Urban expansion and climate change in semi-arid regions have exacerbated environmental degradation in many cities. Baqubah, a city in eastern Iraq, like other areas in the country, has experienced changes in land use and a decline in vegetation cover. This study aims to identify optimal locations and technical requirements for establishing a sustainable greenbelt system in Baqubah District using an integrated geospatial approach. Vegetation dynamics were evaluated using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), while thermal conditions were assessed through Land Surface Temperature (LST). Land use/land cover (LULC) was classified into five types using the maximum likelihood algorithm. Agricultural land is concentrated around watercourses in the central and northeastern regions, covering 74 square kilometers. Arable land appears in the southwest and east, covering 47 square kilometers, indicating its potential for development within the Green Belt project. Climatic variables were spatially fitted using the Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) method. A spatial fit model was developed using the Analysis Hierarchy Process (AHP) and weighted superposition analysis. Land surface temperature was calculated from a thermal range of 29.8°C to 41.3°C, with the highest values (above 40°C) concentrated in urban and exposed areas. Areas with dense vegetation recorded relatively low temperatures (below 34°C), reflecting the effect of vegetation in reducing surface temperature. A spatial suitability map for establishing a green belt in the northern and northeastern areas of Baqubah district has been identified, characterized by favorable conditions including heavy rainfall (>170 mm), moderate humidity (>50%), low temperatures (<41°C), and high vegetation cover index values.
Digital financial services offer much to smallholder farmers, though the benefits of these innovations are often unclear. There are value chain structures in maize that aim to improve market access, food security, and the overall profitability of the system. This study focuses on the effect of digital microfinance on maize harvest quality within the maize farming system in Central Java Province, Indonesia. This study surveyed 320 smallholder maize farmers in the four most productive regencies of the province. The constructs of Digital Microfinance Access (DMAI) and Harvest Quality Index (HQI) were operationalised across multi-dimensional finance and harvest quality. When evaluating the constructs, Access and Finance were treated as latent. The results of this study indicated that digital microfinance positively affected harvest quality and that the impacts were substantial. Access to digital microfinance significantly improves harvest quality outcomes, as indicated by an average marginal effect of 0.284. A one-unit increase in the Digital Microfinance Access Index (DMAI) is associated with a 0.284 increase in the Harvest Quality Index (HQI), holding other factors constant. However, in the case of digital farming classes, access to digital microfinance had an adverse effect, unlike in the three farming categories. Digital microfinance mobilizes liquidity and transforms maize farming from structural, qualitative, competitive, and transformational perspectives. The findings confirm that improved access to digital microfinance significantly enhances maize harvest quality, with measurable gains in key quality indicators and clear differences across farmer segments.
Nigeria’s agrifood system supports employment, income generation, and food security, but post-harvest losses of perishable crops, especially leafy vegetables, threaten these benefits. This study examined the magnitude, profitability implications, and determinants of post-harvest losses in leafy vegetable production in Southwest Nigeria. Primary data were collected from 240 leafy vegetable producers selected through a multistage sampling procedure. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, budgetary analysis, post-harvest loss estimation, and a two-stage least squares regression model. Respondents had a mean age of 41.8 years, average household size of 5.6 persons, and mean farming experience of 8.9 years; 68.3% were male, 66.7% married, 41.7% had secondary education, 28.3% accessed credit, and 25.0% had extension contact. Average post-harvest loss was 33.49%, with Telfairia occidentalis recording the highest loss at 37.78%, followed by Amaranthus spp. and Corchorus olitorius. Despite these losses, leafy vegetable production remained profitable, with return on investment ranging from 2.8 to 4.4. The 2SLS results showed that household size and storage costs significantly increased post-harvest losses, while education, farming experience, farm size, and access to credit significantly reduced them. Major constraints were price volatility, inadequate capital, poor road networks, and weak extension services. The study concludes that reducing post-harvest losses through improved preservation methods, cold chain infrastructure, access to agrifinance, and digital market linkages can enhance food availability and rural livelihoods.
As carbon-rich materials, biochar (BC) and hydrochar (HC), the by-products of feedstocks produced through pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization, respectively, have demonstrated encouraging promise as soil conditioners that enhance soil fertility and crop development and have recently gained attention as potential products for seed germination improvement, growth, and yield, this research was carried out to evaluate the impact of BC and HC on rice (Oryza sativa) seedlings germination and growth under laboratory conditions. conduct the factorial the experiment, five (5) treatments for each of BC and HC, respectively was applied. The results indicated that T1(0%), T2 (1%), T3 (2%), T4 (4%), and T5 (6%) of BC and HC increased germination percentage (GP), mean germination time (MGT), germination rate index (GRI), germination energy (GE), shoot length (cm), fresh and dry shoot weight (g), fresh dry root weight (g), root/shoot ratio, and plant biomass, which GP, GRI, and GE showed increased by 70.2% and MGT by 66.6% in comparison with the control (0%) for BC and HC, respectively. Treatments 1%, 2%, 4%, and 6% of BC and HC significantly increased shoot length by 43.8% and 60.5%, respectively. Fresh and dry shoot weight, fresh and dry root weight, and plant biomass were significantly increased in comparison to the control for BC and HC at lower and higher concentrations, respectively. The findings reveal that lower concentrations of BC and higher concentrations of HC may be used as a viable soil conditioner to enhance rice seed germination and improve growth.
The incidence of postharvest losses of table grapes causes economic damage along the food chain, especially in developing countries. To increase the shelf life of table grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) essential oils (EOs) of some plants (thyme, clove, rosemary, and cinnamon) were selected as packaging material, to coat the 200g of grape that packed in plastic clamshell containers, and estimate their effects on the physicochemical properties and decay incidence of two varieties of grapes (Khoshnawaty and Rashmiri) during cold storage at 4°C with 80–85% relative humidity for 45 days. The results show that in general, all EOs of the plants (thyme, clove, rosemary, and cinnamon) used in this study lead to reducing weight loss, rachis browning, delaying repining and maintaining firmness during storage, as well as maintained their chemical characteristics (pH, solid soluble content and total phenols) beside to reducing decay incidence in treated grapes with EOs compared to the control treatment. Among the EOs types used in this study, EOs of clove were the best in most of the studied parameters, followed by EOs of thyme and cinnamon. In comparison between the two cultivars of grapes used in the current study, the Khoshnawaty variety was more stable to most postharvest parameters (physical, chemical, and decay incidence) compared to the Rashmiri variety.
