A shift from synthetic chemical nematicides to bionematicides in plant protection has led to the development of Nemarioc-AL and Nemafric-BL phytonematicides to manage plant parasitic nematodes. However, there is a lack of information on the accumulation of cucurbitacin residues and the cytotoxicity of phytonematicides on non-target entities. The aims of the study were to determine the cucurbitacin residue accumulation after the application of Nemarioc-AL and Nemafric-BL phytonematicides in tomato fruits and to determine their cytotoxic effects on a eukaryotic (Raw 264.7 cell line) model system. Two separate trials for Nemarioc-AL phytonematicide and Nemafric-BL phytonematicide, each applied at 3%, were conducted concurrently on sandy loam, dark soil, red soil, silt soil, sandy soil, and sandy loam (+). Each trial was arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) and replicated six times. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2 H -tetrazolium bromide (MTT) viability assay was used to assess the cytotoxicity of Nemarioc-AL and Nemafric-BL phytonematicides, and the Annexin-V and DAPI apoptosis assay was performed on Raw 264.7 macrophage cells. In Nemarioc-AL phytonematicide-treated soil type, the highest accumulation of cucurbitacin B residues in fruits was observed on sandy loam (+) (37.1 ng/g), followed by red soil with 27.0 ng/g and then sandy soil with 21.7 ng/g, and dark soil showed the least at 20.3 ng/g. The phytonematicides were non-toxic at lower concentrations, ≤1.25 mg/mL. However, the higher concentrations (>1.25 mg/mL) of phytonematicides exhibited cytotoxic effects on the Raw 264.7 cell line, with 50% cell viability in comparison with curcumin (100 μM). The IC 50 values for Nemarioc-AL and Nemafric-BL phytonematicides on Raw 264.7 cell lines were 0.55 and 1.6 mg/mL, respectively. Similar to the MTT viability assay, the Annexin-V and DAPI apoptosis assay did show that the low concentrations of phytonematicides (0.313 mg/mL) had no signs of apoptosis or necrosis; however, high concentrations (10 mg/mL) had signs of apoptosis as opposed to necrosis. Therefore, the products can be used at lower concentrations to manage nematodes and avoid the toxicity of the products.

Eupafolin (nepetin) is a bioactive flavonoid with a flavone backbone and hydroxyl groups contributing to its pharmacological properties. It is found in various medicinal plants and has garnered significant attention due to its biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, and neuroprotective effects. This review explores eupafolin's natural occurrence, chemical structure, and biosynthetic pathway, highlighting its roles in different scientific domains, including pharmacology, pharmaceutical nanotechnology, and agriculture. Research data on eupafolin were sourced from databases, including Google Scholar, Science Direct, Scopus, and PubMed, up to April 2025, resulting in over 100 electronic references. Eupafolin shows promise in drug development and green nanoparticle synthesis, supporting eco-friendly nanomedicine and material science applications. Beyond the biomedical benefits of this flavone, its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties also indicate potential use in plant protection and stress tolerance enhancement. Despite its pharmacological benefits, studies on eupafolin's direct toxicity and safety are lacking, with toxicity mainly observed in cultured cancer cells, suggesting chemotherapeutic potential. Thus, robust in vitro and in vivo studies are needed to determine its safety profile for drug development. Overall, this review presents a comprehensive analysis of eupafolin's occurrence, chemistry, derivatives, biosynthesis, and applications, emphasizing its potential in medicine, pharmaceutical nanotechnology, and agriculture.

Mapping critical loads of cadmium in Chinese soils based on multiple environmental effects.

Multimodal bioinspired flapping-wing vehicle (M−bioFMAV): Design and aerodynamic optimization for agricultural plant protection in greenhouses

The conclusions of the EFSA following the peer review of the initial risk assessments carried out by the competent authorities of the rapporteur Member State, Ireland and co-rapporteur Member State, Poland, for the pesticide active substance dichlorprop-P and the variant dichlorprop-P-2-ethylhexyl and the assessment of applications for maximum residue levels (MRLs) are reported. The context of the peer review was that required by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 844/2012. The conclusions were reached based on the evaluation of the representative uses of dichlorprop-P as herbicide on cereals, grassland and grass seed crops and of the variant dichlorprop-P-2-ethylhexyl as a plant growth regulator on citrus. MRLs were assessed in mandarin and lemon. The conclusions from 2018 were updated in 2024 following the request from the European Commission regarding the endocrine disruption properties. The conclusions were further updated in 2025 in the context of the peer review required by Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council for an amendment in approval conditions. The purpose of this application was to extend the existing approval to include the ester variant dichlorprop-P-2-ethylhexyl under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market. The reliable end points, appropriate for use in regulatory risk assessment and the proposed MRLs, are presented. Missing information identified as being required by the regulatory framework is listed. Concerns are reported where identified.

The article presents the results of a long-term experiment conducted between 2015 and 2024 within an organic farming system (non-certified). The study focused on the influence of two types of crop rotation (one including perennial legume-grass mixtures and the other including annual legume-grass mixtures), as well as the effect of organo-mineral fertilization expressed through carry-over impact, on soil water reserves and yield of winter barley grown after grain corn under zero tillage conditions. The study analyzed two treatments: unfertilized and fertilized, without the use of plant protection products during the entire experimental period. Soil water reserves were determined down to a depth of 200 cm both in spring (at the regeneration of vegetation) and after harvest, in order to evaluate water use efficiency under conservation soil tillage conditions. The results indicate that crop rotations with annual legume-grass mixtures (vetch+oat) ensured higher grain yields, exceeding by 1.16-1.21 t/ha those obtained in rotations with perennial species (alfalfa+ryegrass), independently of fertilization. The residual effect of organo-mineral fertilization was limited and not statistically significant. The highest yields were obtained in years characterized by a moderate rainfall regime. The evolution of soil water reserves reflects the complex interaction between crop rotation structure, rainfall, and fertilization. The differences between the variants with perennial legume-grass mixtures and the annual legume-grass mixtures are significant, and the influence of fertilization varies depending on the year and the soil depth analyzed. The integration of vetch+oat mixture into the crop rotation system promotes efficient use of available moisture and high productivity in favorable thermal conditions, while crop rotations with alfalfa+ryegrass mixture can ensure a better resilience in dry years. The study provides a scientific basis for developing effective agroecological solutions aimed at the sustainable increase of winter barley yield, reduction of production costs, and mitigation of the negative effects of climate change on agricultural systems

Anthracnose disease, which attacks curly red chili, can be controlled with botanical plant extract pesticides; however, the liquid formulation is easily degraded, reducing its effectiveness. This study evaluated the efficacy of encapsulated Castor leaf extract against Colletotrichum sp. on curly red chili. The research was conducted from February to July 2025 at the Plant Protection Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta, and the encapsulation process was carried out at Pusat Studi Pangan dan Gizi Universitas Gadjah Mada. The method used was a completely randomized design, both in vitro and in vivo, with six treatments. Observation parameters included fungal colony diameter, percentage of inhibition, disease incidence, disease severity, Area Under the Disease Development Curve, and pesticide effectiveness. Observation data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance and followed by the Orthogonal Contrast Test at 5% significance level. In vitro assays demonstrated the highest effectiveness of the non-encapsulated extract at 1%. In contrast, in vivo evaluations showed that the encapsulated castor leaf extractdid not show a significant difference compared to the non-encapsulated extract in vivo . The efficacy of the 0.5% encapsulated extract was still lower than that of the synthetic fungicide Propineb 70%, yet it demonstrated considerable potential as an alternative for managing anthracnose in curly red chili.

Jasmonic acid (JA) is a signaling molecule that regulates plant development and defense processes. Several studies have shown that basal JA levels increase and stimulate plant protection systems when exposed to low temperatures. In grapevine, low temperatures contribute to both the onset and offset of bud dormancy. Our study is the first to explore JA levels and the expression of synthesis and signaling genes in dormant grapevine buds under the effects of low-temperature exposure. JA quantification was performed using HPLC, and gene expression analysis was performed using RT-qPCR after dormant buds were exposed to 600 and 900 chilling units (CUs). Here, we present evidence that CUs accumulation stimulates JA production and the expression of its signaling genes in dormant grapevine buds. From our findings, we conclude that the accumulation of 600 and 900 CUs rapidly activates the JA response by inducing the expression of its synthesis and signaling genes such as AOS, COI1, JAZ1 and VSP2 in dormant grapevine buds.

The intensive use of plant protection products (PPPs) is essential in modern agriculture to ensure food security. PPPs are complex formulations of active substances (ASs) and co-formulants, yet regulatory risk assessment primarily focuses on AS toxicity, often overlooking combined effects. This study assessed the toxicity of three commercial PPPs, their AS-mixtures, and a co-formulant using the in vitro HepaRG liver cell assay and the in vivo zebrafish embryo toxicity test (ZFET). Product 1 contained the AS Benzovindiflupyr (Benzo), and Product 2 contained Benzo and Prothioconazole (Pro). Product 3 contained Pro and Tebuconazole (Teb) and the co-formulant N,N-Dimethyldecanamide(DDA), which was singled out for further investigation. AS were tested in different concentration ranges from 0.03 to 105µmol/L in the ZFET and from 12.8 to 454.8µmol/L in HepaRG cells. AS-mixtures were tested from 0.06 to 50µmol AS/L (ZFET) and from7.7to 312.0µmol AS/L (HepaRG). PPPs were tested from 0.02 to 29.8µmol AS/L (ZFET) and from2.9to312.0µmol AS/L (HepaRG). PPPs were either more or as toxic as their respective AS-mixtures. In the ZFET, Products 1 and 2 showed similar toxicity to their AS-mixtures, while Product 3 showed a fourfold increase. In HepaRG cells, Product 1 was four times and Product 3 three times more toxic than their mixtures. Concentration addition models underestimated observed effects, particularly for Product 3, where co-formulants increased internal AS concentrations in zebrafish embryos. These findings underscore the need for whole mixture-based risk assessment for selected PPPs and support using integrated in vitro/in vivo approaches. Our study highlights the need for holistic PPP evaluation to improve safety assessments and regulatory strategies.

Wheat, as a staple food and a major source of food to a significant number of the population, is at the centre stage in Indian agricultural practice. It is among the highly grown crops in the nation especially in the northern and central plains. In spite of the many years of growth, many farmers are unable to fully understand better wheat production methods and the management systems of new high-yielding varieties. This knowledge gap usually negates productivity and denies farmers to exploit the full potential of modern wheat farming. The current research was conducted to determine the extent of awareness and knowledge among the wheat farmer in the Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh in the central plains. The ex post facto research design was to be used and 120 random farmers in five villages were chosen using primary data through a structured interview schedule that had been previously tested. An overall knowledge index was established to determine the level of knowledge of farmers regarding the recommended technology of wheat production, which included some basic practices, including land preparation, seed selection, sowing techniques, nutrient management, irrigation, weed control and plant protection, harvesting and storage. The results showed that most of the interviewees (61.66) had an intermediate amount of knowledge pertaining to the recommended practice of wheat production. Farmers who possessed a high degree of knowledge (24.16%), and low degree of knowledge (14.16%) were followed respectively. Despite the relatively higher awareness of the farmers on managing irrigation, field preparation, and post harvest storage methods, these farmers had serious gaps in other fields such as seed selection, the utilization of superior varieties, and methods of protecting the plants. Lack of proper understanding of pest and disease control and lack of proper selection of seed can directly influence the establishment of crops, stability of yield and profitability of a farm. These findings demonstrate the disparity in the availability of technical knowledge among the wheat farmers and emphasise the importance of extension services in filling these gaps. Specific extension programs, field trials, training, and capacity building programs are needed to make farmers know more about scientific wheat production methods. The importance should be given to seed quality, selection of varieties, and combined pest and disease management. By enhancing farmer-extension relationships and encouraging participatory learning styles, this can enable the farmers to embrace better technologies, thus leading to increased productivity, sustainability, and food security in the area.

In this study, we investigated the bioaccumulation of 17 heavy metals—titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, arsenic, selenium, molybdenum, antimony, cadmium, tin, mercury, and lead—in the liver and kidney tissues of the least weasel, based on samples (n = 129) collected from adjacent intensive agricultural environments in Hungary and Austria. To explore the structure of the bioaccumulation data, principal component analysis (PCA) was performed. The PCA score plot based on national-level elemental profiles revealed no differentiation between Austria and Hungary. In contrast, a clear and unambiguous distinction was observed between the two examined tissues within individuals for Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Zn, Se, Mo, Cd, and Hg (p < 0.001), as well as for Pb (p < 0.05). The biological relevance of the accumulation results was adjusted using the MCID approach. As heavy metal accumulation in the least weasel has not yet been investigated, our results could only be compared with concentrations reported for predatory mammals occurring in similar habitats. Based on the relevant literature, we highlight predominantly anthropogenic exposure pathways affecting agroecosystems—organic and mineral fertilizers, plant protection products, wastewater, and fossil fuels—which underscore the necessity of regular biomonitoring studies in agricultural landscapes.

The revised 2023 European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) guidance on the risk assessment of plant protection products on bees introduced a major change in the statistical evaluation of higher tier studies, replacing difference testing with the equivalence testing approach. This paper evaluates several statistical models for equivalence testing of colony strength endpoints in honey bee semi-field studies, including a t-test, a two-way ANOVA, and a linear-mixed-effects model incorporating an autoregressive (AR) structure. Using a range of simulated scenarios, model performance was compared to determine suitability and the likely level of replication needed to conclude a low risk of a test substance with a true effect size of <10% reduction in colony strength. The linear mixed-effects model with AR structure and baseline adjustment offered the highest statistical power among the tested approaches. In all simulated scenarios, achieving 80% power to conclude equivalence required substantially more replication than the minimum of three replicates recommended in the EPPO (2010) test guideline. Under the best-case scenario, a minimum of seven replicates was needed when the true effect size was 0, whereas effects close to the equivalence margin (a true 9% reduction) required extremely large sample sizes, up to 612 replicates, to achieve sufficient power. Potential modifications to the study design to reduce replication needs were also explored. Reducing initial inter-colony variability alone did not meaningfully decrease required sample sizes, whereas increasing temporal correlation among repeated observations improved power and lowered replication requirements. Nevertheless, it is questioned whether the large numbers of replicates illustrated here are manageable in a practical study setup. Caution is needed during the implementation of the equivalence approach for regulatory evaluation until applicants and regulatory bodies better understand if such studies can be feasibly designed and conducted to demonstrate acceptable risk against the specific protection goals.

Purpose. Study of biotechnological potential of strains of the BIOTROF company collection using whole-genome NGS sequencing. Material and methods. The genome of 6 bacterial strains of the genera Bacillus, Lactobacillus and Streptococcus from the collection of BIOTROF LLC (St. Petersburg) was analyzed. Bioinformatics data analysis included processing in software packages of tools and databases RAST, KEGG Pathway, antiSMASH 6.0, Norine, CAZy, PHASTER, VirulenceFinder and ResFinder. Results. The analysis showed that the studied strains had genes associated with the synthesis of a large number of antimicrobial substances of various natures and spectrums of action, enzymes, vitamins, amino acids, genes of resistance to aggressive environmental factors and other properties that determine the high potential of their application in various industries. The use of strains of the genus Bacillus and Enterococcus may be more preferable for the production of biopreparations for plant growing (stimulation of plant growth and protection, bioremediation) and animal husbandry (regulation of the gastrointestinal microbiome, increased immunity, detoxification, increased availability of nutrients) due to a wider range of genes associated with adaptation, enzymatic activity, antimicrobial protection, synthesis of vitamins and amino acids. Lactobacillus plantarum 600, Bacillus subtilis 111, Bacillus mucilaginosus 159 in the genome have determinants of osmotolerance and synthesis of antimicrobial compounds, which determines their potential as preservatives for feed, and Streptococcus thermophilus L has genes for the synthesis of exopolysaccharides necessary for the production of fermented milk products. The genome of all the studied strains did not contain elements that contribute to the formation of toxic and virulent properties of the strains. Conclusion. The studied strains have been shown to have high potential for use in crop production, livestock farming and the food industry.

Precise identification of early peanut leaf spot is strategically significant for safeguarding oilseed supplies and reducing pesticide reliance. However, general-purpose detectors face severe domain adaptation bottlenecks in unstructured field environments due to small feature dissipation, physical occlusion, and class imbalance. To address this, this study constructs a dataset spanning two phenological cycles and proposes POD-YOLO, a physics-aware and dynamics-optimized lightweight framework. Anchored on the YOLOv10n architecture and adhering to a “data-centric” philosophy, the framework optimizes the parameter convergence path via a synergistic “Augmentation-Loss-Optimization” mechanism: (1) Input Stage: A Physical Domain Reconstruction (PDR) module is introduced to simulate physical occlusion, blocking shortcut learning and constructing a robust feature space; (2) Loss Stage: A Loss Manifold Reshaping (LMR) mechanism is established utilizing dual-branch constraints to suppress background gradients and enhance small target localization; and (3) Optimization Stage: A Decoupled Dynamic Scheduling (DDS) strategy is implemented, integrating AdamW with cosine annealing to ensure smooth convergence on small-sample data. Experimental results demonstrate that POD-YOLO achieves a 9.7% precision gain over the baseline and 83.08% recall, all while maintaining a low computational cost of 8.4 GFLOPs. This study validates the feasibility of exploiting the potential of lightweight architectures through optimization dynamics, offering an efficient paradigm for edge-based intelligent plant protection.

Design-Directed Preparation of Cu–Cu ₂ O–CuO/Carbon Composite for Plant Protection and Growth

One Health perspective: an integrated in-silico approach to assess the environmental fate of pesticides, the exposure of aquatic and soil organisms and the risks for human health.

Parasitic nematodes in crops are a serious threat in worldwide agricultural production. The concerns regarding the environmental and toxicological risks associated with the usage of chemical substances encourage the pursuit of more environmentally friendly alternatives to control phytopathogenic nematodes. It's been considered viable to employ biological control agents, like bacteria, which besides having mechanisms that can control nematodes are also growth promoters for plants. This review's goal is to broaden the comprehension over bacterial agent mechanisms to suppress nematodes population and its phosphorus solubilization capability. Bacteria have antagonist interactions capable of producing metabolites, increasing the systemic resistance to plants and space competition. Chemical compounds produced by bacteria can mineralize organic phosphorus from the soil and supply it for plant adsorption. Rhizospheric bacteria have synergic action to improve growth and plant protection. This review's approach aims to contribute to the understanding of rhizobacterial potential, which dual action in vegetative growth and as nematophagus agents, makes them key tools for a sustainable management of phytopathogenic nematodes. This perspective opens the possibility to include these microorganisms and their metabolites in innovative plans for agricultural management, which can respond to productivity demand and climate change challenges.

To mitigate the ecological risks of trifluralin (TFL) from volatilization, photolysis, and leaching, a stimuli-responsive composite, TFL/CMC-GEL/MIL-101(Fe), was developed by encapsulating MIL-101(Fe) within a carboxymethyl cellulose-gelatin semi-interpenetrating hydrogel. The composite enhanced light stability of TFL by 1.5 times, reduced leaching by 17.8%, and extended soil retention beyond 14 days, minimizing groundwater contamination. In addition, the herbicidal activity of TFL/CMC-GEL/MIL-101(Fe) against Portulaca oleracea L. and Setaria viridis (L.) P. Beauv. were 95% and 94%, respectively, which was equivalent to TFL technical. Meanwhile, this herbicidal delivery system markedly enhanced crop safety, with rice seed germination rising from 13% under TFL technical alone to 36%. The dual-network design enables on-demand herbicide release by integrating MIL-101(Fe)-mediated protection with hydrogel-based stimuli responsiveness, effectively mitigating herbicide migration in the environment and offering a sustainable plant protection platform.

Tomato fruit worm, Helicoverpa. armigera (Noctuidae: Lepidoptera), has been identified as the most harmful and destructive insect pest of tomato crop. Mass rearing of this insect is necessary to obtain enough culture for conducting different bioassays i.e., to screen insecticides as tools for insect pest management under laboratory conditions. For this purpose, five artificial diets were prepared by substituting basic ingredients as flour of chickpea, mung bean, soybean, maize and common bean and tested for biological parameters of H. armigera compared with natural food i.e., okra fruit. The current study was conducted in the Laboratory of Plant Protection Division Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Peshawar, Pakistan. The investigations revealed that chickpea flour based-diet produced healthy larvae and pupae that completed development within the minimum duration of 12.7 and 10.5 days, respectively, while artificial diets based on maize and common bean flour increased larval and pupal duration up to 17.5 and 13.4 days, respectively. Likewise, the minimum and maximum larval length of full-grown larvae ranged from 34.2 to 29.8 mm was recorded on common bean flour-based diet and chickpea flour-based diet, respectively. Mortality of larvae was maximum (20%) on natural okra diet. However, mortality was minimum (4%) on chickpea flour-based diet. Percent male and female emergence was varied in all treatments. Apparently maximum adult emergence of 86% was achieved on natural diet, followed by chickpea (83%), soybean (80.3 %), common bean (78%), mung bean (82%) flour based artificial diets while minimum of 68% was recorded on maize flour-based diet. Longevity of adults ranged from 7.6 to 9.4 days in males and 10.2 to 13.3 days in females were recorded among all tested diets. Pre-oviposition, oviposition, postoviposition, fertility and fecundity were also found better in chickpea flour based artificial diet. The male to female sex ratio obtained after feeding the larvae on different diets differ significantly and was found maximum (1:1.8) on chickpea and minimum (1:1.4) on common bean flour-based diet. Therefore, it is concluded from the findings that chickpea flour-based diet is very conducive to maintain good quality culture of H. armigera. Moreover, mung bean and soybean flour-based diets can also be used for successful rearing of H. armigera.

The bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae is an important pathogen that causes wilt leaf blight disease in rice (Oryza sativa L.), leading to a reduction in rice yield. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the potential of a surfactant complex composed of CO2 nanobubbles (CO2-NBs) coated with sorbitan monostearate (Sp60) and a crude extract of Trichoderma polyalthiae as active ingredient delivery agents for controlling leaf blight under both laboratory and greenhouse conditions. The addition of Sp60 and crude extract as surfactants significantly influenced the size uniformity and stability of CO2-NBs at the nano level, with the nanobubbles remaining intact in water for up to 14 days. In addition, CO2-NBs with crude extract and Sp60 reduced the severity of wilt, with an minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 64 µg/mL and an minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) value of 128 µg/mL, and inhibited the disease by more than 50% in greenhouse conditions. Therefore, this study presents a creative and eco-friendly approach to managing bacterial leaf blight in rice that is innovative and relevant to sustainable plant protection.