Due to freshwater scarcity in developing countries, irrigating the arable land with wastewater poses potential ecological risks to the environment and food quality. Using cheap soil amendments and foliar application of a newly discovered molecule “melatonin” (ML) can alleviate these effects. The objectives of this pot study were to evaluate the effectiveness of the sole addition of chitosan (CH) and sugar beet factory lime (SBL) in wastewater impacted soil, foliar application of ML, and combining each soil amendment with ML on the heavy metals (HMs) accumulation, growth, nutritional quality and photosynthesis in wheat. Results showed that CH was more effective than SBL for reducing HMs bioavailability in soil, HMs distribution in plants, improving photosynthesis, nutritional quality, and growth. ML application also influenced plant parameters but less than CH and SBL. The CH+ML treatment was the most effective for influencing plant parameters and reducing HMs bioavailability in the soil. Compared to control, CH+ML significantly reduced the concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Co in roots, shoots, and grain up to 89%. We conclude that adding CH+ML in wastewater impacted soils can remediate the soil; reduce HMs concentrations in plants; and improve their photosynthesis, plant growth, grain yield, and nutrition.

The uptake of As by various plants growing in highly enriched sites was examined in order to identify potential As accumulators and to assess the risk associated with As presence in plant shoots. Representative samples of 13 plant species, together with soil samples, were collected from various sites affected by historical As mining: mine and slag dumps, tailings and contaminated soils with As concentrations in a range 72–193,000 mg/kg. Potentially and actually soluble As forms, extracted with 0.43 M HNO₃ and, 1M NH₄NO₃ were examined in relation to As concentrations in plant roots and shoots. The latter differed strongly among the species and within them and were in the ranges 2.3–9400 mg/kg and 0.5–509 mg/kg, respectively. The majority (over 66%) of plant samples had As shoot concentrations above 4 mg/kg, an upper safe limit for animal fodder. The uptake of As by plants correlated well with total and extractable soil As, though As concentrations in plants could not be predicted based on soil parameters. Equisetum spp. and C. epigejos indicated a particularly strong accumulation of As in shoots, while A. capillaris, and H. lanatus showed a limited As root-to-shoot transfer, apparently associated with species-related tolerance to As.

Soils that develop on the dumps in historical arsenic mining sites contain high concentrations of As thus constituting a serious environmental risk. This study was aimed to examine the changes in arsenic solubility in mine soils as induced by organic matter introduced with forest litter.

The subject of this article is the issue of short food supply chains. The research problem formulated in the paper aims to address whether short food supply chains ensure the sustainable development of rural areas and whether they are being displaced by longer chains for narrowly defined economic reasons. The research was conducted based on a critical analysis of literature on short food supply chains and statistical data. The findings of the research indicate that short food supply chains are a necessary condition for the sustainable development of rural areas. Unfortunately, there is a conflict between the pursuit of narrowly defined economic efficiency of farms and the preservation of the social potential of rural areas, which stems from the fact that the principle of price competition does not favor the development of local supply markets, especially when it comes to high-quality food.

The main purpose of the article is an attempt to estimate the demand for products traded within short food supply chains in Poland. The survey was conducted in autumn 2021 in the Kamienna Góra county, where the first business incubator in Poland, addressed to farmers and food producers, initiated and supported by the local government, is located. The Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) method constituted the basis for the process of collecting research material. The channel for reaching respondents was the LIBRUS application and local social media. Responses were mainly given by women, people with incomes in the range of PLN 1000–3000 per person, those aged 30–50, and those with a university education. The research results showed a high level of potential demand for local agri-food products, which should encourage farmers to switch from long to short supply chain models. The persisting low awareness regarding the existence of alternative distribution networks for local products, which primarily requires increased activities in the field of territorial marketing that promote local agri-food products among the residents of municipalities constitutes, from the perspective of consumers, a barrier to the development of short food supply chains.

This study examined the effects of waterlogging and forest litter introduced to soil on chemical properties of soil pore water and ecotoxicity of soils highly enriched in As. These effects were examined in a 21-day incubation experiment. Tested soil samples were collected from Złoty Stok, a historical centre of arsenic and gold mining: from a forested part of the Orchid Dump (19,600 mg/kg As) and from a less contaminated site situated in a neighboring forest (2020 mg/kg As). An unpolluted soil was used as control. The concentrations of As, Fe and Mn in soil pore water were measured together with a redox potential Eh. A battery of ecotoxicological tests, including a bioassay with luminescence bacteria Vibrio fischeri (Microtox) and several tests on crustaceans (Rapidtox, Thamnotox and Ostracodtox tests), was used to assess soil ecotoxicity. The bioassays with crustaceans (T. platyurus, H. incongruens) were more sensitive than the bacterial test Microtox. The study confirmed that the input of forest litter into the soil may significantly increase the effects of toxicity. Waterlogged conditions facilitated a release of As into pore water, and the addition of forest litter accelerated this effect thus causing increased toxicity.