Banana research and development activities in Indonesian tropical fruit research institute to improve the community welfare

Indonesia is a country with a very high diversity of bananas (Musa spp.). The diversity of bananas can be found in Indonesia ranging from wild to commercial ones. Banana research activities at Indonesian Tropical Fruit Research Institute (ITFRI) started with the Musa germplasm collection, comprising local cultivars from several regions in Indonesia in 1987. In 1995, ITFRI introduced several accessions of bananas and plantains from International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain (INIBAP), and at about the same time Musa exploration activities intensively took place to collect both local cultivars and wild species in several main islands of Indonesia. In line with the collection of Musa genetic materials, cultivar development activities were also carried out, including the selection and evaluation of superior characters of local and introduced cultivars, and breeding programs to produce superior quality and disease-tolerant bananas. Some of the superior cultivars resulting from selection and hybridization that have been released were, Ketan-01, Kepok Tanjung, Raja Kinalun, INA-03, and Sang Mulyo. With the outbreak of the current COVID-19 pandemic, public awareness of fruit consumption, including bananas, has also increased. The availability of superior disease-tolerant and high-yielding cultivars such as Kepok Tanjung and Sang Mulyo will greatly assist the availability of domestic bananas.

Agri-food trade in 2020

The year 2020 marked one of the biggest recessions in global economic activity and world trade. During this period, the EU economy contracted by 6% and its international trade followed a similar downward trend - EU exports of goods decreased by 9% and imports by 12%, compared to 2019. By contrast, EU international trade in agri-food reported a slight growth. Over the course of 2020, the value of EU agri-food exports increased to 184.3 billion (a growth of 1.4% compared to 2019), while the value of imports rose to 122.2 billion (a growth of 0.5%). As a result, the EU further reinforced its leading position among the world's biggest exporters. On the import side, the EU has become the third largest importer after the US and China. The contraction in global trade was accompanied by increasing prices of food, including commodities as evidenced by the increases reflected in the FAO Global Price Index. The EU exports a wide range of products from all parts of the value chain which demonstrates the competitiveness of the EU agri-food sector in a variety of product classes ranging from commodities to highly processed food industry products. EU imports, on the other hand, are clearly dominated by basic agricultural food and feed products, which represent about 75% of all imports. Looking at product categories, exports of pig meat and wheat strongly contributed to the increase in EU overall agri-food exports. Conversely, spirits and liqueurs as well as wine are among the sectors that experienced a difficult period for a number of reasons (e.g. the COVID pandemic, US retaliatory tariffs). The growth in EU agri-food imports was mainly driven by increases in import values for oilseeds, other than soya beans;fatty acids and waxes, palm oil, fruit including tropical fruit, and soya beans. China, Switzerland and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region were the major growth destinations for EU agri-food exports in 2020. The value of EU exports fell most to the United States, Turkey, Singapore and Japan. In terms of imports, Canada grew significantly as a source for the EU imports. By contrast, EU imports declined most in value from the United Kingdom, Ukraine and the United States. In 2020, the UK has become the EU's most important partner in agri-food trade, with a share of 23% in total EU agri-food exports and 13% in total imports. With EU exports and imports both decreasing, its trade surplus with the US increased by 2% when compared to 2019, as falls on the imports side were stronger. China became the top destination for US agri-food exports. EU agri-food exports to China were primarily driven by continued record high sales of pig meat which increased by 74%. Pig meat and meat offal - the latter mainly comprised of products originating from pigs - accounted for over 40% of EU exports to China in 2020, demonstrating the importance of this market for the pig meat sector. Brazil's exports to China continued to increase in 2020, absorbing 35% of its total agri-food exports. Combined agri-food exports from Brazil to the EU and the US now account for half of Brazilian exports to China. In 2020, Brazil supplied 50% of extra-EU demand for soya beans and 40% for oilcakes. Wheat continued to be the leading EU export product to Africa with a 23% share of the EU's total export basket, whereas cocoa beans dominate in the EU imports from Africa, with the same share of 23%. Most African countries benefit from duty-free, quota-free access to the EU market under the "Everything But Arms" scheme and for many of them Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) or other trade agreements with the EU are applied, encouraging regional cooperation and trade. In 2020, the EU applied 45 free trade agreements (FTAs) with 77 partners. The share of agri-food trade under preferential agreements is also expanding and in 2021, it accounted for 31% and 41% of total EU agri-food exports and imports, respectively. The value of EU agri-food trade under preferential agreements expanded more in relative terms compared to total EU agri-food trade. EU agri-food ex

Underutilized Fruit Crops of Indian Arid and Semi-Arid Regions: Importance, Conservation and Utilization Strategies

Nowadays, there is a large demand for nutrient-dense fruits to promote nutritional and metabolic human health. The production of commercial fruit crops is becoming progressively input-dependent to cope with the losses caused by biotic and abiotic stresses. A wide variety of underutilized crops, which are neither commercially cultivated nor traded on a large scale, are mainly grown, commercialized and consumed locally. These underutilized fruits have many advantages in terms of ease to grow, hardiness and resilience to climate changes compared to the major commercially grown crops. In addition, they are exceptionally rich in important phytochemicals and have medicinal value. Hence, their consumption may help to meet the nutritional needs of rural populations, such as those living in fragile arid and semi-arid regions around the world. In addition, local people are well aware of the nutritional and medicinal properties of these crops. Therefore, emphasis must be given to the rigorous study of the conservation and the nutritional characterization of these crops so that the future food basket may be widened for enhancing its functional and nutritional values. In this review, we described the ethnobotany, medicinal and nutritional values, biodiversity conservation and utilization strategies of 19 climate-resilient important, underutilized fruit crops of arid and semi-arid regions (Indian jujube, Indian gooseberry, lasora, bael, kair, karonda, tamarind, wood apple, custard apple, jamun, jharber, mahua, pilu, khejri, mulberry, chironji, manila tamarind, timroo, khirni).

Differential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on California's produce and nut industries. (Special Issue: Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on agriculture and natural resources in the Western U.S.)

California consistently leads the U.S. in the value of agricultural commodities produced, specializing in the production of high-value fruit, vegetable, and nut crops. In this article, we outline the short-term, medium-term, and evolving long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on California's produce and tree nut industries. Many of California's top commodities are labor intensive and highly perishable, e.g., strawberries and lettuce, and consequently these types of commodities experienced some of the worst economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. These initial impacts included higher production costs due to social distancing and other worker protection measures, and the discarding of millions of dollars' worth of produce which was intended for the food service sector. Other top commodities, such as almonds and processing tomatoes, have highly mechanized operations with relatively non-perishable products. These have been more resilient to the short-run effects of the pandemic on supply chains but have experienced disruptions in international trade. In this article, we highlight the differential effects of the pandemic on California's high-value crops across the food service and retail supply chains, discuss the mitigating effects of federal, state and industry support, and highlight emerging consumer trends.

Preface

The 2nd International Conference on Energetics, Civil and Agricultural Engineering is an international event that has been successfully held in a hybrid mode (online and onsite) organized by the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers (TIIAME), Tashkent, Uzbekistan. ICECAE is a privileged space to discuss current issues related to Energetics, Civil and Agricultural Engineering. This international event aims to explore emerging technologies and concepts in a collaborative way, bringing together scientists, researchers, engineers, students and professionals from different areas. ICECAE 2021 proceedings collected the latest research and results in the field of energetics, civil and agricultural engineering. All manuscripts published in the proceeding have been through rigorous review and process to meet the requirements of international publication standard. In the honorable and keynote speeches sessions, honorable speakers were each allocated 40 minutes and keynote speakers were each allocated 20-25 minutes to hold their speeches. We were honored to invite 3 honorable speakers (Professor Josep M. Guerrero, Professor Saifur Rahman, and Professor Mohammad Shahidehpour) and 10 distinguished experts as keynote speakers to present their insightful speeches. As honorable speakers, Professor Josep M. Guerrero (from Aalborg University – Denmark) talked about Space Microgrids – NanoSats, Lunar Bases and Closed Ecosystems, Professor Saifur Rahman (from Virginia Tech Advanced Research Institute - USA) delivered a speech on Global Electric Power Sector: Engaging with Environmental Issues, and Professor Mohammad Shahidehpour (from Illinois Institute of Technology - USA) held a speech on Blockchain for Transactive Energy Management in Renewable Energy Systems. As keynote speakers, Prof. Dr. Jan Wincenty Dobrowolski (AGH University of Science and Technology - Poland) shared his experiences related to his 50 years contribution to global cooperation on Sustainable Development 1971-2021 and innovative proposals for adaptation to climate change, COVID-19 and outer-space missions;Professor emeritus Dr. Davidas Belsare (from Bhopal University - India) made a speech about the effect of laser diode on oranges to other fruit crops like guava and papaya;Professor Justyna Kobylarczyk and Professor Michal Krupa (from Cracow University of Technology – Poland) held a speech on the topic of high quality of residential environment;Professor Jose Osvaldo B. Carioca (from Federal University of Ceara - Brazil) expressed his keynote address about synthesis of chitosan membranes to be used in dual system of dark fermentation and MEC-electrolyzers to produce high quality hydrogen;Professor Dominika Kusnierz-Krupa and Dr. Malgorzata Hryniewicz (from Cracow University of Technology -Poland) made their talk about a new functions in a historic buildings;Professor Alirza Mamedov (from Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture - Ukraine) delivered his talk about historical city analysis;Professor Manoj Stephen Paul and Dr. Ritu Chaturvedi (from St. Johns College - India) made their speech on human health risk assessment associated with consumption of food containing heavy metals;Associate professor Pavel Navitski (from Oral Roberts University – USA) delivered his talk about drift control during field spraying;and Dr. Ulrich Berk (president of the German Association of Homatherapy - Germany) made his keynote speech about agnihotra and homa farming -tools for a sustainable development on planet Earth. List of ICECAE 2021 Committee are available in this pdf.