Experimental studies published to date on the effects of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on plants have yielded highly contradictory results: reported outcomes range from growth inhibition to stimulation. The objective of this research was to test the hypothesis that the ontogenetic stage at the time of exposure to AgNPs is a key determinant of both the qualitative profile and quantitative magnitude of plant responses. For this purpose, laboratory seed priming and small-plot field experiments with wheat plants (Triticum aestivum L.) treated with stabilized dispersions of AgNPs at 1–100 mg∙L⁻¹ were conducted. It was shown that seed priming with low concentrations of AgNPs (1–5 mg∙L⁻¹) did not affect wheat seedling growth, whereas dispersions at ≥25 mg∙L⁻¹ suppressed development. In agreement, antioxidant enzyme activities (POD, CAT, PPO) increased at 1–5 mg·L⁻¹ and decreased at 100 mg·L⁻¹. By contrast, foliar treatments of field-grown wheat increased plant population density, plant height, spike structure metrics, and grain yield. The optimal regimen—three foliar applications at 5 mg·L⁻¹—increased grain yield by 12.1% from 5.89 t·ha⁻¹ to 6.60 t·ha⁻¹. At low doses of AgNPs, activities of peroxidase, catalase, and polyphenol oxidase in seedlings tissues increased, indicating activation of nonspecific defense mechanisms; at higher concentrations, activities of these enzymes decreased, indicating antioxidant system exhaustion and dysfunction. The findings demonstrate dose- and stage-dependent effects and corroborate the central role of the developmental stage of wheat in determining responses to AgNPs, indicating opportunities to optimize stage-aware, low-dose application regimes to enhance productivity while minimizing phytotoxic risk.

The study investigates the use of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in agriculture, focusing on their potential to enhance the immune response of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plants against phytopathogenic attacks. The research highlights how AgNPs, stabilized by biologically active polymers polyhexamethylene biguanide and tallow amphopolycarboxyglycinate, can induce oxidative stress. Triple foliar application of 0.1–9.0 g/ha silver nanoparticles at the budding and later stages demonstrated significant efficacy in suppressing diseases caused by Phytophthora infestans and Alternaria solani (over 60%). This effect was linked to the increased activity of peroxidase—over 30–50%—and the decreased catalase activity, indicative of a well-coordinated oxidative stress response to the invasion of P. infestans and A. solani. The results suggest that AgNPs in low concentrations can prime the plant’s innate immune system, enhancing its resistance without detrimental effects on growth parameters, thus contributing to the improved crop yield. These findings underscore the potential of AgNPs not as traditional biocides, but as intelligent elicitors of plant-induced resistance, positioning them as next-generation tools for sustainable crop protection and yield optimization, which can be applied at extremely low doses (less than 10 g/ha of active substance).

Background: There is a noticeable threat to the law enforcement posed by the proliferation of the cultivation of drugs around the world. One of the most popular illegal cultivated plants are Cannabis sativa and Ephedra sinica. This paper presents a new way of detecting such crops with hyperspectral image application using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to find such crops in inaccessible mountainous lands. Techniques: It was a field study within the frames of UNODC mission in Kyrgyzstan by using a fixed-wing UAV with a hyperspectral camera (spectral range: 0.4–1.0 m; 150–300 channels; resolution: 2–4 nm). The mission integrated both ground spectrometry, airborne spectral imaging as well as automated classification to distinguish between the Cannabis and Ephedra and the surrounding vegetation. Findings: The patterns of reflectance were distinguished. Cannabis could be differentiated with nettle, stubble and grass in the 500–820 nm range. There was spectral divergence by ephedra against shrubs and rocks notably in the range 750 nm. Digital mapping allowed visualising plant groupings according to their spectral signatures. Conclusions: The new hyperspectral strategy, which involves use of UAV, is quick, less costly as well as accurate as compared to satellite monitoring. It enables quick investigation and monitoring of illegal cultivation of crops. The technology has a potential in expanding its usage into illegal mining, surveillance of crime against wildlife, and environmental monitoring.

This study examines whether the expansion of digital platforms in five major Asian economies — China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (the “Asian Five”) — translates into material well-being, benchmarked against two post-industrial reference economies, the United States and Finland. Combining an energy-based analytical framework with a structural indicator of AI capital allocation — the Cyber-Physical Allocation Index (K_ind), the ratio of AI capital directed to industrial relative to transactional applications — the study models Quality of Life in Energy Units (QoLE) and Useful Power Carbon Intensity (UPCI) across a 2012–2024 panel of seven economies. Panel fixed-effects estimates show that platform expansion raises QoLE only where AI capital is tilted toward industrial and cyber-physical applications (interaction coefficient β = 0.245, p < 0.01; R² = 0.894), with the effect reaching +0.30 in a high-industrial-orientation economy (China) but turning negative (−0.06) where AI investment remains overwhelmingly transactional (Pakistan, Bangladesh) — a pattern we term the “digital facade.” Useful Power Carbon Intensity falls only in economies pursuing deep cyber-physical integration, while service-dominated digital growth raises carbon intensity through unaddressed grid friction, consistent with Jevons’ Paradox. Building on these results, the paper examines three cross-cutting structural dimensions of the transition — a “greenfield infrastructure paradox” facing late-developing economies, the uneven inclusion of platforms, MSMEs, and labour, and an emerging energy-access rift — and aligns the findings with UN Sustainable Development Goals 7, 9, and 10. We conclude with policy imperatives for redirecting digital and AI investment toward physical, energy-anchored infrastructure in emerging Asia.

The present study evaluated the phytoprotective activity of silver nanoparticles stabilized with sodium amphopolycarboxyglycinate (AgNPs-APCG) against apple fire blight caused by Erwinia amylovora. A highly colloidally stable AgNPs-APCG dispersion was prepared by borohydride chemical reduction and contained predominantly spherical metallic AgNPs with an average diameter of 10.4 ± 4.9 nm and a ζ-potential of −52.6 ± 2.4 mV. The obtained dispersion showed pronounced antibacterial activity against the E. amylovora strain, isolated from fire blight-affected shoots, with a MIC of 18.75 mg/L. In the field trial, foliar application at 5 and 25 mg/L reduced fire blight incidence and severity, with biological efficacies of 52.8% and 80.3%, respectively, and increased marketable yield by 12.0% and 16.7%. The phytoprotective efficacy of AgNPs-APCG at 5 mg/L, a concentration nominally below the in vitro MIC for E. amylovora, was consistent with a possible contribution of factors in addition to direct antibacterial activity. Supporting this possibility, AgNPs-APCG reduced carbohydrate-containing exopolysaccharide content in E. amylovora cultures to 51 ± 5% of the untreated control. Furthermore, higher activities of antioxidant enzymes were observed in AgNPs-APCG-treated apple leaves, while malondialdehyde content showed no pronounced increase, suggesting possible modulation of redox- and defense-related metabolism in treated plants. Potential environmental implications of the tested application regimes were considered based on the estimated Ag input to soil. These findings suggest that multiple pathogen- and host-associated responses may contribute to the phytoprotective effect of AgNPs-APCG and support its further evaluation as a multifunctional agent against bacterial plant diseases.