Heavy metal (HM) poisoning of agricultural soils poses a serious risk to plant life, human health, and global food supply. When HM levels in agricultural soils get to dangerous levels, it harms crop health and yield. Chromium (Cr), arsenic (As), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) are the main heavy metals. The environment contains these metals in varying degrees, such as in soil, food, water, and even the air. These substances damage plants and alter soil characteristics, which lowers crop yield. Crop types, growing circumstances, elemental toxicity, developmental stage, soil physical and chemical properties, and the presence and bioavailability of heavy metals (HMs) in the soil solution are some of the factors affecting the amount of HM toxicity in crops. By interfering with the normal structure and function of cellular components, HMs can impede various metabolic and developmental processes. Humans are exposed to numerous serious diseases by consuming these affected plant products. Exposure to certain metals can harm the kidneys, brain, intestines, lungs, liver, and other organs of the human body. This review assesses (1) contamination of heavy metals in soils through different sources, like anthropogenic and natural; (2) the effect on microorganisms and the chemical and physical properties of soil; (3) the effect on plants as well as crop production; and (4) entering the food chain and associated hazards to human health. Lastly, we identified certain research gaps and suggested further study. If people want to feel safe in their surroundings, there needs to be stringent regulation of the release of heavy metals into the environment.

Plants are frequently exposed to one or more abiotic stresses, including combined salinity-drought, which significantly lowers plant growth. Many studies have been conducted to evaluate the responses of plants to combined salinity and drought stress. However, a meta-analysis-based systematic review has not been conducted yet. Therefore, this study analyzed how plants respond differently to combined salinity-drought stress compared to either stress alone. We initially retrieved 536 publications from databases and selected 30 research articles following a rigorous screening. Data on plant growth-related, physiological, and biochemical parameters were collected from these selected articles and analyzed. Overall, the combined salinity-drought stress has a greater negative impact on plant growth, photosynthesis, ionic balance, and oxidative balance than either stress alone. In some cases, salinity had a greater impact than drought stress and vice versa. Drought stress inhibited photosynthesis more than salinity, whereas salinity caused ionic imbalance more than drought stress. Single salinity and drought reduced shoot biomass equally, but salinity reduced root biomass more than drought. Plants experienced more oxidative stress under combined stress conditions because antioxidant levels did not increase in response to combined salinity-drought stress compared to individual salinity or drought stress. This study provided a comparative understanding of plants’ responses to individual and combined salinity and drought stress, and identified several research gaps. More comprehensive genetic and physiological studies are needed to understand the intricate interplay between salinity and drought in plants.

The production of sustainable crops and environmental management in farming face several significant potential obstacles, including climate change, resource depletion and environmental degradation. Weeds and insect pests that considerably reduce yields have put crop production systems in danger. The greatest worry for farmers is the decline in productivity due to illnesses and pests. Insects, weed pests, and plant pathogens destroy more than 40% of all potential food production every year. The widespread use of integrated pest management (IPM) is a result of worries about the long-term viability of conventional agriculture. IPM ensures sufficient, secure, equitable, and steady flows of both food and ecosystem services, as well as increased agricultural profitability due to lower pest management expenditures. A number of studies conducted on IPM have been combined. Important information from all these studies was analyzed and summarized in this literature review. In this article, we investigated the following: (1) explanation of different management components; (2) development in organically integrated weed and insect pest management, with possible ramifications and scope; (3) knowledge and adaptation status of IPM in the modern world; (4) resources and tools of IPM; (5) current challenges and suggested future research priorities. Regular training related to IPM should be arranged to spread the knowledge of IPM to all farmer levels. This requires the cooperation of the government. Furthermore, IPM will reach a new milestone if Internet of Things technology is practiced along with the existing pest control method. Overall, this review addresses the possibilities for researchers and farmers to use a variety of natural control agents as a full or partial replacement for synthetic pesticides.

There is currently a demand to grow more crops in less area as a result of urbanization’s reduction of agricultural land. As a result, soil fertility is gradually declining. To maintain soil fertility, various management methods are used in modern times. The conventional tillage method is a traditional tillage method that damages soil structure, but zero tillage can improve soil quality. By maintaining soil structure with no-tillage, biological processes are frequently improved and microbial biodiversity is increased. This review helps to understand the role of tillage as well as cropping systems in increasing crop production by maintaining soil fertility. For agricultural production and environmental protection to be sustained for future generations, soil quality must be maintained and improved in continuous cropping systems. The nodulation, nitrogen fixation, and microbial community are all impacted by different cropping systems and tillage methods. They also alter soil properties including structure, aeration, and water utilization. The impact of tillage and cropping system practices such as zero and conventional tillage systems, crop rotation, intercropping, cover cropping, cultivator combinations, and prairie strip techniques on soil fertility is carefully summarized in this review. The result highlights that conservational tillage is much better than conventional tillage for soil quality and different aspects of different tillage and their interaction. On the other hand, intercropping, crop rotation, cover cropping, etc., increase the crop yield more than monocropping. Different types of cropping systems are highlighted along with their advantages and disadvantages. Using zero tillage can increase crop production as well as maintain soil fertility which is highlighted in this review. In terms of cropping systems and tillage management, our main goal is to improve crop yield while minimizing harm to the soil’s health.

Climate change has posed a significant threat to agricultural productivity in recent years. Due to their sessile nature, plants are vulnerable to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Heat stress has emerged as the most significant abiotic stress in recent years, as global temperatures rise daily. Heat stress inhibits photosynthesis, plant growth, pollen production, and reproduction. The plant's photosynthetic efficiency is mainly reduced by the overproduction of reactive oxygen species, denaturation of heat shock proteins, and alterations in several enzyme activities. Phytohormones have been shown to provide a comprehensive mechanism for stress resistance at numerous biochemical, molecular, and physiological levels, indicating that they play an essential role in plant growth and development. The various stressors primarily cause nutritional deficits and limit plant nutrient absorption. Phytohormones can enhance heat stress tolerance by boosting seed germination, antioxidant enzymes, leaf photosynthesis, seedling growth, and root growth while decreasing electrolyte leakage, reactive oxygen species, and malonaldehyde. At the same time, plant exogenous nutrients such as Ca, K, Mg, and N also engage in ROS scavenging activities by boosting antioxidant qualities, increasing photosynthetic potential, and decreasing cell membrane leakage by resynthesizing chlorophyll pigments. To cope with heat stress, plants have evolved adaptive systems. Plant defense responses to various abiotic challenges, including heat, are regulated by the classical plant hormones, which include auxin, cytokinin, abscisic acid, brassinosteroids, jasmonate, ethylene, and salicylic acid. These hormones integrate environmental stimuli and endogenous signals. Plants that receive exogenous administration of those hormones before or after heat stress are more thermotolerant. This review focused on the physiological, molecular and biochemical aspects that plants experience due to heat stress and the role of exogenous phytohormones and plant nutrients in mitigating heat stress.