Hericium erinaceus (Bull.:Fr) Pers. is a medicinal mushroom that has various health benefits and is a rich source of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity. In recent years, H. erinaceus has been considered for its many medicinal properties and is widely consumed in Asian countries. Remarkably, the effect of mushroom cultivation using substrates composed of soybean meal by-products on growth, as well as the enhancement of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity, was evaluated. Our results confirmed that using soybean meal-produced H. erinaceus displayed a higher mycelial growth and biological efficiency than the control treatment. Bioactive compounds with triterpenoid content and total phenolic content of H. erinaceus grown on soybean meal contained the highest values at 56.78–69.15 mg Urs/g DW and 15.52–16.07 mg GAE/g DW, respectively, while H. erinaceus grown on the control treatment had the lowest value at 32.15 mg Urs/g DW and 7.75 mg GAE/g DW, respectively. In addition, H. erinaceus cultivated on soybean meal had higher DPPH activities than those grown on the control treatment, with IC₅₀ values of 0.67–0.89 and 1.08 mg/mL, respectively. Therefore, this study provided baseline information on the potential role of soybean meal by-product substrates in H. erinaceus growth and their effect on bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity.

The growing media is one of the significant elements affecting microgreens’ yield and quality. This experiment investigated the possibility of waste utilization instead of employing peat moss to produce sunflower and water-spinach microgreens. The treatments consisted of peat moss (Control), coconut coir dust (CD), leaf compost (LC), food waste compost (FC), CD:LC = 1:1 v/v, CD:FC = 1:1 v/v, LC:FC = 1:1 v/v, and CD:LC:FC = 1:1:1 v/v. The results proved that the highest yield of sunflower microgreens was observed when cultivated in 1:1 v/v of CD:LC media (10,114.81 g m⁻²), whereas the highest yield of water spinach microgreens was recorded under the treatments of CD, Control, 1:1 v/v of CD:LC, and 1:1:1 v/v of CD:LC:FC media (10,966.67–9800.00 g m⁻²). The biochemical composition of the microgreens varied within the types. Our findings demonstrated that a tendency of an increase in chlorophyll and carotenoid contents depended on the growth of both microgreens under different growing media. All growing media did not cause excess nitrate residue or pathogenic contamination in both microgreens, namely Clostridium perfringens, Salmonella spp., and Staphylococcus aureus. In contrast, almost all the growing media resulted in a higher population of Bacillus cereus contamination in both microgreens than the standard set limit, except for sunflower microgreens grown in the control and CD growing media. These findings could suggest that the 1:1 v/v of CD:LC and CD media were the most effective growing media for sunflower and water spinach microgreens, respectively, but further cleaning before consumption is recommended to avoid or reduce the foodborne incidences caused by B. cereus in microgreens.

A survey of an outbreak of fungal diseases of rice variety Phitsanulok2 (PLS91014-16-1-5-1) was conducted in Thailand during June 2014 to January 2015 using aW-random sampling pat-tern. The study revealed the incidence of several diseases including brown spot (Bipolaris oryzae), narrow brown leaf streak (Cercospora oryzae), and dirty panicle (Alternaria padwickii, C. oryzae, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium semitectum, and B. oryzae). This study evaluated the ef-ficacy of wood vinegar for control of these fungal diseases. A compleel randomized design was used, using the above variety in 3 replications. In the laboratory we found wood vinegar to be effective in inhibiting growth of representative pathogens such as C. lunata,B. oryzae,F. semi-tectum, and A. padwickii, the causal agent of dirty panicle disease. The field results confirmed the efficacy of wood vinegar under greenhouse conditions, with significantly reduced disease incidence of brown spot and dirty panicle, and significantly enhanced germination, seedling vigor,shoot height, root length, and fresh weight, when compared with the untreated control. However, seed treatment and 6 foliar sprays of wood vinegar under field conditions at Ang Thong showed no significant differences from the conventional treatment in suppression of brown spot, narrow brown leaf streak, and dirty panicle. The result demonstrates a promising alternative approach to control of key rice diseases.

Kale has gained popularity as a healthy food choice due to its rich nutrient profile. However, kale production systems are also affected by various pests and diseases, especially plant pathogenic bacteria, such as Pectobacterium carotovorum. The purpose of this research was to investigate the biocontrol activity of the Pseudomonas fluorescens strain SP007s and develop a formulation that provides stability, long shelf life, and disease control, as well as promoting growth in kale; we expect this formulation to have further commercial applications in the cultivation of kale. The results indicated that a unique mixture of paper sludge, sugar sludge, and glycerol at 40% relative humidity promoted SP007 survival for 6 months at room temperature (30 °C) with measures of 5.92 × 10⁶ CFU/g. This treatment maintained the control efficacy of P. carotovorum in infected soil within 28 days of soil drenching. We evaluated the SP007s formula for controlling soft rot disease in greenhouse conditions, and our results revealed that it can reduce the disease in kale by 65.2% and promotes growth in terms of canopy width, shoot height, number of leaves per plant, fresh weight, and dry weight, which were superior to the control. In addition, the formula can induce the accumulation of endogenous salicylic acid and phenolic compounds, as well as a systemic acquired resistance pathway in the plant defense system. Therefore, the formula of SP007s can be a promising novel biocontrol formula for use in kale production, as it promotes plant growth and acts against P. carotovorum causal soft rot disease.

Natural amendments from agricultural waste to improve soil physicochemical properties continuously attract research interest in promoting eco-friendly plant production. The present study evaluated the proper use of sawdust, biochar, and compost made from farm waste for kale production from seedling propagation to field conditions. From the seedling propagation process, the results demonstrate that the most suitable growing medium for kale seedings was 0.5:1:1 v/v of sawdust + biochar + compost, which gave the fastest mean germination times (2.71 days) and the highest seed germination percentage (78.33%). In addition to investigating the selected growing media as the soil amendments at five different rates (0, 6.25, 12.50, 18.75, 25.00, and 31.25 t ha⁻¹), the result reveals that the fresh weight of marketable leaves was significantly highest under the 31.25 t ha⁻¹ treatment. The application rate that yielded the highest gross profit margins was eight times higher than the control. Moreover, in some harvesting periods, the kale leaf yields under the treatment of 31.25 t ha⁻¹ showed higher total chlorophyll and carotenoid contents.

This study developed and evaluated a cloud-based smart irrigation platform (DSmart Farming) integrating low-cost sensors and IoT technology for automated irrigation control in community greenhouses of Puen Jai Insee, organic group in Sa Kaeo Province. The system combined soil moisture, air temperature, and relative humidity sensors, with a LoRa32-based control unit in each greenhouse and a central web-based management application linked to a MariaDB database on a cloud server. Five vegetable crops, including cherry tomato, broccoli, cabbage, Chinese kale, and kale, were grown over two distinct seasons under four irrigation strategies in a completely randomized design with three replications: three smart irrigation treatments based on soil moisture thresholds (on/off at 40/50%, 45/55%, and 50/60%) and a farmer-managed conventional irrigation control. The smart irrigation system maintained root-zone moisture within the target range (approximately 50–60%) and moderated greenhouse microclimate, preventing daytime temperatures from exceeding 40 °C, in contrast to 40–45 °C peaks in the conventional greenhouses. Across crops, smart irrigation increased yields by 20–29% while reducing water use by 41–60% compared to conventional practice, leading to income increases of 20–56%, depending on the crop. Bacterial soft rot caused by Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum occurred only under conventional irrigation, whereas no soft rot or other major diseases were detected in smart-irrigated greenhouses. These results demonstrate that the DSmart Farming system can enhance water use efficiency, avoid disease incidence, and improve the productivity and profitability of organic greenhouse vegetable production in water-limited smallholder systems.