agri-food

Up to 1.4 billion people may be living in areas with soil contaminated by heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, nickel and lead, according to research published in Science. The paper, which used data from more than 1,000 studies, estimates that 14-17% of farmland worldwide could be contaminated by at least one toxic metal. Cadmium is the most widespread, especially in South and East Asia, parts of the Middle East and Africa.

Grass-fed beef is not less carbon intensive than industrial beef, even after correcting for soil sequestration enhancement by rangeland grazing, according to a study published today in the journal PNAS that analysed emissions and livestock data from the United States.

Exposure to agrochemicals, even in doses too low to kill insects, causes significant damage to their behavior, development and reproduction, which is aggravated when the temperature rises, according to a study published in Science. The research analyzes the effects of 1,024 molecules - insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, plant growth inhibitors - on the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and on other insects.

Nitrous oxide is considered one of the three most important greenhouse gases, behind carbon dioxide and methane. According to a report by the Global Carbon Project, emissions of this gas from human activities continue to grow, with a 40% increase over the last four decades - from 2020 to 1980. The research, led by Boston College and published in the journal Earth System Science Data, reveals that in the last decade, agricultural production through the use of nitrogen fertilizers and animal manure contributed 74% of total anthropogenic emissions of this gas.

Eighty-two percent of EU farm subsidies articulated through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) financed high-emission livestock production in 2013, according to a study published in Nature Food. The analysis, which is based on data from 1986 to 2013 - the latest year for which records are available - highlights that 82% went to animal products in the following proportions: 38% directly and 44% for feed production. The authors note that food of animal origin is associated with 84 % of the greenhouse gases emitted by EU food production. 

Some 90 % of coastal and lowland wine-growing regions in Spain, Italy, Greece and southern California are at risk from extreme events, such as excessive droughts and heat waves, according to a review published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. The article summarises the expected changes and the adaptations that wine producers will need to make.   

The European Commission will renew the authorisation of the pesticide glyphosate in the European Union for 10 years, subject to "new restrictions and conditions". Following EU procedure, the announcement was made after member states failed to reach the majority required to renew or refuse approval.