Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Understanding of the effects of elevated CO2 on crops has improved sufficiently that modelling future climatic effects on agriculture should eliminate ‘no CO2’ simulations. Further advancement in the estimation of the effects can be realized by studying a wider variety of crop species under a wider range of growing conditions, improving the representation of responses to climate extremes in crop models and simulating additional crop physiological processes related to nutritional quality.
Effects of national policies on crop yield and nitrogen losses can be disentangled from environmental conditions using spatial discontinuities between international borders.
Climate change increases the frequency and severity of drought in many agricultural regions. A novel big-data approach has been designed to shed light on the interactions between agronomic and environmental factors affecting the sensitivity of crop yields to drought.
Aquaculture must develop within planetary boundaries. Experience from agriculture, such as in managing monocultures and using genetically modified crops, can inform sustainable solutions for aquaculture.
An assessment of the climate vulnerability of the UK’s fruit and vegetable supply is a useful starting point for considering the health, environment, and social trade-offs of international trade in food.
Traceability is key to food quality and safety, but its wider implementation is hindered by high costs and technical complexity. A newly proposed mobile-based bidirectional system based on information concatenation through products’ 2D barcodes offers an effective, cheaper and more flexible alternative.
A series of in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo studies show that starch structure and plant tissue intactness control glucose release from pea-based foods. Modification of these characteristics through plant breeding and food processing may provide opportunities for enhanced food formulation, but challenges for labelling and communication.
Feeding infants with formula requires heating water and bottles for sterilization and formula preparation. Plastic infant feeding bottles are commonly used, and now their potential to release microplastics has been explored at a global scale.
Farm management strategies for alternatives to nitrogen application can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and increase crop yields in China.
The diversity of aquaculture production systems in Bangladesh may be calibrated to provide food and nutrition security without negative environmental impact, aligning multiple interests of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
India’s domestic food production is capable of supplying adequate micronutrients to its growing population in spite of water and land constraints, but achieving this will require a shift away from the current focus on rice and wheat and towards vegetables, fruit and lentils.
Fusarium wilt, the most destructive and uncontrollable fungal disease affecting banana, has now become a global threat. This Perspective proposes complementary strategies for banana Fusarium wilt management, including revising agrosystems and precision breeding.
For the food system of China and its individual provinces to stay within downscaled planetary boundaries, sustainability strategies must combine demand, production, and redistribution interventions to meet targets for greenhouse gas emissions, water use, land use, and nutrient inputs.
Big data from major online food ordering platforms can facilitate a richer understanding of the environmental impact of current food delivery packaging waste, and scenarios for more sustainable alternatives.
Numerous pesticide reduction policies have been introduced in Europe. Shortcomings in current policies are discussed in this Perspective, and ten steps for guiding regulatory bodies towards implementing effective pesticide policies are presented.
Conceptual frameworks linking food security and agriculture are diverse in their perspectives, assumptions and applications. After reviewing 36 such frameworks, systems modelling conventions are applied to a broadly cited framework to demonstrate the utility of incorporating these tools into food security frameworks for the interdisciplinary food community.
Barley grain can have high concentrations of the heavy metal cadmium. Identification of a gene controlling cadmium accumulation in barley offers a path to averting unsafe consumption by humans.
Concerns are emerging around wheat-based foods made from refined white flour and human health. This Review summarizes the impact of the amount, composition and interactions of the major carbohydrate components within wheat food products on human health and strategies to manipulate these components.
By 2050, the majority of aquatic dietary protein will be produced by the aquaculture sector. A set of 15 metrics are presented here to guide the industry sustainably through the rapid growth and development it is experiencing.
