The worldwide agricultural enterprise is facing immense pressure to intensify to feed the world’s increasing population while the resources are dwindling. Fertilizers which are deemed as indispensable inputs for food, fodder, and fuel production now also represent the dark side of the intensive food production system. With most crop production systems focused on increasing the quantity of produce, indiscriminate use of fertilizers has created havoc for the environment and damaged the fiber of the biogeosphere. Deteriorated nutritional quality of food and contribution to impaired ecosystem services are the major limiting factors in the further growth of the fertilizer sector. Nanotechnology in agriculture has come up as a better and seemingly sustainable solution to meet production targets as well as maintaining the environmental quality by use of less quantity of raw materials and active ingredients, increased nutrient use-efficiency by plants, and decreased environmental losses of nutrients. However, the use of nanofertilizers has so far been limited largely to controlled environments of laboratories, greenhouses, and institutional research experiments; production and availability on large scale are still lagging yet catching up fast. Despite perceivable advantages, the use of nanofertilizers is many times debated for adoption at a large scale. The scenario is gradually changing, worldwide, towards the use of nanofertilizers, especially macronutrients like nitrogen (e.g. market release of nano-urea to replace conventional urea in South Asia), to arrest environmental degradation and uphold vital ecosystem services which are in critical condition. This review offers a discussion on the purpose with which the nanofertilizers took shape, the benefits which can be achieved, and the challenges which nanofertilizers face for further development and real-world use, substantiated with the significant pieces of scientific evidence available so far. Graphical Abstract

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Globally, ravine landscapes are considered among the world's most degraded ecosystems. Restoring ravines is considered a high priority item in the conservation programmes, and tree establishment augmented with appropriate soil and water conservation measures is the most sought-after restoration strategy. This study examined the impact of terracing and trenching on runoff, soil loss, and soil properties along with Sapota (Achras zapota) growth, fruit yield, biomass and carbon stock during 6 years (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) in a degraded ravine land of Western India. The four soil and water conservation strategies tested were (1) bench terracing + Sapota (Bt),(2) bench terracing + Sapota with crop cultivation (BtCr), (3) continuous slope + Sapota (Sl), and (4) continuous slope + Sapota with trenches (SlTr). All conservation techniques increased Sapota height (Bt: 54%; BtCr: 27%; SlTr: 35%) and basal diameter (Bt: 36%; BtCr: 18%; StCr: 22%) compared to Sl. Biomass and carbon stock of Sapota were in the order of Bt > SlTr > BtCr > Sl. During the droughtperiod, fruit yield was highest in Bt followed by BtCr, SlTr, and least in Sl. The treatment SlTr and Bt reduced runoff by 16-34% and soil loss by 15-25%, compared to Sl. The growth and biomass were strongly correlated with soil loss. The findings suggested that bench terracing is the best soil and water conservation measure for restoring highly degraded ravines of Western India. Under circumstances where terracing is not feasible, trenching could be a significant step along with Sapota plantation to restore these ravines.

Grafting on salt tolerant eggplant rootstocks can be a promising approach for enhancing the salinity tolerance of tomato. In this study, the performance of tomato cv. Kashi Aman grafted on two salt tolerant eggplant rootstocks (IC-111056 and IC-354557) was evaluated against non-grafted control under saline (ECiw 6 and 9 dS m−1) and non-saline (ECiw ~1 dS m−1) irrigation for 2 years. Grafting improved tomato plant performance under salt stress. Moreover, rootstock IC-111056 outperformed IC-354557. An increase in the average fruit yield of grafted plants compared with non-grafted control at 6 and 9 dS m−1 was 24.41% and 55.84%, respectively with rootstock IC-111056 and 20.25% and 49.08%, respectively with IC-354557. Grafted plants maintained a superior water status under saline irrigation, evidenced with the relative water content and chlorophyll SPAD index, along with higher proline and antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase). Rootstocks mediated the partitioning of toxic saline ions in the scions by promoting higher Na+ accumulation (14% of mean accumulation) in the older leaves and lower (24%) in the younger leaves of grafted plants. This resulted in higher K+/Na+ ratios within the younger (active) leaves of the grafted plants. Our study demonstrates that grafting tomato seedlings on selected salt tolerant eggplant rootstocks is a viable alternative for improving plant physiological status and fruit yield under salt stress, through favorable modulation of salt ion partitioning in the scions.

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The dynamic mangrove ecosystem is complemented by the activities of its soil organisms. Much study has been conducted in the various mangroves in India and the literature is scettered. This review provides an analysis of previous studies on various diversified soil organisms of mangroves and a listing of the references available until date providing a comprehensive bibliography.

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