Agricultural Plants Research Articles

Analysis of Fuzzy Mamdani Implementation in Decision Making of Agricultural Plant Types for Farmers

Analysis of Fuzzy Mamdani Implementation in Decision Making of Agricultural Plant Types for Farmers

Effect of microplastics used in agronomic practices on agricultural soil properties and plant functions: Potential contribution to the circular economy of rural areas.

The extensive use of plastic materials and their improper disposal results in high amounts of plastic waste in the environment. Aging of plastics leads to their breakdown into smaller particles, such as microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics. This research investigates plastics used in agricultural practices as they contribute to MP pollution in agricultural soils. The distribution and characteristics of MPs in agricultural soils were evaluated. In addition, the effect of MPs on soil properties, the relationship between MPs and metals in soil, the effect of MPs on the fate of pesticides in agricultural soils and the influence of MPs on plant growth were analysed, discussing legume, cereal and vegetable crops. Finally, a brief description of the main methods of chemical analysis and identification of MPs is presented. This study will contribute to a better understanding of MPs in agricultural soils and their effect on the soil-plant system. The changes induced by MPs in soil parameters can lead to potential benefits as it is possible to increase the availability of micronutrients and reduce plant uptake of toxic elements. Furthermore, although plastic pollution remains an emerging threat to soil ecosystems, their presence may result in benefits to agricultural soils, highlighting the principles of the circular economy.

On the use of PID control to improve the stability of the quad-rotor UAV

The recent development of drones has aroused great concern at home and abroad. For civil industry and agricultural plant protection industry, it can provide safer and more stable flight and improve production efficiency. For the exploration industry, the application of UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) will reduce unnecessary casualties. In places where damage is serious, UAV will bring accurate on-site information and data more quickly. It can make drones to replace people in high-risk operations, scientific and technological agricultural development and survey more stable and safe; For the military industry, it can be applied to different combat environments to increase its stability. In recent years, although UAV combat and reconnaissance are not the mainstream combat methods, UAV has become or an indispensable part. Improving the stability of UAV will also increase the military combat capability, so UAV has good development prospects and economic benefits. Nowadays, PID (Proportion Integration Differentiation) control plays an indispensable role in quad-rotor UAV. How to use different types of PID control combined with existing intelligent technology to improve the stability of quad-rotor UAV is a hot issue in recent years. This paper summarizes the previous research results in this field, briefly describes the motion mechanism of four-rotor UAV, wind disturbance resistance mechanism, the action principle and contract between traditional PID control and fuzzy PID control, as well as the effect of intelligent algorithm on PID control addition, and puts forward suggestions for PID control algorithm of the future UAV.

Enhancing the Luminescence of La3Mg2NbO9:Mn4+ Phosphor through H3BO3 and Charge Compensator Co-Doping for Use in Plant Growth Lamps.

Mn4+-doped red-light-emitting phosphors have become a research hotspot that can effectively enhance photosynthesis and promote morphogenesis in plants. Herein, the red phosphor La3Mg2NbO9:Mn4+ was synthesized through the solid-state reaction method. The effects of adding H3BO3 and a charge compensator R+ (R = Li, Na, K) on the crystal structure, morphology, quantum efficiency, and luminous performance of the La3Mg2NbO9:Mn4+ phosphor were systematically analyzed, respectively. The results showed that adding H3BO3 flux and a charge compensator improved the quantum efficiency and luminescence intensity. The emission intensity of the phosphor was enhanced about 5.9 times when Li+ was used as the charge compensator, while it was enhanced about 240% with the addition of H3BO3 flux. Remarkably, it was also found that the addition of H3BO3 flux and a charge compensator simultaneously improved the thermal stability at 423 K from 47.3% to 68.9%. The prototype red LED fabricated using the La3Mg2NbO9:Mn4+,H3BO3,Li+ phosphor exhibited a perfect overlap with the phytochrome absorption band for plant growth. All of these results indicate that the La3Mg2NbO9:Mn4+,H3BO3,Li+ phosphor has great potential for use in agricultural plant lighting.

A multi-scale feature fusion neural network for multi-class disease classification on the maize leaf images

Maize is a globally important cereal crop, however, maize leaf disease is one of the most common and devastating diseases that afflict it. Artificial intelligence methods face challenges in identifying and classifying maize leaf diseases due to variations in image quality, similarity among diseases, disease severity, limited dataset availability, and limited interpretability. To address these challenges, we propose a residual-based multi-scale network (MResNet) for classifying multi-type maize leaf diseases from maize images. MResNet consists of two residual subnets with different scales, enabling the model to detect diseases in maize leaf images at different scales. We further utilize a hybrid feature weight optimization method to optimize and fuse the feature mapping weights of two subnets. We validate MResNet on a maize leaf diseases dataset. MResNet achieves 97.45% accuracy. The performance of MResNet surpasses other state-of-the-art methods. Various experiments and two additional datasets confirm the generalization performance of our model. Furthermore, thermodynamic diagram analysis increases the interpretability of the model. This study provides technical support for the disease classification of agricultural plants.

Global market trends of grain and industrial crops

Analysing the dynamics of cultivation and consumption of major agricultural crops worldwide is crucial for understanding trends and planning for sustainable food production. It is important to have an integrated approach that involves collaboration between scientists, and farmers to implement sustainable practices. The analysis of global market trends of grain and industrial crops is the goal of paper. Methods of analysis, synthesis, generalisation, forecasting and databases of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations were used in the process of work. Such crops as wheat, corn, sunflower and flax were chosen for the study, because they are the major food needs of the world population. They are grown for grain (seeds), and flax is a plant of complex use, in which both the stem and the grain are important. They provide essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals that are crucial for human health. Cultivating these crops has been integral to the food security and economic stability of many countries, supporting large populations. As a result of the conducted research, it was found that India, China, the USA and Canada remain the largest producers of wheat in the world, but only India increases the cultivated area. A global trend to increase corn production has been identified. It was established that Ukraine remains an important producer of sunflower seeds. In addition, a gradual increase in interest in flax was noted. Although the increase in cultivated area can help to meet the growing demand for food products, the problem of using the agricultural plant residues also increases proportionally. This is an international problem, so its solution is of global importance. It has been founded that current research is focused on improving agricultural plant residues processing to obtain goods of various applications. The new knowledge received in the paper will allow working on the improvement of processing wheat, corn, sunflower and flax, which will be able to adequately meet the food needs of the growing world population without harming the environment

PKM Desa Doplang Kecamatan Bawen Kabupaten Semarang

The Community Service activities that have been carried out aim to improve the welfare of the people of Doplang Village by optimizing all potential, both natural resources and human resources, to be integrated into the Edupark Agricultural Plantation Tourism Object. This term was chosen because the tourist village that will be created will not only rely on natural potential but also has educational value for tourists who visit this tourist village. There are 3 solutions offered by PGRI University Semarang in the framework of overcoming the problems faced by the Doplang village community, including training in making processed tuberose flowers into healthy preservative-free food, training in MSME financial management and training in Organizational Management, Tourism Management, Tourism Management SOPs , Layout (Master Plan) of Tourist Villages. The results of this program are providing theoretical provisions related to the cultivation of tuberose plants, providing theoretical and practical provisions related to food processing from tuberose plants, providing materials and workshops related to strategies for making tourism products along with tips for their development, and providing theoretical provisions related to Tourism Law.

Genome biology and evolution of mating-type loci in four cereal rust fungi.

Permanent heterozygous loci, such as sex- or mating-compatibility regions, often display suppression of recombination and signals of genomic degeneration. In Basidiomycota, two distinct loci confer mating compatibility. These loci encode homeodomain (HD) transcription factors and pheromone receptor (Pra)-ligand allele pairs. To date, an analysis of genome level mating-type (MAT) loci is lacking for obligate biotrophic basidiomycetes in the Pucciniales, an order containing serious agricultural plant pathogens. Here, we focus on four species of Puccinia that infect oat and wheat, including P. coronata f. sp. avenae, P. graminis f. sp. tritici, P. triticina and P. striiformis f. sp. tritici. MAT loci are located on two separate chromosomes supporting previous hypotheses of a tetrapolar mating compatibility system in the Pucciniales. The HD genes are multiallelic in all four species while the PR locus appears biallelic, except for P. graminis f. sp. tritici, which potentially has multiple alleles. HD loci are largely conserved in their macrosynteny, both within and between species, without strong signals of recombination suppression. Regions proximal to the PR locus, however, displayed signs of recombination suppression and genomic degeneration in the three species with a biallelic PR locus. Our observations support a link between recombination suppression, genomic degeneration, and allele diversity of MAT loci that is consistent with recent mathematical modelling and simulations. Finally, we confirm that MAT genes are expressed during the asexual infection cycle, and we propose that this may support regulating nuclear maintenance and pairing during infection and spore formation. Our study provides insights into the evolution of MAT loci of key pathogenic Puccinia species. Understanding mating compatibility can help predict possible combinations of nuclear pairs, generated by sexual reproduction or somatic recombination, and the potential evolution of new virulent isolates of these important plant pathogens.

Soil Nutrient Based Mobile App for Crop-wise Fertilizer Recommendation: A “SoilNutro” Application

Agriculture is the most important occupation for most Indian families in India. A relatively larger Indian population lives in rural areas. The majority of rural people depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the government and information technology to provide relevant information related to agricultural technologies for better crop production so that farmers can feed India's growing population. Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth. The farmer needs to know the soil fertility of soil of their farm holding that soil is either capable of better crop production or not. Therefore, it is very necessary to know soil health for increasing crop production and reduce the cost of production. The available nutrient content is an important parameter to determine soil health. Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (k) are major nutrients that are needed in the crop field with large amounts in the form of fertilizers. In the technology front, we all are aware that the mobile phones have become one of the major sources of communication technologies in developed and developing countries in the last few decades. With the realization of this fact about the use of smartphones, the development of a mobile application called ‘SoilNutro’ has been done. SoilNutro app has been developed to achieve the nutrient status of a specific location of users. It also recommends the combination of fertilizer doses required for crops based on current nutrient status for efficient use of various fertilizers. ‘SoilNutro’ app has been developed using minimum SDK version of API 24: Android 7 on the android platform. The developed Android application 'SoilNutro' will be of great use to provide farmers with a specific location of nutrients and recommend crop-wise fertilizer based on the available nutrient.

Analysis of the Physico-Chemical Properties of Bean Seeds after Three Years of Digestate Use

Taking into consideration its physico-chemical properties, digestate should be used primarily as a fertiliser. The possible ways of using digestate as a fertiliser in agriculture were identified, and digestate collected from an agricultural biogas plant was tested for its macroelement and heavy metal content. The research was conducted on Haplic LUVISOLS soil according FAO classification. The area of the land plots was 75 m2. All measurements were carried out in ten replicates. Seed yield was determined at 2.6 t ha−1. The thousand-seed weight was similar in the three growing seasons, and averaged 171.49 g to 184.44 g for the three years under analysis. For the control object, the average thousand-seed weight from the three years of the experiment was 168.56 g. This parameter was significantly influenced by the year of analysis. The highest protein content was obtained in 2022 (an average of 20.3%), which was significantly higher than in 2021 (20.13%) and 2020 (20.12%). The analysis showed an increase in the average value for the three harvest years regarding the fat content of the multiflora bean seeds depending on the post-harvest digestate dose, ranging from 0.47% to 0.61%. In the control object, the average fat content for the three harvest years under analysis was 0.41%. The year under analysis had no significant impact on fat content. A positive correlation was found between the digestate dose and protein, fat, and carbohydrate contents per 100 g of beans. Increasing the dose resulted in statistically significant differences from the lower dose. The obtained results show an increase in macroelement content depending on the digestate dose applied. The average carbohydrate content per 100 g of beans for the three years under analysis ranged from 49.78 g to 54.01 g, while the calcium content per 100 g of beans ranged from 109.23 mg to 124.00 mg. In contrast, the magnesium content in 100 g of bean ranged from 129.91 g to 137.01 mg, the phosphorus content in 100 g of bean from 366.99 mg to 387.00 mg, and the potassium content in 100 g of bean from 1341.20 mg to 1394.06 mg. Statistical analysis revealed statistically significant differences except for potassium, where no differences were found for the two highest doses. In addition, no differences were found in the average phosphorus and potassium content between the years under analysis. The study showed an increase in yield depending on the amount of digestate applied. The highest dose used in the experiment provided the most nitrogen and macronutrients, with a positive effect on yield velocity, protein and fat content, micronutrients, and macronutrients in beans.

The Impact of Innovative Research Methods for Enhancing Agricultural Plants for Sustainable Development in The Future

In the pursuit of sustainable agricultural practices, the role of innovative research methods in enhancing agricultural plants is paramount. This abstract delineates the profound impact of such methodologies on sustainable development in the foreseeable future. Cutting-edge techniques such as genomic sequencing, molecular markers, and genome editing technologies revolutionize plant breeding by identifying and manipulating genes responsible for desirable traits, including disease resistance and drought tolerance. Omics technologies, encompassing transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, provide comprehensive insights into gene expression patterns and metabolic pathways, thereby facilitating targeted breeding strategies aimed at enhancing plant resilience and productivity. High-throughput phenotyping platforms enable rapid and accurate characterization of plant traits, empowering breeders to select superior varieties with enhanced performance under diverse environmental conditions. Concurrently, bioinformatics tools and data analytics play a pivotal role in deciphering complex genomic datasets, aiding in the identification of key genes and regulatory networks governing important agronomic traits. Biotechnology and synthetic biology approaches offer novel avenues for genetic manipulation, allowing for the design and engineering of plants with optimized traits, such as improved nutritional content and stress tolerance. Additionally, the integration of climate modeling with systems biology provides valuable insights into the interaction between genotype and environment, facilitating the development of climate-resilient crop varieties tailored to specific agroecosystems. Through the synergistic application of these innovative research methods, agricultural scientists and breeders can accelerate the pace of crop improvement while simultaneously promoting sustainability by fostering resilience, resource efficiency, and environmental stewardship. This transformative paradigm in agricultural research promises to address the complex challenges of food security, climate change, and environmental degradation, thereby laying the foundation for a more sustainable and resilient agricultural future.

Evaluating Growth and Physiological Responses of a Medicinal Plant Phyla nodiflora to Salinity

Phyla nodiflora is a valuable medicinal plant growing in coastal areas, hypothesizing its adaptability to salinity; however, it has not been investigated. This study, for the first time, elucidated responses in the growth of the shoots and its physiology to different soil salinity of 50–400 mM NaCl. The data showed that the shoot’s dry biomass was not affected by the salinity levels up to 100 mM, and it only decreased 33.50–56.33% compared to the control under 200–400 mM NaCl, indicating that P. nodiflora is a salt-tolerant plant that could survive under high salinity. In addition, the plant also had physiological responses which indicated its salt-induced injuries and adaptation to the salt stress. The chlorophyll a content was increased while the chlorophyll b remained unchanged under the salt stress. The proline and salt accumulation increased under the salinity, but the K+ and NO3− accumulation decreased. Moreover, increases in malondialdehyde and electrolyte leakage were observed, indicating salt-induced membrane damages. These responses suggested that the plant might evolve adaptive mechanisms to salinity. Our findings are useful information for further research in order to elucidate the salt-tolerant mechanisms and develop this plant for saline agriculture.

High-Precision Detection for Sandalwood Trees via Improved YOLOv5s and StyleGAN

An algorithm model based on computer vision is one of the critical technologies that are imperative for agriculture and forestry planting. In this paper, a vision algorithm model based on StyleGAN and improved YOLOv5s is proposed to detect sandalwood trees from unmanned aerial vehicle remote sensing data, and this model has excellent adaptability to complex environments. To enhance feature expression ability, a CA (coordinate attention) module with dimensional information is introduced, which can both capture target channel information and keep correlation information between long-range pixels. To improve the training speed and test accuracy, SIOU (structural similarity intersection over union) is proposed to replace the traditional loss function, whose direction matching degree between the prediction box and the real box is fully considered. To achieve the generalization ability of the model, StyleGAN is introduced to augment the remote sensing data of sandalwood trees and to improve the sample balance of different flight heights. The experimental results show that the average accuracy of sandalwood tree detection increased from 93% to 95.2% through YOLOv5s model improvement; then, on that basis, the accuracy increased by another 0.4% via data generation from the StyleGAN algorithm model, finally reaching 95.6%. Compared with the mainstream lightweight models YOLOv5-mobilenet, YOLOv5-ghost, YOLOXs, and YOLOv4-tiny, the accuracy of this method is 2.3%, 2.9%, 3.6%, and 6.6% higher, respectively. The size of the training sandalwood tree model is 14.5 Mb, and the detection time is 17.6 ms. Thus, the algorithm demonstrates the advantages of having high detection accuracy, a compact model size, and a rapid processing speed, making it suitable for integration into edge computing devices for on-site real-time monitoring.

Investigation of resistance using STMS markers against Ascochyta blight in the chickpea varieties

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), a prominent legume plant, is an important agricultural plant that is widely grown both in Türkiye and around the world. Ascochyta blight, caused by the fungal phytopathogen Ascochyta rabiei, is one of the major causative agents responsible for yield reductions across the spectrum of chickpea diseases. The impact of diseases varies depending on crops, countries, seasons and cropping systems, and yield loss data collected under well-defined conditions is limited. It is noteworthy that this pathogen shows significant genetic diversity in Türkiye's agricultural environment. In light of this, this study aimed to conduct a research to determine the resistant/tolerant and susceptible genotypes of 34 certificated chickpea varieties grown in different regions of Türkiye by using Sequence Tagged Microsatellite Site (STMS) markers that are related to the genes that provide resistance against Ascochyta blight. The results obtained in this study showed that the primers Ta2, Ta146 and Ts54 used as STMS markers have distinctive features in providing highly effective results in the detection of resistant/tolerant and susceptible varieties of Ascochyta blight.

Seed Priming for Mitigating Salinity Stress Effects in Plants: A General Review

Salinity is a significant abiotic stressor that inflicts considerable harm on agricultural fields and plants. Factors such as global warming, improper irrigation practices, excessive fertilization, drainage issues, inappropriate tillage and cultivation methods contribute significantly to the emergence of salinity problems in agricultural lands. When faced with stressors, plants employ various mechanisms to ensure their survival. Consequently, salinity stress adversely affects seed germination, leads to stunted plant growth, reduces yield, results in the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), diminishes chlorophyll content, elevates proline levels, promotes the production of malondialdehyde (MDA) and impacts osmoprotectants like glycine betaine. Salt stress not only induces osmotic stress and ion toxicity but also disrupts plant nutrient uptake. Today, numerous approaches are available to mitigate the detrimental impacts of stressful conditions and one such method is seed priming, which encompasses various techniques. This review delves into the adverse effects of salinity on plants and examines the role of seed priming processes in ameliorating these harmful consequences.

Sap flow characteristics and water demand prediction of cash crop in hyper-arid areas

Crop sap flow is a critical indicator of crop water demand, and predicting its variation trend is essential for adjusting agricultural planting structure and managing water resource in hyper-arid areas. Presently, research on crop sap flow in hyper-arid areas faces limitations due to inadequate meteorological data and restricted monitoring duration, leading to imprecise assessments of environmental impacts on future crop sap flow. Consequently, this hinders effective irrigation scheduling and oasis sustainable development policy. This study analyzed the sap flow changes characteristics of two economic crops (red jujube and walnut) at different time scales in the oasis in the south of Tarim Basin from 2017 to 2021 and the relationship between four environmental factors (solar radiation, temperature, relative humidity and vapor pressure deficit) and the sap flow of red jujube and walnut. By using the Random Forest (RF) model and the future climate data, the sap flow of the two economic crops from 2020 to 2100 was predicted. The results showed that: (1) walnut had a longer daily peak sap flow duration compared to red jujube, whereas red jujube showed a longer monthly peak sap flow duration; (2) in hyper-arid areas, the moisture and temperature directly influenced crop sap flow, while other environmental factor affected these two factors; (3) with the temperature increases, the water demand of red jujube and walnut in Cele Oasis will exceed local water resources carrying capacity. To achieve sustainable development of oasis, it is vital to consider future climatic changes in planning the expansion and crop structure.

Copper-Containing Bionanocomposites Based on Natural Raw Arabinogalactan as Effective Vegetation Stimulators and Agents against Phytopathogens.

Novel copper-containing bionanocomposites based on the natural raw arabinogalactan have been obtained as universal effective agents against phytopathogen Clavibacter sepedonicus and development stimulants of agricultural plants. Thus, the use of such nanosystems offers a solution to the tasks set in biotechnology while maintaining high environmental standards using non-toxic, biocompatible, and biodegradable natural biopolymers. The physicochemical characteristics of nanocomposites were determined using a number of analytical methods (elemental analysis, transmission electron microscopy and spectroscopic parameters of electron paramagnetic resonance, UV-visible, etc.). The results of the study under the influence of the nanocomposites on the germination of soybean seeds (Glycine max L.) and the vegetation of potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) showed the best results in terms of biometric indicators. It is especially worth noting the pronounced influence of the nanocomposite on the development of the root system, and the increase in the mass of the potato root system reached 19%. It is also worth noting that the nanocomposites showed a stimulating effect on the antioxidant system and did not have a negative effect on the content of pigments in potato tissues. Moreover, the resulting bionanocomposite showed a pronounced antibacterial effect against the phytopathogenic bacterium. During the co-incubation of phytopathogen Clavibacter sepedonicus in the presence of the nanocomposite, the number of cells in the bacterial suspension decreased by up to 40% compared to that in the control, and a 10% decrease in the dehydrogenase activity of cells was also detected.

Pastorale urbana. Kampung Admiralty a Singapore e il mito del villaggio

The strategies for the construction of national identity devised by the Singaporean government in the years following independence as a British colony included the evocation of an ideal original landscape, epitomized both by the tropical forests that covered the archipelago of Singapore and by the productive landscape of rural villages, or kampung in Malay. The idealized representations of these two local landscapes were entrusted to the plants selected to shape the greening campaigns accompanying the massive urbanization process that rapidly transformed Singapore into a high-density metropolis. Evolving from that approach is Kampung Admiralty, a large contemporary multifunctional building crowned by roof gardens designed by Singapore-based architectural practice WOHA, with Henning Larsen Landscape as landscape consultant. The architectural and landscape architectural complex appears as a technological celebration of the rural landscape: while the botanical associations employed suggest the varied spaces and lively atmospheres of traditional villages with their distinctive mixture of agricultural, wild, and ornamental plants species, the introduction of nature-based solutions and plant communities promoting biodiversity adapt the operational role of tropical vegetation in sustaining the survival of the community that inhabited the kampung to the needs of the contemporary city.

ИНТЕНСИВНОСТЬ МОРФОГЕНЕЗА РЕГЕНЕРАНТОВ КАРТОФЕЛЯ ПРИ ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИИ ОСВЕЩЕНИЯ РАЗЛИЧНОГО СПЕКТРАЛЬНОГО СОСТАВА

The aim of research is to establish the optimal parameters of LED lighting for in vitro cultivation of meristem plants of different potato varieties in order to optimize the elements of the original potato seed production technology. Research was conducted in 2023 in the laboratory of agricultural plant biotechnology of the Samara Research Institute of Agriculture. The object of research was meristem plants of six potato varieties. The explants were grown on a Murashige-Skoog nutrient medium for 40 days using various sources of artificial LED lighting. The photoperiod duration was 16 hours, the air temperature was 22–24 °C, the relative humidity was 70–75 %. After 10, 20, 30 and 40 days of cultivation, the biometric para¬meters of the regenerants were measured – plant length and the number of internodes. When growing meristematic potato plants in vitro, lighting of different spectral composition had a positive effect on the growth and development of regenerants at different periods of their development. At the initial stages of vegetation, the maximum parameters of growth and development of regenerants were revealed when using white and combined lighting. By the end of the vegetation period, plants in the variant with red-violet spectrum lighting were characterized by a significantly higher length and number of internodes. A pronounced variety-specific response of meristematic plants to different lighting conditions was shown. During the entire exposure period, an increase in the share of the influence of the interaction of genotypic and environmental factors on the variability of plant length was noted. The interaction of factors was also decisive for the number of internodes in the first 30 days of vegetation. In the last decade of vegetation, the maximum contribution to the variability of the trait was made by the lighting factor. For practical use in ori¬ginal seed production of potatoes, individual selection of LED lighting parameters for each variety is recommended with a gradual increase in the red-violet spectrum after the tenth day of exposure.

Integrating cutting-edge plasma technology for environmentally friendly smart horticulture: A proteomics approach

In recent years, nonthermal plasma has emerged as an alternative to the harmful fertilizers that degrade the environment and are major concerns for sustainable agriculture. Plasma treatment has been shown to induce growth in agricultural plants. However, its effect on horticultural plants has not been analyzed yet. Moreover, the mechanism behind plasma-induced plant growth is poorly understood, especially at the protein level. This systematic research uses a nonthermal, dielectric barrier discharge plasma system for environmentally friendly seed germination and growth enhancement in a horticultural crop, Tagetus erecta (African Marigold). Analysis of physiological parameters showed beneficial effects of plasma treatment on T. erecta growth. Label-free quantitative proteome analysis identified 2517 unique protein groups, of which the abundance of 491 proteins was modulated by plasma treatment. Functional annotation of the identified proteins indicated an improved abundance of proteins associated with photosynthesis, energy metabolism, and ROS homeostasis in response to plasma treatment. Our study undoubtedly signifies that plasma is a more sustainable, promising, cost-effective, and advantageous tool that can be expanded as a powerful and effective means for plant growth and aesthetic horticulture production.