Mycoremediation of agrochemicals

Abstract

Extensive application of herbicides, pesticides, weedicides along with nitrogen- and phosphate-based fertilizers has deteriorated the physicochemical and biological attributes of agricultural ecosystem, in addition to the resistance emergence in insect pests. Currently, many of the employed agrochemicals are of persistent nature and pose serious hazards to human and environment due to their biomagnifying nature at different trophic levels. The technological advances for the management of agrochemical contaminated soil system may involve different physical and chemical treatment methods. These methods are very much expensive, nonecofriendly, and may sometime lead to generation of even very toxic compounds of more persistent nature than pollutants intended for treatment. Contrary to this, bioremediation based on fungi may offer an easy, sustainable, and ecofriendly technology for restoration of contaminated soil system. In the present chapter, we have tried to discuss different anthropogenically introduced contaminants into soil, their impacts on natural soil characteristics, effect on native microbial community, beneficial soil annelids, arthropods, as well as different fungal genera involved in degradation, strategies based on fungal metabolism for degradation of different chemical contaminants, and limitations associated with application of fungi in agroecosystem to make the soil free from hazardous agrochemicals. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.