Can the rural digital economy facilitate synergistic governance of carbon emission reduction and pollution in animal husbandry?

Higher Education Press

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With the improvement of residents’ income and the upgrading of consumption structure, the demand for livestock and poultry products in China has grown rapidly, but the environmental pressure brought by animal husbandry has become increasingly prominent. Data shows that non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases generated by animal husbandry and water pollutants caused by manure have become important factors exacerbating climate change and endangering environmental health. How to achieve the synergistic control of livestock carbon emissions and environmental pollution (SCLCP) while ensuring the supply of livestock and poultry products has become a key issue for the green development of agriculture. Against this background, the rise of the digital economy has provided new ideas for solving this contradiction—can the rural digital economy effectively promote the synergistic governance of carbon emissions and pollution in animal husbandry?

A research team led by Professor Minjuan Zhao from the College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, conducted a systematic study based on China's provincial panel data from 2011 to 2021. Focusing on the relationship between the rural digital economy and the environmental performance of animal husbandry, the study revealed the synergistic effect of the digital economy on livestock carbon emission reduction and pollution control through empirical analysis, and deeply analyzed its internal mechanism and regional heterogeneity, providing a new perspective for the green transformation of animal husbandry. The relevant research has been published in Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering (DOI: 10.15302/J-FASE-2025649).

The study found that the rural digital economy significantly promotes the synergistic control of livestock carbon emissions and pollution, and this conclusion has been verified through various robustness tests such as the instrumental variable method. Its core mechanism of action is reflected in three aspects: first, green technology progress is a key driving force. The in-depth integration of digital technology with livestock and poultry breeding promotes the intelligent upgrading of precise feeding, environmental control, waste management and other links, improving resource utilization efficiency; second, the digital economy alleviates information asymmetry, optimizes the allocation of production factors, improves resource allocation efficiency, and reduces environmental redundancy caused by resource waste or scarcity; in addition, digital technology promotes production agglomeration, forms large-scale breeding models, promotes the sharing of pollution control facilities, and reduces carbon emissions and pollution intensity per unit of output.

Notably, policy and market factors have a significant moderating effect on this effect. The study shows that government support can significantly amplify the effect of the rural digital economy on the synergistic governance of carbon emissions and pollution in agricultural zones and agropastoral transitional zones, while the level of marketization weakens this positive impact in agricultural zones. This means that in major agricultural production areas and agropastoral transitional zones, increasing financial investment in rural digital infrastructure and green technologies can better give play to the guiding role of policies; while in regions with a high degree of marketization, it is necessary to guard against the relaxation of environmental standards that may be caused by market profit-seeking, and strengthen the coordination between supervision and market mechanisms.

From a spatial perspective, the rural digital economy also shows a significant spatial spillover effect. The development of the local digital economy not only reduces its own livestock carbon intensity, but also reduces carbon emissions in neighboring areas through technological diffusion, policy imitation and other channels, but its impact on the pollution intensity of surrounding areas is not significant for the time being. This finding provides a basis for cross-regional synergistic governance, suggesting that it is necessary to establish a regional linkage mechanism to promote the cross-regional sharing of digital technologies and environmental policies.

This study fills the research gap of the digital economy in the field of animal husbandry environmental governance, constructs an index system for the development of the rural digital economy for the first time, and systematically explains its internal logic of achieving synergistic control of carbon emissions and pollution through three paths: technology, resources and space. The research results provide scientific reference for formulating differentiated policies: on the one hand, we should accelerate the construction of rural digital infrastructure, promote intelligent breeding technologies, and improve the digitalization level of animal husbandry; on the other hand, it is necessary to optimize policy tools according to the characteristics of different regions, strengthen government support in agricultural zones and agropastoral transitional zones, balance economic development and environmental regulation in regions with a high degree of marketization, and promote the transformation of animal husbandry towards green and low-carbon development.

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Journal

Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering

DOI

10.15302/J-FASE-2025649 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Impact of the rural digital economy on livestock carbon emissions and pollution mitigation in China

 

Researchers uncover conserved "switch" for crop drought resistance

Knocking out a gene from the bHLH family enhances drought resistance in rice, corn, and wheat

Science China Press

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A proposed model of OsDT5-centered signal cascade in rice growth or drought response.

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Credit: ©Science China Press

Drought represents one of the most devastating abiotic stresses to global agriculture, severely constraining productivity of staple crops worldwide. Developing drought-resilient cultivars is therefore critical for food security, necessitating both identification of key genetic regulators and elucidation of complex drought signaling mechanisms.
Here, researchers identified Drought Tolerance 5 (OsDT5), a bHLH transcription factor that functions as a negative regulator of drought tolerance throughout the rice growth cycle. They demonstrate that Osmotic Stress/ABA-Activated Protein Kinase 9 (SAPK9)-mediated phosphorylation at Ser27/Ser136 residues modulates OsDT5 activity through accelerating its proteasomal degradation, disrupting its interaction with OsbZIP66, and reducing its binding affinity for OsLEAs promoters.

Strikingly, knockout of OsDT5 orthologs recapitulated the drought-resilient phenotype not only in cereals (maize and wheat), but also in the bryophyte Physcomitrium patens. Crucially, molecular validation and AlphaFold3-predicted structural orthology confirmed evolutionary preservation of the entire SAPK9-DT5-bZIP66 module architecture.

Collectively, their findings deliver a unified mechanistic framework for drought adaptation in terrestrial plants and actionable breeding strategies for climate-resilient agriculture in drought-challenged ecosystems.

About Professor Shi Yong Song from Zhejiang University, China

Shi Yong Song, Professor/Researcher, Doctoral Supervisor, Master's Supervisor, Member of the Jiusan Society, and Deputy Director of the Institute of Modern Seed Industry at Zhejiang University. In recent years, his research findings have been primarily published in journals such as Nature Plants, Science Advances, Molecular Plant, The Plant Cell, and Cell Reports. His laboratory focuses on the study of crop gene functions, employing technologies such as gene editing, molecular genetics, and cell biology to identify key genes involved in rice growth, development, and stress response, and to elucidate their molecular mechanisms.

 

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Journal

Science Bulletin

DOI

10.1016/j.scib.2025.12.027 

 

How to improve drought tolerance in popcorn maize?

Higher Education Press

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Water scarcity has become a critical constraint on global agricultural production. Particularly in tropical and subtropical regions, major crops such as maize frequently face the dual threats of drought and high temperatures. Climate change has further exacerbated this issue, leading to a significant increase in the frequency and intensity of droughts. In Brazil, recent droughts have severely impacted water, food, and energy security, making the development of crop varieties adapted to water-deficient environments an urgent priority in agricultural research. As a specialty maize variety, popcorn maize is particularly sensitive to water conditions in terms of yield and quality. However, research on the genetic mechanisms underlying its morphophysiological and agronomic traits under water stress remains limited. How can we optimize breeding strategies by dissecting genetic effects to enhance the yield stability of popcorn maize under drought conditions?

Valter Jário DE LIMA and colleagues from Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Brazil, evaluated the genetic effects of 25 traits in 10 popcorn inbred lines and their 45 diallel hybrids under water-stressed (WS) and well-watered (WW) conditions using diallel analysis. This study systematically revealed the genetic control mechanisms of key traits in popcorn maize under water stress, providing precise guidance for the breeding of drought-tolerant varieties. The relevant article has been published in Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering, volume 13, Issue 2 (DOI: 10.15302/J-FASE-2025647).

The study found that the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and relative chlorophyll content (SPAD) effectively reflected phenotypic differences in crops during critical growth stages under water stress, while Canopy Temperature Depression (CTD) served as an important indicator of stomatal closure. These indices provide reliable physiological markers for drought tolerance screening. Through genetic effect analysis, dominance effects dominated most traits, such as grain yield, plant height, and ear length, while popping expansion (PE) and stem diameter (SD) were mainly controlled by additive effects. This pattern remained stable under both water-stressed and well-watered conditions.

The study also identified inbred lines (L76, L61, and P3) with high General Combining Ability (GCA), which exhibited outstanding performance in yield and drought tolerance-related traits. The hybrids L61 × L76 and L71 × L76 performed excellently under both water regimes, demonstrating strong heterosis. Some genotypes maintained high chlorophyll levels through the stay-green trait, extending the duration of photosynthesis and thereby sustaining biomass accumulation under drought conditions.

Under water stress, the yield of popcorn maize decreased by an average of 39.8%. However, the drought tolerance of varieties can be significantly improved through optimized breeding strategies. The results of this study provide a scientific basis for drought-tolerant breeding in popcorn maize. In the next step, emphasis can be placed on developing new varieties with both high yield and drought tolerance to address the agricultural challenges posed by climate change.

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Journal

Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering

DOI

10.15302/J-FASE-2025647 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Genetic effects of physiological and morpho-agronomic traits in popcorn under water stress

Engineered biochar enzyme system clears toxic phenolic acids and restores pepper seed germination in continuous cropping soil

Biochar Editorial Office, Shenyang Agricultural University

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Efficient allelochemical removal from continuous capsicum cultivation using horseradish peroxidase–loaded biochar

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Credit: Xueyan Zhang, Shiyu Lv, Tian Yuan, Kerong Fu, Pu Yang, Yanpo Yao, Junfeng Liang, Tongguo Gao & Feng Wang

 

A team of agricultural and environmental scientists has developed a simple biochar based technology that can strip self toxic chemicals from pepper growing soils and restore healthy seed germination. The work offers a promising new tool to help farmers overcome “continuous cropping obstacles” that have long plagued high value capsicum production.

“Pepper farmers often feel forced to choose between meeting market demand and protecting their soil. Our study shows they do not have to make that trade off,” said Xueyan Zhang, the study’s first author from the Agro Environmental Protection Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Tianjin, China. “By combining a natural enzyme with an engineered biochar, we created a robust material that removes toxic phenolic acids from soil and helps pepper plants thrive again.”

Pepper is one of the world’s most important vegetable crops, but limited arable land and strong demand mean many fields are planted with capsicum year after year. Over time, the pepper roots release and accumulate phenolic acids such as ferulic acid, p hydroxybenzoic acid and related compounds that act as self toxins, weakening plants, suppressing growth and in severe cases killing them. These allelochemicals interfere with cell division, hormone balance and root water and nutrient uptake, making continuous cropping a serious barrier to sustainable production.​

Existing physical and chemical treatments to remove these compounds can be energy intensive and may cause secondary pollution, while biological approaches based on beneficial microbes are often unstable under real field conditions. This leaves a critical technology gap for farmers who need effective, practical and environmentally friendly ways to clean up allelochemicals in soil.​

Turning tobacco stems into an enzyme reactor

To address this challenge, the researchers converted waste tobacco stems into a highly porous biochar and then chemically etched it with potassium carbonate to create a “carbonate modified biochar” with an ultra high surface area and pore volume. They then used glutaraldehyde crosslinking to immobilize horseradish peroxidase an oxidizing enzyme widely used in biosensors and pollution control onto the modified biochar, producing what they call HRP CBC.​

This engineered material could load horseradish peroxidase up to 311.46 units per gram, far higher than many previously reported supports, while maintaining high enzyme activity. Microscopy, spectroscopy and surface area measurements confirmed that the biochar’s tailored pore structure and oxygen containing functional groups created abundant sites for stable enzyme attachment and helped protect the enzyme under changing pH and temperature.​

Fast removal of toxic phenolic acids

In water tests designed to mimic soil solutions, HRP CBC consistently outperformed both free horseradish peroxidase and enzyme loaded on unmodified biochar across a wide range of conditions. At pH 7 and 35 degrees Celsius, 2 units per milliliter of HRP CBC completely removed a 20 milligram per liter solution of ferulic acid within six hours, two hours faster than the other treatments.​

The material also degraded a suite of other phenolic acids linked to yield loss in continuous pepper cropping including vanillic, cinnamic, coumaric and p hydroxybenzoic acids achieving at least 50 percent removal within two hours. Total organic carbon measurements and advanced mass spectrometry showed that ferulic acid was broken down into smaller, less toxic organic molecules through a free radical based mechanism involving reactive oxygen species. Toxicity modeling indicated that as the reaction proceeded, the products shifted from moderately or acutely toxic to low or non toxic, supporting the technology’s detoxification potential.​

Reviving pepper seed germination

To test whether these chemical changes translate into real biological benefits, the team exposed pepper seeds to ferulic acid solutions with and without HRP CBC treatment. Seeds exposed to ferulic acid alone showed a 17 percent drop in germination rate and a 0.79 centimeter reduction in root length compared with water controls.​

When the ferulic acid solution was first treated with HRP CBC for six hours, the inhibitory effect disappeared, and both germination and root growth rebounded to levels statistically similar to the control group. In soil spiked with ferulic acid, HRP CBC reduced the toxin concentration by 84.68 percent within 11 days, suggesting strong potential for practical soil remediation.​

Toward field ready green remediation

HRP CBC also demonstrated improved stability and reusability, retaining more than half of its activity after 30 days of storage and maintaining substantial degradation capacity over seven reuse cycles. The authors note that the biochar support not only shields the enzyme from harsh environmental conditions but also concentrates pollutants in its pores, increasing contact between enzyme and substrate.​

“By upgrading agricultural waste into a smart enzyme carrier, we offer a green and scalable strategy to tackle phenolic self toxicity in continuous cropping systems,” said corresponding author Feng Wang. “The next step is to move from laboratory tests to longer term field trials so that farmers can safely apply this technology to real pepper fields.”​

The study points to a future in which waste biomass, tailored surface chemistry and biocatalysis work together to maintain soil health and protect crop yields under intensive production.​

 

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Journal Reference: Zhang, X., Lv, S., Yuan, T. et al. Efficient allelochemical removal from continuous capsicum cultivation using horseradish peroxidase–loaded biochar. Biochar 8, 2 (2026).   

https://doi.org/10.1007/s42773-025-00512-9  

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About Biochar

Biochar (e-ISSN: 2524-7867) is the first journal dedicated exclusively to biochar research, spanning agronomy, environmental science, and materials science. It publishes original studies on biochar production, processing, and applications—such as bioenergy, environmental remediation, soil enhancement, climate mitigation, water treatment, and sustainability analysis. The journal serves as an innovative and professional platform for global researchers to share advances in this rapidly expanding field. 

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Journal

Biochar

DOI

10.1007/s42773-025-00512-9 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Efficient allelochemical removal from continuous capsicum cultivation using horseradish peroxidase–loaded biochar

Article Publication Date

5-Jan-2026