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Aim: Triticale is a well adaptable crop, tolerant of disease and abiotic stresses, and able to grow with good yields even in poor soil, thus representing a good choice to develop a new industrial agri-chain in Italy in a sustainability contest, to cope with its soil problems due to incoming desertification. Methods: Two triticale elite lines were grown in marginal lands in controlled field experiments. The lines were harvested at two different development stages, namely green mass and seeds, and suitable standard protocols were applied to test their potential to produce bioethanol in line with the emerging bioenergy processes. Results: The protocols applied were able to obtain bioethanol with a good yield from both feedstocks. In particular, very efficient fermentation kinetics was observed using seed feedstock, with a sharp curve between 15 h and 24 h, reaching 84% of the total alcohol obtained (final time 72 h). Conclusions: Therefore, the results of this research point to new sustainable potential for industrial applications of triticale crops in Italy. Furthermore, the high activity of the endogenous amylolytic enzymes, mainly α-amylase, and the high starch content suggest the potential use of triticale in other industrial applications, like the brewing industry.

This study investigates the fibers of tucum (Bactris setosa Mart.), a palm species native to the Atlantic Forest. The fibers manually extracted from tucum leaves were characterized to determine important properties that help with the recognition of the material. The fibers were also subjected to pre-bleaching to evaluate their dyeing potential. The extraction and characterization of these fibers revealed excellent properties, making this material suitable not only for manufacturing high-quality textile products but also for various technical and engineering applications. The characterization techniques included SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), TGA (Thermogravimetric Analysis), and tensile strength tests. These analyses showed that tucum fibers possess desirable properties, such as high tensile strength, with values comparable to linen but with a much finer diameter. The fibers also demonstrated good affinity for dyes, comparable to cotton fibers. An SEM analysis revealed a rough surface, with superficial phytoliths contributing to their excellent mechanical strength. FTIR presented a spectrum compatible with cellulose, confirming its main composition and highly hydrophilic nature. The dyeing tests indicated that tucum fibers can be successfully dyed with industrial direct dyes, showing good color yield and uniformity. This study highlights the potential of tucum fibers as a renewable, biodegradable, and sustainable alternative for the transformation industry, promoting waste valorization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea is an important industrial crop. It is the second most popular among all the drinks. The drying operation in the tea industry fulfills the aim of enzyme inactivation and reducing the moisture content to the desired level. The energy consumption in drying operation in the tea industry is mostly in the form of thermal energy. Drying consumes a greater amount of energy than other processes in tea industries. Thermal energy needs are met mainly through fossil fuels. Renewable energy sources such as bioenergy and solar energy are also being adopted but at the minute level. Further, addressing problems such as stewing and case hardening (arises due to improper drying conditions) during drying is necessary to avoid quality loss. In this study, mass transfer modeling of drying of crush tear curl (CTC) tea particles is conducted considering natural convection around the tea particle. A finite difference method with an explicit scheme is used to solve the equations for mass transfer modeling of drying. The effect of drying air temperatures on moisture content, moisture ratio, and drying rates are computed. Drying air temperatures such as 80, 90, and 100°C have not shown effective drying. However, drying at air temperatures of 110, 120, and 130°C are recommended for drying times of 1500 s, 1200 s–1500 s, and 1200 s, respectively. Additionally, the effect of the size of the particles is studied and the lower size of tea particles is recommended for better drying characteristics. The current drying model can be used for single tray/conveyor dryers and indirect natural convection single tray solar dryer. Practical applications: The present research work demonstrates the important information for the hot air drying of CTC tea particle in single tray dryer. The drying modeling results can be used to set the proper temperature level of drying air being sent inside the dryer to avoid the under and over‐drying of tea particle and achieve the desired level of moisture content in the tea particle. Thus, the present study helps in deciding drying conditions such as drying temperature, drying duration for CTC tea particle in single tray dryer, slow speed conveyor dryer, and also in indirect natural convection single tray solar dryer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agroforestry is often seen as a sustainable land-use system for agricultural production providing ecosystem services. Intercropping with food crops leads to equal or higher productivity than monoculture and results in food production for industry and subsistence. Low rubber price and low labor productivity in smallholdings have led to a dramatic conversion of rubber plantations to more profitable crops. The literature analysis performed in this paper aimed at better understanding the ins and outs that could make rubber-based agroforestry more attractive for farmers. A comprehensive search of references was conducted in March 2023 using several international databases and search engines. A Zotero library was set up consisting of 415 scientific references. Each reference was carefully read and tagged in several categories: cropping system, country, main tree species, intercrop type, intercrop product, level of product use, discipline of the study, research topic, and intercrop species. Of the 232 journal articles, 141 studies were carried out on rubber agroforestry. Since 2011, the number of studies per year has increased. Studies on rubber-based agroforestry systems are performed in most rubber-producing countries, in particular in Indonesia, Thailand, China, and Brazil. These studies focus more or less equally on perennials (forest species and fruit trees), annual intercrops, and mixed plantations. Of the 47 annual crops associated with rubber in the literature, 20 studies dealt with rice, maize, banana, and cassava. Agronomy is the main discipline in the literature followed by socio-economy and then ecology. Only four papers are devoted to plant physiology and breeding. The Discussion Section has attempted to analyze the evolution of rubber agroforestry research, progress in the selection of food crop varieties adapted to agroforestry systems, and to draw some recommendations for rubber-based agroforestry systems associated with food crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the fibers of tucum (Bactris setosa Mart.), a palm species native to the Atlantic Forest. The fibers manually extracted from tucum leaves were characterized to determine important properties that help with the recognition of the material. The fibers were also subjected to pre-bleaching to evaluate their dyeing potential. The extraction and characterization of these fibers revealed excellent properties, making this material suitable not only for manufacturing high-quality textile products but also for various technical and engineering applications. The characterization techniques included SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), TGA (Thermogravimetric Analysis), and tensile strength tests. These analyses showed that tucum fibers possess desirable properties, such as high tensile strength, with values comparable to linen but with a much finer diameter. The fibers also demonstrated good affinity for dyes, comparable to cotton fibers. An SEM analysis revealed a rough surface, with superficial phytoliths contributing to their excellent mechanical strength. FTIR presented a spectrum compatible with cellulose, confirming its main composition and highly hydrophilic nature. The dyeing tests indicated that tucum fibers can be successfully dyed with industrial direct dyes, showing good color yield and uniformity. This study highlights the potential of tucum fibers as a renewable, biodegradable, and sustainable alternative for the transformation industry, promoting waste valorization.

Agroforestry is often seen as a sustainable land-use system for agricultural production providing ecosystem services. Intercropping with food crops leads to equal or higher productivity than monoculture and results in food production for industry and subsistence. Low rubber price and low labor productivity in smallholdings have led to a dramatic conversion of rubber plantations to more profitable crops. The literature analysis performed in this paper aimed at better understanding the ins and outs that could make rubber-based agroforestry more attractive for farmers. A comprehensive search of references was conducted in March 2023 using several international databases and search engines. A Zotero library was set up consisting of 415 scientific references. Each reference was carefully read and tagged in several categories: cropping system, country, main tree species, intercrop type, intercrop product, level of product use, discipline of the study, research topic, and intercrop species. Of the 232 journal articles, 141 studies were carried out on rubber agroforestry. Since 2011, the number of studies per year has increased. Studies on rubber-based agroforestry systems are performed in most rubber-producing countries, in particular in Indonesia, Thailand, China, and Brazil. These studies focus more or less equally on perennials (forest species and fruit trees), annual intercrops, and mixed plantations. Of the 47 annual crops associated with rubber in the literature, 20 studies dealt with rice, maize, banana, and cassava. Agronomy is the main discipline in the literature followed by socio-economy and then ecology. Only four papers are devoted to plant physiology and breeding. The Discussion Section has attempted to analyze the evolution of rubber agroforestry research, progress in the selection of food crop varieties adapted to agroforestry systems, and to draw some recommendations for rubber-based agroforestry systems associated with food crops.

Egyptian cotton is one of the most important commodities for the Egyptian economy and is renowned globally for its quality, which is largely assessed and graded by manual inspection. This grading has several drawbacks, including significant labor requirements, low inspection efficiency, and influence from inspection conditions such as light and human subjectivity. This work proposes a low-cost solution to replace manual inspection with classification models to grade Egyptian cotton lint using images captured by a charge-coupled device camera. While this method has been evaluated for classifying US and Chinese upland cotton staples, it has not been tested on Egyptian cotton, which has unique characteristics and grading requirements. Furthermore, the methodology to develop these classification models has been expanded to include image processing techniques that remove the influence of trash on color measurements and extract features that capture the intra-sample variance of the cotton samples. Three different supervised machine learning algorithms were evaluated: artificial neural networks; random forest; and support vector machines. The highest accuracy models (82.13–90.21%) used a random forest algorithm. The models' accuracy was limited by the human error associated with labeling the cotton samples used to develop the classification models. Unsupervised machine learning methods, including k -means clustering, hierarchical clustering, and Gaussian mixture models, were used to indicate where labeling errors occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paramyrothecium foliicola is reported for the first time in Brazil and worldwide causing leaf spots on hop (Humulus lupulus). The fungus was identified with a combination of morphological and molecular information. The pathogenicity of P. foliicola to hop was demonstrated through inoculations under controlled conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) is a fast-growing wood species valued for its latex production. The wood could serve as a suitable resource for pulping after latex extraction. However, preliminary information needed for deciding on their pulping potential is unavailable. Using the International Association of Wood Anatomists, and American Society for Testing and Materials standards, the fibre and chemical properties of the wood from PB 260 and IRCA 41 rubber clones after latex extraction were evaluated to provide primary data on their pulping potential. The fibre morphology and indices of the clones are consistent with the requirements for cellulosic fibres used for pulp and paper production. The cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin contents were 54.4–56.5%, 21.6–23.5% and 21.9–22.1%, respectively. Both clones could produce pulps with strong inter-fibre bonds. While fibres from PB 260 could be more suitable for the production of flexible papers, those from IRCA 41 could produce stiff and less flexible papers used for file folders, index cards, playing cards and posters. Our preliminary study found IRCA 41 and PB 260 rubber clones as forest materials that could have good potential for papermaking after latex extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vaccaria hispanica (Mill) Rauschert, also known as cow cockle, is an important candidate for industrial crop species that has yet to be fully domesticated. Therefore, characterization of germplasms is crucial to initiate and select for economic use. The study reports cultivation, characterization, and seed production of 66 wild V. hispanica genotypes, collected throughout Turkey that represent the available genetic pool. The study was carried out in an unheated greenhouse in Antalya, under Mediterranean climate from December to early June. The populations were evaluated for 21 morphological and 6 agronomic traits. The highest coefficient of variation (CV) for morphological traits was detected for the length of the smallest leaf (84.76%), the number of main branches on stem (57.5%), degree of petals imbricate (46.5%), and the flower number of the top five dichasium (42.27%). Among the agronomic traits, the number of seeds per capsule (27.88%), seed yield per plant (24.34%), and total yield per plant (23.74%) showed the highest three CVs. The minimummaximum values of the seed yield per plant, total yield per plant, 1000 seed weight, and number of seeds per capsule were determined as 54.4-186 g, 173.3-616 g, 4.5-7.9 g and 3.3-15.3, respectively. The results revealed the potential cultivation of V. hispanica under greenhouse and Mediterranean climate conditions. In addition, various plant characteristics enabled us to select different phenotypes and variants for future breeding studies for both industrial and ornamental plant use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild marigold (Tagetes minuta L.) is a highly demanded aromatic plant, having great industrial value. Recently farmers are more interested in its cultivation and are opting it in their cropping system. Major constituents of its essential oil are β-ocimene, dihydrotagetone, tagetone, tagetenone, and limonene. The Current market demand for tagetes oil is increasing at a faster rate due to its large use in flavor and perfumery industry. Its oil and plant extract has potential bioactive and therapeutic properties. The Integration of this species in agricultural production systems still relies on thorough information and agronomic potential of this plant. Understanding its biology, chemistry, biological activity and agrotechnology will allow better utilization of this crop. Therefore, the published literature on research and development of tagetes crop for improvement in its yield and quality is compiled in this chapter which will fulfill the demand of various industries and improves the rural economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardoon inflorescences (heads) contain achenes, which are used for the production of edible oil and biodiesel but also represent a phenolic source. This research aimed at determining the level of bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity of cardoon achenes and investigating their qualitative and quantitative variations in achenes harvested from heads having different insertion order on main stem. The head order significantly affected the number of achenes per head and one thousand weight but did not affect the achene values of antioxidant capacity and concentrations of total phenolic (107.7–117.4 g gallic acid equivalent kg−1 dry weight), as well as the concentration of chlorogenic and 3,5-di-O-E-caffeoylquinic acids. Conversely, the absolute amounts of these metabolites differed significantly among head order when referred to a single achene or head. About 75% of their absolute values per cardoon plant were produced by achenes belonging to secondary and tertiary heads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is widely used as an important industrial crop. It has the potential to act as a sustainable energy provider in the future, and contains beneficial compounds for medical and therapeutic use. However, there are no clear breeding strategies to increase its biomass or leaf volume. Thus, to attain an increase in these parameters, we examined potential key traits such as stem diameter, plant height, and number of nodes to determine the relationship among them. We hypothesized that it would be easier to reduce the amount of time and labor required for breeding if correlations among these parameters are identified. In this study, we found a strong positive correlation between height and number of nodes (Spearman’s Rho = 0.67, p < 0.001) and number of nodes and stem diameter (Spearman’s Rho = 0.65, p < 0.001), but a relatively low correlation (Spearman’s Rho = 0.34, p < 0.01) between height and stem diameter in the later stages of kenaf growth. We suggest that an efficient breeding strategy could be devised according to the breeding purpose, considering the correlations between various individual traits of kenaf.

The common hop (Humulus lupulus L.) is a dioecious perennial climbing plant, mainly known for the use of its female inflorescences (cones or, simply, “hops”) in the brewing industry. However, the very first interest towards hops was due to its medicinal properties. Actually, the variety of compounds present in almost all plant parts were (and still are) used to treat or prevent several ailments and metabolic disorders, from insomnia to menopausal symptoms as well as obesity and even cancer. Although hops are predominantly grown for hopping beer, the increasing interest in natural medicine is widening new interesting perspectives for this crop. Moreover, the recent success of the craft beer sector all over the world, made the cultivated hop come out from its traditional growing areas. Particularly, in Europe this resulted in a movement towards southern countries such as Italy, which added itself to the already existing hop industry in Portugal and Spain. In these relatively new environments, a complete knowledge and expertise of hop growing practices is lacking. Overall, while many studies were conducted globally on phytochemistry, bioactivity, and the genetics of hops, results from public research activity on basic hop agronomy are very few and discontinuous as well. The objective of this article is to provide an overview of possible uses, phenology, and agronomic aspects of hops, with specific reference to the difficulties and opportunities this crop is experiencing in the new growing areas, under both conventional and organic farming. The present review aims to fill a void still existing for this topic in the literature and to give directions for farmers that want to face the cultivation of such a challenging crop.

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Carthamus L. (Asteraceae) has been used in many secto rssuch as food, dye, cosmetic, biofuel industry and also used to cure many disease in traditional medicine. Within this study, it was aimed to present detailed anatomical characterization of five wild species of Carthamus grown in Anatolia, namely, C.dentatus Vahl., C.glaucus Bieb., C.lanatus L., C.persicus Willd. and C.tenuis (Boisand Balansa) Bornm. And to contribute to botanical and agricultural studies. Free-hand sections were taken from root, stem and leaf of each taxa. Sections were examined with light microscope and photographed by digital camera. Various measurements were taken on microscopic images. Variations on collenchyma to us cells in cortex, arrangements of scelerenchyma to us cells in vascular bundles, type of vascular bundles and state of the piths in stem; cuticular ornamentation, leaf types based on their adaxial-abaxial and crystal lines tructures in leaves were observed. Furthermore, an identification key was given based on anatomical features. Although anatomical features were generally similar, some of the characters varied among the species. According to the anatomical properties, C. persicus and C. glaucus were closely related to C. dentatus and C.tenuis, respectively, whereas C. lanatus was quite different from the others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemp is a promising plant for phytomanagement. The possibility to couple soil restoration to industrial crop cultivation makes this plant attractive for the management of contaminated sites. In this trial, Cannabis sativa L. plants were grown in a greenhouse on soils from two sites of "Valle del Sacco" (Lazio Region, Italy), a wide area contaminated by agro-industrial activities. One site was representative of moderate and diffuse metal(loid) multi-contamination, above the Italian concentration limit for agriculture (MC-moderately contaminated). The second site showed a metal(loid) content below the aforementioned limit, as a typical background level of the district (C-control). After 90 days, biometric and physiological parameters revealed satisfactory growth in both soil types. MC-grown plants showed a slight, but significant reduction in leaf area, root, and leaf biomass compared with C-grown plants. Chlorophyll content and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, namely the quantum yield of primary photochemistry (Fv/Fm) and the Performance Index (PIABS), confirmed the good physiological status of plants in both soils. Metal(loid) analyses revealed that As, V, and Pb accumulated only in the roots with significant differences in MC- and C-grown plants, while Zn was found in all organs. Overall, preliminary results showed a satisfactorily growth coupled with the restriction of toxic metal translocation in MC-grown hemp plants, opening perspectives for the phytomanagement of moderately contaminated areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Excess cane stalk is lost as seed material for sugarcane production. • Developed is a novel technology for preparation of suitable sugarcane crop planting material. • System integrates mechanical feeding, cutting and separating mechanisms with the electronically control system. • Control system is driven by machine vision derived real-time node (bud) identification. • System can potentially reduce excess labor, time and overall production costs. Abstract Sugarcane is a global industrial crop popular for production of sugar, bioenergy, paper, ethanol, electricity etc. However, its conventional cultivation practice incurs an unnecessary amount of time, labor, costs and seed inputs. A technology was therefore developed for automated generation of sugarcane bud chips (approximately 3 cm) as sugarcane planting material. The system consists of an electronically guided mechanical units for cane feeding, real time bud identification, cutting and separation. Machine vision technique was employed as driver technique for bud identification. A varied ranges of sugarcane diameters and two popular cultivars were chosen to evaluate the system performances of bud identification and synchronized cutting efficiency, throughput capacity, peak power and torque consumption within entire domain of cane stalks. The system process separates the cane stalk into the nodes (buds) and internodes (stalk between two buds). An arm lateral speed of 120 mm/s, blade rotary speed of 800 rpm and cane stalk feed speed of 100 mm/s may be considered for optimum performance outputs. The throughput capacity of the developed system with single cutting unit can range up to 1782 buds/h, thereby generating the seeding material for a hectare of land in 10–12 h. In addition, the system was found suitable for a large domain of cane diameters. Internodes generated accounting over 80% of cane stalk through this system may be utilized for sugar production and other mainstream purposes. Further multiplication of such units as per the cultivation area can be a significant enhancement to the sugarcane mechanization and a replacement to conventional cultivation process that is laborious, time consuming and expensive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice bran is a brownish powder layer that covers the rice grain, being a co-product generated during the grain milling process and is usually underused for animal feed or burned as a low-cost fuel. However, comprising between 5 and 10 wt% of the rice grain, this biomass is a source of minerals, fatty acids, fiber and sterols, containing also up to 25 wt% of oil. Because it contains an active lipase in its composition that hydrolyses its triglycerides into free fatty acids, crude rice bran oil typically contains a high acidity that makes its consumption unfeasible. Moreover, the defatted or de-oiled biomass is a lignocellulosic material which, through an adequate pre-treatment to reduce its recalcitrant structure, can be used in different sector, especially to produce biofuels. Given its functionality, this review describes recent scientific approaches to how rice bran is being used to prepare biofuels (mainly biodiesel from rice bran oil, or bio-oil, biochar, biogas, biohydrogen, bioethanol, and biobutanol from defatted biomass). Furthermore, the properties and characteristics that motivate the use of this material to synthesize fuels are reviewed, the main pre-treatment techniques necessary to remove part of the lignin from its lignocellulosic matrix and allow the digestibility of cellulose and hemicellulose as well as the challenges for the expansion as an energetic feedstock. • An overview of how researches are using rice bran (RB) to prepare biofuels is addressed. • Distinct processes used to pretreat the RB recalcitrant characteristics are argued. • Biodiesel from the high acid-RB oil predominates in papers about the topic. • Bio- gas, hydrogen, ethanol, butanol and microbial fuel cells from RB are also covered. • Challenge for "RB into biofuels": eventual dispute with the animal nutrition sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guayule (Parthenium argentatum) is one of the most promising alternatives to produce natural rubber. As the guayule leaves represent a waste byproduct in the rubber extraction process, their exploitation might contribute to the valorization of the whole plant biomass. The specific aim of our study was to determine the antioxidant capacity and the content of phenolic compounds in leaves and twigs of different guayule lines cultivated in a Mediterranean environment. The antioxidant capacity and the contents of phenolic were affected significantly by guayule accession and harvest time. Overall means in twigs represented about 60% of the corresponding leaf values for antioxidant capacity as DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and not tannic phenolic and about 55% as ABTS (2,2′-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) diammonium salt), total phenolic, tannic phenolic and total flavonoid contents. Five individual phenolic compounds were identified in methanolic extracts of leaves. Neochlorogenic acid (62.5–174.8 mg g−1 DW) and chlorogenic acid (28.6–41.1 mg g−1 DW) were the most abundant phenolic acids. In addition to the compounds quantified in leaves, cynarin was identified only in twigs and for the first time in guayule biomass. Our results indicate that guayule leaves and twigs represent a rich source of antioxidants for potential applications in fodder, nutraceutical and pharmacological sectors.

Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus var. altilis) has gained interest as a novel crop for bioenergy, multipurpose uses, and industrial bio‐based productions, also based on the achene yield. However, achenes can be affected by various insects, which are considered as minor pests in traditional Cynara crops. Nonetheless, very little information is available on these pests. The aim of this research was to identify the frequency of different insect species with particular regard to weevils, and to quantify the achene yields and losses caused by these spermophagous insects on cardoon. Field measurements were performed across three consecutive years in Sardinia (Italy). Mature cardoon heads of different insertion orders (primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary heads, respectively) were manually harvested. For each head, the achenes were counted and weighed, and bare receptacles were scored in terms of damaged areas by weevil larvae (i.e., the percentage of total area). The results highlighted a higher frequency of Larinus scolymi (90%) compared to Larinus cynarae. The total number of achenes per head and the 1000‐achene weight were markedly affected by head order. Actual achene yield ranged from 86.8 to 107.9 g per plant. The estimates of achene yield losses per plant due to Larinus weevils ranged from 36.3 in 2014 to 113.0 g per plant in 2015, corresponding to about 0.4 to 1.1 t per hectare, respectively. Our results showed that achene losses were caused mainly by L. scolymi, indicating that cardoon crop profitability could be jeopardised in the absence of insect controls. Based on the experimental data, appropriate strategies aimed at controlling weevil infestations are needed to preserve cardoon achene yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) accumulate excessively in soil environment recently, posing a significant threat to soil ecology and human health. The application of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) with PAHs degradable capacity in assissting with phytoremedeation of PAHs contaminated soil has not been reported yet. The purpose of this study was to verify the feasibility of a novel PGPR-assisted phytoremediation strategy for the remediation of PAHs contaminated soil. A phenanthrene (PHE) degradable strain Serratia sp. DLN5 with great plant growth-promoting (PGP) traits was selected by two steps of bacterial culture and plant verification. Through a 40-d pot experiment, the effects of DLN5 application on rape (Brassica napus L.) physiology and phytoremediation efficiency were determined. The results showed that DLN5 inoculation significantly promoted the growth of rape cultivated in PHE contaminated soil (200 mg kg−1 PHE), mainly reflecting by the increase of root length (22.2%), net photosynthetic rate (334.9%) and the decrease of malonaldehyde (MDA) content (79.0% in roots). The inoculation of PGPR could also modulate the activity of enzymes that related to nutrient cycling and pollutant degradation in soil. Besides, the analysis of high-throughput sequencing of rhizosphere soil samples revealed that DLN5 upregulated the abundance of some bacteria, which could contribute to the enhancement of PHE degradation process (e.g., Flavobacterium , Methylophilaceae and Burkholderiaceae). Through the regulation of plant growth and rhizosphere bacterial community by strain DLN5, the phytoremediation efficiency of PHE contaminated soils by rape inoculated with PGPR was elevated from 71.5% to 82.5%. In general, this study proposed an innovative PGPR-assisted phytoremediation strategy, while the mechanisms in this remediation process were also be proposed, which might not affect the economic value of industrial crop, providing a theoretical basis for the practical application of PAHs contaminated soil. [Display omitted] • Serratia sp. DLN5 has PGP traits and PHE degradation capacity. • DLN5 improved PHE resistance of rape and its PHE remediation potential in soil. • DLN5 alleviated the damage of PHE to photosynthetic/antioxidant system of rape. • DLN5 enriched PHE-degradable and nutrition-related bacteria in rhizosphere soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing bioeconomy will require a greater supply of biomass in the future for both bioenergy and bio-based products. Today, many bioenergy cropping systems (BCS) are suboptimal due to either social-ecological threats or technical limitations. In addition, the competition for land between bioenergy-crop cultivation, food-crop cultivation, and biodiversity conservation is expected to increase as a result of both continuous world population growth and expected severe climate change effects. This study investigates how BCS can become more social-ecologically sustainable in future. It brings together expert opinions from the fields of agronomy, economics, meteorology, and geography. Potential solutions to the following five main requirements for a more holistically sustainable supply of biomass are summarized: (i) bioenergy-crop cultivation should provide a beneficial social-ecological contribution, such as an increase in both biodiversity and landscape aesthetics, (ii) bioenergy crops should be cultivated on marginal agricultural land so as not to compete with food-crop production, (iii) BCS need to be resilient in the face of projected severe climate change effects, (iv) BCS should foster rural development and support the vast number of small-scale family farmers, managing about 80% of agricultural land and natural resources globally, and (v) bioenergy-crop cultivation must be planned and implemented systematically, using holistic approaches. Further research activities and policy incentives should not only consider the economic potential of bioenergy-crop cultivation, but also aspects of biodiversity, soil fertility, and climate change adaptation specific to site conditions and the given social context. This will help to adapt existing agricultural systems in a changing world and foster the development of a more social-ecologically sustainable bioeconomy.

This study deals with approaches for a social-ecological friendly European bioeconomy based on biomass from industrial crops cultivated on marginal agricultural land. The selected crops to be investigated are: Biomass sorghum, camelina, cardoon, castor, crambe, Ethiopian mustard, giant reed, hemp, lupin, miscanthus, pennycress, poplar, reed canary grass, safflower, Siberian elm, switchgrass, tall wheatgrass, wild sugarcane, and willow. The research question focused on the overall crop growth suitability under low-input management. The study assessed: (i) How the growth suitability of industrial crops can be defined under the given natural constraints of European marginal agricultural lands; and (ii) which agricultural practices are required for marginal agricultural land low-input systems (MALLIS). For the growth-suitability analysis, available thresholds and growth requirements of the selected industrial crops were defined. The marginal agricultural land was categorized according to the agro-ecological zone (AEZ) concept in combination with the marginality constraints, so-called ‘marginal agro-ecological zones’ (M-AEZ). It was found that both large marginal agricultural areas and numerous agricultural practices are available for industrial crop cultivation on European marginal agricultural lands. These results help to further describe the suitability of industrial crops for the development of social-ecologically friendly MALLIS in Europe.

Despite the intense debates on the land acquisition effects of large-scale Ethiopian sugarcane plantations and the consequences for food security, the impact on biodiversity has received less attention. We compared remnant patches in the sugarcane zone to the adjacent woodlands to determine the impacts of sugarcane on the diversity, composition, and structure of woody species. We recorded individual woody specimens with diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 2.5 cm from 56 quadrats of 200 m2 at each site in a systematic, random, and gradient-oriented transect design. In addition, we employed a trait-based risk assessment framework to examine the threat posed by agro-industrial sugarcane production on mammals, birds, and rodents. A total of 56 woody species, 38 in the woodlands and 30 in the sugarcane zone, were identified. The proportion of non-native woody species was higher (63%) in the sugarcane zone than in the adjacent woodlands (1%). The rodents and mammals were more abundant in the woodlands than in the sugarcane zone. Although we did not investigate all of the bird and mammal species, our results identified six rodent species, five mammal species, and one bird species as susceptible to sugarcane agriculture activities. The results suggest that large-scale agro-industrial sugarcane production impacts species diversity, composition and abundance of species, and species' resource requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patchouli ( Pogostemon cablin Benth.) is an industrially valued aromatic medicinal plant currently having a huge demand for its essential oil. It is widely used in flavor and fragrance industries as well as in pharmaceuticals. Clonal propagation is therefore obligatory to obtain homogeneous patchouli plants from preferred germplasm in order to meet the global need. At present, farmers are showing keen interest towards its large scale cultivation mainly in the tropical and sub-tropical countries. Understanding the plant biology, chemistry and other uses allows better utilization of any industrial crops. Therefore, the present review discusses on the botany, agronomy and biotechnological aspects of patchouli. Also, the current market demand for patchouli raw material is being reviewed by highlighting the possible exploration of modern techniques in identifying the adulterants to authenticate this herb. This review provides a comprehensive information on both basic and applied aspects of patchouli crop cultivation and management. The applied aspect of patchouli biotechnology allows one to explore the newer potential for various industrial uses and improve the rural economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]