HighlightsPrecision farming is measuring and responding to inter and intra-field variability in crops to form a decision support system.About 40–70% of N, 80–90% of P and 50–70% of K of the applied fertilizers is lost to the environment causing pollution.Nanofertilizers helps in slow and sustained release of agrochemicals resulting in precise dosage to the plants.Green synthesized Ag, ZnO and TiO2 NPs are extensively used for plant protection and treatment of diseases.Biosensors helps in detecting pesticides in the vegetable crops and form a decision support system for crop commodities.

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The native population of phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) was studied in the rhizosphere of chickpea, mustard and wheat grown in different regions of Haryana. A total of 193 PSB were isolated from 245 rhizospheric samples collected from south-west and north-east zones. The PSB count showed large variations (3-67 × 10 5 cfu/g) and biodiversity within the crop and place of sampling. Using biochemical analysis, the isolates were tentatively identifi ed as belonging to four genera, Pseudomonas, Aeromonas, Klebsiella and Enterobacter. Phosphate solubilization of these isolates varied from 5.9 to 123.8% and 2.2 to 227.2 μg/ ml in solid and liquid Pikovskaya's medium, respectively. Based on their morphological traits, all the isolates were placed into 20 groups, majority of them falling in the group having white, round and gummy colonies, irrespective of the crop or the region. The intrinsic antibiotic resistance pattern showed large variations among the isolates and most of the isolates were resistant to streptomycin, ampicillin and penicillin. The highest PSB number and greatest variability were found in the rhizosphere of chickpea, followed by wheat and then mustard.

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Tannase from Aspergillus awamori MTCC 9299 was purified using ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by ion-exchange chromatography. A purification fold of 19.5 with 13.5% yield was obtained. Temperature of 30 degrees C and pH of 5.5 were found optimum for tannase activity. The effects of metals and organic solvents on the activity of tannase were also studied. Metal ions Mg(+2), Mn(+2), Ca(+2), Na(+), and K(+) stimulated the tannase activity, while Cu(+2), Fe(+3), and Co(+2) acted as inhibitors of the enzyme. The addition of organic solvents like acetic acid, isoamylalcohol, chloroform, isopropyl alcohol, and ethanol completely inhibited the enzyme activity. However, butanol and benzene increased the enzyme activity.

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Bacteriocins produced by lactic acid bacteria are safer alternatives to the more popularly used chemical preservatives which exhibit several adverse effects. The bacteriocins have an advantage of being efficient in controlling food pathogens without possessing any side-effects. However, the bacteriocins have a limitation of exhibiting a narrow antimicrobial spectrum and having a high-dosage requirement. With an aim to combat these limitations, the present study involved the biosynthesis of bacteriocin-capped nanoparticles, using two bacteriocins (Bac4463 and Bac22) extracted and purified from Lactobacillus strains. Nanoconjugates synthesised at optimum conditions were characterized using various physico-chemical techniques. The interaction of bacteriocin-capped silver nanoparticles with the pathogenic bacteria was observed using scanning electron microscopy, wherein the deformed and elongated cells were clearly visible. In vitro antimicrobial efficacy of both Bac4463capped silver nanoparticles and Bac22-capped silver nanoparticles against different food pathogens was observed to be enhanced in comparison to the antimicrobial activity of bacteriocins alone. Minimum inhibitory concentration was observed to be as low as 8 μg/ml for Bac4463-capped silver nanoparticles against Staphylococcus aureus, and 2 μg/ml for Bac22-capped silver nanoparticles against Shigella flexneri. This study, therefore, recommends the use of bacteriocin-capped nanoparticles as food preservatives to control the growth of food spoiling bacteria.