Sustainability in Agri-Food and Forestry Ecosystems

Wild mushrooms and truffles (MT) are important resources, which can contribute to the socioeconomic sustainability of forestry ecosystems. However, not all wild MT are edible. Fast, cheap, and reliable methods that distinguish wild MT species (including the deadly ones) can contribute to valuing these important forest resources. Here, we tested if wild MT species, and their edibility, could be distinguished based on their aroma profiles (i.e., smellprints). For that, we combined the use of the electronic nose with classification models (linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA)) to distinguish between 14 wild MT species (including edible and non-edible species) collected in Portugal. The 14 wild MT species could be accurately distinguished using LDA (93% accuracy), while the edible and non-edible species could be accurately distinguished using both LDA and PLS-DA (97% and 99% accuracy, respectively). Keeping in mind that our methodological design’s feasibility was verified using a small sample, the data show the potential of the combined use of the electronic nose with discriminant analysis to distinguish wild MT species and their edibility based on their aromatic profile. Although a larger dataset will be necessary to develop a quick and reliable identification method, it shows potential to be as accurate as the identification performed by mycologists and molecular biology, yet requiring less technical training, and the analyses are cheaper and faster. Full article

Fruit planting plays an essential role in achieving zero hunger, ensuring food security, and increasing the income of local people. As one of China’s principal fruit-planting areas, southern Xinjiang possesses more than 80% of the total fruit-planting areas of Xinjiang. However, the spatial distribution, extent, and types of fruit trees remain unknown, generating uncertainty in calculating the economic benefits of orchards in this area. In this paper, we used walnut and jujube orchards under fruit tree–crop intercropping conditions in the Hotan Oasis in southern Xinjiang as the research object. Walnut and jujube orchards were precisely characterized using object-oriented and decision tree classification methods. Then, the economic benefits for farmers were estimated based on field surveys and statistical data. From 2003 to 2020, the area of jujube orchards rapidly increased from 1.91 × 10³ ha to 33.59 × 10³ ha, while that of walnut orchards steadily increased from 18.05 × 10³ ha to 40.24 × 10³ ha. The expansion areas of walnut orchards were mainly transformed from other orchards in the oasis, while the expansion areas of jujube orchards mainly originated from newly cultivated land in the desert. The increases in areas and yields largely offset the increase in planting costs and the decrease in purchase prices, resulting in an increasing trend in the total net income of the orchards. From 2003 to 2020, the total net income of walnut orchards increased by 68.96%, and the total net income of jujube orchards significantly increased by 23.37 times. However, the output/input ratios of walnut orchards under intercropping conditions were approximately two times higher than those of jujube orchards under monocropping conditions. The increase in investment slightly offset the decreases in yields and purchase prices, resulting in increases of 5.24% and 18.64% in the output/input ratios of walnuts and jujubes, respectively, in orchards exhibiting standardized cultivation. In the future, it is necessary to significantly expand the area of orchards involving standardized cultivation and improve the yield and quality of fruits, thereby increasing the yields and income levels of local farmers. Full article

The wine sector represents the world-class excellence of Italian agriculture in terms of both quality and quantity and makes an important contribution to the national economy. A number of studies deal with the sustainability of the Italian wine value chain under many specific aspects; however, a general review of the sector’s sustainability performance is not available. Therefore, this study aims to offer an overall evaluation of how the Italian wine industry performs in terms of sustainability and its relevant communication to stakeholders and to identify the most and least frequently recurring sustainability practices. The analysis indicates that the Italian wine sector shows variability in both the approaches to sustainability and the sensitivity of stakeholders to this topic, resulting in the analysed companies’ sustainability performance being dispersed across a broad evaluation range and not depending on the size of the wine producer. Furthermore, materiality analysis, a key methodology in sustainability planning, is adopted by few wine producers, and the sector does not seem to effectively communicate its sustainability efforts (only 43% of the analysed companies have comprehensive communication) to promote consumers’ drinking awareness and to provide information on economic sustainability. On the positive side, 84% of companies have adopted certifications, in particular those relevant to quality and food safety, energy, and water management. Full article

At present, the research on the light environment of arugula mostly stays in its emergence and growth stage and there is a lack of research on the fresh-keeping quality of hydroponic arugula under light treatment during the harvest period. This study takes hydroponic arugula as the research object and explores the influence of light intensity and photoperiod on the fresh-keeping quality of arugula during the harvest period. With light intensity and photoperiod as experimental factors; and fresh weight, water content, chlorophyll, soluble sugar, nitrate, and cellulose content of arugula during harvest as experimental indicators, combined with sensory evaluation methods, a two-factor completely random experiment was completed. The experimental results show that medium and high intensity light treatment effectively enhances the fresh-keeping ability of arugula during the harvest period, which is conducive to reducing the decline in leaf fresh weight and water content caused by aging of arugula and delaying the decline in quality of arugula; 3 h and 6 h photoperiods can significantly delay the decomposition of chlorophyll in hydroponic arugula during harvest, reduce the loss of soluble sugar, inhibit excessive accumulation of nitrate, and slow down the production of leaf cellulose; and LED red-blue composite light irradiation is conducive to maintaining the sensory quality of hydroponic arugula during harvest. Among them, the sensory quality of cabbage leaves under 200 μmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹ light intensity and 6 h photoperiod treatment is the best. This study provides an important theoretical basis for improving the quality and yield of hydroponic arugula and provides a strong basis for setting intelligent environmental lighting in artificial light-type plant factories. Full article

Focusing on new food production methods and sustainable pillars’ accomplishments has changed the definition of sustainable pillars themselves. Moreover, some general characteristics of the main pillars can be redefined in separate dimensions to better explain their positive sustainable impacts. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to redefine the sustainable pillars linked to food production and review the most important cultural and technological sustainability impacts they have, in addition to the three classic pillars: economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Cultural and technological sustainability are increasingly important complements to the traditional sustainability concept. Furthermore, new food production technologies and systems are influenced by ancient production methods, as well as by profitable crop selection. Traditional agricultural and aquaculture production in relation to more recent aquaponic production concepts are still a major part of global food security, but the better usage of waste materials or residues generates a more favorable agroecological impact. In conclusion, constantly redefining the sustainable pillars in the context of sustainable food production methods and proving the viability of their general production impacts is important. Full article

This research evaluates the effect the industrial revolution era 4.0 has had on the performance and sustainability of coffee farmer cooperatives, especially in the West Java region, considering that West Java is a coffee center area that is starting to be taken into account in Indonesia and the world in general, this is evidenced by the increasing number of farmer cooperatives coffee in the West Java region. One of the most monumental effects of the industrial revolution 1.0 was the birth of the British cooperative in Rochdale, the world’s first modern cooperative. The industry continues to develop, cooperatives continue to adapt and try to continue to develop in accordance with technological advances, especially now that the industrial revolution 4.0 has entered, which emphasizes information technology, especially the use of the internet. However, there has been no previous research examining the use of information technology in coffee farmer cooperatives, especially in the era of the industrial revolution 4.0, even though this information technology is very important in the development of cooperatives today. Quantitative descriptive method with SEM analysis was used to identify the effect of cooperative capability on the performance and sustainability of cooperatives in several coffee cooperatives in West Java. The study’s results found that the power of the cooperative did not significantly affect the performance of the Coffee Cooperative. Still, the capability of the cooperative had a positive and significant effect on the sustainability of the Coffee Cooperative. At the same time, the performance of the cooperative had a positive and significant impact on the sustainability of the coffee cooperative. The ability of cooperatives has a positive and significant effect on sustainability mediated by the performance of the Coffee Cooperative in the Industrial Revolution 4.0 era. This study recommends increasing the capabilities of cooperatives in membership, management, and business models to become sustainable cooperatives based on information technology to achieve added value from market-driven coffee products. The results of the study show that the respondents perceive that the cooperative’s performance has a positive effect on their sustainability. Improving the performance of cooperatives in terms of (1) productivity, (2) effectiveness, (3) quality, and (4) achievement can be regarded as having a direct impact on the Coffee Cooperative’s long-term viability. The industrial revolution in the agricultural sector is facing demographic challenges (ageing), so intelligent technology, artificial intelligence, big data, and augmented reality are strategic choices. The application of information technology has a direct or indirect positive impact on Indonesia’s agricultural sector. Cooperatives in coffee agribusiness is also increasingly needed to respond to market demand by applying Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Full article

Oil palm smallholder farmers are among the key players and are mostly affected by social challenges to the sustainability of the oil palm sector in Malaysia. Previous literature reviews showed a lack of social studies compared to studies of the economy and environment regarding the sustainability of the oil palm industry. Therefore, a systematic literature review focused on the context of social issues and challenges reported by Malaysian oil palm smallholder farmers is presented. The PRISMA standard is applied as the foundation for the systematic literature review writing procedure. A total of 12 papers were chosen out of 340 from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. They covered three themes, including (i) attitudes, (ii) education, and (iii) the welfare of oil palm smallholder farmers. This systematic literature review has revealed that the social issues and challenges are closely related to the respondents’ demographics, such as the study location, the level of education, and the size of the plantations managed by smallholder farmers. This paper provides an up-to-date review of the social issues and challenges that oil palm smallholder farmers in Malaysia have encountered, as well as insights into future research on critical societal issues and challenges that demand attention and efforts towards improvement. Full article

Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil; it is essential to manage its palm oil industry in a sustainable manner through swapping the oil palm plantation in peatland to mineral soil to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. This study employed the latest spatial data using the ArcGIS software to analyze the potential area for the land swap option and to calculate the potential reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in Kalimantan, Indonesia. There are 1.08 million ha of oil palm in peatland, while 0.64 million ha of the area in mineral soil under the convertible production forest have the potential for land swapping. Via the land-swap option, emission reductions of 65.43% (from 979.05 MtCO₂eq to 336.64 MtCO₂eq) for the calculation period of 25 years and up to 61.19% (from 2147.81 MtCO₂eq to 833.67 MtCO₂eq) for that of 50 years is possible compared to the initial condition. The land swap will also increase the production of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) by 17.16% per year because the productivity of FFB in mineral soil is higher than that of the peatland. Considering that land swaps are costly, policymakers and stakeholders must collaborate to execute the land-swap option for the sustainability of Indonesian palm oil. Full article

Malaysia deforested 6.3 million hectares since independence; 91% of which occurred before Malaysia pledged, at the Earth Summit in 1992, to maintain a minimum 50% of its terrestrial area under forest cover. However, under economic and population pressure, Sarawak—the largest contributing state to the country’s current forest cover of 54.8%—shows continuing deforestation even after 1992. This paper reviews land use policies underpinned by economic development and environmental protection considerations, land rights issues that complicate land use planning, and legislation that regulates land use change. The objective is to investigate the adequacy of existing policies and legislation in governing forest cover in Sarawak and to recommend improvement measures. If the Sarawak Land Use Policy that allocates seven million hectares for forest is realized, Malaysia’s forest cover would drop to 53%, assuming other states maintain their forests. It is recommended that legislation governing the designation of permanent forest and conversion of forest for other land use to be strengthened, civil society to be enlisted to enhance knowledge level, and carbon credit production to be promoted as alternative land use that keeps forests standing. With these measures, it is hopeful that Malaysia’s aspirations regarding forest cover can be achieved. Full article