Agriculture articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    There are continuing questions on how much investments in land-based mitigation activities could deliver in terms of abatement. This study shows that annual investments of $2.4billion in the U.S. land could deliver abatement of around 80 MtCO2e/yr.

    • Alice Favero
    • , Christopher M. Wade
    •  & Bruce A. McCarl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The study shows that India’s agricultural subsidies have driven significant groundwater depletion by incentivizing overproduction of water-intensive crops like rice and wheat. This impact is evident in both Punjab’s alluvial aquifers and Madhya Pradesh’s hard rock aquifers.

    • Shoumitro Chatterjee
    • , Rohit Lamba
    •  & Esha D. Zaveri

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rice production in India is a foundation for global food security, but strategies for sustainable intensification are uncertain. By combining large-scale surveys with predictive modeling, the authors identify efficient pathways for achieving productivity gains while enhancing economic and environmental goals.

    • Hari Sankar Nayak
    • , Andrew J. McDonald
    •  & João Vasco Silva

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Crop failures are potentially predictable much further in advance than previously thought possible. Using multiyear forecasts of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Anderson et al. show that crop failures can be predicted before the planting season even begins in some countries.

    • Weston Anderson
    • , Shraddhanand Shukla
    •  & Amy McNally

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exposition to insecticides can be dangerous. Here, authors developed an oxime-fabric body suit and facemask that chemically deactivate insecticides and prevent insecticide-induced lethal effects, offering an affordable solution for farmer safety.

    • Mahendra K. Mohan
    • , Ketan Thorat
    •  & Praveen Kumar Vemula

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Neolithic site of Dispilio, Northern Greece, is a pile-dwelling site with 900+ piles excavated. Here, the authors use the 5259 BC Miyake event to date the juniper tree-ring chronology constructed from these piles to 5140 BC, making it the first Neolithic site in the region to be absolutely calendar dated.

    • Andrej Maczkowski
    • , Charlotte Pearson
    •  & Albert Hafner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Xu and colleagues find that the average trophic level of aquatic food items in the human diet is declining (from 3.42 to 3.18) because of the considerable increase in low-trophic level aquaculture species output relative to that of capture fisheries since 1976. Additionally they find that trade has contributed to increasing the availability and trophic level of aquatic foods in >60% of the world’s countries.

    • Kangshun Zhao
    • , Steven D. Gaines
    •  & Jun Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here the authors demonstrate that cropland expansion following the historical trend together with closing the current exploitable yield gap by half or more across Africa reduces the continent’s reliance on land conversions and imports by 2050.

    • Shen Yuan
    • , Kazuki Saito
    •  & Patricio Grassini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This study shows that conserving approximately half of global land area through protection or sustainable management could provide 90% of ten of nature’s contributions to people and could meet representation targets for 26,709 species of mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. This finding supports recent commitments to conserve at least 30% of global lands and waters by 2030.

    • Rachel A. Neugarten
    • , Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer
    •  & Amanda D. Rodewald

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While accounting for intrinsic differences between short- and long-lived greenhouse gases, solely relying on soil carbon sequestration in grasslands to offset warming effect of emissions from current ruminant systems is not feasible

    • Yue Wang
    • , Imke J. M. de Boer
    •  & Corina E. van Middelaar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Weak adhesion is a common hindrance to efficient utilization of pesticides in agricultural applications. Here, authors demonstrate leaf-adhesive tebuconazole nanopesticides which can be water-dispersed via flash nanoprecipitation using temperature-responsive copolymers PDMAEMA-b-PCL as the carrier.

    • Jie Tang
    • , Xiaojing Tong
    •  & Yisheng Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Food production, especially of animal products, is a major source of air pollutants. Here, the authors quantify the impacts dietary changes towards more plant-based diets could have for air quality, labour productivity, and human health.

    • Marco Springmann
    • , Rita Van Dingenen
    •  & Adrian Leip

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rps genes are used to manage the major soybean pathogen Phytophthora sojae, which causes Phytophthora stem and root rot (PRR). Here, the authors show that widely used Rps genes are no longer effective for managing PRR in the United States, Canada and Argentina.

    • Austin G. McCoy
    • , Richard R. Belanger
    •  & Martin I. Chilvers

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Earthworms contribute to plant growth. Here, Fonte et al. conduct a global meta-analysis and estimate that earthworms contribute to roughly 6.5% of global grain (maize, rice, wheat, barley) production and 2.3% of legume yields, equivalent to over 140 million metric tons annually.

    • Steven J. Fonte
    • , Marian Hsieh
    •  & Nathaniel D. Mueller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The adoption of climate-resilient crop varieties has the potential to build farmers’ climate resilience. Here, the authors show that adoption of climate-resilient groundnut varieties in West Africa benefits all households, with the biggest gains accruing to small-scale farmers.

    • Martin Paul Jr Tabe-Ojong
    • , Jourdain C. Lokossou
    •  & Hippolyte D. Affognon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Using two different mass spectrometric platforms, authors demonstrate how metabolomic data fusion and multivariate analysis can be used to accurately identify the geographic origin and production method of salmon.

    • Yunhe Hong
    • , Nicholas Birse
    •  & Christopher T. Elliott

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Population growth in China has increased the demand for food. Combining data-driven projections with field experiments, Luo et al. find that China can achieve self-sufficiency in maize production by 2030 implementation of optimal planting density and management without expanding cropping areas.

    • Ning Luo
    • , Qingfeng Meng
    •  & Pu Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lablab is a legume native to Africa and cultivated throughout the tropics for food and forage; however, as an orphan crop, limited genomic resources hampers its genetic improvement. Here, an African-led South-North plant genome collaboration produces an improved genome assembly and population genomic resource to accelerate its breeding.

    • Isaac Njaci
    • , Bernice Waweru
    •  & Chris S. Jones

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Availability of modern seed varieties in developing countries has had positive effects on households’ well-being. Here, the authors show that without support to maintain soil fertility, access to modern seed varieties increases primary forest clearance in DR Congo.

    • Tanguy Bernard
    • , Sylvie Lambert
    •  & Margaux Vinez

  • Comment
    | Open Access

    The rapid expansion and globalization of the seaweed production industry, combined with rising seawater temperatures and coastal eutrophication, has led to an increase in infectious diseases and pest outbreaks. Here, we propose a novel Progressive Management Pathway for improving Seaweed Biosecurity.

    • Elizabeth J. Cottier-Cook
    • , Jennefe P. Cabarubias
    •  & Melba G. Bondad-Reantaso

  • Article
    | Open Access

    We quantify the air quality and health impacts of Indian crop residue burning and trace these impacts back to individual burning events by hour and district. We find that small interventions, such as burning one hour earlier in the day, may provide broad public health benefits

    • Ruoyu Lan
    • , Sebastian D. Eastham
    •  & Steven R. H. Barrett

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Wheat breeding programmes improve yield by enhancing biotic and abiotic stress resistance. This study reveals that high temperature extremes adversely affect the productivity of new elite wheat breeding lines, and that future yield gains may be outpaced by the rapid advance of climate change.

    • Tianyi Zhang
    • , Yong He
    •  & Xiaoguang Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This research quantifies the role of zero deforestation policies and potential leakages in Brazilian soybean production, the third major driver of deforestation globally. Here the authors provide the first estimates of net global avoided soy-driven deforestation from zero-deforestation import restrictions and find that such restrictions could help avoid ~40% of deforestation for soy cultivation in Brazil and ~2% of global deforestation.

    • Nelson Villoria
    • , Rachael Garrett
    •  & Kimberly Carlson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding emissions flow with trade matters for climate action. Trade-adjusted emission accounting would close the carbon loophole generated by trade for more effective climate action targeted at producers, consumers, and intermediary traders

    • Adrian Foong
    • , Prajal Pradhan
    •  & Jürgen P. Kropp

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Flash droughts can have devastating impacts but are notoriously difficult to predict. This study identifies global hotspots of flash drought, driven by evaporative demand and precipitation deficits across varying geographic regions and crop-type, providing a framework for flash drought prediction.

    • Jordan I. Christian
    • , Jeffrey B. Basara
    •  & Robb M. Randall

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spectral screening can be used to monitor plant health. Here via airborne hyperspectral imaging of tree species, the authors show that spectral pathways associated with vascular pathogens can be distinguished from those linked to abiotic stress providing the potential for early detection of threatening diseases.

    • P. J. Zarco-Tejada
    • , T. Poblete
    •  & J. A. Navas-Cortes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Global demand for “blue food” is growing. In this quantitative synthesis, the authors analyse global seafood demand and project trends to 2050, finding considerable regional variation in the relationship between wealth and consumption.

    • Rosamond L. Naylor
    • , Avinash Kishore
    •  & Beatrice Crona

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Crop diversification could be important for food security. Here, using methods from network science, the authors find that a positive relationship between crop diversity and nutritional stability globally does not necessarily equate to improving nutritional stability in a given country.

    • Charlie C. Nicholson
    • , Benjamin F. Emery
    •  & Meredith T. Niles

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In chocolate production, a complicated tempering process is used to guide the crystallization of cocoa butter towards its most desirable polymorph, which gives the chocolate proper melting behavior, gloss, and snap—hallmarks of good quality chocolate. Here, the authors find that simply adding a specific phospholipid also directs crystallization towards this polymorph, producing chocolate with comparable microstructure and properties to tempered chocolate.

    • Jay Chen
    • , Saeed M. Ghazani
    •  & Alejandro G. Marangoni

  • Article
    | Open Access

    European Union’s vulnerability to climate change stretches far beyond its borders. Here the authors find that more than 44% of the EU agricultural imports will become highly vulnerable to drought in future because of climate change.

    • Ertug Ercin
    • , Ted I. E. Veldkamp
    •  & Johannes Hunink

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Yellow fever virus (YFV) is an arbovirus affecting humans and non-human primates (NHPs) with seasonal transmission. Here Hamlet et al. model the monthly occurrence of YF in humans and NHPs across Brazil and show that seasonality of agriculture is an important predictor of seasonal YF transmission.

    • Arran Hamlet
    • , Daniel Garkauskas Ramos
    •  & Neil M. Ferguson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    China has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality in 2060. Here the authors find a promising option to abate 1.0 Gt CO2-eq yr−1 of carbon emissions at a marginal cost of $69 (t CO2-eq)−1 by retrofitting 222 GW of coal power plants to co-fire with biomass and upgrading to CCS operation across 2836 counties in China.

    • Xiaofan Xing
    • , Rong Wang
    •  & Siqing Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantifying land use change is critical in tackling global challenges related to food, climate and biodiversity. Here the authors show that land use change has affected 32 % of the global land area in six decades (1960- 2019) by combining multiple open datasets to create the HIstoric Land Dynamics Assessment +.

    • Karina Winkler
    • , Richard Fuchs
    •  & Martin Herold

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Agricultural sectors receive US$600 billion per year in government support, providing incentives for GHG emission-intensive production. Here, the authors show that removing this support will not reduce global GHG emissions by much; rather it will need to be radically redirected to contribute to climate change mitigation.

    • David Laborde
    • , Abdullah Mamun
    •  & Rob Vos

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