Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment最新文献

Humic substances have an enormous potential for regenerative agriculture to improve soil quality and plant growth. Recently developed technologies called hydrothermal humification enabled the conversion of waste into artificial humic acids, that would allow for sustainable and large-scale applications. However, not much is known about the effect of artificially produced humic acid on the soil microbiome and its effect on drought-exposed soil. Therefore, we studied the effect of drought stress and artificial humic acid on the soil microbiota in sandy soil in a controlled experimental design. Analyses of 16S rDNA amplicon libraries by bioinformatics and statistics revealed that both drought and artificial humic acid application influenced bacterial community composition significantly, but only artificial humic acid affected bacterial diversity. Bacterial families like Pseudomonadaceae, Peptostreptococcaceae and Moraxellaceae enriched under artificial humic acid conditions, suggest an adaptation and selection of the soil bacterial microbiome. Under drought stress, artificial humic acid treatment kept bacterial diversity stable in the changed bacterial community composition. We propose that artificial humic acid application in sandy soil can improve the soil bacterial community, diminish drought stress, favour plant growth-promoting taxa, and bring enormous potential to sequestrate carbon in the soil.

The increasing severity of global climate change has led to more frequent extreme high-temperature events, significantly damaging rice yield and quality, thus posing a threat to global food security. Research indicates that plant-microbe interactions can enhance plant growth and overall health under adverse conditions. Therefore, this review aims to explore strategies to improve rice heat tolerance through thermophilic microorganism mediation. This paper systematically summarises the effects of heat stress on both the aboveground and underground parts of rice during its growth stages, identifies the molecular mechanisms by which rice responds to heat stress, and explores the potential roles of microorganisms. Additionally, we review existing studies on microorganisms that alleviate plant heat stress and their mechanisms of action. Through case studies, we explore how microorganisms enhance rice survival in high-temperature environments by regulating its growth and development, along with their potential applications in sustainable agriculture. In the future, environmentally friendly and efficient microbial inoculants and biofertilizers are expected to be developed based on microbe-mediated plant heat tolerance mechanisms, which will help mitigate the heat stress challenges crops face under global climate change.

Agriculture in arid regions encounters significant challenges, including water scarcity, poor soil quality and low crop yields. Sandponics, also known as the Integrated Aqua Vegeculture System (IAVS), presents a promising solution by utilizing sand as a sustainable, water-efficient medium for food production. This review explores the potential of sandponics as a scalable, eco-friendly agricultural practices in arid regions. Sand, being abundant, recyclable and cost-effective, offers a viable alternative to conventional growth media, making sandponics a practical and resource-efficient option. The method has demonstrated success in enhancing crop productivity, particularly, in saline environments, while minimizing environmental impact. Sandponics supports food security and land use optimization by transforming challenging conditions into productive agricultural landscapes. Future research should focus on refining sand selection, optimizing nutrient and environmental conditions, managing microbial interactions and scaling up sandponics for broader application, thus advancing their role in sustainable agriculture.

Pollination is a crucial service provided by ecosystems, playing a critical role in global food production within agricultural landscapes. The successful pollination of crops by insects requires the spatial coexistence of these two entities. However, an assessment of the spatial overlap between pollinating insects and crops that depend on pollinators has not been conducted in, Europe and North America. To address this challenge, we employed species distribution models (SDMs) to generate distribution maps for 394 bee species in Europe and 697 in North America, along with maps for 41 pollinator-dependent crops. Using Schoener's D statistics and a binary approach, we calculated the spatial overlap between crops and bees. Notably, there was a significant disparity in the overlap patterns between bees and crops in Europe and North America, with Europe exhibiting a higher degree of overlap compared to North America. Specifically, in Europe, the mean overlap based on Schoener's D for all crops was 0.55, while based on the binary approach, this overlap increased to 17.5%. In North America, the mean overlap based on Schoener's D was 0.35 for all crops and the binary overlap indicated a mean overlap of 9.4%. Our findings also pinpointed hotspots for bees, primarily situated in the western regions of Europe and both the western and eastern regions of the United States in North America. It is crucial to note that spatial overlap between plants and pollinators is just one facet of the conditions necessary for species interaction and does not directly imply actual pollination. Nevertheless, this study provides a comprehensive perspective on the potential spatial mismatch between crops and bees.

Frass deriving from Hermetia illucens was explored as a new sustainable tool to induce biostimulation and/or antifungal activity in Solanum lycopersicum L. var Cerasiforme and Triticum durum Desf. var Simeto against the soil-borne pathogens Fusarium spp. Phytotoxicity and in vitro antagonism assessments (mycelial growth inhibition of about 40%) allowed to define the optimal dilution of 10% of pasteurised-frass extract (pFE) to employ for seed priming. Germination tests on water agar demonstrated the priming effectiveness for wheat, but not for tomato, as the analysed parameters were not positively affected. The pFE was used also in combination with the known biocontrol agent Trichoderma harzianum T22 (T22), demonstrating that they could work together to obtain a good growth promotion and protective effect in wheat. Indeed, the priming with pFE significantly reduced the disease incidence of almost 60% or 80%, compared to the infected control, if used alone or combined with T22, respectively. The ability of frass extract to control F. sporotrichioides in wheat was attributed to both enzymatic and non-enzymatic responses, due to observed differences in total phenolic content (TPC) and superoxide dismutase activity (SOD) in seedlings derived from treated seeds, compared to untreated control. Our findings highlight the great potential of H. illucens frass as a sustainable, green, and circular economy-based tool in agricultural systems.

The physicochemical and antioxidant qualities of cherry tomatoes are getting more and more valued, and this has a significant effect on consumer choices and market dynamics. With irrigation schedules of 100%, 75%, and 50% field capacity, Ruby and Fortesa cultivars were grown in a greenhouse, rain shelter, and screen house climates in this experiment, which used a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) factorial technique. The chroma value, flavonoid content, phenolic content, vitamin C content, and antioxidant activity of cherry tomatoes are the main quality parameters investigated in this study, along with the effects of cultivars, growing climates, and watering regimens. According to the results, the cultivar significantly affected chroma value, with Fortesa showing the highest value. Cultivar and growing climate significantly affected flavonoid content, with Fortesa and rain shelter environments exhibiting the most significant values. Cultivar and growing climate significantly impacted vitamin C content; ruby and greenhouse conditions produced the maximum amounts. Across all parameters, there were significant variances in antioxidant activity; Ruby showed the maximum activity, and the rain shelter provided the ideal growing environment. The market analysis conducted for the study reveals that higher-quality cherry tomatoes are famous among upscale and health-conscious consumers due to their high flavonoid and phenolic content, brilliant chroma value, and considerable antioxidant activity. With the help of this research, targeted cultivation techniques and marketing strategies may be created to cater to specific consumer desires and maximize market positioning and profitability.