Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment最新文献

This review critically examines recent developments in biosensor technology and explores their potential to address pressing agricultural and environmental challenges. Amid increasing climate variability, biosensors provide field-deployable diagnostics for proximal ecosystem monitoring, with promising applications in real-time soil nutrient analysis—a process often complicated by the inherent heterogeneity of soil—as well as crop disease detection, drought assessment, and water quality protection. Recent progress in enzymatic, lab-on-a-chip, and fiber optic-based biosensors—particularly those involving nanomaterial enhancement, disposable sensors, and distributed temperature sensing validation—have expanded their potential for in situ deployment. When coupled with artificial intelligence and Internet of Things networks, these technologies can support data-driven decision making for sustainable agricultural and environmental resilience. Despite these advances, persistent barriers such ensuring a prolonged shelf life, calibration uniformity, field robustness, quality control, and ease of use continue to impede widespread adoption. Overcoming these barriers through interdisciplinary innovation and user-centered design will be essential in ensuring biosensors achieve their full potential as scalable, field-ready tools for sustainable agriculture and robust environmental management.

Legume crops are excellent sources of nutrients, including proteins, vitamins, and fatty acids. However, their agricultural productivity is severely affected worldwide due to drought stress. Combined application of biochar and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) improves plant growth, soil biochemical properties, and mitigates drought stress. This study evaluated the individual and combined effects of biochar and AMF on common bean growth, root morphological traits, and soil enzyme activities under drought conditions. A net house experiment was conducted using various treatments involving biochar application, AMF inoculation, and a combination of biochar and AMF. Results of the present study demonstrated that both biochar and AMF treatments significantly improved plant growth parameters and root morphological traits compared to the control under drought stress conditions. The combined application of biochar and AMF produced synergistic effects, improved root development, soil enzyme activities, chlorophyll content, and microbial biomass. Findings of the present study suggest that integrating biochar and AMF applications can effectively mitigate the negative impacts of drought by enhancing soil microbial activity and plant physiological responses. It provides valuable insights into sustainable practices for legume productivity under drought stress.

Smartphone-based monitoring has been increasingly applied to coffee crops for multiple tasks, such as predicting coffee tree productivity. However, its implementation remains limited to small-scale use, typically at the individual plant level. At larger scales, such as the farm level, its application is largely unexplored. Moreover, it is unclear whether the use of smartphone-based monitoring can help identifying key factors driving coffee tree productivity such as climate, soil, and management characteristics. To address these challenges, we investigate coffee tree productivity at the farm level and its key driving factors using smartphone-based monitoring and explainable artificial intelligence (xAI), and compare the results with those obtained from manual monitoring at the farm level. We used a multimodal data set composed of satellite data (soil and climate), smartphone-based monitoring (coffee tree productivity), and management characteristics (area, shade trees, and farm shape). The results showed that smartphone-based monitoring reached a of R² = 0.84 in predicting coffee tree productivity at the farm level. The xAI results revealed that both smartphone-based and manual monitoring approaches identified the coffee cultivation area (greater than 13 ha) and soil texture (sandy, clay loam) as the most important variables influencing coffee tree productivity at farm level. The analysis also indicated that shade trees do not significantly affect coffee tree productivity. These findings suggest that smartphone-based monitoring can serve as a reliable and scalable alternative to manual monitoring for evaluating coffee tree productivity at the farm level.

Microplastics (MPs) have extensively contaminated both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, yet their distribution and impacts in soil—both a source and a sink for MPs—remain poorly understood, particularly in remote agricultural landscapes. This study investigates the influence of plastic mulch on MP contamination in the mountainous agricultural soils of Kakani, Nepal. Soil samples were collected from plastic-mulched farms, non-mulched farms, and adjacent forests at two depths (0–15 cm and 15–30 cm). MPs were extracted using density separation and digestion, quantified under a stereomicroscope, and characterized through Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. Spike recovery experiments yielded a 70% recovery rate (n = 10), confirming the reliability of the extraction method. Results showed a significantly higher MP accumulation in plastic-mulched soils (average = 577 particles/kg), followed by non-mulched soils (average = 393 particles/kg) and forest soils (80 particles/kg) (p < 0.05). MPs were predominantly small (100–500 µm) and fragment-shaped, with notable vertical movement into deeper soil layers. The MP concentration in topsoil (0–15 cm) was significantly higher than in subsoil samples (15–30 cm) in all three land use types (p < 0.05). The presence of MPs in non-mulched and forest soils suggests multiple contamination sources, including atmospheric deposition and agricultural inputs. However, no significant correlation was found between MP accumulation and soil organic matter or pH, highlighting the complexity of MP–soil interactions. These findings emphasize the role of agricultural practices in MP contamination and underscore the urgent need for further research on the long-term ecological and agronomic impacts of MPs in soil environment.

Aquaponics, a symbiotic integration of aquaculture and hydroponics, represents a closed-loop cultivation paradigm that augments resource-use efficiency and sustainability in modern crop production. Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), a premium culinary and medicinal herb frequently adopted as a model species in aquaponic cultivation, has been investigated extensively in relation to nutrient and irrigation regimes; nevertheless, direct comparisons of plant performance under distinct system architectures remain scarce. Here, we present the first comprehensive evaluation of basil growth dynamics within nutrient film technique (NFT) and deep-water culture (DWC) aquaponics, assessed at two phenological stages (40 and 70 days after sowing, DAS). A factorial experimental framework was implemented to quantify fish growth, basil biomass, water-use efficiency (WUE), pigment profiles and biochemical attributes. Our findings demonstrate that NFT consistently conferred superior WUE, exhibiting increases of 45% and 49% relative to DWC at 40 and 70 DAS, respectively. In contrast, the DWC system fostered enhanced fish productivity, basil biomass accumulation, chlorophyll and carotenoid enrichment, and metabolite profiles, particularly pronounced at 70 DAS. Both designs exhibited a stage-dependent decline in WUE, with reductions of 12.2% and 14.4% for NFT and DWC, respectively. Collectively, these results underscore the divergent functional advantages of NFT and DWC aquaponics and deliver critical insights for tailoring system design to maximize basil productivity and resource efficiency in water-limited agroecosystems.

There is an urgent need to develop microbial inoculants that can consistently improve crop performance as part of efforts to implement sustainable agricultural practices and reduce the environmental impact of intensive farming. One of the best known examples of beneficial soil microbes that can promote plant growth and ecosystem performance are arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). AMF-based inoculants are increasingly being marketed to enhance key ecosystem functions such as soil nutrient uptake, soil structure, carbon storage and ecosystem health. Despite this potential, the efficacy of commercial AMF products is still poorly documented and highly variable. In this study, we evaluated 16 commercially available AMF inoculants (nine marketed for agricultural use and seven for home gardening) and, for comparison, seven AMF inoculants for research propose, all tested under controlled greenhouse conditions. Our findings revealed that only three commercial AMF products led to root colonisation, and only one promote plant growth. One-third of the agricultural inoculants colonised plant roots, whereas none of the seven commercial home gardening products successfully established a symbiosis with plant roots. In contrast, products intended for research purposes consistently induced AMF colonisation and often resulted in a positive growth response, likely due to higher propagule density. Together with three recent studies analysing worldwide AMF products, our study revealed that 85% of the 64 commercial arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculants tested are of poor quality and did not colonise plant roots. Thus, standardised quality control across the industries is necessary to ensure product effectiveness and promote widespread acceptance by farmers, as well as successfully spreading the use of mycorrhizal inoculants as a viable tool for enhancing sustainable agricultural and gardening practices.

In cold temperate regions, nongrowing season (November-April) nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from croplands can be substantial, particularly during the rapid freeze-thaw cycles of the late winter-spring. Despite their potential environmental impact, the extent and underlying climatic triggers of these emissions remain poorly understood. Using the Denitrification and Decomposition (DNDC) model, N₂O fluxes and climatic triggers of N₂O emissions were assessed by simulating historical (1990–2019) and 30-year future (2038–2067) winter and early spring emissions under intensive grain corn production in Southern Quebec. In the historical period, mean winter N₂O emissions were greatest in warm-wet years, and increased over the years as the snow-water equivalent (SWE) declined. Future scenario simulations predict a 10% increase in winter/spring N₂O emissions, driven by a 1°C rise in winter soil temperature and an 8% increase in water-filled pore space (WFPS). SWE is also expected to decrease by 1 mm annually. These shifts suggest a substantial increase in future winter N₂O emissions, highlighting the urgency of developing mitigation strategies for agricultural soils.

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) is considered one of the most valuable cereal crops worldwide, ranking fourth in production and providing high-quality forage for ruminant animals. Conventional forage cultivation is unsustainable in arid and semi-arid regions, where water scarcity and an extreme arid climate prevail, because of the high water requirements. This study aims to assess the potential of using municipal treated wastewater (TWW) as an alternative irrigation source for barley, focusing on its effects on growth, yield, nutritional content, and heavy metal accumulation in different barley genotypes. The results of a 2-year field experiment showed that TWW significantly improved biological yield, grain yield, straw yield, number of spikes, and 1000-grain weight compared to potable water irrigation (PW). Among the barley genotypes, 58 1A consistently exhibited the highest grain yield, harvest index, and 1000-grain weight, while 60 1A produced the highest biological and straw yields along with the most tillers. Under 100%TWW irrigation, the genotype 58 1A exhibited the highest grain yield, producing 4.51 and 5.16 ton ha⁻¹ in 2022 and 2023, respectively. This represented an increase of 40.64% to 44.20% over the control treatment (PW). Additionally, TWW enhanced photosynthetic pigments, crude proteins, fiber content, and higher levels of essential minerals (N, Mg, K, and P). However, the levels of heavy metals remained within the permissible limits for forage crops. In conclusion, TWW effectively enhances barley growth, yield, and nutritional quality while ensuring safe heavy metal levels, offering a sustainable solution to water scarcity in arid regions. Future research should focus on the long-term effects of TWW on soil health and its impact on other crops, as well as optimizing its treatment for more efficient and sustainable farming.

Silverleaf nightshade (Solanum elaeagnifolium Cav.; SLN) is a perennial forb native to the southern United States, Mexico and South America that has become a serious agricultural weed across the world. Biological control has emerged as a significant alternative for the management of (SLN) due to the challenges and high costs associated with chemical and mechanical controls. In this study, we used a combination of field and laboratory studies to (1) explore the fundamental and realized host ranges of two North American insects, Leptinotarsa texana Schaeffer and Gargaphia arizonica Drake & Carvalho and (2) assess their suitability as potential biological control agents for SLN. Field trials over 2 years with SLN planted alongside close relatives, eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), showed that L. texana fed on both eggplant and SLN causing similar leaf damage to both, but no feeding damage was observed on potato. Over the same period, G. arizonica was found feeding only on SLN. In no-choice laboratory experiments, G. arizonica fed on both eggplant and potato, but nymph survival and feeding damage were much lower on these nontarget plants, when compared to SLN. Collectively, these results suggest that biosecurity risks of G. arizonica are relatively low, and its biological control potential should be explored further, especially when compared to other candidate agents, such as L. texana.