Eric Baran, Eric Guerin, Joshua Nasielski, 'Fish, sediment and dams in the Mekong: How hydropower development affects water productivity and food supply', 2016

CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) | Gallagher Louise et al., 'The critical role of risk in setting directions for water, food and energy policy and research', Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 23, IFPRI, 2016

Ensuring food security is accompanied by risks which can significantly weaken it. Water resources are distributed on the land area extremely unevenly; differ in the wide range of variability on security per capita, high temporary variability. It was revealed that in 2014 more than 2.5 billion people in 46 countries lived in conditions of a water stress and deficiency. Russia is one of the few countries with rather high level of specific water security, but has extremely uneven distribution of water resources to districts which don't correspond to population distribution. Low water availability in the Crimean federal district, Moscow and the Moscow region, the Belgorod and Kursk regions, Stavropol region is noted. In shallow years in these regions there can be very serious problems with water supply. The international experience convincingly proves that melioration promotes stabilization of agricultural production. In Russia the reclaimed lands occupy less than 5% of grounds and 8% of an arable land, but even they are used not always effectively. Water resources in the majority of regions of Russia don't limit development of agriculture. The approaching global water crisis creates very favourable conditions for the countries with water security as the increase in demand and prices of water capacious production is inevitable. Russia has competitive advantages in production of water capacious agricultural production and can become one of the leaders in the corresponding world markets. The most perspective export goods are grain and meat. The increase in the export potential of grain up to 150 mln t, the increase in production of the cattle and poultry (in live weight) – up to 15 mln t, are possible by 2020. | Обеспечение продовольственной безопасности сопряжено с рисками, которые могут существенно ее ослабить. Водные ресурсы распределены по территории суши крайне неравномерно, отличаются широким диапазоном изменчивости по обеспеченности в расчете на душу населения, высокой временной изменчивостью. Выявлено, что в 2014г. более 2,5 млрд. человек в 46 странах жили в условиях водного стресса и дефицита. Россия – одна из немногих стран с достаточно высоким уровнем удельной водообеспеченности, но имеет крайне неравномерное распределение водных ресурсов по округам, которое не соответствует распределению населения по численности. Отмечена низкая водообеспеченность в Крымском федеральном округе, г. Москва и Московской области, Белгородской и Курской областях, Ставропольском крае. В маловодные годы в данных регионах могут возникать весьма серьезные проблемы с водообеспечением. Мировой опыт убедительно доказывает, что мелиорация способствует стабилизации с.-х. производства. В России мелиорируемые земли занимают менее 5% угодий и 8% пашни, но даже они используются не всегда эффективно. Водные ресурсы в большинстве регионов России не ограничивают развитие сельского хозяйства. Надвигающийся глобальный водный кризис формирует исключительно благоприятные условия для водообеспеченных стран, поскольку неизбежен рост спроса и цен на водоемкую продукцию. Россия обладает конкурентными преимуществами в производстве водоемкой с.-х. продукции и может стать одним из лидеров соответствующих мировых рынков. Наиболее перспективные экспортные товары – зерно и мясо. К 2020 г. возможно увеличение экспортного потенциала зерна до 150 млн т, увеличение производства скота и птицы (в живом весе) – до 15 млн т.

Legacy phosphorus (P) that has accumulated in soils from past inputs of fertilizers and manures is a large secondary global source of P that could substitute manufactured fertilizers, help preserve critical reserves of finite phosphate rock to ensure future food and bioenergy supply, and gradually improve water quality. We explore the issues and management options to better utilize legacy soil P and conclude that it represents a valuable and largely accessible P resource. The future value and period over which legacy soil P can be accessed depends on the amount present and its distribution, its availability to crops and rates of drawdown determined by the cropping system. Full exploitation of legacy P requires a transition to a more holistic system approach to nutrient management based on technological advances in precision farming, plant breeding and microbial engineering together with a greater reliance on recovered and recycled P. We propose the term ‘agro-engineering’ to encompass this integrated approach. Smaller targeted applications of fertilizer P may still be needed to optimize crop yields where legacy soil P cannot fully meet crop demands. Farm profitability margins, the need to recycle animal manures and the extent of local eutrophication problems will dictate when, where and how quickly legacy P is best exploited. Based on our analysis, we outline the stages and drivers in a transition to the full utilization of legacy soil P as part of more sustainable regional and global nutrient management.

In this study, Hg²⁺ ions were found to quench the fluorescence of glutathione (GSH)-capped copper clusters (Cu NCs). The Cu NCs were prepared by a simple reduction of CuSO4 in the presence of GSH serving both as a reducing and protecting agents, and characterized by ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy (UV–vis), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRTEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS). The GSH-Cu NCs displayed a small size, excellent water-dispersibility, good storage stability, good photostability and were stable in the presence of high concentrations of salt. The GSH-Cu NCs possessed strong blue fluorescence with a quantum yield of 10.6% and exhibited an excitation-independent fluorescence behavior. The zeta potential, TEM, resonance light scattering and dynamic light scattering measurements demonstrated that the Hg²⁺ ion-induced aggregation of the Cu NCs contributed to the fluorescence quenching of the dispersed Cu NCs. On these findings, a sensitive and selective fluorescent probe was developed for detecting Hg²⁺ in the linear range from 10nM to 10μM with a detection limit of 3.3nM (S/N=3). The proposed method has been successfully applied to determine Hg²⁺ content in water sample and food stuff. The results of the proposed method were in good agreement with those obtained by a hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS).

Fresh water and arable land are essential for agricultural production and food processing. However, managing conflicting demands over water and land can be challenging for business leaders, environmentalists and other stakeholders. This paper characterizes these challenges as wicked problems. Wicked problems are ill-formed, fuzzy, and messy, because they involve many clients and decisions makers with conflicting values. They are also not solvable, but rather must be managed. How can agribusiness leaders effectively manage wicked problems, especially if they have little practice in doing so? This paper argues that a Community of Practice (CoP) and its tripartite elements of domain, community and practice can be effective in helping businesses manage wicked problems by focusing on the positive links between environmental stewardship and economic performance. Empirically, the paper examines three agribusinesses to assess the extent in which CoP is used as a strategy for sustainable water management.

The multiple, complex and systemic problems of the agriculture–food–water–environment nexus (“Nexus”) are among the most significant challenges of the 21st century. China is a key site for Nexus research amidst profound socio‐environmental problems. The policy implications of these problems have been authoritatively summarized elsewhere. This study presents discussions at an international workshop in Guangzhou that asked instead “What science is needed to deliver the growing policy commitments regarding these challenges? And, What changes are needed to the science itself?” Understanding and effective intervention regarding the Nexus calls for a paradigm shift: to a new kind of science of (capacity for) international, interdisciplinary, and impactful research working with and within complex socio‐natural systems. We here argue that science must become proactive in approach, striving only for “minimal harm” not “silver bullet” solutions, and adopting an explicitly long‐term strategic perspective. Together, these arguments lead to calls for reorienting science and science policy in three ways: from short‐term remediation to longer‐term optimization; from a focus on environmental threats to one on the opportunities for international collaborative learning; and toward supporting new forms of scientific career. We bring these points together by recommending a new form of scientific institution: a global network of collaborative Nexus Centres, under the umbrella of a global Food Nexus Organization akin to those of the human genome and proteome.

Global trends show that habitual omega-3 intakes are short of recommended guidelines, particularly among vegetarians and vegans. The potential health implications of low long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCω3PUFA) intakes coupled with concerns about sustainability of fish stocks call for innovative approaches to provide food based solutions to this problem. Nanoemulsions are systems with extremely small droplet sizes that could provide a solution while improving the bioavailability of LCω3PUFA. Oil in water nanoemulsion systems were successfully created using ultrasound with oil loads of up to 50% (w/w) using vegetarian LCω3PUFA oils (flaxseed and algae). Nanoemulsions of 50% (w/w) with mean droplet size measurements of 192 (flaxseed) and 182 nm (algae) using combinations of the emulsifiers Tween 40 and lecithin were prepared.This technique could be applied to create vegetarian LCω3PUFA nanoemulsions suitable for integration into enriched functional food products with the potential to increase LCω3PUFA intake and bioavailability.