In agriculture, biosynthesized ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) have gained considerable attention due to their cost-effectiveness and eco-friendliness. Natural, plant-based, or biological entities act as reducing and stabilizing agents that can be used to synthesize ZnO NPs.
This study aimed to assess the impact of green-synthesized ZnO NPs derived from Mentha piperita L. on the growth, physiological, and biochemical parameters of Pisum sativum L.
Energy-dispersive x-ray (EDX), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction (XRD) were used for the characterization of ZnO NPs to confirm their structure, size, and stability. Various concentrations of ZnO NPs (0, 0.1, 0.5, and 1 mg L−1) were applied to seeds of P. sativum for the subsequent evaluation of germination rates, growth parameters, photosynthetic pigments, carbohydrates, and protein contents.
The results indicated that ZnO NPs significantly enhanced seed germination by up to 31% and positively influenced other growth parameters, including a 44% increase in shoot length, a 41.4% increase in root length, an 18.57% increase in shoot weight, and a 35.71% increase in root weight compared to the control. The treated plants exhibited increased chlorophyll content (42% in chlorophyll a and 34% in chlorophyll b), as well as elevated carbohydrate (36.67%) and protein (23.75%) levels, suggesting a positive impact on the plants’ metabolic activities.
Green-synthesized ZnO NPs significantly promoted pea seed germination, root and shoot growth, and improved key physiological and biochemical parameters, such as chlorophyll content, total soluble sugars, and protein levels.
Ethiopia faces significant agricultural challenges, including soil degradation, nutrient depletion, and water scarcity, which threaten food security and sustainable development. Addressing these issues requires innovative solutions to enhance soil health, conserve water resources, and improve crop productivity. This bibliographic review systematically explores the potential of zeolite technology as a tool for tackling these challenges in Ethiopia. Studies sourced from databases, such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and AGRIS, were analyzed, with 123 articles selected on the basis of relevance, credibility, and data support. Zeolite technology offers multiple benefits, including reducing nutrient leaching by 65%–86%, increasing soil pH levels from 7.05 to 8.12 with a 7.5 t ha−1 zeolite application, and improving grain yields by 15.9%–31.8% across crops like rice, barley, and maize with a 10 t ha−1 application. Despite these advantages, the adoption of zeolite technology in Ethiopia remains limited. This review highlights the need for field trials to assess crop-specific responses and socio-economic impacts. If the identified research gaps are addressed, zeolite technology could become an essential component of Ethiopia's agricultural toolkit, enabling farmers to improve productivity, adapt to climate variability, and achieve sustainable food security. Its adoption could transform farming systems, contributing to Ethiopia's resilience against environmental stresses and supporting long-term agricultural development.
The controlled uptake long-term ammonium nutrition (CULTAN) fertilization technique consists of injecting a concentrated ammonium solution into the soil and aims to positively impact crop physiology and N use efficiency.
This study assesses whether CULTAN can contribute to lower N leaching while maintaining yields in temperate regions with an annual precipitation of around 1000 mm or higher.
We analyzed a 12-year lysimeter experiment with two consecutive 6-crop rotations and a 3-year field experiment with winter wheat and maize in Switzerland. CULTAN was compared to a conventional surface application of ammonium nitrate fertilizer (ConvF).
CULTAN achieved at least similar yields compared to ConvF in both studies and had a 38% lower yield-scaled N leaching in the lysimeters. In both studies, CULTAN displayed higher nitrogen recovery efficiency (NRE) compared to ConvF, with an increase ranging from 8% to 17% depending on crop type, although a statistical significance was only found for winter wheat in the field study. NRE and N leaching were only weakly correlated, indicating that other N pathways are affected in the CULTAN fertilization system. Finally, we suggest that the timing and placement of the CULTAN injection need to be better adapted to the plant physiology and pedoclimatic conditions for optimal nutrient use and crop yields.
In areas of high nitrate concentration in the groundwater, CULTAN can be an effective fertilization strategy complementing loss reduction measures.
Main transformation pathways of low molecular weight organic substances (LMWOS) are understood, but only limited knowledge exists on their transformations in different soils and on their interactions with biochar.
Objectives were to study short-term pathways of 13C-labelled LMWOS with different functional groups in the presence and absence of biochar in arable loess soils.
Soils from three sites were incubated with or without artificially aged biochar and 13C-labelled acetate, alanine or glucose at different rates (10 or 50 µmol C g−1 soil) at 60% water holding capacity and 15°C for 5 days, and total and substrate-derived CO2-C and microbial biomass C (MBC) were determined and analyses of variance were calculated.
Cumulative CO2-C (ΣCO2-C) emission was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected by substrate rate and type and their interaction. Biochar significantly stimulated total, but not substrate-derived ΣCO2-C (ΣCO2-CSD) emission. Box-Cox transformed MBC was significantly affected by site, substrate rate and type, whereas biochar had no significant effect. Substrate-derived MBC (MBCSD) and carbon use efficiency (CUE) were significantly affected by site, substrate rate and type and their interaction.
MBCSD and CUE results at low addition rate confirmed the greater importance of glucose for the build-up of MBC compared to acetate and alanine, whereas the latter were mineralized to a greater extent. Biochar, once it is aged, which is the typical biochar form in soil, did not significantly affect build-up of MBCSD and CUE and only slightly increased total, but not ΣCO2-CSD emission.
Integrating fruit trees is among the promising agroforestry technologies. Intercropping of fruit trees with remunerative crops, particularly vegetables, could generate higher income for farmers.
The present study involves the assessment of apple-based agroforestry systems integrated with various agricultural crops such as black gram, capsicum, tomato, and brinjal and evaluated the effect of integrated farming on soil properties, microbial biomass, and enzyme activities.
The experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design by considering sole apple, sole tomato, sole brinjal, sole capsicum, sole black gram, apple + tomato, apple + brinjal, apple + capsicum, and apple + black gram as treatments.
The study revealed the performance of the agroforestry system where apple and tomato in combination perform better than others and sole cropping. The competition for moisture, nutrients, and other limiting resources in agroforestry system where apple trees are grown in combination with brinjal, capsicum, and black gram resulted in poor plant's growth and yield. This combination of crops also significantly affected the organic carbon, porosity, bulk, and particle densities. The available N, P, and K contents decreased with the increased soil depth. It was observed that microbial biomass in terms of carbon (Cmic), nitrogen (Nmic), and phosphorus (Pmic) was higher where tomato was grown in apple-based agroforestry systems than in sole cropping. Higher enzymatic activities for acid and alkaline phosphatase, catalase, and dehydrogenase were recorded in agroforestry system where tomatoes were grown in the presence of apple trees.
The results reported that a combination of apple and tomato is the most successful system as tomato crop performs better under the apple tree canopy, possibly due to the favorable microenvironment and tree-crop compatibility.
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