Adnan Mustafa

By Adnan Mustafa, Muhammad Naveed, Qudsia Saeed, Muhammad Nadeem Ashraf, Azhar Hussain, Tanveer Abbas, Muhammad Kamran, Nan-Sun and Xu Minggang

Weeds are the plants usually grown on unwanted places and are notorious for causing interruptions in agricultural settings. Remarkable yield losses have been reported in fields infested with weeds worldwide. So far, these weeds cause about 34% of losses to yields of major agricultural crops and pose threats to economic condition of the farmers. Conventionally, weed control was achieved by the use of chemical herbicides and traditional agronomic practices. But these methods are no more sustainable as the magnitude of threats imposed by these conventionally outdated methods such as chemical herbicides is greater than the benefits achieved and their continuous use has disturbed biodiversity and weed ecology along with herbicide resistance in some weeds. Herbicide residues are held responsible for human health hazards as well. Therefore the future of weed control is to rely on alternative approaches which may be biological agents such as bacteria and fungi. This chapter highlights the potentials of using bacterial and fungal biocontrol agents against weeds in farmer fields. Moreover, detailed review on merits and demerits of conventional weed control methods is discussed in this chapter.

Part of the book: Sustainable Crop Production

By Hassan Ali, Shahzaib Ali, Sadia Baloch, Fahmeeda Naheed, Emaan Amjad, Qudsia Saeed, Muhammad Naveed and Adnan Mustafa

Soil as a renewable resource has a key role to play in sustainable crop production, soil management, and combating food insecurity. The overapplication of fertilizers in this regard has resulted in decreased soil health and productivity. Biochar application in this respect has received increasing attention of the scientific community due to its role in soil quality improvement. This is especially true in the face of global climate change and to the nature of biochar being a carbon (C)-rich compound. In this chapter, the potential of biochar to enhance soil quality attributes, particularly those pertaining to soil’s physical, chemical, and biological properties, is comprehensively reviewed. Special attention is directed toward the distinctive properties of biochars sourced from various feedstocks, elucidating their subsequent effects on soil quality. This sheds light on potential directions for future studies in this field.

Part of the book: Soil Contamination