Is irrigation fit for purpose? A review of the relationships between scheme size and performance of irrigation systems

Irrigation is increasingly being called upon to help stabilize and grow food and water security in the face of multiple crises;these crises include climate change, but also recent global food and energy price crises, including the 2007/08 food and energy price crises, and the more recent crises triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war on Ukraine. While irrigation development used to focus on public, large-scale, surface- and reservoir-fed systems, over the last several decades, private small-scale investments in groundwater irrigation have grown in importance and are expected to see rapid future growth, particularly in connection with solar-powered pumping systems. But is irrigation 'fit-for-purpose' to support population growth, economic development, and multiple food, energy and climate crises? This paper reviews how fit-for-purpose irrigation is with a focus on economies of scale of surface and groundwater systems, and a particular examination of systems in Sub-Saharan Africa where the need for expansion is largest. The review finds challenges for both larger surface and smaller groundwater systems in the face of growing demand for irrigated agriculture and dwindling and less reliable water supplies. To support resilience of the sector, we propose both a holistic design and management improvement agenda for larger surface systems, and a series of suggestions to improve sustainability concerns of groundwater systems.

Reaction of the cereal market to the disruption of trade flows in Romania

The paper presents the reaction of the Romanian cereal market to the disruption of trade flows caused by certain shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which lead to changes with high impact on the functioning of this market, representing an important test for the resilience of the sector. Due to trade liberalization in global markets, including agri-food markets, the competitiveness of exports has become increasingly important, contributing to the creation of the country's competitive advantage. Any restrictions to trade in agri-food products can distort trade flows, and this disruption will have an impact on supply and prices. Maintaining a balance between imports and exports is essential to ensure domestic market stability. International trade in agri-food products plays an important role in global food security. The results show that Romania mainly exports unprocessed agricultural products, with cereals having the largest share in the export structure, cereal supply is dependent on climate change, yet it is one of the products with the lowest volatility. The cereal market shows a more elastic reaction to price responses, even though demand for staple foods is generally inelastic.

Perspectives of agricultural cooperatives re-development after COVID 19 pandemic in Slovakia

The Covid 19 pandemic is a global, not only, health crisis with devasting impact on the world economy in general. These impacts are also visible more and more in food and agriculture sector as the main sector of population nourishment. In spite of adopted measures in many countries, spread of the virus is starting to distrupt the supply of agrofood products to markets and consumers, both within and across borders. Most major economies are expected to enter recession as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, and the OECD has estimated that for each month the necessary containment measures continue the drop in output is equivalent to a decline in annual GDP growth up to 2 percentage points. How damaging these impacts tourn out to be for individual agricultural production of countries and agricultural cooperatives which are consider as the more viable during crisis is the objective of this paper.

E-food trade effects on purchasing approach regarding customer behavior

Our world is changing too fast. The distances have been shortened and communication has been increased by the invention and widespread use of the internet. Our habits started to change in many aspects of our lives by the development of digitalization. Especially during the pandemic Covid-19 that has started at the end of 2019, it's observed that mobility of people have been decreased and however, they began to have difficulties in meeting the needs. There has been a great demand for companies that sell over the internet. In particular, the tendencies of people to purchase food items which are their vital need over the internet have increased to a great extent. Looking at the e-commerce market on a sectorial basis during the pandemic, the biggest increase was seen in e-food trade with a growth of approximately 400%. Within that period, it is predicted that our purchasing habits will change rapidly and virtual markets will become much more important in our lives. The delivery of food products to the consumer has always been a big problem. The risk of deterioration of the products in a short time and the physical destruction of the products during their transportation has increased the importance of food logistics. The logistics channels are needed to be developed in order to increase e-food trade. For this reason, contemporary logistics channels have started to be used by integrating developed logistics applications to the traditional logistics channels. It will be much faster and cost-efficient to deliver the products to the consumer with the new logistics channels in the near future. Yield penalty due to transportation will decrease, and since the number of stock brokers is reduced, the consumer will be able to reach the product they demand at a more affordable price from the producer that they have chosen. In the future, physical stores will be replaced by logistics-supported virtual markets. The agriculture and food sector should also start working in order to accommodate quickly to the new trade order.

Evolution of oilseed sector in Romania - an analysis from the perspective of effects produced by the COVID-19 pandemic

Romania ranks first in the European Union for the production of sunflower seeds, third for the production of soybeans and seventh for the production of rapeseed. The paper aims to analyse the effects produced by the COVID-19 pandemic on the evolution of the oilseed sector in Romania. Thus, the following indicators were analysed: evolution of areas under oilseeds, total oilseed production and average yields, as well as the volatility of selling prices for oilseeds. The results of the study reveal that Romania has been the largest producer of sunflower seeds in the European Union. The average yields in sunflower, soybeans and rapeseed have shown great variations in the analysed period. According to Eurostat data, it can be noticed that although Romania is the third large producer of oilseeds in the EU, the average yields continue to be low compared to those from other large EU producers. Yields are also among the most volatile in the EU. The selling prices for soybeans showed a higher increase in the year 2020 than in 2019 in Romania, compared to the increase in the average selling prices of the EU-27 (+9.89%). The selling prices for rapeseed also had a higher increase in 2020 than in 2019 in Romania, compared to the increase in the average selling prices of the EU-27 (+2.31%).

Oilseeds development in Morocco in the current international context

Oilseeds are grown mainly for the extraction of vegetable oils and for its by-products needed in livestock feed and in other industrial uses. The oils obtained from them are becoming a staple food used in daily cooking in several countries, and as a result the world demand is constantly increasing. This situation, combined with the exponential increase in the world population and other cyclical factors, is leading to a surge pricing, especially in importing countries. This increase in prices is fueled by soaring oil prices and disruption in supplies following Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions in the Black Sea. Morocco is directly impacted by these fluctuations given that the country imports almost its total needs in vegetable oils, oilseeds and meals. The high dependence on imported vegetable oils and oilseed products has a detrimental effect on the economy of Morocco and weighs heavily on the country's trade balance. Considering their increasingly important role in society, the development of a local oilseed sector to reduce Morocco's dependence on imports and cope with the vagaries of global markets has never been more topical in the current context of sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty.

Resilience in the food sector - environmental, social and economic perspectives in crisis situations. (Special issue: Opportunities and challenges of EU farm-to-fork strategy.)

Environmental, social and economic perspectives, derived from the sustainability approach and present within by the resilience concept, are integral parts of food systems. At the same time they are clearly articulated within the EU farm-to-fork (F2F) strategy referring to building up resilience to possible future crises as diseases and pandemics. The aim of this paper is to investigate resilience in the food sector referring to its selected environmental, social and economic dimensions, which in fact rely on each other and cannot be separated, simply because of the character of food system itself (work with living organisms, soil, within natural environment, etc. done by people for business purposes). The issue of resilience in the food sector must be considered multidimensionally. In this approach, the basic direction of activities should be the one focused on the resilience approach, both in environmental protection and society. For a harmonious combination of these activities, it is also necessary to look at economic perspective of food system and entire rural livelihoods (e.g. income and employment diversification). Considering the last shocks discussed (COVID-19, war in Ukraine, drought, embargo on grain exports from Russia, rising inflation), a difficult situation on the food market can be expected in the nearest future, which makes the concept of resilience in the food sector even more relevant than it has been so far.

COVID-19 impact on the agro-food and marine industries through a Bayesian stochastic volatility Fourier Series model

In this paper, we construct a hybrid model, consisted of a Bayesian Vector Autoregressive structure with Bayesian stochastic volatility (SVAR-SV), as well as, Fourier Series (FS). We test the model's performance in terms of forecasting ability, comparing it with simple Bayesian stochastic volatility (SV), and also with a classical econometric autoregressive model. By estimating the average prices of the major Food futures in the stock market, and the average prices of the biggest Marine companies' stocks, we test the effect of Covid-19 on these stocks, through the proposed hybrid model, and the impulse-response functions between the aforementioned. Through this approach, we test whether the Covid-19 pandemic hindered the performance of marine companies and affected the food prices, with those two affecting one another. Based on the findings, a shock is apparent from the Food futures to the Marine companies' stocks, and the hybrid model proposed is the best, in terms of forecasting ability.

Designing a sustainable development model for agricultural sector under critical circumstances (COVID-19 Pandemic): A fuzzy approach

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected health, economic, and social factors and harmed the distribution and sales of agricultural products. It has become a crucial factor in agricultural development. The purpose of the present study is to design a sustainable development model in the agricultural sector under circuital circumstances (i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic). To achieve this goal of used a combined methodology of grounded theory, the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM), the Fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (FDEMATEL) method, and the Fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory-based analytic network process (FDANP) method. The criteria of higher importance were identified using grounded theory and FDM. Then, the fuzzy DEMATEL method was carried out to identify internal relationships, effects, and dependencies of the main criteria. Finally, the weight of the main criteria of the model has been calculated with the Fuzzy DANP method. According to the results of the Fuzzy DEMATEL method, Critical circumstances (COVID-19), environmental factors, educational factors, health factors, and economic factors had the highest effects. The critical circumstances criterion (COVID-19) had the largest effect and strongest relationship with the other criteria. On the other hand, the results of the Fuzzy DANP method show that environmental factors (MC7), social factors (MC2), critical circumstances (COVID-19) (MC5), health factors (MC1), entrepreneurial factors (MC8), are the most important criteria of the sustainable development model of the agricultural sector under critical circumstances. Therefore, to move on the path of sustainable development in the agricultural sector, one should focus on the factors that have a higher influence and importance. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Iranian Journal of Fuzzy Systems is the property of University of Sistan & Baluchestan and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

COVID-19 as a catalyst of food security crisis. whether the existing system of agriculture can remain the same

From 2019 to 2022, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global percentage of hunger rose by 150 million people, which is 10% of the world population. At the same time, one-third of food is thrown away because it cannot reach the final consumer. Climate change, natural catastrophes, wars leading to humanitarian crises are the main and ongoing causes of hunger. COVID- 19 acted as an accelerator of processes that exacerbate the food security crisis, to which import-dependent countries are especially sensitive. Quarantine that was introduced as a tool to combat the spread of the COVID-19 acted as a catalyst of social, economic, political, ecological, and food crisis that is displayed in the global economic system and in agriculture - its subsystem. At first glance, the increase in the percentage of starving populations on the planet is explained by poverty and the inability to purchase basic food products;a rise in prices was caused by breaks in logistics chains, the increase in the price of energy carriers, and economic shifts caused by the lockdown. In practice, despite the constantly growing volumes of global production of agro-industrial products, the balance between demand and supply of products that ensure the world's food security has been disturbed. The research problem lies in the insufficient determination of intangible causes of hunger, other than those caused by poverty and social inequality. The aim of the research is to show the prospects of the aggravation the food security crisis due to excess of food demand over supply, and to propose theoretical ways out of the crisis. The quantitative method of panel data research was used to prepare the article. The visualization method was used to simplify the perception of the proposed array of information. It is possible to overcome such social problems as hunger, poverty, climate and ecology problems caused by the increase in the temperature on the planet's surface, ocean pollution, and soil degradation only through adaptation and achieving synergy between the planet's ecosystems. Agriculture as a main factor of food security should be transformed through implementing principles of climate-optimized agriculture and blue economy (use of ocean resources) as a source of "blue food" to achieve food sustainability.

Indian agriculture and rural economy in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic

The aim of the paper is the analysis of the changes in Indian agriculture during the pandemic. The following research questions were put forward: What is the diversification of the Indian agriculture and rural economy in terms of COVID-19?;What is the percentage change in overall agricultural commodities production, in farm-gate prices for commodities in agriculture and the allied sector and in the availability of agri-inputs? The theoretical part of the paper depicted the following issues: India's role in global farming;rural economy issues, economic recovery, and the agricultural sector in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic. The studies that were conducted include: documentation, statistical, comparative, and dynamics analysis. The results showed that the Indian agriculture and rural economy in terms of COVID-19 had different tendencies. With businesses across all industries forced to shut down, the economy ground to a halt. Even while farming operations were spared during the lockdown's early stages, the agricultural value chain nonetheless experienced widespread disruptions. This was devastating to the rural Indian economy.

Current perspectives of e-noses

An electronic nose (e-nose) is a collection of sensors with specific characteristics. In this chapter, we will be discussing the current perspectives of e-noses in various sectors, such as military, biomedicine, food and beverages, agriculture… The important role of e-noses in these sectors can provide a new dimension to many things from detecting explosives to sensing chemicals in warfare;from maintaining food quality to helping in identifying various flavors of wine, from detecting cancer to sensing COVID-19 virus, etc. The e-nose market is a few decades old but it has marked its presence in almost all fields. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of COVID-19 on farming activities in Visakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh

The Covid-19 situation severely affects different walks of life, especially service sector, Manufacturing sector, Tourism, Education, Transportation etc. The agricultural sector comparatively less affected. Visakhapatnam is no exemption from this situation. But There is a remarkable impact in certain areas in Agriculture in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. In Visakhapatnam district, Paddy is the major crop occupies 1 lakh hectares, It requires huge quantity of inputs, labor and needs timely marketing facilities. The study reflects that, the income level decreased by 11% during Covid -19 situation. The percentage increase in labor cost increased by 19% during Covid situation. The percentage increase in cost of cultivation in Paddy increased by 14% during Covid situation. With regard to Constraints, the major constraints observed are non availability of Labor, Reduction in labor working hours per day, Non availability of inputs, Late receipt of amount for sold produce, Exploitation of Middlemen, Non availability of advisory support, Lack of government support and Poor marketing facilities.

Students' perceptions on the effect of COVID 19 on agricultural higher education in India

The study analysed the temporal changes in the perceptions of students of agricultural higher education due to disruption of the COVID 19 pandemic and recommends strategies to deal with it. An online survey was conducted involving students of agricultural higher education at two intervals to capture their perceptions on the academic, physical, and psychological disruptions due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Among these three aspects, changes in behavioural aspects are significant over time, which is reflected in terms of viz., attitude, frustration, anxiety, depression, uncertainty, desire for cocooning and boredom. Students showed a positive response towards continuing educational activities through online and e-learning modes. Adapting to new normal necessitated extensive use of digital technologies in education that challenged the face to face instructions, approaches to learning and assessment. Counselling and mentoring of students are found mandatory in pandemics. The development of a sustainable digital ecosystem of learning with equal weightage on students' physical and psychological well-being is needed. New approaches of learning are to evolve due to the COVID19 pandemic.

COVID-19 pandemic and resilience in the agricultural sector: a local strategy may solve the global challenges

Agriculture remains a major engine of growth among the majority of developing and underdeveloped countries throughout the globe. But the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 has severely affected all sectors of agribusiness industries. In many parts of the world agriculture production became almost half due to the impact of this pandemic. But in two Himalayan regions of India, Darjeeling and Sikkim, mixed effects were observed during the pandemic period. Although a large number of marginal farmers were severely affected during the lockdown and even in the unlock phases, while a significant number of farmers also gained nominal to a large amount of profit;chiefly because of reliability on complete organic farming including producing organic manure and bio-pesticides by the farmers themselves, lack of competition with imported agricultural commodities into the local market due to the inter-state travel ban, marketization of the agricultural products to the consumers through Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs), NGOs and Sikkim State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation ltd. (SIMFED) and above all creation of the Farmers' Helpline at district levels by the local government bodies to solve the problems of the farmers even in the remotest regions.

COVID-19 pandemic, household income and coping strategies in Nigeria

This study analyzed the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on household income and the determinants of coping strategies in Nigeria, using the combination of the COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey data and the fourth wave of the General Household Survey, Panel 2018-2019. The fourth wave of General Household Survey, Panel 2018-2019 data is part of the World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) and the National Bureau of Statistics of Nigeria collected the data in collaboration with the World Bank and funded by the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey 2020, Baseline was implemented by the National Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with the World Bank. The analyses were based on multinomial logistic and multivariate probit models. Multinomial logit regression analysis shows that households that consider the pandemic a substantial threat and households with older heads were more likely to have decreased income while households that received transfer income and self-employed were more likely to have increased income. Several household characteristics exhibited different levels of influence on the choice of coping strategies during the lockdown. Therefore, policy options and support facilities should be developed to foster meaningful (wage/self) employment and coping strategies to achieve optimal results in response to the pandemic.

The influences degree of various factors on the development of agricultural enterprises of Moldova Republic

Agriculture sector in the Republic of Moldova is the main and strategic brunch for the national economy. During the 2020-2022 years, we studied the factors influencing the development of enterprises in the horticulture sector in the Republic of Moldova. The research was carried out within the project: "Impact of macromedia and geographical factors on bankruptcy and business performance of economic entities in the agri-food sector in the Republic of Moldova", project code 20.80009.0807.26, according to contract with NARD. The study was conducted by interviewing approx. 1000 companies from agri-food (vegetal, animal, postharvest, processing, HORECA sectors etc.), inclusive approx. 800 enterprises from Horticulture brunch. As a result of the study it was established: economic factors / risks obtained an average rating of 3,94 points on the scale of 5 pt.;technical and technological factors / risks obtained an average rating of 4.1 points on the scale of 5 pt.;ecological factors / risks obtained an average rating of 4,06 points on the scale of 5 pt.;legislative-legal factors / risks obtained an average rating of 4,05 points on the scale of 5 pt.;information factors / risks obtained an average rating of 4,02 points on the scale of 5 pt.;moral factors / risks obtained an average rating of 4.04 points on the scale of 5 pt., qualification of staff factor / risk obtained an average rating of 4.08 points on the scale of 5 pt. and other factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, etc.

Economic indicators of profitability in the production of organic and conventional food and psychological ways of overcoming the crisis in managers due to the possible decline of business during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 virus pandemic has led to huge changes in the business of many companies. Managers and owners of companies were most affected, so in one segment of this paper, certain psychological ways that are available to people when it comes to overcoming various crises. Considering that profitable business is a condition for the survival of companies, in this paper, a comparison of profitability in the production of organic and conventional food was performed. ROA and ROE were calculated on a sample of 150 food producers in our country for the period from 2016 to 2020. The results showed that ROA is higher in conventional food producers, while ROE is higher in organic food producers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the profitability of food producers is higher than in the period before its outbreak. Also, there is a tendency to increase profitability in both types of production.

COVID and US farm labor. (Special Issue: The global race for migrant labour: pandemic contradictions.)

Many governments closed their borders in spring 2020 to prevent the spread of Covid, but they also made exceptions to allow farm employers to recruit temporary foreign workers to fill seasonal farm jobs. The pandemic changed many parameters of food systems. Closed restaurants led to widespread layoffs in leisure and hospitality, rates of Covid were high among nonfarm food processing and meatpacking workers, and there was less Covid than expected among the foreign workers who increased their share of employment in production agriculture. The pandemic accelerated three major changes that were already underway, viz., more labor-saving mechanization, more foreign workers, and increased imports of labor-intensive commodities. Mechanization increases the resilience of production agriculture to labor supply shocks.

Contingencies and disruptions in Brazilian agrifood chains in the COVID-19 pandemic context

The Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) generates impacts, disruptions and challenges for the sectors of the economy and society. It generates changes in several organizational processes and routines. Facing the contingencies imposed by the pandemic can lead to better results and reduce levels of uncertainty. The objective of this study is to analyze the disruptions arising from the pandemic generated by COVID-19 and the directions for overcoming/transitioning to organizational ascension/progress within the scope of agribusiness. A single case study was developed, with focal units linked directly and indirectly to Brazilian agribusiness. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 representative associations/entities. The results of the research show that: contingencies arising from the Covid-19 pandemic affected the organizations both directly and indirectly, in a non-uniform manner, generating significant impacts and disruptions and, in counterpoint, positive actions that perpetuated in the post-pandemic due to lessons learned. As practical contributions, it offers managers insights and evidence that provides a readjustment in order to maintain performance and enable the maintenance of their economic activities even if reduced, as well as to political decision makers in a synchronized manner and without politicization. The study generated theoretical contributions to the Contingency Theory and organizational structure, as well as to the literature on Covid-19. A basis was created for future studies aimed at formulating policies that promote practical actions of a practical nature to minimize the negative externalities oriented by the pandemic, in addition to referrals to overcome them.