Poverty is a critical issue that is stagnating the development of Afghanistan. In 2007, more than 42% of the population of the country was reported as being below the poverty line, but until 2014, 78.2% of households even in the urban areas were still dealing with food shortages. The agriculture sector is the backbone of the country’s economy and contributes as the key sector to the revival of the well-being of people in Afghanistan. Rice is the second staple crop after wheat and plays a key role in food security, nutrition, and caloric intake. However, Afghan farmers have suffered from the low quality of grains and yield which has resulted in the serious malnutrition which is occurring in the country. Insufficient breeding techniques for new rice cultivars with high yield and acceptable quality, mismanagement of agronomical practices, and unprogressive milling and processing thus can satisfy only 50% of the country’s demand. Accordingly, Afghanistan has been compelled to import a huge annual amount of milled rice from Pakistan, India, and Iran. Although active efforts have been made by the government, research institutes, and international collaboration on rice research, production, and agricultural credits during the last 10 years, the deficit of milled rice in Afghanistan in 2018 is estimated to be 270,250 metric tons. This paper highlights the current situation of rice production in Afghanistan and suggests solutions for food security and sustainability in rice production to promote farmers’ income, consequently strengthening the country’s economy.

Improved food security remains a major challenge for policymakers in Afghanistan. The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence and drivers of food insecurity among farming households in the Takhar region of Afghanistan. Household questionnaire survey datasets were obtained from 262 farmers via multi-stage sampling across four districts. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) was constructed to assess the prevalence of food insecurity, and an ordered probit econometric model was used to identify the factors influencing the prevalence rates in farming families. The findings indicate that 66.79% of the farming households were food insecure, whilst 30.53% were severely food insecure. After adjustment of socio-economic and demographic characteristics of families, the ordered probit results reveals that household head education, dependency ratio, farm income, access to non-agricultural income, livestock unit, group membership, borrowing, farm diseases, flood, and war significantly influenced farming households’ food insecurity in the study area. Our findings highlight the urgent requirement for policies and initiatives to support farmers to improve their overall food security. Such strategies should focus on introducing improved farming techniques, enhancing farmer education levels, livestock development programs, building and empowering farmers groups, creating credit access to households, and providing humanitarian food support.

This study was conducted to develop the salt tolerance of rice by exogenous application of magnesium sulfate supplement (MgSO₄). The salinization was carried out on 7-day-old rice seedlings including BC15 (salinity tolerant) and DT84DB (salinity susceptible) varieties with 0.5 mM MgSO₄. The exogenous application of MgSO₄ significantly improves the growth of seedlings of both varieties. In addition, antioxidant activities increase in line with the raise of total phenolic and total flavonoid contents. Remarkably, the contents of momilactone B (MB) and phenolic compounds including tricin, ρ-coumaric, salicylic, cinnamic, benzoic, and ferulic acids simultaneously rise in both varieties treated by salinity and 0.5 mM MgSO₄. Interestingly, MB was not found in the salt-treated samples but presents with considerable contents in the salt and MgSO₄-treated cultivars. The findings imply that MgSO₄ may significantly improve the salt tolerance of rice seedlings through the enhancement of secondary metabolic synthesis pathways, of which phenolic acids and momilactone B may play a crucial role in the response of rice to salt stress. In contrast, momilactone A (MA) did not show any contribution in salinity tolerance of examined rice cultivars at the early seedling stage. Further investigations on the effect of MgSO₄ exogenous application in improving salinity tolerance of various rice varieties at other growing stages should be carried out.

Background: In this study, column chromatography was applied to separate active fractions from the ethyl acetate extract of Celastrus hindsii, a medicinal plant widely used in Southern China, Northern Vietnam, Myanmar, and Malaysia. Methods: Fourteen fractions from different dilutions of chloroform and methanol were separated by column chromatography and examined for biological activities. Results: It was found that a dilution of 50–70% methanol in chloroform yielded the highest total phenolics, flavonoids, and antioxidant activities (1,1-dipheny1-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2-azinobis (3-ehtylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), diammonium salt (ABTS) radical scavenging activity, and β-carotene bleaching method measured by lipid peroxidation inhibition). In addition, by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) analyses, fifteen principal compounds from bioactive fractions belonging to fatty acids, amides, flavonoids, sterols, terpenes, and phenols were identified. Of these compounds, α-amyrin, β-amyrin, hydrazine carboxamide, hexadecanoic acid, fucosterol, (3β)-D:C-friedours-7-en-3-ol, rutin, and 2-hydroxy-1-ethyl ester accounted for maximal quantities, whilst concentrations of other constituents were <5%. Conclusions: It is suggested that these identified compounds may greatly contribute to the antioxidant capacity of C. hindsii as well as its potential pharmaceutical properties.

The aim of this review was to provide an updated outlook on the relevance of momilactones in rice during the 50 years since their discovery. Momilactones A (MA) and B (MB) were initially extracted from rice husks in 1973 and have since been identified in various parts of the rice plant including leaves, bran, straw, roots, and root exudates. The biosynthesis of these compounds in rice initiates from geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGDP) and progresses through several cyclization stages. The genes governing the synthesis of MA and MB are located on chromosome 4 within the rice genome. Concentrations of these compounds vary across different parts of the rice plant, ranging from 2 to 157 μg/g. Notably, Japonica rice varieties tend to have higher levels of MA and MB (157 and 83 μg/g, respectively) compared to Indica varieties (20.7 and 4.9 μg/g, respectively). There is a direct correlation between the levels of MA and MB and the increase in antioxidant activity, protein, and amylose content in rice grains. The production of these compounds is enhanced under environmental stresses such as drought, salinity, chilling, and UV exposure, indicating their potential role in rice’s tolerance to these conditions. MA and MB also demonstrate allelopathic, antibacterial, and antifungal properties, potentially improving the resilience of rice plants against biotic stressors. Although their antioxidant activity is modest, they effectively inhibit leukemia cells at a concentration of 5 µM. They also show promise in diabetes management by inhibiting enzymes like α-amylase (with IC₅₀ values of 132.56 and 129.02 mg/mL, respectively) and α-glucosidase (with IC₅₀ values of 991.95 and 612.03 mg/mL, respectively). The therapeutic qualities of MA and MB suggest that cultivating rice varieties with higher concentrations of these compounds, along with developing their derivatives, could benefit the pharmaceutical industry and enhance treatments for chronic diseases. Consequently, breeding rice cultivars with increased momilactone levels could offer substantial advantages to rice farmers.

The control of protein and amylose content is the principal challenge in rice nutrient and quality improvement. In this study, water deficits in 2- and 3-day intervals were imposed on two Japonica cultivars K1 and K3, and an Indica K4 subtype after anthesis to harvest. It was observed that although rice yield was affected, the protein content was increased 6.53–6.63% to 9.93–10.16%. The amylose quantity was reduced significantly from 22.00–22.43% to 16.33–17.56%, while fatty acids in rice grain were not influenced. Total anthocyanins were greatly promoted by 53.1% as compared to the non-treated trials. The antioxidant capacity in rice grain increased up to 59.1% in 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and 41.6% in reducing power assays. Findings of this research revealed that the 3-day interval of water deficit imposition was the most effective to improve rice macronutrients and quality, as well as beneficial phytochemicals and antioxidants in rice grain. The water control after anthesis to harvest in rice cultivation is beneficial and economical for farmers to improve rice nutrients and quality, thus contributes to the sustainable rice production in many developing countries.