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715. February 10 is “World Pulses Day” ～Recent Cowpea Research～
The United Nations established February 10 as “World Pulses Day” at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in December 2018 to commemorate the International Year of the Pulses in 2016. In this “World Pulses Day” Pick Up, we will explore cowpea research conducted in recent years using the method of text mining.
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714. Balancing Food Production and Improving Soil Fertility with the Power of Soil Microorganisms
In sub-Saharan Africa, crop productivity is low, and food shortages are chronic. JIRCAS has established a technology to produce phosphate-added soil compost using materials available to small-scale farmers in the region. We have also demonstrated that using phosphate rock-rhizosphere soil-added compost not only increases yields on a par with chemical fertilizers but also improves the biological and chemical properties of the soil. This achievement is expected to be an effective technology against the sharp rise in global fertilizer prices.
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713. Impact of Increased Productivity of Staple Crops on Improving Nutrition of Farmers
In rural Madagascar, increased paddy rice productivity has been shown to be effective in improving farmers' nutrition in terms of both quality and quantity, as it leads to increased self-consumption and the purchase of nutritious foods at the market.
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712. The Need for Transboundary Policies to Conserve Soil Biodiversity
The European Union (EU), known for its passionate commitment to environmental issues, has stated its goal of restoring soil health in Europe and beyond. Maintaining soil health is important for a sustainable society, but how to achieve it is the challenge. In this issue, we would like to introduce the challenges facing soil diversity conservation from the article “Soil biodiversity needs policy without borders” published in Science.
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711. January 2023 World Food Price Index
On February 3, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its latest World Food Price Index, which averaged 131.2 points in January 2023, the tenth consecutive monthly decline and 28.6 points (17.9%) lower than the high reached in March 2022. and sugar, while grain and meat prices remained stable.
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710. February 3 is "Soybean Day"
February 3 is "Soybean Day”. It is set on February 3, which is often the day of the Setsubun festival. As part of the celebration, soybeans are scattered to drive away evil spirits and people eat as many soybeans as their age to pray for good health and good fortune. Today, we introduce the situation of soybeans in Japan and abroad, as well as soybean research at JIRCAS.
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709. Urgent Transformation of the Food System
The war in Ukraine helped turn public attention toward the food crisis, but the number of hungry people was on the rise even before the war. Ironically, from 1961 to 2020, world food production quadrupled, and from 2000 to 2020 alone, the number of hungry people increased despite a 50% increase in food production. The World Bank blog noted that the problem is not temporary, but deeper-rooted, and argued for the urgency of transforming food systems according to each country's circumstances.
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708. The Water Crisis
Among the world's polycrisis, the water crisis is the most urgent, and an article in Nature called for research to help solve the water crisis. In the context of the SDGs, the water-centered goal is SDG 6 “Clean water and sanitation” but water is also critical to achieving the food security goal - SDG 2 "Zero hunger”.
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707. The Wonder of Superfood "Quinoa" Native to South America
Quinoa, which has been gaining attention in recent years as a "superfood," is a miracle crop that can grow even in the harsh environment of the vicinity of salt lakes such as Lake Uyuni in Bolivia. The SATREPS Symposium: The Wonder of Superfood "Quinoa" Native to South America, will be held on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. Researchers from Bolivia and producers who have started quinoa cultivation in Hokkaido are invited as lecturers to introduce to the general public the fascinating crops of the Andes Mountains, such as quinoa and potato, and communicate the potential of quinoa as a food for the future.
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706. Lessons from Weather and Climate Science for Future Pandemics
Three years have passed since late January 2020, when a new type of coronavirus broke out and reports began to come in about infected people in Japan. Recently, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published an article titled "Learning from weather and climate science to prepare for a future pandemic”. The article suggested that infectious disease modeling research can also learn a great deal from the half century of experience that weather and climate research has had with uncertainty, forecasting, global data sharing, and multi-billion dollar policy discussions.
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705. Connections of Tipping Elements in the Earth System
In the Earth system, tipping elements that are likely to exceed tipping points with large-scale changes that will gradually become irreversible due to human activities include the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, deforestation of the Amazon, and others. These are remotely correlated in the Earth system. These are remotely correlated in the Earth system and could have unforeseen domino effects on the climate system. A paper recently published in Nature Climate Change pointed to a mechanism by which the Amazon rainforest could reach a tipping point and spill over to the seemingly distant Tibetan Plateau.
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704. Food Price Hikes and Child Malnutrition in Low and Middle Income Countries
Food prices are rising around the world, and according to Headey and Ruel (2022), a 5% increase in real food prices in low and middle income countries increases the risk of wasting by 9% and of severe stunting by 14% among pre-school children.
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703. Melting of Glaciers and Ice Sheets
A severe cold wave is descending on Japan this week. Meanwhile, academic papers have recently reported a series of cases of accelerated melting of the Greenland ice sheet, a melting crisis under warming of glaciers in mountainous regions except for the Greenland and Arctic ice sheets, and a decrease in snow cover in the Alps.
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702. The Full Potential of Insects ～For Crop Cultivation, Food, and Feed～
Approximately 1.9 million species of organisms are currently known to exist on the earth. Of the 1.9 million organisms found, about 1 million are insects, and their contribution to humanity and the ecosystem is immeasurable. Today's Pick Up summarizes information on the use of insects, which have been the focus of much attention in recent years.
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701. Achieving Methane Reduction
As we reported in our Pick Up article late last year, atmospheric methane has reached record levels in recent years and has reportedly been increasing at an alarming rate over the past several years. The Nature Climate Change article, titled Methane Possible, proposes the urgency of realizing methane reductions and identifies 2023 as a critical year for progress on methane mitigation measures. The year 2023 is a critical year for progress on methane mitigation.
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700. Sustainable Eating Habits
Today's article marks the 700th Pick Up since we began in March 2020. Here we present a discussion on sustainable diets by Prof. Jessica Fanzo, a leading expert on food system issues. Sustainable diets must take into account environmental sustainability as well as balancing the environmental and nutritional needs of various communities around the world. Individuals becoming aware of where and how food is produced and procured, and making wise food choices, will likely lead to saving the health of our planet.
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699. China's Population Declines in 2022, India Leads the World in 2023
In the "World Population Prospects 2022," released on the occasion of World Population Day on July 11, the United Nations predicted that China's population would begin to decline in 2022, and now statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China also confirmed a population decline in 2022.
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698. Challenges to Fertilizer Availability
The CEO of a global fertilizer company reportedly accused the Russian president of "weaponising food" as many countries rely on Russian fertilizer for food production. The World Bank noted that while fertilizer prices have recently calmed compared to early 2022, they remain at historically high levels and availability remains a challenge.
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697. 2022 - One of the Warmest Years on Record
On January 12, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) declared 2022 the fifth warmest year on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ranked 2022 as the sixth warmest year on record, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) declared that the past eight years were the warmest globally based on six international weather data sets. NASA also reported that the summer in North America has been the warmest on record, especially in the northern regions.
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696. Brutal Weather Changes as New Normal
The United States has been plagued by drought and wildfires due to low rainfall over the past few years, and it has been reported that California has been experiencing heavy rains since the end of the year, causing significant damage. Under climate change, the probability of drought and flood extremes is said to be increasing. Under climate change, "rough and brutal" weather changes could become "the new normal.