Information Analysis
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470. Potential Impact of Glacial Melting on Ecosystems and Agricultural Infrastructure
The melting of icebergs seems to be progressing steadily in Antarctica and the Arctic. The melting of icebergs releases large amounts of fresh water, which, depending on the extent of melting, can have a significant impact on the physical and biological properties of the surrounding oceans. If climatic conditions such as accelerated glacial melting interfere with the maintenance of the storage facility, it could threaten the very basis of agriculture based on crop diversity.
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469. Multidimensional Poverty Index in Rural Areas
The world's poor are concentrated in rural areas, and there are differences in the quality of urban and rural poverty that cannot be captured by common indicators. In January 2022, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) released a joint report on the framework for measuring multidimensional poverty in rural areas.
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468. Climate Change Adaptation Measures in Asia ―Economic Evaluation of Adaptation Measures for Rice Production in Vietnam
Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions to the impacts of climate change. A book published in January 2022 by the Global and Local Environmental Co-Creation Organization (GLEC) of Ibaraki University summarizes lessons learned on agriculture, disaster management, and resource management for climate change adaptation. A chapter in the book with a co-author from JIRCAS, presents an economic evaluation of adaptation measures in Vietnam and discusses the transformation of the agricultural system.
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467. SDGs Progress on Agriculture and Food
The stability and sustainability of the food system is linked to the achievement of many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Today’s Pick up introduces the FAO report "Tracking progress on food and agriculture-related SDG indicators 2021", which summarizes the progress of food and agriculture-related indicators of the SDGs.
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466. Make or Break Year for the Biodiversity Agenda
An editorial in Nature on January 19 pointed out that biodiversity conservation has failed in the past because of inadequate governance, and emphasized the need for experts who understand people's organizational behavior and administration to work hand in hand with biology and conservation experts to implement biodiversity targets.
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465. Water Resources and Impact of Disasters in Tonga
The Kingdom of Tonga (hereinafter referred to as Tonga), which experienced a volcanic eruption on January 15, is an island nation with a population of about 100,000, consisting of about 170 islands and four archipelagos. The remote islands of Tonga are vulnerable to flooding due to extreme weather conditions, and with the exception of a few islands, there are no rivers or lakes. Therefore, water resources basically depend on natural resources, and during the dry season and drought, fresh groundwater including "fresh groundwater lenses" becomes an important water resource. The water resources of small islands are expected to become saline due to the rise in sea level caused by global warming, and are also susceptible to the increase in water withdrawal and decrease in recharge due to drought, etc. Therefore, there is a need to develop technologies for their conservation.
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464. Revealing Various Physiological Traits of Useful Trees Using a Large Database
The Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) and Japanese cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) are important timber species, accounting for the majority of planted forests in Japan. Although cedar is considered to be endemic to Japan, it is also used as a timber resource in subtropical regions such as India and Taiwan. In a study published in the international journal PLOS ONE, we compared various physiological and ecological traits of Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress using a large database of literature published over the past 70 years. Such a database can be used to make better predictions of climate change impacts on forest ecosystems and to develop more climate-resilient forest management practices. A similar database is urgently needed for tropical trees.
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463. Impact of COVID-19
It has been two years since COVID-19 began to spread around the world, and its impact has been not only on human health, but also on the global scale through economic crises and widening social disparities. An article published in Nature refers to a study pointing out that the actual number of people killed by the pandemic may be much larger, and conveys the efforts of experts who are trying to determine the scale of human suffering caused by COVID-19, pointing out issues with the estimation method.
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462. Creating Sustainable Industry through Value-adding Technologies for the Vast Unused Biomass from Oil Palm Plantations
JIRCAS, in collaboration with IHI Corporation, Panasonic Corporation and other institutions, is working on the "SATREPS Palm Trunk Project", to reduce the environmental burden and create a sustainable industry through the use of value-adding technologies to oil palm trunks (OPT), which are disposed in large quantities during the palm oil production process mainly in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Malaysia. The efforts of JIRCAS were featured in the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun on January 11, 2022.
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461. Improving Global and Human Health via Dietary Changes in High-income Countries
A paper published in Nature Food in January 2022 pointed out that a bold shift from animal-based foods to plant-based foods in high-income countries could simultaneously achieve multiple climate change and environmental conservation goals. On the other hand, if it is not realistic in the short term to achieve a rapid dietary shift even in high-income countries, changing the mindset of individual consumers and gradually taking action seems to be effective enough.
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460. The 16th Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers (Japan Award 2022)
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and JIRCAS have been presenting the Japan International Award for Young Agricultural Researchers (Japan Award) since 2007 to young foreign researchers who have achieved outstanding research results that will lead to future technological innovations, with the aim of further motivating young researchers to contribute to research and development on agriculture, forestry, fisheries and related industries in developing regions. For details on application documents and procedures, please refer to the application guidelines on the JIRCAS website.
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459. Setting Targets for Food System Transformation
As we have frequently discussed in Pick Up over the last year, research dealing with global food and nutrition issues is shifting from approaches that address production, consumption, and value chains in isolation to approaches that address the safety, networks, and complexity of the food system itself. An article published in Nature Food in December 2021 emphasized the need for policy change in food system transformation by setting common goals and timelines for systemic change, such as the "net zero" goal in the Paris Agreement on climate change.
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458. Record-breaking Weather in 2021
On January 13, 2022, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and other U.S. research organizations announced that 2021 was the sixth warmest year on record and that ocean heat content (OHC), which measures the amount of heat that accumulates on the surface of the ocean, was at an all-time high. The year 2021 is the warmest year on record under La Niña, and the past eight years have been the warmest consecutive years on record.
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457. Global Food System Transformation from the Perspective CGIAR’s 50-year History
It has been 50 years since CGIAR led international agricultural research, changing missions and organizational changes in response to the changing global challenges of the times. A paper in a special issue of JARQ, "Changing Agendas of CGIAR's International Agricultural Research," looks back at the changes ing factors that have contributed to improving global food and nutrition security in the context of the changes in CGIAR's mission and organizational history with reference to Japan's contribution, and looks forward to the future of food system transformation.
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456. Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit MAFF Side Event Video Archive Available
On December 7 and 8, 2021, the Government of Japan hosted the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit 2021. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) organized a side event in conjunction with this summit, in which JIRCAS participated.
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455. Global Risks Report 2022
The Global Risks Report, released every January by the World Economic Forum (WEF), has been attracting attention for its ability to predict trends in global issues from the perspective of world leaders. This year's report identifies "social cohesion erosion" and "livelihood crises" as short-term risks, while "climate action failure”, "extreme weather" and "biodiversity loss" as environmental and climate change-related risks that will pose the most severe risks to humanity and the planet in the next decade.
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454. Global Warming and Climate Change in the Arctic
The Arctic Ocean is considered to be the region where global warming is most pronounced, and it has been pointed out that its effects may extend beyond the Arctic Circle to mid- and low-latitudes. According to a report released by the Danish Arctic Monitoring Service Polar Portal on January 7, Greenland's ice sheet recorded a net loss for the 25th consecutive year, drawing attention to the anomalies observed during 2021.
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453. JIRCAS-CCFS Society Workshop Video Now Available
The Workshop on the "Effects of Climate Change and the Spread of COVID-19 on Food Supply and Demand - Food Security under Uncertainty" was held online on December 17, 2021 under the auspices of JIRCAS and the CCFS Society, and co-sponsored by the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO). The video of the workshop is now available on the JIRCAS YouTube Channel.
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452. JARQ Special Issue - Disseminating Information on the Scientific Contributions of Japanese Researchers to CGIAR
The CGIAR is an international organization established in 1971 for the purpose of improving the productivity and technological development of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries in developing countries, and 15 centers under its umbrella (as of 2020) function as independent research institutions. As a frontier of international agricultural research, these centers contribute to solving global food and environmental problems in line with various themes such as crops, livestock, forest, fisheries and natural resource management. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of CGIAR in 2021, we have compiled the scientific contributions and major achievements of Japanese and Japanese researchers in CGIAR institutions as a special issue of the Japan Agricultural Research Quarterly (JARQ), and all the papers have now been published on the JIRCAS website.
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451. Stabilization of Fruit Set and Production of Subtropical Fruit Trees
Tropical and subtropical fruits play an important role as food and source of nutrition as well as a source of income for small-scale farmers in tropical and subtropical production areas. There are many kinds of tropical and subtropical fruit species, with dozens of species belonging to different families, and with fruits of diverse taste and appearance. In recent years, the demand for these attractive tropical and subtropical fruits has been increasing in various subtropical and temperate regions of the world, but there have been many reports of unstable production due to the effects of global climate change. In order to stabilize the production and widespread consumption of tropical and subtropical fruits, it is important to elucidate the environmental conditions that inhibit flowering and fruiting of each species and to select a cultivar suitable for the cultivation area.