Enhanced Crop Production Setup Under Various Micro and Nano Contaminants: Sustainable Use, Production and Future Prospects

This book explores the uptake, toxicity, and tolerance of various contaminants in crop plants and discusses genetic and molecular methods, as well as biological tools, to improve plant growth under contamination stress. The book also covers defense mechanisms in plants using phytohormones and nanomaterials, along with safety concerns related to micro and nano-contaminants. Contaminants in soil-crop plant systems pose a significant challenge to sustainable agriculture, environmental health, and food security. These pollutants, such as herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, salts, nanomaterials, and toxic metals like cadmium, lead, mercury, and arsenic, can enter the food chain through contaminated soil and crops. These substances can damage plants, alter their growth processes, and compromise their integrity. As a result, the persistence of such chemicals within the ecosystem can remain unchanged, affecting plant health and soil quality. This book looks at the effective management practices for the use and disposal of contaminants that are essential to limit their harmful dynamics. It highlights the various interventions for the their tolerance and survival mechanisms of plants against contaminants that can disrupt morpho-physiological and biochemical. It also highlights the use of signaling molecules, phytohormones, plant nutrients, bioaugmented agents, and nanomaterials that can support plants in coping with contamination, improving growth and productivity. This book is a good resource for upper-level students, faculty, scientists, and researchers working especially in nanobiotechnology, plant biology, plant biochemistry, botanical or crop sciences, environmental sciences, ecological sciences, and other allied subjects and or science.

Azamal Husen served as a Full Professor and Head of the Department of Biology at the University of Gondar, Ethiopia, and currently serves as a Foreign Delegate at Wolaita Sodo University, Ethiopia. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Graphic Era University, India. Previously, he was a Full Professor at Sankalchand Patel University in India and a Visiting Faculty at the Forest Research Institute and Doon College of Agriculture and Forest in Dehra Dun, India. With 25 years of expertise in Nanobiotechnology, Plant Physiology, Environmental Botany, Medicinal Plants, and Clonal Propagation. He has led research funded by organizations such as the World Bank, the National Agricultural Technology Project, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the Indian Council of Forest Research Education, and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. He has delivered numerous talks at conferences and workshops, led academic staff orientation courses, and developed BSc, MSc, and PhD curricula. He was honored with an award from the University of Gondar for his decade of service in teaching, research, and community work. Husen has published extensively and served on editorial boards of prestigious journals. Acknowledged as one of the ＂World’s Top 2% Scientists＂ (2022-2024) by Stanford University, he has also contributed as a Book Series Editor and Journal Guest Editor for several scientific publications in Plant Biology, Medicinal Plants, and Nanotechnology.