Food Science and Agriculture: Research Highlights Vol. 7

Moringa Oleifera as a Climate-Smart Bio-Input for Enhancing Soil Fertility, Environmental Resilience and Crop Productivity in Smallholder Farming Systems

Otton Muyabe — 2026-06-12

Smallholder farmers are typically defined as producers cultivating relatively small landholdings, often less than five hectares, relying primarily on family labour and limited external inputs. These farming systems are predominantly rainfed, making them highly sensitive to climatic variability and environmental change. Land degradation is the broader process encompassing soil fertility decline, erosion, and structural deterioration. Soil erosion, the removal of topsoil by water or wind, is particularly damaging because topsoil contains the highest concentrations of organic matter and nutrients. Moringa is recognised as a climate-smart plant because of its ability to tolerate drought, poor soils, and high temperatures while maintaining biomass production. Moringa extracts contain phytohormones such as cytokinins and other bioactive compounds that function as bio-stimulants. Bio-stimulants enhance plant metabolic processes, including root growth and nutrient transport within the plant. Enhanced root development increases the root surface area available for nutrient absorption, while improved physiological activity raises nutrient use efficiency, defined as the plant’s ability to convert absorbed nutrients into biomass and yield. The chapter also highlighted productivity outcomes, showing that moringa interventions are associated with meaningful yield gains across cereals and horticultural crops. Overall, moringa offers a flexible and locally relevant pathway for strengthening productivity, resilience, and sustainability in smallholder farming systems.

Microbial Safety and Nutritional Integrity of Locally Produced Infant Flours in Ouagadougou: Effects of Production and Storage

P. Konkobo Mathurin — 2026-06-12

Protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies continue to pose significant public health challenges for young children in Burkina Faso and other low-income countries in West Africa. Although locally produced infant flours, which are typically formulated from blends of cereals and legumes, are increasingly promoted as affordable options for complementary feeding, recent studies have highlighted concerns regarding their variable microbiological quality and suboptimal nutrient density, particularly during storage. In this study, the microbiological safety, physicochemical composition, and storage stability were evaluated over two months of selected infant flours marketed in Ouagadougou. Products from six production units were included, and samples from six randomly selected supermarkets were collected at three time points: immediately after production (T0), after one month of retail storage (M1), and after two months (M2). Microbiological analyses, including counts of aerobic mesophilic flora at 30°C, Escherichia coli, yeasts, and moulds, were conducted at the National Agency for Environmental, Food, Occupational Health and Health Product Safety (ANSSEAT, ex-LNSP). Physicochemical parameters such as moisture, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, total ash, and iron content were determined at the Department of Food Technology (DTA/CNRST) using standardised reference methods from AFNOR and ISO, with results compared against Codex Alimentarius CXS 74-1981 criteria. Our findings revealed that at production (T0), approximately 83% of the samples complied with Codex limits for aerobic mesophilic flora (≤10⁵ CFU/g) and E. coli (absent in 1 g), demonstrating acceptable hygiene practices in most production units. However, counts of yeasts and moulds increased significantly (p < 0.05) from 1.8–2.5 log CFU/g at T0 to 3.2–4.1 log CFU/g at M2, with 44% of samples exceeding the recommended threshold of 10³ CFU/g. While carbohydrate contents ranged from 60% to 78% and lipid contents from 12% to 20% both meeting or surpassing Codex minima and supporting adequate energy density (>400 kcal/100 g dry matter) protein levels (8–13% vs. ≥15%) were inadequate in half of the units, and iron contents (2.3-4.8 mg/100 g vs. ≥8 mg/100 g) fell short in all samples. Moisture levels rose modestly from 4-6% at T0 to 5-9% at M2, likely contributing to microbial proliferation through permeable packaging. These results are consistent with recent findings from West African contexts, which underscore vulnerabilities along the food value chain. To enhance the safety and nutritional efficacy of these products, we recommend implementing airtight multi-layer packaging, systematic micronutrient fortification, and strengthened regulatory oversight throughout production and distribution.

Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies for Climate Change in Viticulture Systems

Deis, Leonor — 2026-06-12

Climate change is increasingly affecting viticulture through rising temperatures, heat waves, drought, and extreme climatic events, with significant consequences for grapevine phenology, physiology, yield, berry composition, and wine quality. This review critically synthesises current knowledge regarding the physiological, agronomic, and oenological impacts of climate change on viticulture systems, with emphasis on the interaction between heat stress, water deficit, genotype, and vineyard management practices. Particular attention is given to cultivar- and rootstock-dependent responses, environmental interactions, and the contrasting results reported under different climatic and management conditions. The review evaluates adaptation and mitigation strategies currently proposed for sustainable viticulture, including the use of drought-tolerant rootstocks, cultivar and clonal selection, vineyard relocation to cooler regions or higher altitudes, regulated deficit irrigation, cover crops, carbon sequestration practices, kaolin application, and overhead cooling systems. Evidence from field and controlled-environment studies indicates that these strategies may improve grapevine resilience by modulating water relations, canopy temperature, photosynthetic performance, and berry composition. However, their effectiveness is highly dependent on stress intensity, timing, cultivar, and local environmental conditions, highlighting the difficulty of establishing universal recommendations. The review also identifies important knowledge gaps related to the long-term effects of combined heat and drought stress, genotype × environment × management interactions, and the limited integration of physiological and agronomic approaches across viticultural regions. Overall, sustainable adaptation to climate change will require integrative and site-specific strategies capable of preserving grape quality, vineyard productivity, and environmental sustainability under increasingly complex climatic scenarios.

Impact of Land Degradation on Farmers' Livelihoods in Jhajjar District of Haryana

Harshit Bansal — 2026-06-12

Land degradation has become a serious challenge to sustainable agriculture and rural livelihoods, particularly in regions affected by soil salinity, waterlogging, and declining soil fertility. In Haryana, intensive agricultural practices and improper land and water management have accelerated the degradation of productive farmland, adversely impacting crop productivity and farmers’ income. This chapter evaluates the economic effects of the problem of land degradation on growing Bajra and mustard in Jhajjar district of Haryana, where the problem of waterlogging, salinity, and drainage is associated with the emergence of problematic farm conditions. This district was chosen as the study area since it exemplifies one of the most affected districts within the state, which makes possible a comparison of farming productivity between normal and problematic farms. The primary data on these two types of farms were gathered using the well structured questionnaire from 60 farmers for the agricultural year 2024-2025, while the economics evaluation was performed by means of applying the comparative cost-return analysis of both crops. Measures such as variable cost, fixed cost, total cost, gross return, net return, returns over variable cost, and benefit-cost ratio were used. According to the obtained results, normal farms had greater total costs yet significantly better gross return and net return compared to problematic farms in terms of growing both Bajra and mustard. Also, the crop of mustard was proved to be more economically efficient than that of Bajra.