Water is an important natural element of our environment, and its management and security are also serious concerns. Agricultural non-point source pollution (NPSP) is one of the major sources of contaminants causing water quality degradation. A riparian buffer zone is a vegetative cover adjacent to water channels that positively contributes to pollutant filtration and sediment trapping. It has the potential to filter nutrients, reduce nutrients and pesticide leakage, provide habitat and protection against floods, minimize erosion issues, improve biodiversity and ecological connectivity, and add aesthetics to the area. Moreover, it is inexpensive and requires little maintenance making buffer zone an attractive approach to NPSP control. In this review, we have enlightened the effects of the riparian buffer zone on water quality and agricultural NPSP and how its structures and mechanisms contribute to controlling water pollution effectively. We conclude that the riparian buffer zone is an effective technique for water safety, NPSP control, and creating a suitable environment for terrestrial and aquatic species. Moreover, it has the potential to reduce the water temperature due to the shading effect and sustain water habitat acting as a climate adaptation tools. Buffer zones should be adopted for agricultural non-point source pollution and achieve environmental sustainability. However, the long-term influence of the riparian buffer zone on trapping NPS pollutants, soil properties, and groundwater quality is s research gap.

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is one of the major crops cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical countries, and the primary purpose is to obtain raw sugar. It is an important substance for sugar and alcohol production by both the sugar and beverage industries. During cane processing, various byproducts are obtained, namely sugarcane bagasse, bagasse ash, pressmud cake, sugarcane vinasse, and spent wash. There are many challenging problems in storage, and they cause great environmental pollution. This review discusses their properties by which they can be used for cleaner agricultural and environmental sustainability. Utilization of byproducts results in value-added soil properties and crop yield. Replacing chemical fertilization with these organic natured byproducts not only minimizes the surplus usage of chemical fertilizers but is also cost-effective and an eco-friendly approach. The drawbacks of the long-term application of these byproducts in the agricultural ecosystem are not well documented. We conclude that the agriculture sector can dispose of sugar industry byproducts, but proper systematic disposal is needed. The need arises to arrange some seminars, meetings, and training to make the farming community aware of byproducts utilization and setting a friendly relationship between the farming community and industrialists.

An ever-increasing population has issued an open challenge to the agricultural sector to provide enough food in a sustainable manner. The upsurge in chemical fertilizers to enhance food production had resulted in environmental problems. The objective of the current study is to assess the utilization of biostimulants for sustainable agricultural production as an alternative to chemical fertilization. For this purpose, two pot experiments were conducted to examine the response of radish against individual and combined applications of biostimulants. In the first experiment, the effects of chemical fertilizer (CK), glycine (G), lysine (L), aspartic acid (A), and vitamin B complex (V) were studied. The results demonstrated that V significantly improved the transpiration rate (81.79%), stomatal conductance (179.17%), fresh weight (478.31%), and moisture content (2.50%). In the second experiment, tested treatments included chemical fertilizer (CK), Isabion^® (I), glycine + lysine + aspartic acid (GLA), moringa leaf extract + GLA (M1), 25% NPK + M1 (M2). The doses of biostimulants were 5g L⁻¹ glycine, 1g L⁻¹ lysine, 2g L⁻¹ aspartic acid, and 10 ml L⁻¹ moringa leaf extract. The photosynthetic rate improved significantly with GLA (327.01%), M1 (219.60%), and M2 (22.16%), while the transpiration rate was enhanced with GLA (53.14%) and M2 (17.86%) compared to the Ck. In addition, M1 increased the stomatal conductance (54.84%), internal CO₂ concentration (0.83%), plant fresh weight (201.81%), and dry weight (101.46%) as compared to CK. This study concludes that biostimulants can effectively contribute to the sustainable cultivation of radish with better growth and yield.

Chemical fertilizers play an integral role in advancing food production to combat the increasing food challenges and ensure food security. Unfortunately, the overuse of these fertilizers has negatively influenced the soil and the environment. Considering this aspect, two pot experiments were performed to evaluate the efficacy of biostimulants in vegetable production systems. The first experiment compared the effects of chemical fertilizers (CF) with glycine (GL), aspartic acid (AA), lysine (LY), and vitamin B complex (VB). The plant’s physiological and morphological attributes and yield were studied. The results confirmed that VB has the potential to improve the rate of transpiration (26%), total chlorophyll content (27%), root diameter (213%), and dry matter (289%) compared with CF. In the second experiment, the effects of chemical fertilizers (CF) were compared with Isabion^® (I), 25% CF + GL + LY (B1), 25% CF + GL + AA (B2), and 25% CF + AA + LY (B3). Similar attributes were analyzed to identify the influence of the applied treatments on turnip production. The results demonstrated that B2 enhanced the rate of photosynthesis (963%), transpiration (254%), and stomatal conductance (76%). Moreover, B1 improved the plant’s fresh weight (6%) and moisture contents (4%) compared to CF. In conclusion, biostimulants (LY, VB, and B1) are capable of improving turnip performance and production compared to CF. Future studies must focus on the efficiency of biostimulants against the long-term application effects on soils, nutrient-use efficiency, and crop production. Furthermore, the mechanism of action needs to be addressed in the future.