Constructed wetlands (CWs) are affordable and reliable green technologies for the treatment of various types of wastewater. Compared to conventional treatment systems, CWs offer an environmentally friendly approach, are low cost, have fewer operational and maintenance requirements, and have a high potential for being applied in developing countries, particularly in small rural communities. However, the sustainable management and successful application of these systems remain a challenge. Therefore, after briefly providing basic information on wetlands and summarizing the classification and use of current CWs, this study aims to provide and inspire sustainable solutions for the performance and application of CWs by giving a comprehensive review of CWs’ application and the recent development of their sustainable design, operation, and optimization for wastewater treatment. To accomplish this objective, thee design and management parameters of CWs, including macrophyte species, media types, water level, hydraulic retention time (HRT), and hydraulic loading rate (HLR), are discussed. Besides these, future research on improving the stability and sustainability of CWs are highlighted. This article provides a tool for researchers and decision-makers for using CWs to treat wastewater in a particular area. This paper presents an aid for informed analysis, decision-making, and communication. The review indicates that major advances in the design, operation, and optimization of CWs have greatly increased contaminant removal efficiencies, and the sustainable application of this treatment system has also been improved.

Appropriate foliar application of zinc (Zn) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) is important for the proper growth and yield of tomato. However, the effects of foliar application of Zn and ZnO-NPs were not well-studied on tomato production. A pot experiment was conducted at glasshouse (8D) conditions under the Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) to evaluate the effectiveness of Zn and ZnO-NPs on growth, yield, nutrient uptake, and fruit quality of tomatoes and to compare between the Zn nutrient and ZnO-NPs. Treatment combinations were 14 viz. T₁ = 0 (control), T₂ = 1500 ppm (mg/L) Zn nutrient, T₃ = 2000 ppm (mg/L) Zn nutrient, T₄ = 2500 ppm (mg/L) Zn nutrient, T₅ = 75 ppm ZnO nanoparticle, T₆ = 100 ppm ZnO nanoparticle, and T₇ = 125 ppm ZnO nanoparticle along with two tomato varieties. The experimental design was a split plot with four replications. Results indicated that foliar application of 100 ppm ZnO-NPs performed best in terms of growth parameters, physiological traits, yield attributes, yield, and quality traits of tomatoes. The same treatment (100 ppm ZnO-NPs) contributed to attain the highest nutrient uptake. Recovery use efficiency of Zn was highest with foliar application of 75 ppm ZnO-NPs. The highest yield increment (200%) over control was from foliar sprayed with 100 ppm ZnO-NPs. Comparing the two varieties, MARDI Tomato-3 (MT3) showed better than MARDI Tomato-1 (MT1). As is appears from the results, foliar application of zinc oxide nanoparticles was more efficient than conventional zinc fertilizer. Therefore, the foliar sprayed with 100 ppm ZnO-NPs can be suggested to improve quantity and quality of tomato in glasshouse soil conditions.

Growing vegetables can be seen as a means of improving people’s livelihoods and nutritional status. Tomatoes are one of the world’s most commonly planted vegetable crops. The nutritional arrangement of the tomato depends on the quantity and type of nutrients taken from the growing medium, such assoil and foliar application; therefore, an adequate amount of macro- and micro-nutrients, including zinc (Zn) and zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs), are crucial for tomato production. Zinc foliar spraying is one of the effective procedures that may improve crop quality and yield. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) are represented as a biosafety concern for biological materials. Foliar application of Zn showed better results in increasing soluble solids(TSS), firmness, titratable acidity, chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b, ascorbic acid, amount of lycopene. Researchers have observed the effect of nanoparticles of zinc oxide on various crops, including tomatoes. Foliar spraying of ZnO-NPs gave the most influential results in terms of best planting parameters, namely plant height, early flowering, fruit yields as well as lycopene content. Therefore, more attention should be given to improving quantity and quality as well as nutrient use efficiency of Zn and ZnO-NPs in tomato production. Recent information on the effect of zinc nutrient foliar spraying and ZnO-NPs as a nano fertilizer on tomato productivity is reviewed in this article.

Feeding frequency, among various factors, greatly influences the production costs of aquaculture. In the present investigation, the effects of feeding schedule on the growth and production of tilapia and common carp were evaluated, along with rice yield, in an integrated rice-fish culture system. The experiment comprised 11 treatments, each with three replications, and a control treatment with no fish (T0). The fish in treatments T1–T5 were fed with rice bran once per week at 09:00 for T1, two days per week at 12:00 for T2, three days per week at 15:00 for T3, four days per week at 18:00 for T4, and five days per week at 09:00 and 18:00 for T5. The fish in treatments T6–T10 were fed an artificial floating feed with the same scheduled feeding frequency as T1–T5. The highest specific growth rate (SGR) in common carp (2.4%) and tilapia (4.3%) was found in T10. Similarly, the highest weight gains of tilapia (322.7 g) and common carp (180.9 g) were observed in T10 after 75 days of culture. In terms of rice, however, the highest recorded grain, straw, and biological yields of 5.6, 6.8, and 12.3 t ha⁻¹, respectively, were observed for control T0. Overall, the highest net return (USD 30,051 ha⁻¹) was found in T10. There was a 1504% greater net return and 98% higher benefit–cost ratio (BCR) in T10 compared to the control (T0). Five days of feeding per week at 09:00 and 18:00 was found to be the feeding schedule that resulted in the highest economic net return of those tested.

Agricultural waste is a type of solid waste that needs to be managed properly. Organic waste can be recycled to produce bokashi fertilizer, which can be used to improve soil health, increase crop production, and sanitize the environment. However, it may contain heavy metals that could be toxic to plants and can pollute the environment if not properly decomposed. This study was designed to evaluate the fertilizer quality of six different bokashi fertilizer ratios (bfrs) over seven- and thirty-day maturation periods. The raw materials used include horse bedding waste (HBW), cow dung (CD), and paddy husk charcoal (PHC) in different ratios, treated with an effective microorganisms (EM₄) solution. All the nutrients studied (N, P, K, Mg, and Ca) were significantly affected by the bokashi fertilizer ratios (bfrs). The best bokashi fertilizer ratio was bokashi fertilizer ratio-6 (bfr6), but it was statistically similar to bokashi fertilizer ratio-5 (bfr5). Its N, P, K, Mg, and Ca contents were higher than the control (bfr1) by 133.9%, 225.5%, 196.4%, 105.0%, and 84.7%, respectively. Similarly, all these nutrients were significantly affected by time. N, P, K, and Mg increased by 21.2, 33.0%, 16.4%, and 28.8%, respectively, after 30 days of maturation, with a decrease in Ca only 2.4%, which was not significant A germination index (GI) of 90.1% was obtained using cabbage seeds. The heavy metals result and germination bioassay confirmed the safety and maturity of the bokashi fertilizer. In conclusion, the results revealed that good-quality bokashi fertilizer can be produced within 30 days. Bfrr5 and bfr6 are equally good candidates for producing good-quality bokashi fertilizer for effective crop growth.