Sustainable Agriculture through Multidisciplinary Seed Nanopriming: Prospects of Opportunities and Challenges

The global community decided in 2015 to improve people’s lives by 2030 by setting 17 global goals for sustainable development. The second goal of this community was to end hunger. Plant seeds are an essential input in agriculture; however, during their developmental stages, seeds can be negatively affected by environmental stresses, which can adversely affect seed vigor, seedling establishment, and crop production. Seeds resistant to high salinity, droughts and climate change can result in higher crop yield. The major findings suggested in this review refer nanopriming as an emerging seed technology towards sustainable food amid growing demand with the increasing world population. This novel growing technology could influence the crop yield and ensure the quality and safety of seeds, in a sustainable way. When nanoprimed seeds are germinated, they undergo a series of synergistic events as a result of enhanced metabolism: modulating biochemical signaling pathways, trigger hormone secretion, reduce reactive oxygen species leading to improved disease resistance. In addition to providing an overview of the challenges and limitations of seed nanopriming technology, this review also describes some of the emerging nano-seed priming methods for sustainable agriculture, and other technological developments using cold plasma technology and machine learning.

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Diversification of Local Tubers through Optimization of Cocoa Farming in Supporting Sustainable Food Security

IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science ◽

10.1088/1755-1315/940/1/012089 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 940 (1) ◽

pp. 012089

Author(s):

H Pribadi ◽

S Jumiyati ◽

A Muis ◽

I K Widnyana ◽

J Mustabi

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Food Security ◽

Sweet Potato ◽

Crop Production ◽

Calorific Value ◽

Buffer Zone ◽

Production Costs ◽

World Population ◽

Sweet Potatoes ◽

Sustainable Food

Abstract The rate of world population growth gets faster every year, while on the other hand the land available for food production activities is increasingly limited. Efforts to increase income and food crop production by using cocoa farming to support national food security can be done by optimizing of land through crop diversification patterns by planting local tubers under cocoa farming. This research aims to analyze the optimization of land use, revenue and production costs. In addition, analyzing the nutritional content contained in each type of local tubers, namely sweet potato, cassava and taro. The research was conducted in the the buffer zone of Lore Lindu National Park (TNLL), Palolo District, Sigi Regency, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The results showed that the optimization of land use and revenue was obtained through the diversification pattern of sweet potato and cocoa. Optimization of the costs use occurs in the use of fertilizer production inputs. In addition, sweet potatoes have a higher calorific value, protein and fat compared to cassava and taro. However, the carbohydrate content of cassava is higher than that of sweet potato and taro.

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Seed Priming with Phytohormones: An Effective Approach for the Mitigation of Abiotic Stress

Plants ◽

10.3390/plants10010037 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 37

Author(s):

Mohammad Saidur Rhaman ◽

Shahin Imran ◽

Farjana Rauf ◽

Mousumi Khatun ◽

Carol C. Baskin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Abiotic Stress ◽

Crop Yield ◽

Abiotic Stresses ◽

Crop Production ◽

Potential Role ◽

Seed Priming ◽

Plant Growth And Development ◽

Biotic And Abiotic Stresses ◽

Harmful Effects

Plants are often exposed to abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heat, cold, and heavy metals that induce complex responses, which result in reduced growth as well as crop yield. Phytohormones are well known for their regulatory role in plant growth and development, and they serve as important chemical messengers, allowing plants to function during exposure to various stresses. Seed priming is a physiological technique involving seed hydration and drying to improve metabolic processes prior to germination, thereby increasing the percentage and rate of germination and improving seedling growth and crop yield under normal and various biotic and abiotic stresses. Seed priming allows plants to obtain an enhanced capacity for rapidly and effectively combating different stresses. Thus, seed priming with phytohormones has emerged as an important tool for mitigating the effects of abiotic stress. Therefore, this review discusses the potential role of priming with phytohormones to mitigate the harmful effects of abiotic stresses, possible mechanisms for how mitigation is accomplished, and roles of priming on the enhancement of crop production.

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Effect of Magnetopriming on Photosynthetic Performance of Plants

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22179353 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (17) ◽

pp. 9353

Author(s):

Mohammad Sarraf ◽

Kricelle Mosquera Deamici ◽

Houda Taimourya ◽

Monirul Islam ◽

Sunita Kataria ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Crop Yield ◽

Growth Parameters ◽

Biomass Accumulation ◽

Seed Priming ◽

Fluorescence Yield ◽

Photosynthetic Performance ◽

Seed Vigor ◽

Plant Performance ◽

Ojip Transient ◽

Pep Carboxylase

Magnetopriming has emerged as a promising seed-priming method, improving seed vigor, plant performance and productivity under both normal and stressed conditions. Various recent reports have demonstrated that improved photosynthesis can lead to higher biomass accumulation and overall crop yield. The major focus of the present review is magnetopriming-based, improved growth parameters, which ultimately favor increased photosynthetic performance. The plants originating from magnetoprimed seeds showed increased plant height, leaf area, fresh weight, thick midrib and minor veins. Similarly, chlorophyll and carotenoid contents, efficiency of PSII, quantum yield of electron transport, stomatal conductance, and activities of carbonic anhydrase (CA), Rubisco and PEP-carboxylase enzymes are enhanced with magnetopriming of the seeds. In addition, a higher fluorescence yield at the J-I-P phase in polyphasic chlorophyll a fluorescence (OJIP) transient curves was observed in plants originating from magnetoprimed seeds. Here, we have presented an overview of available studies supporting the magnetopriming-based improvement of various parameters determining the photosynthetic performance of crop plants, which consequently increases crop yield. Additionally, we suggest the need for more in-depth molecular analysis in the future to shed light upon hidden regulatory mechanisms involved in magnetopriming-based, improved photosynthetic performance.

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Feeding World Population Amidst Depleting Phosphate Reserves: The Role of Biotechnological Interventions

The Open Biotechnology Journal ◽

10.2174/1874070701812010051 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 51-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

S. Antony Ceasar

Keyword(s):

Food Production ◽

Crop Production ◽

Arable Land ◽

External Source ◽

Growth And Yield ◽

World Population ◽

Sustainable Food ◽

P Fertilizer ◽

New Varieties ◽

P Fertilizers

Phosphorus (P) is an important macronutrient affecting the growth and yield of all crop plants. Plants absorb P from the soil solution as inorganic phosphate (Pi). More than 70% of the arable land is deficient of Pi which demands the supply of an external source of synthetic P fertilizers to improve the yields. The P fertilizers are manufactured from non-renewable rock phosphate reserves which are expected to be exhausted within the next 100-200 years. This poses a great threat to food security since it is very difficult to meet the food production caused by increasing world population without the supply of an adequate P fertilizer. Several efforts have been made in the past decade to understand the mechanism of Pi uptake and its redistribution in plants. In this mini-review, we discuss the details on possible strategies to combat the crisis caused by loss of phosphate rock reserves and to improve the crop yield without much dependency on external P fertilizer. Approaches such as application of functional genomics studies to manipulate the expression levels of key transcription factors and genes involved in low Pi stress tolerance, molecular marker-assisted breeding to develop new varieties with improved yields under Pi-deficient soils and to recapture the Pi released in wastewaters for recycling back to the farm lands, will help improve the crop production without depending much on non-renewable P fertilizers and will also aid for the sustainable food production.

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Learning main drivers of crop dynamics and production in Europe

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-18493 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Anna Mateo Sanchis ◽

Maria Piles ◽

Julia Amorós López ◽

Jordi Muñoz Marí ◽

Gustau Camps Valls

Keyword(s):

Crop Yield ◽

Crop Production ◽

Vegetation Indices ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Sensor Data ◽

Corn Belt ◽

World Population ◽

Yield Estimation ◽

The Us ◽

Homogeneous Area

An expanding world population combined with challenges brought by climate change pose totally new scenarios for managing agricultural fields and crop production. In the last decades, a variety of ground-based, modeled, and Earth observation (EO) data have been used to characterize crop dynamics and, ultimately, estimate yield. Typically, optical vegetation indices and, in particular, metrics like their maximum peak or integral during the growing season are exploited to estimated crop yield. Also, most studies are focused on large areas with homogeneous agricultural landscapes in which cultivation/production is centred in a unique main crop (e.g. the U.S. Corn Belt or the Indian Wheat Belt).&#160;In this study, we study the transportability of machine learning models for crop yield estimation across different regions and the relative relevance of agro-ecological drivers (input features). We use a previous methodology presented in [1] that synergistically combined optical and microwave vegetation data for crop yield prediction. We apply this methodology, which was trained in the homogeneous area of the US Corn Belt, to the highly heterogeneous agricultural landscapes across Europe. The fragmented and diverse European agro-ecosystems poses a greater challenge for the combination of multi-sensor data, and we need to establish first which is the set of variables providing the best skill for yield estimation of the main crops grown in Europe (corn, barley and wheat) under this new scenario. Subsequently, we study whether these variables are also able to capture potential disruptions on crop dynamics deriving from extreme events and their influence in final crop production.&#160;[1] Synergistic Integration of Optical and Microwave Satellite Data for Crop Yield Estimation. Anna Mateo-Sanchis, Maria Piles, Jordi Mu&#241;oz-Mar&#237;, Jose E. Adsuara, Adri&#225;n P&#233;rez-Suay and Gustau Camps-Valls. Remote Sensing of Environment 234:111460, 2019.

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Analysis of Crop Yield Prediction of Kharif & Rabi Jowar Crops Using Data Mining Techniques

International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Software Engineering ◽

10.23956/ijarcsse.v7i11.468 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (11) ◽

pp. 79

Author(s):

Sujata Mulik

Keyword(s):

Data Mining ◽

Crop Yield ◽

Crop Production ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Crop Productivity ◽

Yield Prediction ◽

Data Mining Techniques ◽

Agriculture Sector ◽

Using Data ◽

Rabi Crops

Agriculture sector in India is facing rigorous problem to maximize crop productivity. More than 60 percent of the crop still depends on climatic factors like rainfall, temperature, humidity. This paper discusses the use of various Data Mining applications in agriculture sector. Data Mining is used to solve various problems in agriculture sector. It can be used it to solve yield prediction. The problem of yield prediction is a major problem that remains to be solved based on available data. Data mining techniques are the better choices for this purpose. Different Data Mining techniques are used and evaluated in agriculture for estimating the future year's crop production. In this paper we have focused on predicting crop yield productivity of kharif & Rabi Crops.

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Ensuring Agricultural Sustainability through Remote Sensing in the Era of Agriculture 5.0

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11135911 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (13) ◽

pp. 5911

Author(s):

Vanesa Martos ◽

Ali Ahmad ◽

Pedro Cartujo ◽

Javier Ordoñez

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Sustainable Agriculture ◽

Information Acquisition ◽

Industrial Revolution ◽

Structural Parameters ◽

Special Focus ◽

World Population ◽

Food And Agriculture ◽

Food And Agriculture Organization ◽

Zero Hunger

Timely and reliable information about crop management, production, and yield is considered of great utility by stakeholders (e.g., national and international authorities, farmers, commercial units, etc.) to ensure food safety and security. By 2050, according to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates, around 70% more production of agricultural products will be needed to fulfil the demands of the world population. Likewise, to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially the second goal of “zero hunger”, potential technologies like remote sensing (RS) need to be efficiently integrated into agriculture. The application of RS is indispensable today for a highly productive and sustainable agriculture. Therefore, the present study draws a general overview of RS technology with a special focus on the principal platforms of this technology, i.e., satellites and remotely piloted aircrafts (RPAs), and the sensors used, in relation to the 5th industrial revolution. Nevertheless, since 1957, RS technology has found applications, through the use of satellite imagery, in agriculture, which was later enriched by the incorporation of remotely piloted aircrafts (RPAs), which is further pushing the boundaries of proficiency through the upgrading of sensors capable of higher spectral, spatial, and temporal resolutions. More prominently, wireless sensor technologies (WST) have streamlined real time information acquisition and programming for respective measures. Improved algorithms and sensors can, not only add significant value to crop data acquisition, but can also devise simulations on yield, harvesting and irrigation periods, metrological data, etc., by making use of cloud computing. The RS technology generates huge sets of data that necessitate the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to extract useful products, thereby augmenting the adeptness and efficiency of agriculture to ensure its sustainability. These technologies have made the orientation of current research towards the estimation of plant physiological traits rather than the structural parameters possible. Futuristic approaches for benefiting from these cutting-edge technologies are discussed in this study. This study can be helpful for researchers, academics, and young students aspiring to play a role in the achievement of sustainable agriculture.

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Engineering Climate-Change-Resilient Crops: New Tools and Approaches

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22157877 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (15) ◽

pp. 7877

Author(s):

Fahimeh Shahinnia ◽

Néstor Carrillo ◽

Mohammad-Reza Hajirezaei

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Plant Growth ◽

Sustainable Agriculture ◽

Stress Tolerance ◽

Crop Yield ◽

Plant Science ◽

Chemical Treatments ◽

Coated Nanoparticles ◽

Rapid Climate Change ◽

Protective Resources

Environmental adversities, particularly drought and nutrient limitation, are among the major causes of crop losses worldwide. Due to the rapid increase of the world’s population, there is an urgent need to combine knowledge of plant science with innovative applications in agriculture to protect plant growth and thus enhance crop yield. In recent decades, engineering strategies have been successfully developed with the aim to improve growth and stress tolerance in plants. Most strategies applied so far have relied on transgenic approaches and/or chemical treatments. However, to cope with rapid climate change and the need to secure sustainable agriculture and biomass production, innovative approaches need to be developed to effectively meet these challenges and demands. In this review, we summarize recent and advanced strategies that involve the use of plant-related cyanobacterial proteins, macro- and micronutrient management, nutrient-coated nanoparticles, and phytopathogenic organisms, all of which offer promise as protective resources to shield plants from climate challenges and to boost stress tolerance in crops.

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Agro-Nanotechnology as an Emerging Field: A Novel Sustainable Approach for Improving Plant Growth by Reducing Biotic Stress

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11052282 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 2282

Author(s):

Masudulla Khan ◽

Azhar U. Khan ◽

Mohd Abul Hasan ◽

Krishna Kumar Yadav ◽

Marina M. C. Pinto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Growth ◽

Crop Yield ◽

Biotic Stress ◽

Crop Production ◽

Plant Disease ◽

Yield Loss ◽

Growth Parameters ◽

Plant Diseases ◽

High Yield ◽

Plant Disease Management

In the present era, the global need for food is increasing rapidly; nanomaterials are a useful tool for improving crop production and yield. The application of nanomaterials can improve plant growth parameters. Biotic stress is induced by many microbes in crops and causes disease and high yield loss. Every year, approximately 20–40% of crop yield is lost due to plant diseases caused by various pests and pathogens. Current plant disease or biotic stress management mainly relies on toxic fungicides and pesticides that are potentially harmful to the environment. Nanotechnology emerged as an alternative for the sustainable and eco-friendly management of biotic stress induced by pests and pathogens on crops. In this review article, we assess the role and impact of different nanoparticles in plant disease management, and this review explores the direction in which nanoparticles can be utilized for improving plant growth and crop yield.

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How Can We Realize Sustainable Development Goals in Rocky Desertified Regions by Enhancing Crop Yield with Reduction of Environmental Risks?

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13091614 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (9) ◽

pp. 1614

Author(s):

Boyi Liang ◽

Timothy A. Quine ◽

Hongyan Liu ◽

Elizabeth L. Cressey ◽

Ian Bateman

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Crop Yield ◽

Crop Production ◽

Sustainable Development Goals ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Total Yield ◽

Maximum Yield ◽

Guizhou Province ◽

Crop Species ◽

Development Goals

To meet the sustainable development goals in rocky desertified regions like Guizhou Province in China, we should maximize the crop yield with minimal environmental costs. In this study, we first calculated the yield gap for 6 main crop species in Guizhou Province and evaluated the quantitative relationships between crop yield and influencing variables utilizing ensembled artificial neural networks. We also tested the influence of adjusting the quantity of local fertilization and irrigation on crop production in Guizhou Province. Results showed that the total yield of the selected crops had, on average, reached over 72.5% of the theoretical maximum yield. Increasing irrigation tended to be more consistently effective at increasing crop yield than additional fertilization. Conversely, appropriate reduction of fertilization may even benefit crop yield in some regions, simultaneously resulting in significantly higher fertilization efficiency with lower residuals in the environment. The total positive impact of continuous intensification of irrigation and fertilization on most crop species was limited. Therefore, local stakeholders are advised to consider other agricultural management measures to improve crop yield in this region.

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