 mg g−1 for bixin and 193.82 mg g−1 for norbixin. From a simulation perspective, scenario two showed the best economic performance since a payback period of 3.1 years was obtained. The LCA showed a high CO2 sequestration potential (6.5 kg CO2 eq kg−1 seed) of the annatto crop. Moreover, the solvents used during the colorant extraction proved to be the most environmentally representative. Nevertheless, the CO2 sequestration of the crop continues to exceed the emissions generated by the process. This work demonstrates that the annatto is an alternative for small communities to reach equilibrium between the economic and environmental of the tropical forest.

Dwindling water resources have drawn global attention to the reuse of treated wastewater (TWW) for irrigation. However, the impact of continuous TWW applications on soil quality and the proper quantification and monitoring frameworks have not been well-understood. This study aims to provides an insight into the impact of flood irrigation of urban TWW on soil nutritional-chemical attributes and the potential application of multiple soil quality indices for a corn cropping system. To achieve that goal, we pursued the Total Data Set (TDS) and Minimum Data Set (MDS) approaches, as well as the Integrated Quality Index (IQI) and Nemoro Quality Index (NQI) models. A total of 17 soil nutritional-chemical indicators (0–50 cm depths) were determined for the soils irrigated with TWW (five sites) and well water (one site as control) in West Azerbaijan province in northwestern Iran. Results revealed a significant difference in the majority of soil nutritional-chemical attributes, IQI-TDS, NQI-TDS, IQI-MDS, NQI-MDS, and corn yield between the TWW-irrigated and well-irrigated soils. Irrigation with TWW resulted in a significant increase in the amount of organic matter and cation exchange capacity by 9–17% and 17–26%, respectively, macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg) by 22–164%, and the majority of trace metals (Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu) by 17–175%, suggesting an improvement in soil nutrients and an increase in productivity. Comparing to the soil in control sites, the TWW irrigation caused a notable increase in the values of IQI-TDS, NQI-TDS, IQI-MDS, and NQI-MDS models ranging 14.6–29.5%, 19.1–25.5%, 21.7–33.3%, and 18.4–23.7%, respectively. This implies that soil quality was ameliorated to a significant extent with TWW irrigation. These improvements resulted in a remarkable increase in corn yield ranging from 12.5% to 28.1%. The regression equations revealed that up to 78%, 47%, 72%, and 36% of the variance in the IQI-TDS, NQI-TDS, IQI-MDS, and NQI-MDS models, respectively, could be captured by corn yield. The results of the regression and correlation analyses showed that the IQI-MDS model was more accurate than the other models in assessing soil quality and predicting crop yield. These findings may be an effective and practical tool for policy making, implementation, and management of soil irrigated with TWW.

Sustainable development is a global goal that entails an interdisciplinary approach for tackling ongoing and future challenges regarding the environment, climate change, economic limitations, and resource efficiency. Against this background, valorizing available and high-potential waste to manufacture value-added products that facilitate recycling resources and energy meets the significant objectives of a circular economy. Renewable and biodegradable biopolymers from seafood waste are recognized as promising alternatives for developing sustainable food packaging materials, boosting resource efficiency, and diminishing environmental concerns. Based on the concepts of waste to wealth and circular economies, the present review summarizes the recent advances regarding the production and utilization of seafood waste, as well as current problems in food packaging and the market demand for natural biopolymer-based food packaging. The principal objective of this review is to analyze the utilization of seafood waste and by-products to manufacture biodegradable bio-based materials for food packaging materials that are environmentally and economically sustainable. The applications of edible films produced from fish gelatin and chitosan extracted from seafood waste for food packaging are also highlighted. The present study will provide researchers, food technologists, and academia with more robust knowledge to facilitate future food packaging research and the creation of a cyclical economy.

Globally, non-cereal crops such as vegetable oils and their associated products will surpass cereals in demand by 2050, according to the World Bank (WB). Despite being considered an energy-efficient food crop, the production and supply capability of rapeseed is mostly influenced by climate conditions. Aiming in this context, the study explored how temperature and rainfall patterns influence rapeseed production, as well as how rapeseed prices in major trading countries may influence production and consumption patterns in developing countries. To do this, a supply and demand model approach has been employed for major exporting (Canada) and importing countries, i.e., China, the United States (U.S.) along with Bangladesh, a developing nation. The baseline study period was considered from 1991 to 2018, and simulations were performed up to 2040. The findings revealed that the most important effect on rapeseed yield is directly related to changes in temperature, which are positively related to the growing season but negatively related to the maturity stages of rapeseed in all studied countries. Rapeseed exports from Canada are expected to rise by 2040, while imports from China and the U.S. will rise simultaneously. In Canada, the per capita consumption of rapeseed oil is expected to increase from 16 to 24 kg per year between 2019 and 2040. Over the projection period, oil per capita consumption has steadily increased in China, the U.S., and Bangladesh. The relative demand for rapeseed oil is projected to increase by 2060, according to representative concentration pathways (RCPs). Therefore, it is necessary to determine market prices considering the probable climatic effect and increasing market demand for rapeseed to sustain the international market access of trading nations.

Reducing potential soil damage due to the passing of forest machinery is a key issue in sustainable forest management. Limiting soil compaction has a significant positive impact on forest soil. With this in mind, the aim of this work was the application of precision forestry tools, namely the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Geographic Information System (GIS), to improve forwarding operations in hilly areas, thereby reducing the soil surface impacted. Three different forest study areas located on the slopes of Mount Amiata (Tuscany, Italy) were analyzed. Extraction operations were carried out using a John Deere 1410D forwarder. The study was conducted in chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) coppice, and two coniferous stands: black pine (Pinus nigra Arn.) and Monterey pine (Pinus radiata D. Don). The first stage of this work consisted of field surveys collecting data concerning new strip roads prepared by the forwarder operator to extract all the wood material from the forest areas. These new strip roads were detected using a GNSS system: specifically, a Trimble Juno Sb handheld data collector. The accumulated field data were recorded in GIS Software Quantum GIS 2.18, allowing the creation of strip road shapefiles followed by a calculation of the soil surface impacted during the extraction operation. In the second phase, various GIS tools were used to define a preliminary strip road network, developed to minimize impact on the surface, and, therefore, environmental disturbance. The results obtained showed the efficiency of precision forestry tools to improve forwarding operations. This electronic component, integrated with the on-board GNSS and GIS systems of the forwarder, could assure that the machine only followed the previously-planned strip roads, leading to a considerable reduction of the soil compaction and topsoil disturbances. The use of such tool can also minimize the risks of accidents in hilly areas operations, thus allowing more sustainable forest operations under all the three pillars of sustainability (economy, environment and society).

Increased seasonal climatic variability is a major contributor to uncertainty in livestock-based livelihoods across Southern Africa. Erratic rainfall patterns and prolonged droughts have resulted in the region being identified as a climate ‘vulnerability hotspot’. Based on fieldwork conducted in the dry seasons in a semiarid region of South Africa, we present an interdisciplinary approach to assess the differential effects of drought on two types of livestock systems. Organic matter digestibility, faecal crude protein, C/N ratio and the natural abundance of faecal 15N and 13C isotopes were used as ecophysiological feed quality indicators between smallholder and semicommercial systems. These measurements were complemented with qualitative surveys. In a novel approach, we tested the potential of the isotopic signature to predict feed quality and present a significant relationship between organic matter digestibility and isotopic ratios. Indicators assessed smallholder feed quality to be significantly higher than semicommercial feed. However, animals from semicommercial farms were in significantly better condition than those from smallholding farms. Differential access to feed resources suggests that a complex feed–water–land nexus pushes smallholders into high reliance on off-farm supplements to bridge drought-induced feed deficits. The paper thus offers a contribution to intersectional work on drought effects on livestock keepers of semiarid South Africa and illustrates how ecophysiological indicators mirror socioeconomic differences.

The Pampas region is characterized by a high complexity in its productive system planning and faces the challenge of satisfying future food demands, as well as reducing the environmental impact of the activity. Climate change affects crops and farmers should use species capable of adapting to the changed climate. Among these species, faba bean (Vicia faba L.) cv. ‘Alameda’ has shown good adaptation to weather variability and, as a winter legume, it can help maintain the sustainability of agricultural systems in the area. The main purpose of this research was to select the models which describe the production characteristics of the ‘Alameda’ bean by using the least number of variables. Experimental and agrometeorological data from the cultivation of the ‘Alameda’ in Azul, Buenos Aires province, Argentina were used to generate mathematical models. Several modelling methodologies have been applied to study the production characteristics of the faba bean. The prediction of the models generated was analyzed by randomly disturbing the experimental data and analyzing the magnitude of the errors produced. The models obtained will be useful for predicting the biomass production of the faba bean cv. ‘Alameda’ grown in the agroclimatic conditions of Azul, Buenos Aires province, Argentina.