The greatest challenge for the agriculture sector in the twenty-first century is to increase agricultural production to feed the burgeoning global population while maintaining soil health and the integrity of the agroecosystem. Currently, the application of biochar is widely implemented as an effective means for boosting sustainable agriculture while having a negligible influence on ecosystems and the environment. In comparison to traditional biochar, nano-biochar (nano-BC) boasts enhanced specific surface area, adsorption capacity, and mobility properties within soil, allowing it to promote soil properties, crop growth, and environmental remediation. Additionally, carbon sequestration and reduction of methane and nitrous oxide emissions from agriculture can be achieved with nano-BC applications, contributing to climate change mitigation. Nonetheless, due to cost-effectiveness, sustainability, and environmental friendliness, waste-derived nano-BC may emerge as the most viable alternative to conventional waste management strategies, contributing to the circular bioeconomy and the broader goal of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, it's important to note that research on nano-BC is still in its nascent stages. Potential risks, including toxicity in aquatic and terrestrial environments, necessitate extensive field investigations. This review delineates the potential of waste-derived nano-BC for sustainable agriculture and environmental applications, outlining current advancements, challenges, and possibilities in the realms from a sustainability and circular bioeconomy standpoint.

The application of polyploidy in sustainable agriculture has already brought much appreciation among researchers. Polyploidy may occur naturally or can be induced in the laboratory using chemical or gaseous agents and results in complete chromosome nondisjunction. This comprehensive review described the potential of polyploidization on plants, especially its role in crop improvement for enhanced production and host-plant resistance development against pests and diseases. An in-depth investigation on techniques used in the induction of polyploidy, cytogenetic evaluation methods of different ploidy levels, application, and current research trends is also presented. Ongoing research has mainly aimed to bring the recurrence in polyploidy, which is usually detected by flow cytometry, chromosome counting, and cytogenetic techniques such as fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and genomic in situ hybridization (GISH). Polyploidy can bring about positive consequences in the growth and yield attributes of crops, making them more tolerant to abiotic and biotic stresses. However, the unexpected change in chromosome set and lack of knowledge on the mechanism of stress alleviation is hindering the application of polyploidy on a large scale. Moreover, a lack of cost–benefit analysis and knowledge gaps on the socio-economic implication are predominant. Further research on polyploidy coupling with modern genomic technologies will help to bring real-world market prospects in the era of changing climate. This review on polyploidy provides a solid foundation to do next-generation research on crop improvement.

A field experiment was conducted at the Agronomy research field of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from November 2015 to June 2016 to observe the effect of sowing dates on yield and quality of chickpea. The study aimed at finding out yield and quality response of two varieties of chickpea (BARI Chola-5 and BARI Chola-9), at five different sowing dates viz. November 05, November 20, December 05, December 20 and January 04. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot design with three replications. The results of two varieties revealed significant variations in days to flowering, maturity, number of grains per plant, number of seeds per grain, the weight of 1000 seeds, grain yield, stover yield, biological yield and harvest index due to different sowing dates. Early and delayed sowings affected the chickpea yield and the quality of grain. Physiological responses of chickpea were also greatly influenced by different sowing dates that affect the proper growth and development of chickpea plants. In case of varieties, significant variation was observed in all parameters, here, BARI Chola-9 showed better performance than BARI Chola-5. BARI Chola-9 sown on November 20 produced maximum grain yield (2.40 t/ha) and the lowest grain yield (1.23 t/ha) was found in BARI Chola-5 sown on January 04. Irrespective of variety, early and delayed sowings showed lower performance on all parameters, significantly affected the yield and quality of chickpea.

Genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance, correlation coefficient analysis, path coefficient analysis and genetic divergence between yield and its contributing traits were studied in 28 okra genotypes. The phenotypic coefficient of variations was found slightly higher than the genotypic coefficient of variations for all characters studied, indicating that the apparent variation is not only genetic but also influenced by the growing environment in the expression of the traits. High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was observed primary branches (43.91 and 33.64) and fruit yield per plant (37.51 and 32.48). High heritability coupled with high genetic advance in percent of mean in number of plant height (97.32 and 29.98), no. of fruit per plant (88.55 and 50.44), fruit yield per plant (74.99 and 57.94), seed per fruit (73.02 and 34.00) and primary branches (58.70 and 53.10) suggested that these characters would be considered for varietal selection. The correlation studies revealed that fruit yield per plant showed significant positive correlation with no. of average fruit weight, number of fruit per, plant height and significantly negative correlation with seed per fruit at genotypic and phenotypic level which can be considered for selection of a good variety. Path analysis revealed days to 50% flowering, plant height, number of fruit per plant, average fruit weight had direct positive effect on pod yield per plant, indicating these traits are the main contributors to fruit yield per plant. The divergence value for cluster analysis showed the highest inter-cluster distance between clusters I and V which indicates that these genotypes may provide high heterosis in hybridization and expected to show wide variability in genetic architecture. The selection of high yielding genotypes should give emphasis to the days to flowering (earliness), number of fruits per plant, fruit yield per plant and less seeds per fruit.