Browsing by Author "Katina Chachei"

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Effect of Nanocomposites on Sustainable Growth of Crop Plants and Productivity
(wiley, 2025) Katina Chachei; Sonali Ranjan; Kirpa Ram; R. S. Singh
The growing population has placed tremendous pressure on the agriculture sector for food production. To meet this demand, the current agricultural practices rely heavily on agrochemical inputs to sustain the growing requirement for agricultural products. The injudicious application of agrochemicals has led to a gradual deterioration of the soil causing acidification and fertility, contamination of groundwater, eutrophication, greenhouse gas emissions, and risks to human health. Many of these agrochemicals are not utilized by the plants partly because of their larger size and surface area, which leads to accumulation in the field. In this regard, nanotechnology-based agrochemicals, especially nanocomposite (NC) materials, have emerged as an attractive tool due to their enhanced physiochemical properties that are vital for sustainable agriculture. NCs are formed by combining a matrix with a nanofiller where at least one material dimension is in the nanoscopic range (1-100 nm). These materials exhibit reactivity, mechanical, thermal, and other properties over neat polymers or conventional composites. They are used in agriculture as NC-based fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and sensor materials. Their unique characteristic lies in their capacity to regulate the release of agrochemicals to coincide with the spatial and temporal demand of crops. This enhances nutrient use efficiency, seed germination, photosynthesis, chlorophyll content, and grain yield, while having a low detrimental impact on the environment. They also improve soil water retention and oxygen content, enrich microbial diversity in the rhizosphere, and protect crops against diseases by disrupting fungal hyphal structures and suppressing sporangial germination. Some studies have reported potential negative effects of NCs and phytotoxicity risk beyond a certain level, necessitating further investigation. Other challenges include their widespread adoption at present due to high costs and unknown consequences. Nevertheless, there is an ever-growing interest among the scientific community to develop an ideal composite that is both economically and environmentally sustainable. This chapter explores recent advancements in NCs, their positive and adverse effects, challenges, and promising aspects for sustainable growth and production of crops. © 2025 Wiley-VCH GmbH.
Greenhouse gas emissions in the Indian agriculture sector and mitigation by best management practices and smart farming technologies—a review
(Springer, 2024) Katina Chachei
The growing demand for agricultural products, driven by the Green Revolution, has led to a significant increase in food production. However, the demand is surpassing production, making food security a major concern, especially under climatic variation. The Indian agriculture sector is highly vulnerable to extreme rainfall, drought, pests, and diseases in the present climate change scenario. Nonetheless, the key agriculture sub-sectors such as livestock, rice cultivation, and biomass burning also significantly contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a driver of global climate change. Agriculture activities alone account for 10–12% of global GHG emissions. India is an agrarian economy and a hub for global food production, which is met by intensive agricultural inputs leading to the deterioration of natural resources. It further contributes to 14% of the country’s total GHG emissions. Identifying the drivers and best mitigation strategies in the sector is thus crucial for rigorous GHG mitigation. Therefore, this review aims to identify and expound the key drivers of GHG emissions in Indian agriculture and present the best strategies available in the existing literature. This will help the scientific community, policymakers, and stakeholders to evaluate the current agricultural practices and uphold the best approach available. We also discussed the socio-economic, and environmental implications to understand the impacts that may arise from intensive agriculture. Finally, we examined the current national climate policies, areas for further research, and policy amendments to help bridge the knowledge gap among researchers, policymakers, and the public in the national interest toward GHG reduction goals. Graphical Abstract: (Figure presented.). © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024.