Crop yield can be raised by establishment of adequate plant stand using seeds with high germination ratio and vigor. Various pre-sowing treatments are adopted to achieve this objective. One of these approaches is the exposure of seeds to a low-to-medium level magnetic field (MF), in pulsed and continuous modes, as they have shown positive results in a number of crop seeds. On the basis of the sensitivity of plants to MF, different types of MF have been used for magnetopriming studies, such as weak static homogeneous magnetic fields (0–100 μT, including GMF), strong homogeneous magnetic fields (milliTesla to Tesla), and extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields of low-to-moderate (several hundred μT) magnetic flux densities. The agronomic application of MFs in plants has shown potential in altering conventional plant production systems; increasing mean germination rates, and root and shoot growth; having high productivity; increasing photosynthetic pigment content; and intensifying cell division, as well as water and nutrient uptake. Furthermore, different studies suggest that MFs prevent the large injuries produced/inflicted by diseases and pests on agricultural crops and other economically important plants and assist in reducing the oxidative damage in plants caused by stress situations. An improved understanding of the interactions between the MF and the plant responses could revolutionize crop production through increased resistance to disease and stress conditions, as well as the superiority of nutrient and water utilization, resulting in the improvement of crop yield. In this review, we summarize the potential applications of MF and the key processes involved in agronomic applications. Furthermore, in order to ensure both the safe usage and acceptance of this new opportunity, the adverse effects are also discussed.

The advancement in nanotechnology has brought numerous benefits for humans in diverse areas including industry, medicine, and agriculture. The demand in the application of nanomaterials can result in the release of these anthropogenic materials into soil and water that can potentially harm the environment by affecting water and soil properties (e.g., soil texture, pH, organic matter, and water content), plants, animals, and subsequently human health. The properties of nanoparticles including their size, surface area, and reactivity affect their fate in the environment and can potentially result in their toxicological effects in the ecosystem and on living organisms. There is extensive research on the application of nano-based materials and the consequences of their release into the environment. However, there is little information about environmentally friendly approaches for removing nanomaterials from the environment. This article provides insight into the application of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), as one of the most commonly used nanomaterials, their toxicological effects, their impacts on plants and microorganisms, and briefly reviews the possibility of remediation of these metabolites using phytotechnology approaches. This article provides invaluable information to better understand the fate of nanomaterials in the environment and strategies in removing them from the environment.

Global climate change may result in major environmental issues that have already affected and will continue to affect agricultural sector in the future. A continuing effort to utilize and adopt new agricultural technologies is necessary to mitigate climate change and increase agricultural income. Agricultural cooperatives are gradually being used in emerging countries to encourage improved technology and reduce food insecurity and poverty. This research analyses the influence of cooperative supports (CS) and technology adoption (TA) on agricultural income in Pakistan. It applied the propensity score matching (PSM) technique to evaluate the productivity on survey data from 498 wheat growers to conduct counterfactual analysis for farmers in Pakistan. In addition, a dual selection model (DSM) was applied to resolve the bias in sample selection caused by observed and unobserved aspects of survey data. The results showed that, contrasted with non-membership and non-adopters, growers who joined CS and TA could boost agricultural income by 2.78% and 2.35%, respectively. Stimulatingly, the influence of less-revenue farmers on agricultural income was more substantial than that of high-income farmers. Agricultural income of growers who attached cooperatives and adopted improved agricultural technology enhanced by 5.45% and 4.51%, respectively. These results, among others, emphasize the optimistic role of growing CS and TA in boosting wheat farmer’s income. The findings of the study showed strong relationships among education, age, skill, training, gender with CS and TA, and agricultural income. Overall, this study can be helpful in conducting similar studies in other emerging/developing countries for wheat or any other crop growers.

Cadmium (Cd) stress causes serious disruptions in plant metabolism, physio-biochemical responses, crop yield, and grain quality characteristics. A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the role of molybdenum (Mo) in mitigating Cd-induced adversities on plant growth, yield attributes, and grain quality characteristics of a popular aromatic rice cultivar ‘Xiangyaxiangzhan’. The Mo was applied at 0.15 mg kg⁻¹ soil in both control (no Cd) and Cd-contaminated (100 mg kg⁻¹) soils. A treatment with Mo-free (−Mo) soil was also maintained for comparison. The results showed that Cd toxicity significantly (p < 0.05) reduced plant dry biomass, grain yield, photosynthetic efficiency, and pigment contents, and impaired chloroplast ultra-structural configuration and simultaneously destabilized the plant metabolism owing to higher accumulation of hydrogen peroxide, electrolyte leakage, and malondialdehyde contents. However, Mo supply improved grain yield and 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline content by 64.75% and 77.09%, respectively, under Cd stress, suggesting that Mo supply mitigated Cd-provoked negative effects on yield attributes and grain quality of aromatic rice. Moreover, Mo supply enhanced photosynthesis, proline, and soluble protein content, and also strengthened plant metabolism and antioxidant defense through maintaining higher activities and transcript abundance of ROS-detoxifying enzymes at the vegetative, reproductive, and maturity stages of aromatic rice plants under Cd toxicity. Collectively, our findings indicated that Mo supply strengthened plant metabolism at prominent growth stages through an improved enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defense system, thereby increasing grain yield and quality characteristics of aromatic rice under Cd toxicity.

The adoption of mobile Internet technology (MIT) in organizational systems is rapidly increasing. MIT has developed agricultural structures and dramatically altered farming activities to improve agricultural systems. MIT is considered one of the most essential technologies because of its huge impact on agriculture, economy, and our daily lives. In this study, we utilized sample data from 460 wheat growers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan to analyze the adoption of MIT and its impact on the promotion of wheat productivity. This study used the propensity score matching (PSM) technique to address probable self-selection bias. Existing research outcomes show that decision making, education, farm size, cooperative membership, gender, extension services, access to credit, weather forecast information, risk perception, market distance, and other factors significantly affect productivity and subsidy awareness agendas. However, outcomes signify that MIT adoption will have a significant positive impact on wheat productivity. This research concludes with a policy impact, emphasizing that it is essential to accelerate MIT adoption by wheat growers as a policy to enhance Pakistan’s agriculture or wheat productivity and food security.

Increasing agricultural production and optimizing inorganic fertilizer (IF) use are imperative for agricultural and environmental sustainability. Mobile phone usage (MPU) has the potential to reduce IF application while ensuring environmental and agricultural sustainability goals. The main objectives of this study were to assess MPU, mobile phone promotion policy, and whether the mediation role of human capital can help reduce IF use. This study used baseline regression analysis and propensity score matching, difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) to assess the impact of MPU on IF usage. However, the two-stage instrumental variables method (IVM) was used to study the effects of mobile phone promotion policy on IF usage. This study used a national dataset from 7987 rural households in Afghanistan to investigate the impacts of MPU and associated promotion policies on IF application. The baseline regression outcomes showed that the MPU significantly reduced IF usage. The evaluation mechanism revealed that mobile phones help reduce IF application by improving the human capital of farmers. Besides, evidence from the DID technique showed that mobile phone promotion policies lowered IF application. These results remained robust after applying the PSM-DID method and two-stage IVM to control endogenous decisions of rural households. This study results imply that enhancing the accessibility of wideband in remote areas, promoting MPU, and increasing investment in information communication technologies (ICTs) infrastructure can help decrease the IF application in agriculture. Thus, the government should invest in remote areas to facilitate access to ICTs, such as having a telephone and access to a cellular and internet network to provide an environment and facility to apply IF effectively. Further, particular policy support must focus on how vulnerable populations access the internet and mobile phone technologies.