Increasing income and urbanization are triggering a rapid change in food consumption patterns in India. This report assesses India's changing food consumption patterns and their implications on future food and water demand. According to the projections made in this study, the total calorie supply would continue to increase, but the dominance of food grains in the consumption basket is likely to decrease by 2050, and the consumption of non-grain crops and animal products would increase to provide a major part of the daily calorie supply. Although the total food grain demand will decrease, the total grain demand is likely to increase with the increasing feed demand for the livestock. The implications of the changing consumption patterns are assessed through consumptive water use (CWU) under the assumptions of full or partial food self-sufficiency.

Lundqvist, J.; de Fraiture, Charlotte; Molden, David., 'From field to fork: wastage of water in the food chain', Stockholm Water Front, pp.14-15, 2007

Promoting household food security and reducing malnutrition rates of a growing population with the same amount of water is a challenge facing South African nutritionists and agriculturalists alike. Apart from non-food related effects of agriculture in general, the crop and livestock production practices of the South African smallholder farmer may have nutritional implications, primarily when practised on residential land and resulting in home consumption. Yet, few studies have systematically investigated the impact thereof. It appears that crop diversification, gender issues and nutrition education are among the important factors that strengthen the link between agriculture and nutrition. Since food production is the most water-intensive activity in society, nutritional water productivity (i.e. nutrition per volume water) of foods and the nutritional water footprint of diets should be investigated in order to achieve a sustainable solution. This implies that both the demand for a diet consisting predominantly of water-productive plant products, as well as the supply thereof, be addressed.

Increasing income and urbanization are triggering a rapid change in food consumption patterns in India. This report assesses India's changing food consumption patterns and their implications on future food and water demand. According to the projections made in this study, the total calorie supply would continue to increase, but the dominance of food grains in the consumption basket is likely to decrease by 2050, and the consumption of non-grain crops and animal products would increase to provide a major part of the daily calorie supply. Although the total food grain demand will decrease, the total grain demand is likely to increase with the increasing feed demand for the livestock. The implications of the changing consumption patterns are assessed through consumptive water use (CWU) under the assumptions of full or partial food self-sufficiency.

Na tentativa de amenizar e/ou solucionar os problemas advindos das irregularidades das chuvas no tempo e no espaço, a Embrapa Semiárido vem, desde a década de 80, criando e/ou adaptando alternativas tecnológicas de convívio com o Semiárido. Entre essas alternativas, destaca-se a Barragem Subterrânea – BS, pelo seu moderado nível de adoção por parte dos agricultores, por sua eficácia, baixo custo, simplicidade, rapidez e praticidade de construção. Nessa mesma década, um outro grupo de pesquisadores, do Centro de Tecnologia da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco – UFPE, também, iniciou estudos com BS, testando diferentes modelos.

A água é um bem precioso e insubstituível. É um recurso natural fundamental para as diferentes atividades humanas e para a vida na terra, propiciando ao homem qualidade de vida, por meio de seu uso na produção de alimentos para abastecimento das populações, na irrigação e na produção de energia, entre outros.

This study investigates food trade patterns in relation to water resources availability in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries (SEMED). Examinations show that most of these countries have a high dependence on the import of water intensive crops -- cereal, vegetable oil and sugar, in the domestic food supply. The region as a whole is marginally a net exporter of fruits and vegetables, while variations are substantial across countries. Multi-variable regression analyses show that intensification of water scarcity is an important factor in explaining the increase in food import in the SEMED countries during the past two decades. It also finds that while GDP per capita has a strong influence on the level of food import in a country, its impact on changes in the import during the same period is rather modest. No significant relationship is found between the trade of fruits and vegetables and water resources availability. The projection on food import with respect to the decline in per capita water resources availability results in an increase of 40%, 39% and 14%, respectively, for cereal, vegetable oil and sugar by 2020 in the region, holding other factors constant. The European Union (EU) is the major food trade partner of the SEMED countries, except for cereal. About 70% of the fruit export and 55% of the vegetable export of the region currently go to the EU market. Expanding the export of fruits and vegetables is conducive to improving the value of water use in the SEMED countries. However, the expansion is constrained partly by the barriers in the destination markets, notably the EU.

A total of 94 Salmonella isolates were collected from three catchments areas in Eritrea. These isolates were recovered from clinical and environmental sources. Biochemical tests using gelatin hydrolysis and tartrate utilization test were employed to differentiate between Salmonellasubspecies. All Salmonellaisolates were identified as Salmonellasubspecies I and were then subjected to molecular characterization. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) were employed to identify and establish possible relationships between the clinical isolates and environmental sources. Two sets of oligonucleotide primers specific for genes from S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis were used for the PCR reaction. Of the 94 Salmonellaisolates characterized only 6 were S. Typhimurium strains. To type the Salmonellaisolates AFLP was used. Clustering the AFLP patterns using the un-weighed pair-group method using arithmetic means (UPGMA) revealed 15 clusters. Of the 94 Salmonellaisolates collected, 48 (51%) strains were serologically identified. These serotypes include, 21 SalmonellaEmek (43.7%), 19 SalmonellaHeidelberg (39.5%), 7 of the 13, 22, 23; z undetermined serotype (14.5%), and 2 SalmonellaTyphimurium strains (4.1%). The AFLP data in the present study indicated a possible relationship between the clinical isolates and those obtained from environmental sources.

Douthwaite, 'Use of Impact Pathways in Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF)', Presented at the IRRI Thursday Seminar, June 28, 2007. 42 p.

This review article gives a survey of the biosynthetic pathways that lead to water-soluble vitamins in microorganisms, plants and some animals. The biosynthetic pathways leading to some the B-group vitamins (biotin, folacin, cobalamins) and to vitamin C are described in detail using reaction schemes and mechanisms with enzymes involved and detailed explanations based on chemical principles and mechanisms.