Soil Basics, Management and Rhizosphere Engineering for Sustainable Agriculture


Book Description

Increase in global population, drastic changes in the environment, soil degradation and decrease in quality and quantity of agricultural productivity warranted us to adapt sustainable farming practices. This book focuses on soil health management and creating biased rhizosphere that can effectively augment the needs of sustainable agriculture.




Rhizosphere Engineering


Book Description

Rhizosphere Engineering is a guide to applying environmentally sound agronomic practices to improve crop yield while also protecting soil resources. Focusing on the potential and positive impacts of appropriate practices, the book includes the use of beneficial microbes, nanotechnology and metagenomics. Developing and applying techniques that not only enhance yield, but also restore the quality of soil and water using beneficial microbes such as Bacillus, Pseudomonas, vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza (VAM) fungi and others are covered, along with new information on utilizing nanotechnology, quorum sensing and other technologies to further advance the science. Designed to fill the gap between research and application, this book is written for advanced students, researchers and those seeking real-world insights for improving agricultural production. - Explores the potential benefits of optimized rhizosphere - Includes metagenomics and their emerging importance - Presents insights into the use of biosurfactants




Soils for nutrition: state of the art


Book Description

Food starts with soils, and as the target date to accomplish the SDGs grows closer, it is more urgent than ever to reverse soil degradation and tackle its effects on agrifood systems. This booklet aims to review the role of soil fertility in producing sufficient, safe, and more nourishing food for healthier plants, animals, and people. It also offers recommendations for solutions that can provide a more nutritious agrifood system for enhancing human health and wellbeing while protecting the environment. Soil fertility and nutrition involve processes at scales ranging from molecules to the entire planet. Our interventions in these processes may exacerbate the global challenges we face but can also be modified to solve them. This booklet contributes to understanding processes related to soil fertility from the perspectives of food production and food security, and the environmental and climate change impacts associated with fertilizer misuse and overuse. The booklet also outlines the main areas of opportunity and the way forward to solve the nutrient imbalance prevailing in our current agrifood systems.




Soils, where food begins


Book Description

The book of proceedings of the GSOIL4N contains the papers presented during the Global Symposium on Soils for Nutrition that was held from 26 to 29 July 2022. The papers provide the latest research findings and multisectoral insights which evidenced that nutrient imbalance is a global and crosscutting threat with multifactorial drivers and effects on the agrifood systems and even on key planetary processes.




Soil Basics, Management and Rhizosphere Engineering for Sustainable Agriculture


Book Description

Increase in global population, drastic changes in the environment, soil degradation and decrease in quality and quantity of agricultural productivity warranted us to adapt sustainable farming practices. This book focuses on soil health management and creating biased rhizosphere that can effectively augment the needs of sustainable agriculture.




Soil and Recycling Management in the Anthropocene Era


Book Description

This book discusses soil and recycling management in the Anthropocene era. Nitrogen shortage is one of nature’s most important productivity regulators, but since the advent of technical nitrogen fixation (TNF), biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) input has nearly doubled, particularly in grass and arable lands covering over 13 million km2 of the Earth’s surface. This book explores how monoculture grass, arable lands and forests are often over fertilized with TNF, animal slurries, sewage sludge, or municipally produced composts, and as a result, flora and fauna that have adapted to a nitrogen shortage in the soil will have to adjust to a surplus; those that are unable to adapt will disappear.




Soil Biological Fertility


Book Description

It is becoming more relevant to explore soil biological processes in terms of their contribution to soil fertility. This book presents a comprehensive scientific overview of the components and processes that underpin the biological characteristics of soil fertility. It highlights the enormous diversity of life in soil and the resulting effects that management of land can have on the contribution of this diverse community to soil fertility in an agricultural context.




The Plant Microbiome in Sustainable Agriculture


Book Description

The most up-to-date reference on phytomicrobiomes available today The Plant Microbiome in Sustainable Agriculture combines the most relevant and timely information available today in the fields of nutrient and food security. With a particular emphasis on current research progress and perspectives of future development in the area, The Plant Microbiome in Sustainable Agriculture is an invaluable reference for students and researchers in the field, as well as those with an interest in microbiome research and development. The book covers both terrestrial and crop associated microbiomes, unveiling the biological, biotechnological and technical aspects of research. Topics discussed include: Developing model plant microbiome systems for various agriculturally important crops Defining core microbiomes and metagenomes in these model systems Defining synthetic microbiomes for a sustainable increase in food production and quality The Plant Microbiome in Sustainable Agriculture is written to allow a relative neophyte to learn and understand the basic concepts involved in phytomicrobiomes and discuss them intelligently with colleagues.




The Root Systems in Sustainable Agricultural Intensification


Book Description

Explore an in-depth and insightful collection of resources discussing various aspects of root structure and function in intensive agricultural systems The Root Systems in Sustainable Agricultural Intensification delivers a comprehensive treatment of state-of-the-art concepts in the theoretical and practical aspects of agricultural management to enhance root system architecture and function. The book emphasizes the agricultural measures that enhance root capacity to develop and function under a range of water and nutrient regimes to maximize food, feed, and fibre production, as well as minimize undesirable water and nutrient losses to the environment. This reference includes resources that discuss a variety of soil, plant, agronomy, farming system, breeding, molecular and modelling aspects to the subject. It also discusses strategies and mechanisms that underpin increased water- and nutrient-use efficiency and combines consideration of natural and agricultural systems to show the continuity of traits and mechanisms. Finally, the book explores issues related to the global economy as well as widespread social issues that arise from, or are underpinned by, agricultural intensification. Readers will also benefit from the inclusion of: A thorough introduction to sustainable intensification, including its meaning, the need for the technology, components, and the role of root systems Exploration of the dynamics of root systems in crop and pasture genotypes over the last 100 years Discussion of the interplay between root structure and function with soil microbiome in enhancing efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus acquisition Evaluation of water uptake in drying soil, including balancing supply and demand Perfect for agronomists, horticulturalists, plant and soil scientists, breeders, and soil microbiologists, The Root Systems in Sustainable Agricultural Intensification will also earn a place in the libraries of advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in this field who seek a one-stop reference in the area of root structure and function.




Role of Plant Growth Promoting Microorganisms in Sustainable Agriculture and Nanotechnology


Book Description

Role of Plant Growth Promoting Microorganisms in Sustainable Agriculture and Nanotechnology explores PGPMs (actinomycetes, bacteria, fungi and cyanobacteria) and their multidimensional roles in agriculture, including their increasing applications in sustainable agriculture. In addition to their traditional understanding and applications in agriculture, PGPMs are increasingly known as a source of nano-particles production that are gaining significant interest in their ability to provide more economically, environmentally friendly and safe technologies to crop growers. The book considers new concepts and current developments in plant growth, thus promoting microorganisms research and evaluating its implications for sustainable productivity. Users will find this to be an invaluable resource for researchers in applied microbial biotechnology, soil science, nano-technology of microbial strains, and industry personnel in these areas. - Presents basic and applied aspects of sustainable agriculture, including nano-technology in sustainable agriculture - Identifies molecular tools/omics approaches for enhancing plant growth promoting microorganisms - Discusses plant growth promoting microorganisms in bioactive compounds production, and as a source of nano-particles