The role of the chemical industry in improving the effectiveness of agriculture

1985 ◽  
Vol 310 (1144) ◽  
pp. 201-213 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Chemical Industry ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Application Technology ◽  
Novel Technology ◽  
Basic Plant ◽  
Technological Opportunities

The development and marketing of novel technology by the chemical industry has been a fundamental ingredient in the improvement of crop yields. Further advances will result from the continuing development of more effective pesticides. Improved application technology and better diagnosis of precise crop requirements will also lead to the more efficient usage of existing and future products. New approaches to crop improvement based on chemical plant-growth regulators and genetic engineering of plants represent major technological opportunities for the future. Realization of these opportunities demands a substantially increased investment in basic plant research, a requirement already recognized within the chemical industry.

scholarly journals Impact of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria in Sustainable Agriculture: An Important Natural Resource for Crop Improvement

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (03) ◽  
pp. 210-214
Author(s):  
Debnirmalya Gangopadhyay ◽  
Ashmita Ghosh
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Sustainable Agriculture ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Growth Promotion ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria ◽  
Plant Growth Promoting ◽  
Growth Promoting ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Environmentally Sound

It is usually admitted that the chemical fertilizers and pesticides used in modern agriculture create a real environmental and public health problems. The increasing demand for production with a significant reduction of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides use is a big challenge nowadays. The use of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria or PGPR has been proven to be an environmentally sound way of increasing crop yields by facilitating plant growth through either a direct or indirect mechanism. They play an important role to increase in soil fertility, plant growth promotion and suppression of phytopathogens for development of ecofriendly sustainable agriculture. In view of the latest advances in PGPR biotechnology, this paper proposes to do the review on PGPR in rhizosphere and describes the different mechanisms used by PGPR to promote the plants growth and health. In prospect to a healthy and sustainable agriculture, the PGPR approach revealed as one of the best ecofriendly alternatives.

scholarly journals Brassinosteroid Signaling Pathways Interplaying with Diverse Signaling Cues for Crop Enhancement

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 556
Author(s):  
Hyeona Hwang ◽  
Hojin Ryu ◽  
Hyunwoo Cho
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Signaling Pathways ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Model Organisms ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Recent Advances

The signaling pathways of brassinosteroids (BRs), a unique plant steroid hormone, are critically involved in a diverse range of plant growth and developmental processes as well as many important agronomic traits. Recent advances in the understanding of BR biosynthetic and signaling pathways in model organisms and crops have increased the feasibility of modulating BR responses in crop plants to enhance adaptation to various vulnerable environmental changes. In particular, the identification and functional analysis of BR signaling components in rice (Oryza sativa) present the possibility of their utilization to improve many agricultural traits involved in crop yields. In this review, we summarize recent advances and progress in the understanding of the BR signaling pathway and its interactions with diverse internal and external signaling cues. We also discuss how these physiological modulations of BR and the abundant signaling crosstalk can be applied to enhance rice productivity through the manipulation of plant architecture and fine-tuning of stress responses. Finally, we discuss how the complex regulation of BR signaling pathways could favor application in the molecular design of plant growth and development, precise breeding strategies, and cultivation methods for rice crop improvement.

miR166h Directed Cleavage of Target Upon PGPR Inoculation Under Drought Stress and Tissue-Specific Expression Analysis Under Abiotic Stresses in Chickpea.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ankita Yadav ◽  
Sanoj Kumar ◽  
Rita Verma ◽  
Shashi Pandey Rai ◽  
Charu Lata ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Abiotic Stress ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Specific Expression ◽  
Tissue Specific ◽  
Tissue Specific Expression ◽  
Growth Promoting

Abstract Legumes are an indispensable food after cereals with extensive production across the world. The legume production is imposed with limitations and has been augmented by various environmental stresses. The symbiotic relations between legumes and rhizobacteria have been an intriguing topic of research in view of their roles in plant growth, development and various stress responses. Recent advances on gene networks involving plethora of evolutionarily conserved miRNAs have been investigated pertaining to their roles in plant stress responses. The interaction between plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) strain Pseudomonas putida RA, MTCC5279 and abiotic stress responsive miRNAs have previously been studied with roles in abiotic stress mitigation by modulating stress responsive miRNAs and their target genes. The present studyis an investigation involving the role of RA in abiotic stress responsive miR166h for drought mitigation in tolerant desi chickpea genotype. miRNA166 directed cleavage of its target, ATHB15 has been drifted of drought treated plantlets upon RA inoculation using 5´RLM-RACE analysis. Drought stressed chickpea plants when inoculated with growth promoting rhizobacteria, RA, the inverse correlation in expression patterns were noticed in miR166h and its validated target, ATHB15. Tissue-specific expression patterns in 15 days old chickpea seedlings including leaves, shoot and roots when exposed to salinity, drought and abscisic acid at different time points indicated the role of miR166 in different abiotic stress response. In view of the results, validation and functional characterization of such interactions involving stress responsive miRNAs along with microbial stress management techniques could be an important technique for crop improvement.

scholarly journals NADPH Oxidases: The Vital Performers and Center Hubs during Plant Growth and Signaling

Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-Hong Hu ◽  
Peng-Qi Wang ◽  
Peng-Peng Zhang ◽  
Xiu-Min Nie ◽  
Bin-Bin Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Structure Evolution ◽  
Nadph Oxidases ◽  
Yield And Quality ◽  
Respiratory Burst Oxidase ◽  
Development Regulation

NADPH oxidases (NOXs), mostly known as respiratory burst oxidase homologs (RBOHs), are the key producers of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in plants. A lot of literature has addressed ROS signaling in plant development regulation and stress responses as well as on the enzyme’s structure, evolution, function, regulation and associated mechanisms, manifesting the role of NOXs/RBOHs as the vital performers and center hubs during plant growth and signaling. This review focuses on recent advances of NOXs/RBOHs on cell growth, hormone interaction, calcium signaling, abiotic stress responses, and immunity. Several primary particles, including Ca2+, CDPKs, BIK1, ROPs/RACs, CERK, FER, ANX, SnRK and SIK1-mediated regulatory mechanisms, are fully summarized to illustrate the signaling behavior of NOXs/RBOHs and their sophisticated and dexterous crosstalks. Diverse expression and activation regulation models endow NOXs/RBOHs powerful and versatile functions in plants to maintain innate immune homeostasis and development integrity. NOXs/RBOHs and their related regulatory items are the ideal targets for crop improvement in both yield and quality during agricultural practices.

scholarly journals Soil bacterial communities associated with stony soils influence the tuber size of Tetrastigma hemsleyanum

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haipeng Guo ◽  
Chuntao Hong ◽  
Jianhong Zhang ◽  
Wensheng Qin ◽  
Bin Wei
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Tuber Growth ◽  
Strong Correlations ◽  
Tetrastigma Hemsleyanum ◽  
Soil Microbiota ◽  
Rock Fragments ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Physical And Chemical

Abstract Background Plants grown in stony soils have better-developed root systems and higher crop yields than those grown in non-stony soils. The roles of various physical and chemical effects of stony soils on plant growth have been published, but the roles of soil microbiota and rhizosphere microbiota have not been investigated. Methods Tetrastigma hemsleyanum plants were cultivated for two years in stony soils and in the same soil from which rock-fragments had been removed. The microbiome and the tuber transcriptome were analyzed, using multiple bioinformatics methods. Results The soil microbiota of these two soils were markedly different, and the stony soils contained high abundances of bacterial taxa belonging to the Actinobacteria, Rokubacteria, Rhizobiales, Desulfarculaceae, and Chthoniobacteraceae. These discriminatory taxa in soils may promote the tuber growth of T. hemsleyanum, through releasing nutrients from rocks and colonizing the rhizosphere and tuber surface of T. hemsleyanum. In addition, stony soils induced a dramatic change in the tuber’s transcriptome, particularly with respect to the pathways of phytohormone biosynthesis, photosynthesis, and biotic stress resistance, expression levels of which showed strong correlations with the aforementioned bacterial taxa. Conclusions These results indicated that beneficial effects of stony soils on plant growth may be closely correlated with their specific microbiota, which can, in turn, influence multiple biological processes of host. This is the first study to reveal the role of stony soils-driven microbiota in tuber growth, and stony soils can represent a microbial repository for the screening of microbial isolates to increase plant yield.

scholarly journals Legume Biofortification and the Role of Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria in a Sustainable Agricultural Era

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Roriz ◽  
Susana M. P. Carvalho ◽  
Paula M. L. Castro ◽  
Marta W. Vasconcelos
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Hormonal Regulation ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Green Technology ◽  
World Population ◽  
N Fixation ◽  
Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria ◽  
Plant Growth Promoting ◽  
Growth Promoting

World population growth, together with climate changes and increased hidden hunger, bring an urgent need for finding sustainable and eco-friendly agricultural approaches to improve crop yield and nutritional value. The existing methodologies for enhancing the concentration of bioavailable micronutrients in edible crop tissues (i.e., biofortification), including some agronomic strategies, conventional plant breeding, and genetic engineering, have not always been successful. In recent years, the use of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) has been suggested as a promising approach for the biofortification of important crops, including legumes. Legumes have many beneficial health effects, namely, improved immunological, metabolic and hormonal regulation, anticarcinogenic and anti-inflammatory effects, and decreased risk of cardiovascular and obesity-related diseases. These crops also play a key role in the environment through symbiotic nitrogen (N) fixation, reducing the need for N fertilizers, reducing CO2 emissions, improving soil composition, and increasing plant resistance to pests and diseases. PGPB act by a series of direct and indirect mechanisms to potentially improve crop yields and nutrition. This review will focus on the: (i) importance of legumes in the accomplishment of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for production systems; (ii) understanding the role of PGPB in plant nutrition; (iii) iron biofortification of legumes with PGPB, which is an interesting case study of a green technology for sustainable plant-food production improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture.

Silica Sol-Gel Microbead Encapsulation as a Novel Delivery Method for Symbiotic Microbes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Elissiry ◽  
Jingwen Sun ◽  
Ann M. Hirsch ◽  
Chong Liu
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Sol Gel ◽  
Plate Count ◽  
Similar Amount ◽  
Delivery Method ◽  
Hormone Production ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Synthetic Fertilizer ◽  
Inorganic Nanomaterials

Synthetic fertilizer is responsible for the greatly increased crop yields that have enabled worldwide industrialization. However, the production and use of such fertilizers are environmentally unfriendly and unsustainable; synthetic fertilizers are produced via non-renewable resources and fertilizer runoff causes groundwater contamination and eutrophication. A promising alternative to synthetic fertilizer is bacterial inoculation. In this process, a symbiotic relationship is formed between a crop and bacteria species that can fix nitrogen, solubilize phosphorus, and stimulate plant hormone production. The bacteria carrier developed here aims to maintain bacteria viability while in storage, protect bacteria while encapsulated, and provide a sustained and controllable bacterial release. This novel bacterial delivery method utilizes inorganic nanomaterials, silica microbeads, to encapsulate symbiotic bacteria. These microbeads, which were produced with aqueous, non-toxic precursors, are sprayed directly onto crop seeds and solidify on the seeds as a resilient silica matrix. The bacterial release from the carrier was found by submerging coated seeds in solution to simulate degradation in soil environments, measuring the number of bacteria released by the plate count technique, and comparing the carrier to seeds coated only in bacteria. The carrier’s effectiveness to enhance plant growth was determined through greenhouse plant assays with alfalfa (<i>Medicago sativa</i>) plants and the nitrogen-fixing <i>Sinorhizobium meliloti</i> Rm1021 strain. When compared to bacteria-only inoculation, the silica microbead carrier exhibited significantly (P < 0.05) increased holding capacity of viable bacteria and increased plant growth by a similar amount, demonstrating the capability of inorganic nanomaterials for microbial delivery. The carrier presented in this work has potential applications for commercial agriculture and presents an opportunity to further pursue more sustainable agricultural practices.

Silica Sol-Gel Microbead Encapsulation as a Novel Delivery Method for Symbiotic Microbes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Elissiry ◽  
Jingwen Sun ◽  
Ann M. Hirsch ◽  
Chong Liu
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Sol Gel ◽  
Plate Count ◽  
Similar Amount ◽  
Delivery Method ◽  
Hormone Production ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Synthetic Fertilizer ◽  
Inorganic Nanomaterials

Synthetic fertilizer is responsible for the greatly increased crop yields that have enabled worldwide industrialization. However, the production and use of such fertilizers are environmentally unfriendly and unsustainable; synthetic fertilizers are produced via non-renewable resources and fertilizer runoff causes groundwater contamination and eutrophication. A promising alternative to synthetic fertilizer is bacterial inoculation. In this process, a symbiotic relationship is formed between a crop and bacteria species that can fix nitrogen, solubilize phosphorus, and stimulate plant hormone production. The bacteria carrier developed here aims to maintain bacteria viability while in storage, protect bacteria while encapsulated, and provide a sustained and controllable bacterial release. This novel bacterial delivery method utilizes inorganic nanomaterials, silica microbeads, to encapsulate symbiotic bacteria. These microbeads, which were produced with aqueous, non-toxic precursors, are sprayed directly onto crop seeds and solidify on the seeds as a resilient silica matrix. The bacterial release from the carrier was found by submerging coated seeds in solution to simulate degradation in soil environments, measuring the number of bacteria released by the plate count technique, and comparing the carrier to seeds coated only in bacteria. The carrier’s effectiveness to enhance plant growth was determined through greenhouse plant assays with alfalfa (<i>Medicago sativa</i>) plants and the nitrogen-fixing <i>Sinorhizobium meliloti</i> Rm1021 strain. When compared to bacteria-only inoculation, the silica microbead carrier exhibited significantly (P < 0.05) increased holding capacity of viable bacteria and increased plant growth by a similar amount, demonstrating the capability of inorganic nanomaterials for microbial delivery. The carrier presented in this work has potential applications for commercial agriculture and presents an opportunity to further pursue more sustainable agricultural practices.

Assessment of the Role of Different Soil Properties on Crust Strength by Linear Regression Models

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (04) ◽  
Author(s):  
MINAKSHI SERAWAT ◽  
V K PHOGAT ◽  
ANIL Abdul KAPOOR ◽  
VIJAY KANT SINGH ◽  
ASHA SERAWAT
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Modulus Of Rupture ◽  
Silty Clay ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Dispersion Ratio ◽  
Crust Strength

Soil crust strength influences seedling emergence, penetration and morphology of plant roots, and, consequently, crop yields. A study was carried out to assess the role of different soil properties on crust strength atHisar, Haryana, India. The soil samples from 0-5 and 5-15 cm depths were collected from 21 locations from farmer’s fields, having a wide range of texture.Soil propertieswere evaluated in the laboratory and theirinfluence on the modulus of rupture (MOR), which is the measure of crust strength, was evaluated.The MOR of texturally different soils was significantly correlated with saturated hydraulic conductivity at both the depths. Dispersion ratio was found to decrease with an increase in fineness of the texture of soil and the lowest value was recorded in silty clay loam soil,which decreased with depth. The modulus of rupture was significantly negatively correlative with the dispersion ratio.There was no role of calcium carbonate in influencing the values of MOR of soils. Similarly,the influence of pH, EC and SAR of soil solution on MOR was non-significant.A perusal of thevalues of the correlations between MOR and different soil properties showed that the MOR of soils of Haryana are positively correlated with silt + clay (r = 0.805) followed by water-stable aggregates (r = 0.774), organic carbon (r = 0.738), silt (r = 0.711), mean weight diameter (r = 0.608) and clay (r = 0.593) while negatively correlated with dispersion ratio (r = - 0.872), sand (r = -0.801) and hydraulic conductivity (r = -0.752) of soils.

scholarly journals Tracking of Zinc Ferrite Nanoparticle Effects on Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Plant Growth, Pigments, Mineral Content and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Colonization

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 583
Author(s):  
Reda E. Abdelhameed ◽  
Nagwa I. Abu-Elsaad ◽  
Arafat Abdel Hamed Abdel Latef ◽  
Rabab A. Metwally
Keyword(s):  
Pisum Sativum ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Zinc Ferrite ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Nanocrystalline Structure ◽  
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal ◽  
Am Fungi ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Agricultural Applications ◽  
The Impact

Important gaps in knowledge remain regarding the potential of nanoparticles (NPs) for plants, particularly the existence of helpful microorganisms, for instance, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi present in the soil. Hence, more profound studies are required to distinguish the impact of NPs on plant growth inoculated with AM fungi and their role in NP uptake to develop smart nanotechnology implementations in crop improvement. Zinc ferrite (ZnFe2O4) NPs are prepared via the citrate technique and defined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) as well as transmission electron microscopy for several physical properties. The analysis of the XRD pattern confirmed the creation of a nanocrystalline structure with a crystallite size equal to 25.4 nm. The effects of ZnFe2O4 NP on AM fungi, growth and pigment content as well as nutrient uptake of pea (Pisum sativum) plants were assessed. ZnFe2O4 NP application caused a slight decrease in root colonization. However, its application showed an augmentation of 74.36% and 91.89% in AM pea plant shoots and roots’ fresh weights, respectively, compared to the control. Moreover, the synthesized ZnFe2O4 NP uptake by plant roots and their contents were enhanced by AM fungi. These findings suggest the safe use of ZnFe2O4 NPs in nano-agricultural applications for plant development with AM fungi.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document