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Antimony (Sb) is introduced into soils, sediments, and aquatic environments from various sources such as weathering of sulfide ores, leaching of mining wastes, and anthropogenic ...activities. High Sb concentrations are toxic to ecosystems and potentially to public health via the accumulation in food chain. Although Sb is poisonous and carcinogenic to humans, the exact mechanisms causing toxicity still remain unclear. Most studies concerning the remediation of soils and aquatic environments contaminated with Sb have evaluated various amendments that reduce Sb bioavailability and toxicity. However, there is no comprehensive review on the biogeochemistry and transformation of Sb related to its remediation. Therefore, the present review summarizes: (1) the sources of Sb and its geochemical distribution and speciation in soils and aquatic environments, (2) the biogeochemical processes that govern Sb mobilization, bioavailability, toxicity in soils and aquatic environments, and possible threats to human and ecosystem health, and (3) the approaches used to remediate Sb-contaminated soils and water and mitigate potential environmental and health risks. Knowledge gaps and future research needs also are discussed. The review presents up-to-date knowledge about the fate of Sb in soils and aquatic environments and contributes to an important insight into the environmental hazards of Sb. The findings from the review should help to develop innovative and appropriate technologies for controlling Sb bioavailability and toxicity and sustainably managing Sb-polluted soils and water, subsequently minimizing its environmental and human health risks.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The United Nations declared 2016 as the International Year of Pulses (grain legumes) under the banner 'nutritious seeds for a sustainable future'. A second green revolution is required to ensure food ...and nutritional security in the face of global climate change. Grain legumes provide an unparalleled solution to this problem because of their inherent capacity for symbiotic atmospheric nitrogen fixation, which provides economically sustainable advantages for farming. In addition, a legume-rich diet has health benefits for humans and livestock alike. However, grain legumes form only a minor part of most current human diets, and legume crops are greatly under-used. Food security and soil fertility could be significantly improved by greater grain legume usage and increased improvement of a range of grain legumes. The current lack of coordinated focus on grain legumes has compromised human health, nutritional security and sustainable food production.
Climate change is adversely affecting wheat yields as the associated rising temperatures damage its reproductive physiology. Heat stress affects wheat at various stages of growth, but flowering and ...reproductive phases are the most sensitive to high temperatures as flower opening usually occurs in cooler environments. Heat stress at meiosis causes ovule and pollen sterility along with anther dehiscence. During pollen development, temperatures >30°C cause pollen abortion. At anthesis, heat stress limits resource translocation to developing grain, resulting in small grain and low yields. During grain development, heat stress shortens the grain‐filling duration and decreases starch and protein accumulation due to reduced activity of grain biosynthesis enzymes and impaired flag leaf assimilatory efficiency and stem reserve mobilization. The development of heat‐tolerant wheat genotypes through screening, selection and breeding using genetic engineering, exogenous application of osmoprotectants and agronomic approaches is a high priority. This review discusses the impact of heat stress on flower development and fertilization, grain development and reproductive failure in wheat and outlines strategies (i.e. breeding and selection, genetic engineering, molecular breeding and management) to improve heat tolerance in wheat.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Terminal drought during the reproductive stage is a major constraint to yield of chickpea in many regions of the world. Termination of watering (WS) during podding in a small-seeded desi chickpea ...(Cicer arietinum L.) cultivar, Rupali, and a large-seeded kabuli chickpea cultivar, Almaz, induced a decrease in predawn leaf water potential (LWP), in the rate of photosynthesis, and in stomatal conductance. Compared to well-watered (WW) controls, the WS treatment reduced flower production by about two-thirds. In the WW treatment, about 15% of the flowers aborted and 42% (Rupali) and 67% (Almaz) of the pods aborted, whereas in the WS treatment 37% and 56% of the flowers aborted and 54% and 73% of the pods aborted, resulting in seed yields of 33% and 15% of the yields in WW plants in Rupali and Almaz, respectively. In vitro pollen viability and germination in Rupali decreased by 50% and 89% in the WS treatment, and pollen germination decreased by 80% in vivo when pollen from a WS plant was placed on a stigma of a WW plant. While about 37% of the germinated pollen tubes from WW plants and 22% from the WS plants reached the ovary in the WW plants, less than 3% of pollen grains reached the ovary when pollen from either WS or WW plants was placed on a stigma of a WS plant. It is concluded that, in addition to pod abortion, flower abortion is an important factor limiting yield in chickpea exposed to terminal drought and that water deficit impaired the function of the pistil/style more than the pollen.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Salt sensitivity in chickpea FLOWERS, TIMOTHY J.; GAUR, POORAN M.; GOWDA, C. L. LAXMIPATHI ...
Plant, cell and environment,
April 2010, Volume:
33, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
ABSTRACT
The growth of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is very sensitive to salinity, with the most susceptible genotypes dying in just 25 mm NaCl and resistant genotypes unlikely to survive 100 mm ...NaCl in hydroponics; germination is more tolerant with some genotypes tolerating 320 mm NaCl. When growing in a saline medium, Cl‐, which is secreted from glandular hairs on leaves, stems and pods, is present in higher concentrations in shoots than Na+. Salinity reduces the amount of water extractable from soil by a chickpea crop and induces osmotic adjustment, which is greater in nodules than in leaves or roots. Chickpea rhizobia show a higher ‘free‐living’ salt resistance than chickpea plants, and salinity can cause large reductions in nodulation, nodule size and N2‐fixation capacity. Recent screenings of diverse germplasm suggest significant variation of seed yield under saline conditions. Both dominance and additive gene effects have been identified in the effects of salinity on chickpea and there appears to be sufficient genetic variation to enable improvement in yield under saline conditions via breeding. Selections are required across the entire life cycle with a range of rhizobial strains under salt‐affected, preferably field, conditions.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Global food production faces challenges in balancing the need for increased yields with environmental sustainability. This study presents a six-year field experiment in the North China Plain, ...demonstrating the benefits of diversifying traditional cereal monoculture (wheat-maize) with cash crops (sweet potato) and legumes (peanut and soybean). The diversified rotations increase equivalent yield by up to 38%, reduce N
O emissions by 39%, and improve the system's greenhouse gas balance by 88%. Furthermore, including legumes in crop rotations stimulates soil microbial activities, increases soil organic carbon stocks by 8%, and enhances soil health (indexed with the selected soil physiochemical and biological properties) by 45%. The large-scale adoption of diversified cropping systems in the North China Plain could increase cereal production by 32% when wheat-maize follows alternative crops in rotation and farmer income by 20% while benefiting the environment. This study provides an example of sustainable food production practices, emphasizing the significance of crop diversification for long-term agricultural resilience and soil health.
Adsorption is the most widely adopted, effective, and reliable treatment process for the removal of inorganic and organic contaminants from wastewater. One of the major issues with the ...adsorption-treatment process for the removal of contaminants from wastewater streams is the recovery and sustainable management of spent adsorbents. This review focuses on the effectiveness of emerging adsorbents and how the spent adsorbents could be recovered, regenerated, and further managed through reuse or safe disposal. The critical analysis of both conventional and emerging adsorbents on organic and inorganic contaminants in wastewater systems are evaluated. The various recovery and regeneration techniques of spent adsorbents including magnetic separation, filtration, thermal desorption and decomposition, chemical desorption, supercritical fluid desorption, advanced oxidation process and microbial assisted adsorbent regeneration are discussed in detail. The current challenges for the recovery and regeneration of adsorbents and the methodologies used for solving those problems are covered. The spent adsorbents are managed through regeneration for reuse (such as soil amendment, capacitor, catalyst/catalyst support) or safe disposal involving incineration and landfilling. Sustainable management of spent adsorbents, including processes involved in the recovery and regeneration of adsorbents for reuse, is examined in the context of resource recovery and circular economy. Finally, the review ends with the current drawbacks in the recovery and management of the spent adsorbents and the future directions for the economic and environmental feasibility of the system for industrial-scale application.
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•Significance and role of adsorption in current wastewater treatments•Performance of adsorbents and removal of contaminants in wastewater•Discussion of various recovery and regeneration options for spent adsorbents•Reuse of adsorbents and disposal strategies for sustainable waste management•Resource recovery and circular economy for environmental sustainability
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Cadmium (Cd) contamination in soil negatively impacts crop productivity, grain quality, and human health. Wheat seeds, with different concentrations of intrinsic zinc (Zn): low Zn (35 mg kg−1), ...medium (42 mg kg−1), and high Zn (49 mg kg−1), were planted in artificially contaminated soil (10 mg Cd kg−1 soil). Zinc (5 g kg−1) and biochar (20 g kg−1 soil) were applied alone or in combination at sowing. Cadmium contamination reduced wheat growth, productivity, and grain Zn concentration, relative to the respective no-Cd treatments, with greater reductions in plants with low intrinsic Zn. Among the soil amendments, Zn and/or biochar improved wheat productivity and grain Zn and reduced grain Cd concentration in plants grown from seed with varying intrinsic Zn levels. Plants from high intrinsic Zn seeds performed better under Cd stress with the application of soil amendments than seeds with low or medium intrinsic Zn levels. The combined application of Zn and biochar had the highest increases in grain yield (9.51%) and grain Zn concentration (12.2%), relative to the control (no Cd, no Zn, and no biochar). This treatment also decreased the Cd concentrations in straw (7.1%) and grain (95.6%). The sole application of Zn or biochar improved wheat productivity and grain Zn concentration and deceased grain Cd concentration under Cd stress, but more improvements resulted from the combined application of Zn and biochar. Plants grown from seed with high Zn were better able to tolerate Cd stress than the plants raised from seeds with medium and low Zn levels.
•Cadmium contamination reduced wheat growth, productivity and grain Zn concentration.•Soil-applied Zn and biochar improved grain yield, grain Zn under mitigate Cd stress.•Plants raised from seeds with high intrinsic Zn performed better under Cd stress.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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