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Trends in Nano- and Biotechnology to Shape Sustainable Agriculture: Nano-Farming Insight for Healthy Soil and Innocuous Food

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A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Agroecology Innovation: Achieving System Resilience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 July 2023) | Viewed by 8079

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Fabián Fernández-Luqueño

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Guest Editor

Sustainability of Natural Resources and Energy Program, Cinvestav-Saltillo, Ramos Arizpe C.P. 25900, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico
Interests: nano- and biotechnology in the agriculture and environment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

More than eight billion people worldwide require healthy and affordable food, cultivated under sustainable management and through the environmentally friendly harnessing of natural resources, such as biodiversity, soil, and water. In the last two decades, there has been cutting-edge research in nanotechnology and biotechnology, with remarkable advances contributing to human well-being through better, cheaper, and healthier processes, taking care of the ecosystems and environments. Therefore, this Special Issue will comprise new advances, processes, methodologies, technologies, and innovations with actual or potential applications in the preservation and improvement of healthy soil, which will boost innocuous food production through nano- and biotechnology, and shape sustainable agriculture. We welcome contributions that provide the community with the most recent advancements regarding these themes, including but not limited to the following topics:

Concerns regarding the use of nanoscience and nanotechnology for crop production;
Controlled delivery of nutrients, molecules, hormones, or cells;
Crop breeding;
Green synthesis of nanomaterials for the cultivation of edible crops;
Microbial inoculants;
Molecular farming;
Nano-fertilizers;
Nano-materials as elicitors;
Nano-sensors or bionanosensors for pollutants, nutrients, etc.;
Nano-vectors for gene delivery;
Nano- or bioremediation of soil;
Nano- or bioremediation of irrigation water;
Nano- or bioremediation of wastewater for irrigation;
Nano- or biopackaging for agricultural products;
Nano- or biotechnology for plant genetic engineering;
Nano-encapsulation of plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria;
Nanorobots for agricultural or environmental applications;
Pest or disease control;
Plantlets production;
Environmental concerns.

Reviews and scientific manuscripts are welcome. Long-term in situ field trials are especially appreciated.

Dr. Fabián Fernández-Luqueño
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

bioinoculants
clean up the environment
crop production
ecofriendly processes
genetic engineering
green agriculture
nanoagriculture
plant-growth regulators
removal of contaminants
sustainable production

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3899 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Silver and Hematite Nanoparticles Had a Limited Effect on the Bacterial Community Structure in Soil Cultivated with Phaseolus vulgaris L.

by Karla E. Zarco-González, Jessica D. Valle-García, Yendi E. Navarro-Noya, Fabián Fernández-Luqueño and Luc Dendooven

Agronomy 2023, 13(9), 2341; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13092341 - 8 Sep 2023

Viewed by 907

Abstract

The amount of nanoparticles that enters the environment has increased substantially in the last years. How they might affect plant characteristics and the bacterial community structure when they enter the soil, however, is still debated, as there is a continuous interaction between them. In this study, we determined the effect of silver (Ag-NPs) and hematite (α-Fe₂O₃-NPs) nanoparticles (0.15 g kg⁻¹) on the characteristics of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and the rhizosphere, non-rhizosphere and uncultivated soil bacterial community. The application of Ag-NPs or α-Fe₂O₃-NPs did not affect plant growth, but changed the amount of some heavy metals in the roots and aerial parts. The application of nanoparticles had a limited effect on the diversity, structure and functional profile of the soil and rhizosphere bacterial communities, but they were altered by cultivation of the bean plants and changed over time. It was found that application of Ag-NPs or α-Fe₂O₃-NPs had no effect on bean plant growth and only a small effect on the bacterial community structure and its putative metabolic functions. These findings show that in a complex system, such as a soil, different factors might affect the bacterial community structure and alter the possible effect of nanoparticles on it. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends in Nano- and Biotechnology to Shape Sustainable Agriculture: Nano-Farming Insight for Healthy Soil and Innocuous Food)

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22 pages, 1951 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Restoring Soil Cover and Plant Communities with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi as an Essential Component of DSS for Environmental Safety Management in Post-Industrial Landscapes

by Chang Shu, Mariia Ruda, Elvira Dzhumelia, Alla Shybanova, Orest Kochan and Mariana Levkiv

Agronomy 2023, 13(5), 1346; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13051346 - 11 May 2023

Viewed by 1549

Abstract

Large areas become unsuitable for full-fledged life after mining activity. To improve the state of environmental safety of post-industrial landscapes and the rational use of disturbed territories, a Decision Support System (DSS) should be created. This system should also contain proposals for restoring the soil cover and plant communities that are proposed in this article. The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the process of vegetation formation in the post-industrial landscape of a sulfur quarry. During reclamation works in human-made ecotopes, vegetation has already formed there in a certain way due to natural succession processes. We assessed the level of vegetation self-restoration and, on the basis of the obtained data, the need and direction of phytoreclamation in relation to specific ecotopes. The set of restoration of soil cover and plant communities makes it possible to solve the problem of reusing post-industrial landscapes. The positive effect of the treatment of seedlings with a spore remedy of arbuscular, mycorrhizal fungi on the studied breeds’ height increase was observed. In the process of the revitalization of disturbed landscapes through the mycorrhization of planting material, there is a tendency to restore and increase phytodiversity at the floristic and coenotic levels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends in Nano- and Biotechnology to Shape Sustainable Agriculture: Nano-Farming Insight for Healthy Soil and Innocuous Food)

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Review

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26 pages, 2093 KiB

Open AccessReview

Modern Plant Biotechnology: An Antidote against Global Food Insecurity

by David Adedayo Animasaun, Peter Adeolu Adedibu, Yury Shkryl, Faith Olatayo Emmanuel, Liudmila Tekutyeva and Larissa Balabanova

Agronomy 2023, 13(8), 2038; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13082038 - 31 Jul 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4573

Abstract

Food insecurity has become a pressing issue on a worldwide scale as the globe plows through a food crisis. The disastrous impact of this menace has been exacerbated by climate change, frequent conflicts, pandemic outbreaks, and the global economic recession, which have been prevalent in recent years. Although food insecurity prevails globally, it is especially critical in some regions in Africa, East and Southeast Asia, and South America. Several efforts have been made to curb food insecurity; however, none have been able to curtail it sufficiently. Genetic engineering of crops is a fast-growing technology that could be a viable tool for mitigating food insecurity. Crop varieties resistant to pests and diseases, abiotic stress, spoilage, or specific herbicides have been developed using this technology. Crops have been modified for increased yield, nutritional content, essential vitamins, and micro-mineral fortification. More intriguing is the advent of plant-derived edible vaccines, which prove equally effective and significantly affordable. However, in many countries, government policies pose a limiting factor for the acceptance of this technology. This article discusses the genetic modification of crops, highlighting its origins, methods, applications, achievements, impact, acceptance, distribution, and potential as a viable antidote to global food insecurity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trends in Nano- and Biotechnology to Shape Sustainable Agriculture: Nano-Farming Insight for Healthy Soil and Innocuous Food)

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