Abstract Book: 2^nd International Emerging Scholars Forum (IESF-2026)

This is the abstract book for the 2nd International Emerging Scholars Forum (IESF-2026), held online via Microsoft Teams from August 24–26, 2026, and published by The AgEcon Frontiers under the editorship of Muhammad Khalid Bashir, Mithat Direk, Mustafa Kan, Asghar Ali, and Muhammad Hafeez. The 143-page volume compiles 106 research abstracts from emerging scholars, many from Pakistan, alongside contributors from Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, and elsewhere, organized into nine thematic sub-themes: (1) Climate Resilience and Sustainable Resource Economics, (2) Agri-Food System Transformation and Market Dynamics, (3) Technology and Data-Driven Agriculture, (4) Equity, Policy, and Institutional Innovation, (5) Emerging Methodologies and Interdisciplinary Approaches, (6) Livestock Economics and Sustainable Animal Systems, (7) Food Sciences and Nutrition Systems, (8) Agricultural Engineering and Smart Systems, and (9) Agribusiness, Entrepreneurship, and Value Chain Development.

The contributions span a wide interdisciplinary range from crop breeding, pest management, and climate-resilient agronomy to green finance, digital payments, IoT-enabled cold chains, AI-powered pest/weed detection, women's economic empowerment, and food security and nutrition policy. Common threads across the abstracts include climate change adaptation, water- and energy-efficient production, digital and smart agricultural technologies, institutional and gender equity, and sustainable value-chain development, reflecting the forum's broader mission of connecting emerging researchers with policy-relevant, evidence-based solutions for resilient agri-food systems, particularly in developing and climate-vulnerable regions.