This handbook is designed to provide an accurate, current, and authoritative summary of the principle Federal and Florida laws that directly or indirectly relate to agriculture. This handbook should provide a basic overview of the many rights and responsibilities that farmers and farmland owners have under both Federal and Florida laws as well as the appropriate contact information to obtain more detailed information. However, the reader should be aware that because the laws, administrative rulings, and court decisions on which this handbook is based are subject to constant revision, portions of this publication could become outdated at anytime. Several details of cited laws are also left out due to space limitations. This document is FE589, one of a series of the Food and Resource Economics Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Published December 2005.  FE589/FE589: 2021 Handbook of Florida Water Regulation: Food Quality Protection Act (ufl.edu)

This handbook is designed to provide an accurate, current, and authoritative summary of the principle Federal and Florida laws that directly or indirectly relate to agriculture. This handbook should provide a basic overview of the many rights and responsibilities that farmers and farmland owners have under both Federal and Florida laws as well as the appropriate contact information to obtain more detailed information. However, the reader should be aware that because the laws, administrative rulings, and court decisions on which this handbook is based are subject to constant revision, portions of this publication could become outdated at anytime. Several details of cited laws are also left out due to space limitations. This document is FE589, one of a series of the Food and Resource Economics Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Published December 2005.  FE589/FE589: 2021 Handbook of Florida Water Regulation: Food Quality Protection Act (ufl.edu)

Solid food products are typically in an amorphous state, and their physical properties change dramatically at the glass to rubber transition temperature (Tsub(g)). Tsub(g) decreases with increasing water content because of water plasticizing effects. When Tsub(g) becomes lower than the ambient temperature, a glass to rubber transition occurs at the ambient temperature. The water content at Tsub(g) = 25℃ is usually described as the critical water content (w sub(c)). In this review, the effect of glass to rubber transition on the texture of cookies, the caking of mango powder and the compressibility of soup powder is explained. Tsub(g) of the food samples was evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry or thermal rheological analysis. Wsub(c) was determined from the relationship between Tsub(g) and water content. Fracture properties of the cookie samples changed from brittle to ductile at Wsub(c). Caking of mango powder occurred at water contents above Wsub(c). Hardness of soup powder compressed at temperatures above Tsub(g) was much higher than when compressed at temperatures below Tsub(g).

Iraq has faced significant security challenges due to wars and local conflicts over the past decades that have hindered its economic growth. These challenges have at times overshadowed the issue of a significant increase in families at risk of food insecurity in the country, exacerbated by poverty and scarcity of domestic production. To reduce the impacts of these challenges, successive governments have resorted to implementing many agri-food policies to encourage domestic production through subsidising the key crops on one hand, and to make food affordable for all citizens through providing the main staple food commodities at low prices through a public distribution system PDS policy on another hand. However, these policies have several negative consequences. They have burdened the economy of the country, putting the country fiscal budget under additional pressure. Moreover, the policy of production subsidies has had a significant impact on agricultural water demand, in what is a water scarce country. This research sheds the light on the motivations that stand behind these policies, as well as providing a clearer vision of the consequences of such policies, in terms of food self-sufficiency, equity, and water scarcity. Iraq's agri-food policies can be considered as a good example of highly distortionary policies that could prevent the country from achieving its goals and may even lead to greater burdens on the economy of the country. Iraq's economy has become less diversified during the last decade and more dependent on oil revenues than ever. Yet the oil sector employs only 1 % of the workforce in Iraq, so imposing inefficient policies to non-oil economic sectors such as agriculture is likely to have a greater impact on the Iraqi population than might have been anticipated (Sommer-Houdeville, 2017). This thesis explains the distortions caused by several of the most important food­related subsidies and assesses their performances. There are many aspects that need to be looked at accurately and in several respects. For example, particularly in a water-scarce country such as Iraq, increasing food production can improve food security but at the expense of water security. Conversely, relying on food imports can make the country less food secure, yet it might have an invisible positive impact as the embedded water in this importing food can play a key role to tackle domestic water shortages. According to Godfray et al., (2010) government investment in food production particularly in a lower-income country would have further impacts on increasing the competition for input resources such as water, land, and energy, which in the end might affect the food system itself. Iraq is striving for food security but there are no easy solutions. Subsidies have been used to promote food production and food affordability, hence ensure food security, yet at what cost to the country's economy and environment? The overarching aim of this study is to explain and assess the distortions caused by agri-food policies adopted by successive Iraqi governments. First, a careful assessment of the main agri-food policies adopted by the Iraqi government during the last two decades is undertaken. Then three interlinked research questions are answered. First, how does the government's current crop production subsidy policy affect farmers' crop choices and the profitability of their farming enterprises. This is achieved by measuring farmers' social and private profitability using a policy analysis matrix model, PAM. Four key crops are considered: wheat, barley, maize and rice. Primary data was collected, using a household survey of 155 farm households in Wasit governorate located in central of lraq, conducted in January 2017. The second research question asks the extent to which the crop production subsidy policy distorts demand for water in the agricultural sector. The water trade-offs between domestic production and imports are then considered using the concept of "virtual water" embedded in the imported crop. The third research question asks what the impact on inequality has been of the government's policy of subsidising all household consumption. The central message from this thesis is that there are no easy solutions for a country such as Iraq, given that the government must make a choice between growing a greater share of its staples, at a high cost in terms of water use and subsidies, and importing crops, which would reduce pressure on water demand and government finances, but reduce food security. This is particularly pertinent given how vulnerable food-importing countries are to price shocks, as evidenced by the food crisis of 2008, felt across the globe, a direct consequence of the harvest failure in Australia, a key grain exporting country. However, this thesis also demonstrates that better targeting of subsidies would lead to more equitable and efficient outcomes with respect to food security.

The North China Plain (NCP) is a major food producing region in China. Overexploitation of groundwater for irrigation and overapplication of nitrogen (N) fertilizer have contributed to increased food production but have also resulted in water shortages and groundwater contamination. This paper reviews potential conflicts between strategies that ensure water security, food security, and water pollution reduction in the NCP. It outlines some agriculture-related strategies for resolving water shortages. Besides water saving and N saving technologies, policies such as fallow tillage, a water transfer project accounting for the recovery of groundwater level, and N management limiting N input in farmland are discussed. In particular, there are conflicts between the strategies for recovering shallow groundwater and releasing N from the unsaturated zone to the aquifer in the piedmont plain because a large amount of N is stored in the thick unsaturated zone. A transition from food-oriented strategies to sustainable development management of resources and the environment is necessary. To benefit from synergies and avoid tradeoffs between water security, food security, and clean water in the NCP, we must combine water and N management, groundwater level and water quantity control, socioeconomic issues, and climate change.

Allocation and management of agricultural land is of emergent concern due to land scarcity, diminishing supply of energy and water, and the increasing demand of food globally. To achieve social, economic and environmental goals in a specific agricultural land area, people and society must make decisions subject to the demand and supply of food, energy and water (FEW). Interdependence among these three elements, the Food-Energy-Water Nexus (FEW-N), requires that they be addressed concertedly. Despite global efforts on data, models and techniques, studies navigating the multi-faceted FEW-N space, identifying opportunities for synergistic benefits, and exploring interactions and trade-offs in agricultural land use system are still limited. Taking an experimental station in China as a model system, we present the foundations of a systematic engineering framework and quantitative decision-making tools for the trade-off analysis and optimization of stressed interconnected FEW-N networks. The framework combines data analytics and mixed-integer nonlinear modeling and optimization methods establishing the interdependencies and potentially competing interests among the FEW elements in the system, along with policy, sustainability, and feedback from various stakeholders. A multi-objective optimization strategy is followed for the trade-off analysis empowered by the introduction of composite FEW-N metrics as means to facilitate decision-making and compare alternative process and technological options. We found the framework works effectively to balance multiple objectives and benchmark the competitions for systematic decisions. The optimal solutions tend to promote the food production with reduced consumption of water and energy, and have a robust performance with alternative pathways under different climate scenarios.

Worldwide, millions of tons of crustaceans are produced every year and consumed as protein-rich seafood. However, the shells of the crustaceans and other non-edible parts constituting about half of the body mass are usually discarded as waste. These discarded crustacean shells are a prominent source of polysaccharide (chitin) and protein. Chitosan is a de-acetylated form of chitin obtained from the crustacean waste that has attracted attention for applications in food, biomedical, and paint industries due to its characteristic properties, like solubility in weak acids, film-forming ability, pH-sensitivity, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. We present an overview of the application of chitosan in composite coatings for applications in food, paint, and water treatment. In the context of food industries, the main focus is on fabrication and application of chitosan-based composite films and coatings for prolonging the post-harvest life of fruits and vegetables, whereas anti-corrosion and self-healing properties are the main properties considered for antifouling applications in paints in this review.

In the present investigation, emulsifying potential of galactan exopolysaccharide (EPS) extracted from Weissella confusa KR780676 has been evaluated with various food grade flavours (vanilla, cardamom and pineapple). Concentration of EPS was optimized as 1% with these flavours, in addition to the effect of salinity (NaCl), monovalent ion (KCl) and temperature on emulsion activity (EA), and emulsion stability (ES) was also inspected. Filter paper wetting test exhibited water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) and oil-in-water (o/w) type emulsions. The extent in granule disintegration and the retrogradation process of flavour emulsions were studied with pasting properties. Electron micrography and particle size analysis revealed the morphology and the size of emulsion droplets. Thermal stability of emulsions has found 100% at various temperatures (−20 to 60 °C) for vanilla and pineapple flavour, whereas, it was varying for cardamom as per the temperature disparity. Emulsion stability of vanilla and pineapple flavour was retained as such for various concentrations of NaCl whereas decreased for cardamom in direct proportion. In case of KCl all the three flavours showed greater stability. These emulsifying properties indicate that galactan EPS can be a prospective alternative to commercial biopolymers in food and pharmaceuticals industries.