ABSTRACT Rural industrial development (RID) is reshaping the livelihoods and food environments of rural households, yet how RID is associated with household dietary well‐being remains insufficiently understood. This study examines the relationship between RID and household dietary diversity (HDD) and explores the potential pathways underlying this relationship. Using household‐level survey data from rural Jiangsu, China, we employ Poisson regression as the baseline estimation and use two‐stage least squares (2SLS) and propensity score matching (PSM) to address potential endogeneity and selection concerns. The results indicate a significant positive association between RID and HDD, as well as between RID and the consumption of nutrient‐rich foods, including vegetables, livestock and poultry products, aquatic products, and dairy products. Mechanism analysis further suggests that improved food affordability, greater market participation in food consumption, and shifts in household labor allocation may serve as important pathways linking RID to greater dietary diversity (DD). Heterogeneity analysis shows that the positive association is stronger among households located farther from town centers and those in northern Jiangsu. Overall, the findings reveal a robust positive relationship between RID and HDD and suggest that RID may be relevant to dietary well‐being beyond its economic benefits. These findings provide policy insights into the potential role of RID in broader efforts to support improved nutrition among rural populations.
ABSTRACT Land tenure arrangements are widely recognized as a determinant of agricultural productivity and household food security. Yet, most empirical studies treat this relationship as spatially uniform, overlooking how agro‐ecological contexts may shape its nature and direction. This study examined whether the relationship between land tenure type and household food security differs across Ghana's agro‐ecological zones. Drawing on data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 7), conducted among 14,009 households from 2016 to 2017, an analytical sample comprising 7439 households with access to agricultural land was selected. Survey‐weighted partial proportional odds models with tenure‐by‐zone interactions were used to test whether this relationship varied across the Coastal, Forest, and Savannah agro‐ecological zones. Overall, 28.7% of households were food secure, with considerable variation across the Forest (35.7%), Coastal (25.1%), and Savannah (17.5%) zones. In the pooled model, purchased (odds ratio [OR] = 0.61, p = 0.018), rented (OR = 0.63, p = 0.003), free‐use (OR = 0.69, p = 0.002), and distributed land (OR = 0.69, p = 0.002) were associated with lower odds of food insecurity relative to inherited land. Associations between tenure type and food insecurity differed significantly across zones ( χ 2 (12) = 40.20, p < 0.001), supporting the study's hypothesis. The difference was clearest, and held under all alternative specifications, for sharecropped land, which was associated with lower odds of food insecurity in the Savannah zone (OR = 0.31 to 0.44) but higher odds of severe food insecurity in the Coastal zone (OR = 2.30, p = 0.016). Rented land was associated with lower odds of food insecurity in the Savannah zone (OR = 0.40, p < 0.001) but not in the Coastal or Forest zones, while associations for free‐use and distributed land did not differ across zones. These findings suggest that policies aimed at strengthening land tenure–food security relationships should be context‐specific, reflecting the different institutional and environmental contexts in which households operate. This applies in Ghana and in other low‐ and middle‐income countries with plural tenure systems across contrasting farming environments.
ABSTRACT Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is widely used to evaluate the environmental impacts of food production; however, most applications rely on mass‐ or volume‐based functional units that may not reflect the primary function of food, namely the provision of human nutrition. Enviro‐nutritional Life Cycle Assessment (n‐LCA) seeks to address this context‐specific limitation by integrating nutritional attributes into environmental assessments. In this study, a nutrient‐specific n‐LCA framework is applied to dietary oils, using extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) as a demonstrator system. An attributional LCA was conducted to quantify environmental impacts across 14 Tuscan EVOO production systems from cradle to bulk processed oil production, with climate change impacts characterised using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Report factors. Carbon footprint results were subsequently normalised to nutrient‐specific functional units to support category‐level comparison of dietary oils based on fatty acid composition and vitamin E content, enabling calculation of a nutritional carbon footprint expressed per unit nutrient. This approach facilitates comparison of dietary oils based on their efficiency in delivering specific nutritional functions rather than on mass alone. Nutrient‐specific rankings reveal trade‐offs between environmental performance and nutritional function across oils, highlighting the importance of functional unit selection when assessing the sustainability of dietary fats. Overall, the results demonstrate the utility of nutrient‐specific n‐LCA for improving the interpretability and relevance of environmental assessments of foods, particularly at the product level.
ABSTRACT Grain drying techniques using desiccants are an effective alternative to existing drying practices, which enhance seed quality while maintaining energy efficiency. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of five desiccants, viz. zeolite, silica gel, calcium chloride (CaCl 2 ), phosphorus pentoxide (P 2 O 5 ), and diatomaceous earth (DE), for long‐term storage of wheat grains in controlled conditions. Results demonstrated that P 2 O 5 consistently performed better compared to the control across all the tested parameters. For instance, P 2 O 5 effectively reduced grain moisture content (MC) from 15.0% to as low as 10.89% after four months of storage, thereby limiting grain damage (5.77%), weight loss (1.76%), and enhancing germination percentage (92.67%) ( p ≤ 0.01). Moreover, lower adult populations of Rhyzopertha dominica (13.50) and Tribolium castaneum (11.25) were recorded in P 2 O 5 than in all other treatments ( p ≤ 0.01). On the other hand, P 2 O 5 effectively maintained proximate composition, with only a slight decrease in protein (13.15%–13.06%), fat (1.70%–1.68%), and starch contents (67.40%–66.52%), and minimal increases in ash (1.54%–1.59%) and fiber (2.20%–2.26%) ( p ≤ 0.01). Furthermore, rheological analysis of flour obtained from P 2 O 5 ‐treated grains revealed improved functional properties, including lower water absorption capacity (56.22%), longer dough development and stability times (5.13 and 7.55 min, respectively) ( p ≤ 0.01). Texture profile analysis (TPA) of chapati prepared from these flours further demonstrated superior textural attributes, with reduced hardness (330.25 g), chewiness (228.00 g), and toughness (449.25 N.mm), together with enhanced cohesiveness (0.71), springiness (0.89), and resilience (0.56) ( p ≤ 0.01). Collectively, these findings demonstrate that desiccant treatments, particularly P 2 O 5 were highly effective in preserving grain quality and enhancing flour functionality, and producing chapati with improved texture and greater consumer acceptability. Considering these results, desiccant‐based storage methods may offer promising alternatives to fumigation and synthetic pesticides, and can be effectively incorporated into Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs for sustainable wheat storage and insect pest management.
ABSTRACT Phytophthora root rot, caused by Phytophthora sojae , poses a significant threat to soybean ( Glycine max ) production worldwide. APETALA2/ethylene responsive factor (AP2/ERF) transcription factors play crucial roles in plant immune regulation, but the functions of subfamily cytokinin response factor (CRF) in soybean disease resistance remain largely unexplored. In this study, expression analysis revealed that GmCRF1‐like2 was significantly induced by P. sojae infection, which showed notably higher expression levels in the resistant variety Suinong 10 compared with the susceptible variety Dongnong 50. Agrobacterium rhizogenes ‐mediated hairy root transformation indicated that overexpression of GmCRF1‐like2 significantly enhanced resistance to P. sojae , whereas RNA interference‐mediated silencing increased disease susceptibility in soybean. Transcriptomic analyses of overexpression lines identified 6892 differentially expressed genes, and KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) enrichment analysis revealed significant enrichment in “phenylpropanoid biosynthesis” and “plant‐pathogen interaction” pathways. Importantly, four xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase ( XTH ) family genes including GmXTH31 , GmXTH34 , GmXTH44 , and GmXTH49 were significantly upregulated. RT‐qPCR validation confirmed that GmCRF1‐like2 positively regulates the expression of these XTH genes, which could involve cell wall remodeling through xyloglucan modification in response to P. sojae . Therefore, we proposed that GmCRF1‐like2 mediated soybean defense against P. sojae by transcriptionally activating the XTH gene family, triggering cell wall remodeling, and enhancing plant resistance. This study suggests a potential molecular mechanism by which CRF transcription factors regulate plant disease resistance through cell wall modification, offering potential targets for improving soybean disease resistance.
