Food security is one of the important issues in the current world development process. The article takes 31 provinces (districts and cities) in China as the research object and constructs a multidimensional food security level evaluation index system from four dimensions: quantitative security, nutritional security, ecological security, and capacity security. Using the entropy method, China\'s food security index was calculated for the ten-year period from 2013 to 2022. Overall, China\'s food security level showed an upward trend during the decade, with the provinces of Shandong, Heilongjiang, and Henan having the highest level of security. The distribution dynamics of food security and its spatiotemporal evolution in the seven regions were examined using the Dagum Gini coefficient and its decomposition, and the absolute and conditional convergence of food security in the different areas was verified. The results of the study show that the provinces within East China have the largest gap in food security levels between them, and there is absolute β-convergence. Looking at China as a whole, the development of its food security level is characterized by significant convergence, which means that provinces with a low level of food security will have a faster rate of growth than those with a high level of food security, resulting in a gradual narrowing of the gap in food security levels between provinces.

Resistant starch (RS) is a dietary fiber that resists starch hydrolysis in the small intestine, and is fermented in the colon by microorganisms. RS not only has a broad range of benefits in the food and non-food industries but also has a significance impact on health promotion and prevention of non-communicable diseases. RS types 3 and 5 have been the focus of research from an environment-friendly perspective. RS3 is normally formed by recrystallization after physical modification, whereas RS5 is obtained by the complexation of starch and fatty acids through the thermomechanical methods. This review provides updates and approaches to RS3 and RS5 preparations that promote RS content based on green technologies. This information will be useful for future research on RS development and for identifying preparation methods for functional food.

Climate change poses a substantial threat to agricultural sustainability globally. Agriculture is a vital component of the gross domestic production of developing countries. The multifaceted impacts of climate change on agriculture, highlighting how extreme weather events such as water stress, heatwaves, erratic rainfall, storms, floods, and emerging pest infestations are disrupting agricultural productivity. The socioeconomic status of farmers is particularly vulnerable to climatic extremes with future projections indicating significant increment in ambient air temperatures and unpredictable, intense rainfall patterns. Agriculture has historically relied on the extensive use of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides, combined with advancements in irrigation and biotechnological approaches to boost productivity. It encompasses a range of practices designed to enhance the resilience of agricultural systems, improve productivity, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By adopting climate-smart practices, farmers can better adapt to changing climatic conditions, thereby ensuring more sustainable and secure food production. Furthermore, it identifies key areas for future research, focusing on the development of innovative adaptation and mitigation strategies. These strategies are essential for minimizing the detrimental impacts of climate change on agriculture and for promoting the long-term sustainability of food systems. This article underscores the importance of interdisciplinary approaches and the integration of advanced technologies to address the challenges posed by climate change. By fostering a deeper understanding of these issues to inform policymakers, researchers, and practitioners about effective strategies to safeguard agricultural productivity and food security in the face of changing climate.

Precise agrochemical delivery to crops is vital for sustainable agricultural productivity. Recently, Liu et al. developed highly biocompatible smart microcarriers for precise agrochemical delivery to plants that can effectively provide nutrition while reducing runoff. This innovative and precise agrochemical delivery system represents a significant advancement in efficient and eco-friendly crop cultivation practices.

The shift of agricultural labor force to non-agricultural sectors has paralleled China\'s economic development, leading to a substantial rise in labor costs relative to capital. Consequently, the agricultural production has witnessed a shift towards capital-intensive practices. The capital deepening coincides with the significant increase in China\'s grain output while the main cause of capital deepening in China\'s grain production is poorly understood. This study examines the effect of increasing in various capital investments on the grain yield growth and growth convergence in China\'s main production areas, based on the data collected from the data set of the Compilation of Cost-Benefit Data of Agricultural Products (CCBDAP). Results show that the increases of chemical fertilizer, pesticide and machinery input have played key roles in the increase of grain yield. For early indica rice, japonica rice, wheat and maize, the average land output bears a β convergence. These findings suggest that more capital investments are supposed to accelerate the growth of grain yield per unit of land, take the opportunity of practicing the cross-provincial balance system of occupation and compensation of cultivated land. Moreover, strategic adjustments to the spatial distribution of grain cultivation are recommended to maximize the utilization of limited arable land resources while upholding national food security objectives.

Rice grain is widely consumed as a staple food, providing essential nutrition for households, particularly marginalized families. It plays a crucial role in ensuring food security, promoting human nutrition, supporting good health, and contributing to global food and nutritional security. Addressing the diverse quality demands of emerging diverse and climate-risked population dietary needs requires the development of a single variety of rice grain that can meet the various dietary and nutritional requirements. However, there is a lack of concrete definition for rice grain quality, making it challenging to cater to the different demands. The lack of sufficient genetic study and development in improving rice grain quality has resulted in widespread malnutrition, hidden hunger, and micronutrient deficiencies affecting a significant portion of the global population. Therefore, it is crucial to identify genetically evolved varieties with marked qualities that can help address these issues. Various factors account for the declining quality of rice grain and requires further study to improve their quality for healthier diets. We characterized rice grain quality using Lancastrians descriptor and a multitude of intrinsic and extrinsic quality traits. Next, we examined various components of rice grain quality favored in the Asia-Pacific region. This includes preferences by different communities, rice industry stakeholders, and value chain actors. We also explored the biological aspects of rice grain quality in the region, as well as specific genetic improvements that have been made in these traits. Additionally, we evaluated the factors that can influence rice grain quality and discussed the future directions for ensuring food and nutritional security and meeting consumer demands for grain quality. We explored the diverse consumer bases and their varied preferences in Asian-Pacific countries including India, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Korea, Myanmar and Japan. The quality preferences encompassed a range of factors, including rice head recovery, grain shape, uniform size before cooking, gelatinization, chalkiness, texture, amylose content, aroma, red-coloration of grain, soft and shine when cooked, unbroken when cooked, gelatinization, less water required for cooking, gelatinization temperature (less cooking time), aged rice, firm and dry when cooked (gel consistency), extreme white, soft when chewed, easy-to-cook rice (parboiled rice), vitamins, and minerals. These preferences were evaluated across high, low, and medium categories. A comprehensive analysis is provided on the enhancement of grain quality traits, including brown rice recovery, recovery rate of milled rice, head rice recovery, as well as morphological traits such as grain length, grain width, grain length-width ratio, and grain chalkiness. We also explored the characteristics of amylose, gel consistency, gelatinization temperature, viscosity, as well as the nutritional qualities of rice grains such as starch, protein, lipids, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and bio-fortification potential. The various factors that impact the quality of rice grains, including pre-harvest, post-harvest, and genotype considerations were explored. Additionally, we discussed the future direction and genetic strategies to effectively tackle these challenges. These qualitative characteristics represent the fundamental focus of regional and national breeding strategies employed by different countries to meet consumer preference. Given the significance of rice as a staple food in Asia-Pacific countries, it is primarily consumed domestically, with only a small portion being exported internationally. All the important attributes must be clearly defined within specific parameters. It is crucial for geneticists and breeders to develop a rice variety that can meet the diverse demands of consumers worldwide by incorporating multiple desirable traits. Thus, the goal of addressing global food and nutritional security, and human healthy can be achieved.

OBJECTIVE: Food security plays a critical role in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG-2) and public health outcomes; however, its effectiveness under the impact of international sanctions remains unclear. This study examined the impact of international sanctions on achieving SDG-2 and food security.
METHODS: This cross-country empirical analysis was based on a combined database that included data from the Global Sanctions Data Base (GSDB), Food and Agriculture Organization Statistics (FAOSTAT) and United Nations (UN) Comtrade.
METHODS: First, an instrumental variable (IV) strategy was used to deal with the endogeneity of other events in target countries\' sanctions. Second, a two-stage least square (2SLS) regression was conducted using high-dimensional fixed effects. Third, based on the Structural Gravity Model, a Poisson pseudo maximum likelihood (PPML) regression on bilateral agricultural trade was performed.
RESULTS: Findings from this study showed that international sanctions had a negative impact on the achievement of SDG-2 and food security, which was associated with poor public health outcomes. This was mainly evidenced by an increase in the prevalence of undernourishment and a high population of children with moderate or severe stunting. Sanctions were also shown to distort the agricultural value-added share and decrease domestic agricultural production. In addition, sanctions impeded bilateral import supply, which resulted in a lower import value and quantity, and a higher import price.
CONCLUSIONS: Food security and agricultural sustainability associated with hunger, nutrition and health from 1950 to 2019 were significantly associated with international sanctions. Under the uncertain shock of international sanctions, progress towards SDG-2 deteriorated, mainly for Targets 2.1, 2.2 and 2.a, and the impact was non uniform across all targets. From a sociopolitical perspective, the empirical findings of this study provide vital lessons for policymakers and public health communities to increase humanitarian outreach.

UNASSIGNED: In the 21st century, as globalization accelerates and global public health crises occur, the One Health approach, guided by the holistic thinking of human-animal-environment and emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration to address global health issues, has been strongly advocated by the international community. An immediate requirement exists for the creation of an assessment tool to foster One Health initiatives on both global and national scales.
UNASSIGNED: Built upon extensive expert consultations and dialogues, this follow-up study enhances the 2022 global One Health index (GOHI) indicator system. The GOHI framework is enriched by covering three indices, e.g. external drivers index (EDI), intrinsic drivers index (IDI), and core drivers index (CDI). The comprehensive indicator system incorporates 13 key indicators, 50 indicators, and 170 sub I-indicators, utilizing a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to ascertain the weight for each indicator. Weighted and summed, the EDI, IDI, and CDI scores contribute to the computation of the overall GOHI 2022 score. By comparing the ranking and the overall scores among the seven regions and across 160 countries/territories, we have not only derived an overall profile of the GOHI 2022 scores, but also assessed the GOHI framework. We also compared rankings of indicators and sub I-indicators to provide greater clarity on the strengths and weaknesses of each region within the One Health domains.
UNASSIGNED: The GOHI 2022 performance reveals significant disparities between countries/territories ranged from 39.03 to 70.61. The global average score of the GOHI 2022 is 54.82. The average score for EDI, IDI, and CDI are 46.57, 58.01, and 57.25, respectively. In terms of global rankings, countries from North America, Europe and Central Asia, East Asia and Pacific present higher scores. In terms of One Health domains of CDI, the lowest scores are observed in antimicrobial resistance (median: 43.09), followed by food security (median: 53.78), governance (median: 54.77), climate change (median: 64.12) and zoonotic diseases (median: 69.23). Globally, the scores of GOHI vary spatially, with the highest score in North America while lowest in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, evidence shows associations between the socio-demographic profile of countries/territories and their GOHI performance in certain One Health scenarios.
UNASSIGNED: The objective of GOHI is to guide impactful strategies for enhancing capacity building in One Health. With advanced technology and an annually updated database, intensifying efforts to refine GOHI\'s data-mining methodologies become imperative. The goal is to offer profound insights into disparities and progressions in practical One Health implementation, particularly in anticipation of future pandemics.

Against the backdrop of global warming, intensifying regional conflicts, deglobalization, and the spread of diseases, global food security is facing severe challenges. Studying the food security situation in China and the United States in depth can provide practical experience for formulating food security policies for countries around the world and promoting global food security governance. On the basis of a meticulous review of the evolving connotations of food security, this study adopts six dimensions-quantity security, quality security, circulation security, economic security, ecological resource security, and policy security-as breakthrough points to construct a framework consisting of food security evaluation indicator system comprising 29 specific indicators. The CRITIC-MEREC-MARCOS model is applied to evaluate the status of food security in China and the United States from 2000 to 2022, while the obstacle degree model (ODM) model is utilized to identify factors impeding food security between the two countries. The results indicate that the level of food security in China has shown slight fluctuations initially, followed by a steady upward trend. The gap with the United States is continuously narrowing. However, significant differences between China and the United States still exist in terms of economic security, ecological resource security, and policy security. Furthermore, due to the limited productivity of agricultural labor, scarcity of water and soil resources, and low efficiency in the use of fertilizers and pesticides, China\'s food security is subject to economic and environmental constraints. The restrictions imposed by economic security and ecological resource security on China\'s food security are showing an increasing trend year by year. For the United States, with the obstruction of grain exports and the increasing frequency of drought disasters, the impact of circulation security and ecological resource security on food security is becoming increasingly prominent. In the future, China and the United States should join hands to address challenges, actively promote international cooperation in food security, and drive sustainable development for humanity.

The conservation of agricultural heritage systems (AHSs) has played a pivotal role in fostering the sustainable development of agriculture and safeguarding farmers\' livelihoods and food security worldwide. This significance is particularly evident in the case of tea AHSs, due to the economic and nutritional value of tea products. Taking the Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Culture System (ATTCS) and Fuding White Tea Culture System (FWTCS) in Fujian Province as examples, this study uses statistical analyses and a multinomial logistic regression model to assess and compare farmer livelihood and food security at the tea AHS sites. The main findings are as follows. First, as the tea industries are at different stages of development, compared with agricultural and non-agricultural part-time households, the welfare level of pure agricultural households is lowest in the ATTCS, while welfare is the highest in the FWTCS. Second, factors such as the area of tea gardens and the number of laborers significantly affect farmers\' livelihood strategies transformation from pure agricultural households to agricultural part-time households in the ATTCS and FWTCS. Third, the high commodity rate of tea products, combined with compound cultivation in tea gardens, provides local people with essential sources of income, food, and nutrients, so as to improve food security in the ATTCS and FWTCS. These findings are essential for designing policies to ensure farmers\' livelihoods and food security through AHSs and other sustainable agriculture.