András Székács

Our study aims to provide a look at how the production of dairy cattle is affecting water resources in Hungary. Utilizing the AquaCrop model and field data from a selected field in Hungary, we focused on the evapotranspiration (ET) and water footprint (WF) of maize (the dominant component of silage mixes), while for other feed crops, we obtained data from scientific literature sources. We also considered drinking and servicing water consumption of dairy cattle, utilizing observations from a specific farm, as well as estimating potential heat stress at the country level. Our findings indicated increasing trends of crop ET as well as biomass production for maize, without significant correlations between the two parameters. Spatiotemporal analysis revealed a significant rise in the number of days with potential heat stress based on temperature-humidity indices, manifesting in practically the entire area of Hungary. Thus, while crop ET rates and corresponding crop water use values (4989–5342 m3/ha) did not show substantial changes, maize WF in silage cultivation rose from 261.9 m3/t dry biomass in 2002 to 378.0 m3/t dry biomass in 2020. Feed and water intake was subsequently recorded on a cattle farm and assessed as green and blue water use. Drinking (blue) water uptake, ranging between 74.7 and 101.9 L/dairy cow/day, moderately correlated with temperature-humidity indices as heat stress indicators (r2 = 0.700–0.767, p < 0.05). Servicing water was not recorded daily, but was calculated as a daily average (18 L/dairy cow/day), and was also considered in blue water usage. In contrast, feed consumption at the cattle farm corresponded to 13,352 ± 4724 L green water/dairy cow/day. Our results indicate that while the WF of animal feed remains a dominant factor in the total water use of dairy cattle farms, drinking water consumption and related costs of adaptive measures (such as adaptive breeding, modified housing, and technological measures) are expected to increase due to potential heat stress, particularly in selected regions where farmers should focus more on housing and technological solutions, as well as selecting for thermotolerance.

Food security is significantly affected by the mass production of agricultural produce and goods, the growing number of imported foods, and new eating and consumption habits. These changed circumstances bring food safety issues arising from food spoilage to the fore, making food safety control essential. Simple and fast screening methods have been developed to detect pathogens and biomarkers indicating the freshness of food for safety. In addition to the traditional, sequential, chemical analytical and microbiological methods, fast, highly sensitive, automated methods suitable for serial tests have appeared. At the same time, biosensor research is also developing dynamically worldwide, both in terms of the analytes to be determined and the technical toolkit. Consequently, the rapid development of biosensors, including electrochemical-based biosensors, has led to significant advantages in the quantitative detection and screening of food contaminants. These techniques show great specificity for the biomarkers tested and provide adequate analytical accuracy even in complex food matrices. In our review article, we summarize, in separate chapters, the electrochemical biosensors developed for the most important food groups and the food safety issues they can ensure, with particular respect to meat and fish products, milk and dairy products, as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.