scholarly journals Phytonanotechnology applications in modern agriculture

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Jiang ◽  
Yue Song ◽  
Mukesh Kumar Kanwar ◽  
Golam Jalal Ahammed ◽  
Shujun Shao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Edible Coatings ◽  
Food Spoilage ◽  
Agricultural Systems ◽  
Modern Agriculture ◽  
Sustainable Crop Production

AbstractWith the rapidly changing global climate, the agricultural systems are confronted with more unpredictable and harsh environmental conditions than before which lead to compromised food production. Thus, to ensure safer and sustainable crop production, the use of advanced nanotechnological approaches in plants (phytonanotechnology) is of great significance. In this review, we summarize recent advances in phytonanotechnology in agricultural systems that can assist to meet ever-growing demands of food sustainability. The application of phytonanotechnology can change traditional agricultural systems, allowing the target-specific delivery of biomolecules (such as nucleotides and proteins) and cater the organized release of agrochemicals (such as pesticides and fertilizers). An amended comprehension of the communications between crops and nanoparticles (NPs) can improve the production of crops by enhancing tolerance towards environmental stresses and optimizing the utilization of nutrients. Besides, approaches like nanoliposomes, nanoemulsions, edible coatings, and other kinds of NPs offer numerous selections in the postharvest preservation of crops for minimizing food spoilage and thus establishing phtonanotechnology as a sustainable tool to architect modern agricultural practices. Graphical Abstract

Application of Extremophiles in Sustainable Agriculture

2022 ◽  
pp. 233-250
Author(s):  
Julius Eyiuche Nweze ◽  
Justus Amuche Nweze ◽  
Shruti Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Agriculture ◽  
Bioactive Compounds ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Production Plant ◽  
Physiological Conditions ◽  
Sustainable Agricultural Practices

With the increasing demands for foods and other agriculture-based products, sustainable agricultural practices are the cornerstone for improving low-input agricultural production. In contrast to crop production, plant-microorganism interaction (PMI) plays a crucial role. PMI significantly raises productivity as well as maintaining the overall health of the crop. During harsh and extreme physiological conditions, plant-associated extremophilic microbes (PAEM) are known to contribute to crop production, survivability, and fitness. Thus, the application of extremophiles either in the form of biofertilizer or biopesticides is highly beneficial. Extremophiles have been adapted to withstand diverse harsh environmental conditions. They possess unique mechanisms at the molecular level to produce enormous potential extremozymes and bioactive compounds. Consequently, extremophiles represent the foundation of efficient and sustainable agriculture. This chapter introduces the significance and application of plant-associated extremophilic microbes in sustainable agriculture.

scholarly journals IoT Based Monitoring System for White Button Mushroom Farming

Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Arjun Subedi ◽  
Achyut Luitel ◽  
Manisha Baskota ◽  
Tri Dev Acharya
Keyword(s):  
Monitoring System ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Button Mushroom ◽  
Development Environment ◽  
Modern Agriculture ◽  
White Button Mushroom ◽  
The Status ◽  
Micro Controller Unit

In Nepal, most of the farmers depend upon traditional agricultural practices. Adapting modern agricultural technology plays an important role in improving overall efficiency as well as the productivity of their yields. In modern agriculture, the Internet of Things (IoT) connects farmers to their farm via sensors so that they can easily monitor the real-time conditions of their farm from anywhere. The White Button Mushroom is a widely cultivated crop among Nepalese farmers. Although being the most consumed and cultivated crop, it is still overshadowed by the traditional cultivation approach, which is resulting in low productivity, high manpower efficiency, and more effort and cost. This work aims to develop a monitoring system to monitor the environmental conditions of a mushroom farm. It enables a user to monitor crucial factors such as temperature, humidity, moisture, and light intensity on a mushroom farm through the end devices. White Button Mushroom requires an optimum temperature ranging from 22 to 25 °C and humidity from 70% to 90%. Sensors are placed at fixed locations and spots of the farm. Then, the sensors measure the status of parameters, which are transmitted to the remote monitoring station via a low power Node MCU (micro-controller unit). Thus, obtained data are stored in a cloud platform. The codes for the controller are written in the Arduino programming language, debugged, compiled, and burnt into the microcontroller using the Arduino integrated development environment. The result shows successful monitoring of environmental conditions accessing the Internet from anywhere. It minimizes human efforts and automates production, which could be beneficial to Nepalese farmers.

scholarly journals PGPR in Agriculture: A Sustainable Approach to Increasing Climate Change Resilience

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ateeq Shah ◽  
Mahtab Nazari ◽  
Mohammad Antar ◽  
Levini A. Msimbira ◽  
Judith Naamala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Growth Promotion ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Environmentally Friendly ◽  
Environmental Stability ◽  
Food Demand ◽  
Agricultural Systems ◽  
Global Food

Growing environmental concerns are potentially narrowing global yield capacity of agricultural systems. Climate change is the most significant problem the world is currently facing. To meet global food demand, food production must be doubled by 2050; over exploitation of arable lands using unsustainable techniques might resolve food demand issues, but they have negative environmental effects. Current crop production systems are a major reason for changing global climate through diminishing biodiversity, physical and chemical soil degradation, and water pollution. The over application of fertilizers and pesticides contribute to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and toxic soil depositions. At this crucial time, there is a pressing need to transition to more sustainable crop production practices, ones that concentrate more on promoting sustainable mechanisms, which enable crops to grow well in resource limited and environmentally challenging environments, and also develop crops with greater resource use efficiency that have optimum sustainable yields across a wider array of environmental conditions. The phytomicrobiome is considered as one of the best strategies; a better alternative for sustainable agriculture, and a viable solution to meet the twin challenges of global food security and environmental stability. Use of the phytomicrobiome, due to its sustainable and environmentally friendly mechanisms of plant growth promotion, is becoming more widespread in the agricultural industry. Therefore, in this review, we emphasize the contribution of beneficial phytomicrobiome members, particularly plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), as a strategy to sustainable improvement of plant growth and production in the face of climate change. Also, the roles of soil dwelling microbes in stress amelioration, nutrient supply (nitrogen fixation, phosphorus solubilization), and phytohormone production along with the factors that could potentially affect their efficiency have been discussed extensively. Lastly, limitations to expansion and use of biobased techniques, for instance, the perspective of crop producers, indigenous microbial competition and regulatory approval are discussed. This review largely focusses on the importance and need of sustainable and environmentally friendly approaches such as biobased/PGPR-based techniques in our agricultural systems, especially in the context of current climate change conditions, which are almost certain to worsen in near future.

scholarly journals Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacterial Biofertilizers for Sustainable Crop Production: The Past, Present, and Future

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Becky N. Aloo ◽  
Billy A. Makumba ◽  
Ernest R. Mbega
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Sustainable Crop Production ◽  
Indigenous Plant ◽  
Plant Growth Promoting ◽  
Growth Promoting

The world’s population is increasing and so are agricultural activities to match the growing demand for food. Conventional agricultural practices generally employ artificial fertilizers to increase crop yields, but these have multiple environmental and human health effects. For decades, environmentalists and sustainability researchers have focused on alternative crop fertilization mechanisms to address these challenges, and biofertilizers have constantly been researched, recommended, and even successfully-adopted for several crops. Biofertilizers are microbial formulations made of indigenous plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) which can naturally improve plant growth either directly or indirectly, through the production of phytohormones, solubilization of soil nutrients, and production of iron-binding metabolites; siderophores. Biofertilizers, therefore, hold immense potential as tools for sustainable crop production especially in the wake of climate change and global warming. Despite the mounting interest in this technology, their full potential has not yet been realized. This review updates our understanding of the PGPR biofertilizers and sustainable crop production. It evaluates the history of these microbial products, assesses their present state of utilization, and also critically propounds on their future prospects for sustainable crop production. Such information is desirable to fully evaluate their potential and can ultimately pave the way for their increased adoption for crop production.

scholarly journals An Overview on Agroecology and Organic Agriculture Strategies for Sustainable Crop Production

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
Mariangela Diacono ◽  
Alessandra Trinchera ◽  
Francesco Montemurro
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Sustainable Crop Production

Within the new “European Green Deal”, the European Commission defined crucial challenges for the agriculture of future decades, such as making food production more sustainable by considering the local pedo-climatic and socio-economic specificities [...]

scholarly journals Targeted plant improvement through genome editing: from laboratory to field

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dragana Miladinovic ◽  
Dulce Antunes ◽  
Kubilay Yildirim ◽  
Allah Bakhsh ◽  
Sandra Cvejić ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Genome Editing ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Breeding Strategy ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Current Time ◽  
Sustainable Crop Production

Abstract Key message This review illustrates how far we have come since the emergence of GE technologies and how they could be applied to obtain superior and sustainable crop production. Abstract The main challenges of today’s agriculture are maintaining and raising productivity, reducing its negative impact on the environment, and adapting to climate change. Efficient plant breeding can generate elite varieties that will rapidly replace obsolete ones and address ongoing challenges in an efficient and sustainable manner. Site-specific genome editing in plants is a rapidly evolving field with tangible results. The technology is equipped with a powerful toolbox of molecular scissors to cut DNA at a pre-determined site with different efficiencies for designing an approach that best suits the objectives of each plant breeding strategy. Genome editing (GE) not only revolutionizes plant biology, but provides the means to solve challenges related to plant architecture, food security, nutrient content, adaptation to the environment, resistance to diseases and production of plant-based materials. This review illustrates how far we have come since the emergence of these technologies and how these technologies could be applied to obtain superior, safe and sustainable crop production. Synergies of genome editing with other technological platforms that are gaining significance in plants lead to an exciting new, post-genomic era for plant research and production. In previous months, we have seen what global changes might arise from one new virus, reminding us of what drastic effects such events could have on food production. This demonstrates how important science, technology, and tools are to meet the current time and the future. Plant GE can make a real difference to future sustainable food production to the benefit of both mankind and our environment.

Plant influence on nitrification

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 275-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin W. Skiba ◽  
Timothy S. George ◽  
Elizabeth M. Baggs ◽  
Tim J. Daniell
Keyword(s):  
Water Pollution ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Nitrogen Fertilizers ◽  
Gaseous Emissions ◽  
Nitrification Inhibition ◽  
Agricultural Systems ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Modern Agriculture ◽  
Arable Crop ◽  
Management Approaches

Modern agriculture has promoted the development of high-nitrification systems that are susceptible to major losses of nitrogen through leaching of nitrate and gaseous emissions of nitrogen oxide (NO and N2O), contributing to global warming and depletion of the ozone layer. Leakage of nitrogen from agricultural systems forces increased use of nitrogen fertilizers and causes water pollution and elevated costs of food production. Possible strategies for prevention of these processes involve various agricultural management approaches and use of synthetic inhibitors. Growing plants capable of producing nitrification suppressors could become a potentially superior method of controlling nitrification in the soil. There is a need to investigate the phenomenon of biological nitrification inhibition in arable crop species.

Comparative Advantage of Using Biopesticides in Ukrainian Agroecosystems

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hasrat Arjjumend ◽  
Konstantia Koutouki ◽  
Olga Donets
Keyword(s):  
Shelf Life ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Soil Biology ◽  
Chemical Contamination ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Irreversible Damage

The use of unsustainable levels of chemical fertilizers and plant protection chemicals has resulted in a steady decline in soil and crop productivity the world over. Soil biology has undergone irreversible damage, coupled with a high concentration of toxic chemical residues in plant tissues and human bodies. Agricultural practices must evolve to sustainably meet the growing global demand for food without irreversibly damaging soil. Microbial biocontrol agents have tremendous potential to bring sustainability to agriculture in a way that is safe for the environment. Biopesticides do not kill non-target insects, and biosafety is ensured because biopesticides act as antidotes and do not lead to chemical contamination in the soil. This article is part of a larger study conducted in Ukraine by researchers at the Université de Montréal with the support of Mitacs and Earth Alive Clean Technologies. The responses of farmers who use biofertilizers (“user farmers”) and those who do not (“non-user farmers”), along with the responses of manufacturers or suppliers of biofertilizers, and research and development (R&D) scientists are captured to demonstrate the advantages of applying microbial biopesticides to field crops. Participants reported a 15-30% increase in yields and crop production after the application of biopesticides. With the use of biopesticides, farmers cultivated better quality fruits, grains, and tubers with a longer shelf life. Moreover, while the risk of crop loss remains high (60-70%) with chemically grown crops, this risk is reduced to 33% on average if crops are grown using biopesticides. The findings indicate that a large proportion of farmers would prefer to use biopesticides if they are effective and high quality products. In this context, the quality and effectiveness of products is therefore very important. Despite their benefits to soil, human health, and ecosystems, biopesticides face significant challenges and competition vis-à-vis synthetic pesticides for a variety of reasons. Therefore, the development of biopesticides must overcome the problems of poor quality products, short shelf life, delayed action, high market costs, and legal/registration issues.

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