eChapters

Abstract

Rhizobia are soil bacteria that fix atmospheric dinitrogen after establishing symbiotic relationship inside the root nodules of legumes (Fabaceae). Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria are the group of bacteria which thrive in the rhizosphere region and enhance the plant growth through direct & indirect mechanisms. Pulses are being inoculated with specific rhizobial strains to have better nodulation in India. The native rhizobial strains from the root nodules of legumes from different agroclimatic zones of Odisha was isolated, characterised and screened for PGP activities. Out of all eleven isolates showed similar characteristics with the family Rhizobiacae. Among them six isolates contained nif-gene and PGPR activity (B2, B4, B5, B6, B7 and B8) were applied to seeds, that helped in faster germination and better elongation of root and shoot. The observations were statistically significant.

Abstract

Phosphorus is the second important key element after nitrogen as a mineral nutrient in terms of quantitative plant requirement. Although abundant in soils, in both organic and inorganic forms, its availability is restricted as it occurs mostly in insoluble forms. The dynamics of phosphorus in soil is closely related to the dynamics of the biological cycle in which microorganisms play a central role. They also participate in the cycles of the most important macro and microelements such as phosphorus besides their major role in the decomposition of plant residues, creation of humus and maintenance of stable soil structure. Microorganisms affect the amount of phosphorus accessible to plants by means of mineralization of organic phosphorus compounds, immobilization of available phosphorus and solubilization of non-soluble phosphorus minerals such as tricalcium phosphate. Mineralization is catalyzed by microbiological enzymes phosphatases secreted by a diverse group of bacteria, fungi and other groups of microorganisms. Organic phosphorus mineralization in soil depends on several soil and environmental factors such as temperature, pH, soil moisture, degree of aeration. In this chapter the major emphasis is given on the transformation of P through microbiologically involving different enzymes and also the microorganisms involved in the process. Emphasis is also given on the factors that have profound influence on the microbial transformation of P in soil and ultimately making it available for plant uptake. This chapter also focuses on the mechanism of P solubilization, role of various phosphatases, impact of various factors on P solubilization and potential for application of this knowledge in managing a sustainable environmental system.

Abstract

Agriculture provides food, feed, fiber and many other desired products for survival of human beings in the world. Modern agriculture emphasizes on use of hybrid seeds, high yielding varieties and chemical fertilizer to increase the crop productivity within a short period. Indiscriminate use of synthetic fertilizers has led to environmental pollution and deterioration of soil health, which results in depletion of essential plant nutrients and organic matter in soil. On account of the environmental hazard and soil infertility, biofertilizer concept was developed. Biofertilizer are natural fertilizers including bacteria, fungi and algae alone or in combination that augment availability of nutrients to the plants. However, due to its short shelf life period it may not be a suitable candidate for modern agriculture. Thus, it is the need of the hour to develop an economic and eco-friendly nano-biofertilizer for sustainable agriculture.

Abstract

Potassium (K) is the third most essential macronutrient element for plants. More than 98% of K in agricultural soils are remained as insoluble organic and inorganic compounds or complexes that are unavailable for plant uptake. Nutrition of crop plants are heavily relied on application of expensive inorganic chemical fertilizers, which is a potential cause of environmental pollution. An eco-friendly alternative strategy for plant K nutrition could be the application of K solubilizing bacteria (KSB) as biofertilizer. Plant and soil-associated bacteria from diverse taxonomic genera such as Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Acidithiobacillus, Paenibacillus, Flectobacillus, Arthrobacter, Enterobacter, Sphingomonas, Paraburkholderia etc. have shown high K solubilizing activities and promote plant nutrition in K deficient soils. The mechanisms involved in their activities include acidolysis, chelation, exchange reactions, and enzymatic degradation of insoluble K minerals and other K complexes. However, inconsistency in the efficiency of KSB-based biofertilizer for crop production in diverse ecological settings is still a big challenge. Recent genomics, post-genomics and CRISPR-Cas genome editing approaches seem to be useful for a better understanding the underlying mechanisms of KSB and development of highly efficient K fertilizers for promoting sustainable agriculture. This chapter comprehensively reviews current updates of KSB-based biofertilizer and their potentials for promoting sustainable crop production. The role of genomics and post-genomics approaches for better understanding of the mechanisms of the functions of applied KSB-based biofertilizers in the crop field and mitigation of the existing inconsistency in the efficiency of KSB-based fertilizers are also discussed.

Abstract

Potassium is a very essential nutrient element that is required for proper health, growth, functioning and productivity of plants. However, up to 98% of this very important mineral is held up in insoluble, unavailable forms in the soil and with only approximately 2% soluble form available for plant use. Biofertilizers add nutrients to the soil for plant use by some mechanisms like the breakdown of phosphorus, potassium, fixing nitrogen, and also synthesizing some substances which in turn enhance plant growth. These processes take place naturally. Microorganisms that solubilize potassium have demonstrated an increased potassium uptake by plants when added as bio-inoculants consequently resulting in increased yield by these plants. This article reviewed the methods of isolation of potassium solubilizing bacteria and fungi and their use as biofertilizers. Data are presented showing summary of researches conducted on potassium solubilizing microorganisms and their findings. Figures on production efforts of biofertilizers in India per year and by states are also added.

Abstract

Nitrogen (N₂) is an essential nutrient for every organisms. It is the building block of many biological molecules. Atmosphere contains 79% of N₂ gas which cannot be used by plants directly as it is chemically inert. Many diazotrophs like bacteria and cyanobacteria have the capability to convert atmospheric dinitrogen into a usable form by means of Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF). N₂ fixation is generally three types i.e. Asymbiotic, Associative and Symbiotic. Asymbiotic N₂-fixation also known as free living N₂-fixation is under taken by some bacteria and cyanobacteria. In associative N₂-fixation, some bacteria fix nitrogen in association with root of some grasses and cereal plants. In symbiotic nitrogen fixation, Rhizobium form root nodule in legumes and fix atmospheric N₂ and convert it into the ammonia (NH₃) by the help of Nitrogenase enzyme. This oxygen sensitive enzyme consist of two components i.e. di-nitrogenase (MoFe protein) and di-nitrogenase reductase (Fe protein) which are highly conserve in sequence and structure. The N₂ fixing genes e.g. nod gene (nodulation gene) and the nif gene (nitrogen-fixing gene) are located in the plasmid which is also called mega plasmid. Symbiotic association between legume and rhizobium have agronomic importantance and reduce the use of N-fertilizers or even avoided. The long term use of the nitrogenous biofertilizer in the agricultural field is a promising approach to develop and fulfil N₂ demand of the growing crop without causing any environmental hazard.

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture is vital in today’s world as it offers the potential to meet our agricultural needs, something that conventional agriculture fails to do. Current soil management strategies are mainly dependent on inorganic chemical fertilizers, which caused a serious threat to human health and environment. To overcome the ecological problems resulting from the loss of plant nutrients and to increase crop yields in the absence of resources for obtaining costly fertilizers, microscopic organisms that allow more efficient nutrient use or increase nutrient availability can provide sustainable solutions for the present and future agricultural practices. Microbial populations are instrumental to fundamental processes that drive stability and productivity of agro-ecosystems. Several investigations addressed at improving understanding of the diversity, dynamics and importance of soil microbial communities and their beneficial and cooperative roles in agricultural productivity. Thus the technique, which uses microscopic organism as biofertilizer, is environment friendly and ensures safe and healthy agricultural products. In this chapter we aim to provide a brief overview of potential use of biofertilizer for attaining sustainability of agro-ecosystem.

Abstract

In recent years, significant studies have been carried out on Plant growth promoting rizhobacteria (PGPR) to replace the usage of pesticides and fertilizers to improve the plant health. Plant growth promoting rizhobacteria (PGPR) is a group of rhizosphere bacteria, which are symbionts to plants and influence their growth by providing plant growth promoting substances. Different bacterial genera act as plant growth promoting rizhobacteria (PGPR): Pseudomonas sp., Rhizobium sp., Azotobacter sp., Bacillus sp. Pseudomonads are gram negative rods, aerobic, fluorescent, motile and are able to produce siderophores which influence plant growth. There are multiple potential traits offered to the plants by plant growth promoting (PGP) Pseudomonas sp. are (1) Biocontrol agent against plant pathogens (2) Induced systemic resistance, which is a defense mechanisms in plants preceding to pathogenic attack (3) Influence of plant growth promoting (PGP) Pseudomonas sp.on agricultural crops (4) Siderophores, which are low molecular, high affinity iron chelating compounds which benefits the plants to acquire iron molecules (5) Nitrogen fixation (6) Phytoremediation of heavy metals (7) Solubilization of inorganic phosphates (8) Secretion of plant hormones (9) Bacteriocins(10) Antifungal factors (11) Antibiosis traits and (12) Endophytic PGP Pseudomonas sp.

Abstract

Soil salinity is one of the major environmental stresses affecting crop productivity and soil health drastically, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas. Most of the vegetable crops being salt sensitive, grow poorly in saline and alkaline soils. Soil salinity affects crops mainly due to the osmotic stress and excessive accumulation of toxic ions (Na⁺, Cl^-, and SO₄ ^2-), whereas alkali soils are generally characterized by poor physical conditions due to high concentrations of bicarbonate (HCO₃ ^-) and carbonate (CO₃ ^2-) as well as high exchangeable Na⁺. Excessive concentrations of sodium chloride (NaCl) in soil or irrigation water can induce several morphological, physiological, and biochemical responses in plants leading to stunted growth and yield. This is due to osmotic (i.e., water deficit) and ionic (i.e., Na⁺ and Cl^-) effects on nutrient uptake/translocation and metabolic processes such as nitrogen assimilation, photosynthesis, and protein synthesis. Plant growth promoting microbes (PGPMs) are considered as promising tools to overcome the limitations of salinity on crop growth and productivity. Many PGPMs can enhance tolerance of crops to salt stress by increasing nutrient uptake through better solubilization of nutrients like phosphorus and zinc, and also by production of small peptides, volatiles and metabolites with hormone activities such as indole-3-acetic acid or auxin analogs in the rhizosphere. This chapter discusses the benefits of PGPMs in plant adaptations to salt stress conditions.

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the most important factors contributing to the economic growth of India. Out of the 329 million hectares of India’s geographical area, about 114 million hectares are under cultivation. There are 17 essential elements required for proper plant growth. Of the mineral elements, the primary macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium) are needed in the greatest quantities and are most likely to be in short supply in agricultural soils. Secondary macronutrients are needed in smaller quantities, and are typically found in sufficient quantities in agricultural soil, and therefore do not often limit crop growth. Micronutrients, or trace nutrients, are needed in very small amounts and can be toxic to plants in excess. Silicon (Si) and sodium (Na) are sometimes considered essential plant nutrients, due to their ubiquitous presence in soils.

The economy of India thrives on agriculture, the most practiced occupation in the country. Agricultural fertilizers are essential to enhance proper growth of plants and crop yield. Recently, farmers have been using chemical fertilizers for quicker and better yield. But these fertilizers endanger ecosystems, soil, plants, human and animal lives. In contrast, naturally grown biofertilizers not only give a better yield, but are also harmless to humans. This chapter aims to study the biofertilizers play a key role for enhancing economic development of sustainable agriculture (EDSA) in comparison to chemical fertilizers. Biofertilizers improve the crop yields, plant resistance, soil health, profit to farmers, and the benefit to cost ratio of biofertilizers were higher than chemical fertilizer, proved that the biofertilizers would lead to better sustainable economic development for the farmers and their country.

Abstract

The concern of global food security is growing day by day as the agriculturally available land is reducing each day with the expansion of industrialization and urbanization. During the course of urban and industrial development, crop production is greatly affected by global warming, contamination of hazardous materials, salinity and drought. To combat against such adversities, scientists have taken several additives measurement like development of transgenic crops, application of indigenous plant growth promoting microbes etc. for sustainable agriculture. Use of plant growth promoting microbes is getting popular day-by-day as they occupy a privilege niche with the autochthonous flora of specific environment. For the expanse of food and shelter, the microbes supply a wide range of plant regulators (e.g. auxins, cytokinins, gibberellins, ABA, phenols, NH₃ etc.), antibiotics, alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids, diterpenes, enzymes (e.g. cellulases, lipases, proteinase, esterases etc.) etc. for overall development of the plant. Apart from growth promotion, it also protects the plants against pathogenic invasion creating a competition with pathogens for nutrition and habitat. In near future, formulation of different plant growth promoting bacteria (like alpha- Azorhizobium, Azospirillum, Ancylobacter, Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Sinorhizobium, Novosphingobium sp., beta- Burkholderia sp., gamma- Acinetobacter, Aeromonas, Azotobacter, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Pantoea, Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas sp. Proteobacteria, Bacillus sp., Paenibacillus sp. and Actinobacteria- Microbacterium sp. etc.) and fungus (Aspergillus, Trichoderma, Penicillium etc.) may reduce the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizer to promote greener ways of crop production.

Abstract

Microbes are ubiquitously found in the environment. Their interaction with other living organisms could either be pathogenic or beneficial in nature. Soil as a rich source of microbes, researchers have extensively studied the plant-microbe interactions. The soil microbes supply the nutrients deficit plants with essential growth elements such as nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, etc. and improve the texture and quality of the soil. Due to the destructive nature of chemical fertilizers to soil and environment, it was required to generate a more ecofriendly means of increasing the soil fertility. This led to the development of microbes based biofertilizers. The primary benefit of biofertilizers is to promote a healthy soil environment along with supplying essential nutrients to the plant. Again, biofertilizers can be tailor-made according to the specific plant or the climatic conditions. Fungal and bacteria based biofertilizers, either alone or in combinations are formulated for the plants. Lately, liquid fertilizers are increasingly finding their use in the biofertilizer industry due to their ease in manufacture and prolonged effect on plant growth. The scope of this chapter lays on the currently popular biofertilizers and recent trends in the biofertilizer industry.

10.1 Introduction

The agriculture sector is also transforming through technological intervention and advancements drastically to improve several processes and crop and livestock production systems. These advancements have resulted in minimizing operation and production costs, reduction of environmental impact and optimization overall production cycle. The major issue in the agriculture sector is human-intensive operation and non-availability of sufficient labor on time. The on-field task like fruit harvesting, intra-row weed control which is supposed to be more difficult to perform by the traditional machinery and manually. This has made to think to introduce the autonomous tractors and robotics platform in field operation. Timely activities and treatment play an important role in agriculture and agriculture production. The farmers generally face many problems in performing the task on the field due to various limitations. The cost is one of the main parameters which need to keep the farmer in a competitive market and reduce the cost of operation as low as possible. Also, the growing population demand more and more food which put pressure on the agriculture sector to raise crop production. In this situation, agriculture robots can play an important role to address the challenges in the farms. A robot can professionally perform the task and can automate the tasks which are difficult for manual labor. These are used in the agricultural lands and they are also completely autonomous. These robots are used in several applications in agriculture and can also work autonomously.

The robotic system has been widely used in industrial production and warehouses in an almost controlled environment. In the early 1960s, the agriculture and forestry sector initiated research into driverless vehicles with a focus on automatic steered system and autonomous tractors. Robotics has made an impact on agriculture and forestry since past few years. The purpose of minimizing the damage to the growing zone of soil tends to cater to the application of automatic vehicle guidance. The interest in the development of robotics system in agriculture has led many experts to explore the possibilities to develop more rational and adaptable vehicles based on a behavioural approach.

9.1 Introduction

The increase in world’s population and respective food demand has brought the global concern. The climate change alone has put a tremendous burden on the farming communities, and has become the major challenge to feed the burgeoning population. It has been estimated that by the end of the year 2050, the global population will be around 10 billion, meanwhile, the food demand will also be increased by 70-100 %. The traditional method of agricultural practices are not sufficient enough to meet the rising food demand. Therefore, to meet the increasing food demand, agriculture is intensified by the use of chemical fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, which deteriorat the soil health. Thus, new automated/ mechanised systems have been introduced into the agriculture sector to ensure precision farming. These systems are quick in action, and satisfing the requirements along with generation of billions of employment worldwide. In a developing country like India, 65-70 per cent of the total population resides in rural areas, of which, most of the households are dependent on agriculture. The agriculture sector in India accounts for 18 per cent of the country’s GDP, and provide employment to 50 per cent of the total work force. The agriculture sector is one of the most sensitive sectors of Indian economy which supports all other sectors, and spreading its benefit to the far-reaching areas. Therefore, it becomes important for the developing country like India to develop agriculture sector to boost-up the rural economy.

With the advent of technology, a rapid transformation has been occurred in various industries, while agriculture remains the least digitized. Though, the application of aircraft/ drones in agriculture for fertilizer/ pesticides applications, image capturing, access to real-time quality data has adopted in some developed countries like Australia, USA, Japan, and some of the European countries. Moreover, these unmanned aerial vehicles could provide data of soil health, monitor crop health, assist in irrigation scheduling, yield estimation, and weather data analysis too. However, such development in agriculture is still lacking in developing countries. The agriculture development in the modern era could be done by taking the biological information and agricultural knowledge through integration of modern agriculture information technology with traditional agricultural practices. These knowledge integrations with mobile internet, cloud computing, and machine learning could enable to control the agricultural production system over stressed climate condition easily. Thus, Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is a sort of machine intelligence, an inbuilt set of programme and algorithms similar to the human brain in the current world is gaining more attention in agricultural application for precision farming.

8.1 Introduction

In the modern world, the most elementary desire of every common man is to have sufficient food and mental peace. With the increasing world population, pressure on both peace and availability of food are continuously increasing. Advancing agricultural research can explore a possibility to feed to all living beings. Agricultural crops are highly susceptible to climatic conditions and crop productivity which are mainly influenced by extreme weather conditions; including temperature and water availability. In open field conditions, during long dry weather condition, soil moisture reduces and increases the transpiration.

Plants are very important to all forms of life on the earth because they consume carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produce oxygen. In addition, plants make up the base of the food web. Basically, plants need five things in order to grow and these are: sunlight, proper temperature, moisture, air and nutrients. These five things should be provided by the natural or artificial environments where the plants live. If any of these elements are missing, they can limit plant growth. If any environmental factor is less than ideal, it limits the plant›s growth. People began putting plants indoor to avoid the damage from cold weather and this practice led to development of greenhouse. With the improvement in living standard and upgradation in agricultural technologies, off seasoned cultivation is also possible by providing desired artificial environmental conditions. The environmental stress weakens a plant and makes it more susceptible to disease or insect attack. In the modern engineering era, plant production systems have become more sophisticated. The desired climatic condition to grow plants and its control have changed from manual to automated digital operations and control computers have become faster and more capable.

Environmental control techniques are essential for protected cultivation and are not only for greenhouse’s cultivation but are also applicable to tissue culture and space farming as well. Environmental control in the present protected crop cultivation practices has been profusely supported by computer and sensor developments which is sometimes aslo called controlled environment agriculture.

7.1 Introduction

Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy and almost 70 per cent of the total population depends on it. After independence, India achieved self-sufficiency in primary agriculture like food grains, fruits, vegetables and milk, etc. Now it is time to think and focus on secondary agriculture. It is assumed that with the adaption of secondary agriculture, India can achieve the goal of doubling the income of farmers. The secondary agriculture can be defined as, value addition to agricultural products, generating basic facilities for primary processing and add value to the basic agro commodities to allow farmers to get better revenues from their farm produce. It also has job creation opportunity in the rural sector to grow rural economy, which is purely based on agriculture. Further, it can also be elaborated that secondary agriculture as a production activity and invented strategy which includes sustainability of production, monetisation of farmer’s produce, straightening of extension service and recognising agriculture as an enterprise. Secondary agriculture can help drive growth of primary agriculture in the three areas i.e. (i) value addition to primary agriculture production, (ii) farmer – industrial linked and (iii) effective utilization of crop residues of primary agriculture.

The value addition to a primary agriculture production can be achieved by establishing direct linkage of farmers with market through grading of agricultural produce, cluster farming, marketing skill and financial literacy. The farmer – industrial linkage is closely associated with rural off-farm activities such as bee keeping, livestock production, etc. it can be promoted as a part of an integrated farming system. The crop residues effectively can be utilized for energy generation. There is scope of establishing rural based agricultural entrepreneurship in the field of biofuel. Agribusiness incubation can help farming community and provide reliable market linkages to improve farmer’s realisations.

6.1 Introduction

Aquaponics represents the relationship between water, aquatic life, bacteria, nutrient dynamics and plants, which grow together in waterways all over the world. Taking cues from nature, aquaponics harnesses the power of bio-integrating these individual components: exchanging the waste by-product from the fish as a food for the bacteria, to be converted into a perfect fertilizer for the plants, to return the water in a clean and safe form to the fish. Just like mother nature does in every aquatic ecosystem.

Aquaponics is basically a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics plant production in a close-loop water system where both vegetables and fish grow simultaneously. This is a closed-loop system and considered as highly efficient, produce more food compared to the traditional farming system. Importantly, it has virtually no waste and with double purpose, aquaponics farming might be an economical viable solution to the low provision of fish and vegetable in some countries. In many cases, aquaponics is advertised as a form of sustainable agriculture because it is water efficient, and has fewer environmental impacts than some forms of aquaculture. That is why, aquaponics is considered as super sustainable and highly efficient because of the healthy symbiotic relationships among the plants, fish and nitrogen-fixing bacteria as illustrated in Fig 6.1. As fish excrete into the water, the water is then pumped up to the plant beds, and bacteria break down the fish excrement so the plants can absorb it.

Aquaponics farming is quite different than hydroponics farming. As discussed in previous chapter, hydroponics is the process of growing plants in a soilless medium where nutrients are added to the water for the plants to absorb. Such systems are not as sustainable and viable as aquaponics because they require the addition of other supplemental nutrients to get desired plants growth. The quality of water decline with time and require proper disposal otherwise, it will contaminate water streams and other water sources. On the other hand, aquaponics incorporates fish to provide the natural fertilizers and nutrients plants need. This simple addition, eliminates the need to add “food” for plants. Best of all, aquaponics has a built in self-cleaning and filtration system that returns clean water to the fish. Aquaponics farming system can be more productive and economically feasible where land and water are limited. No doubt, aquaponics is complicated and requires considerable start-up costs. The production of fish and vegetables is the most visible output of aquaponics farming units. It is essential to understand that aquaponics is the management of a complete ecosystem that includes three major groups of organisms: fish, plants and bacteria.

5.1 Introduction

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants in a nutrient solution rather than in soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with only their roots exposed to the nutritious liquid.

Traditionally, the soil supports the crop’s roots by helping them remain upright and ensuring the delivery of water and essential nutrients. In hydroponics farming, crops are supported by an inert medium such as perlite, gravel, or other substrates. Therefore, the nutrients are supplied by using various practices that bring mineral nutrient solutions to the crops. In the present situation there excessive use of chemical fertilizers, affecting fertility of soil is badly affected. The fertility of the soil is falling that affects the plants growth but in hydroponics, the plant remains unaffected. Plants grow faster than in soil. Produce better quality of plants and higher yields. It use less water. It is possible to use hydroponics on outdoor crops, but most of the hydroponics production is in greenhouse. Hydroponic farming system has the potential to reduce the problem associated with traditional crop production. Therefore, it could serve to be a turning point in feeding the global population. The greenhouse and its environment control system are the same whether plants are grown conventionally or with hydroponics. The difference comes from the support system and the method of supplying water and nutrients.

The hydroponic farming has been successfully demonstrated by the commercial growers for fast-growing crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, spinaches, lettuce, radishes, strawberries, bens, spring onions, coriander, and ornamentals. Indeed, hydroponics technology enables a more precise control of micro climatic conditions. In this technique, the vigorous development of a root system is taking place, which enable the uptake of essential nutrients from nutrient solution for better crop yield. The initial investment in hydroponics farming is high and required constant energy input. Owing to this, hydroponics farming is recommended for growing high value crops in developed countries such as the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan.

4.1 Introduction

In the modern era, agricultural productivity seems to have reached a maximum production due to the easy availability of fertilizers and pesticides/insecticide, which are used to improve crop productivity. Excess uses of these products and unawareness about field constraints can decrease the crop productivity and endanger the environmental balance in the cultivation area. Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve agricultural system and efficient utilization of these resources for profitable and environmentally sustainable agriculture.

Government has also an emphasis on effective and efficient use of available resources and farmers are also adopting more scientific approach during crop production such as remote sensing, global positioning system, and new equipment to make their agricultural operation more precise.

Precision agriculture is one of the many advanced farming approaches that make production more efficient. It is basically an approach of farm management with the help of information technology to confirm that the cultivated crops and soil receive desire input for optimum health and productivity. In other words, precision agriculture utilizes different tools and technologies to identify infield soil and crop variability for improving farming practices and optimizing agronomic inputs. To reduce dependency on excessive use of chemical inputs in agriculture, several technologies have been applied to make agricultural products safer and to lower their adverse impacts on the environment and human beings, a goal that is consistent with sustainable agriculture. Precision agriculture has emerged as a valuable component of the framework to achieve this goal. Further, Pierce and Nowak define the precision farming that, the application of technologies and principles to manage spatial and temporal variability associated with all aspects of agricultural production for improving crop performance and environmental quality. Precision agriculture is the combination of many different elements working together in a synchronised way with the help of Geographic Information System (GIS) as shown in Fig 4.1. Precision agriculture is basically an information technology based agricultural management system. In this modern management system, Geography information system (GIS) based analysis is extensively used to get land and crop related data accurately and timely, which help farming community to take correct decision .

3.1 Introduction

The world population will grow by another 2 billion people by 2025 and feeding them will be a big challenge. Rapid industrial development and fast urbanization, the arable lands are continuously shrinking. Many scientists and researchers reported that the Earth had lost a third of its arable lands over the last 40 years¹. In the current scenario, the most challenging task for agricultural sciences is to ensure for continuous and enough supply of food to growing human civilization. Presently, all available arable land on the earth are using extensive pesticides and fertilizers in various ways that are not sustainable as well as harmful to the environment.

There is an urgent need to think about sustainable farming options as arable land for farming is continuously reducing to fulfil the food material demand of growing population. Vertical farming can produce more food from fewer land and water resources. Though it takes out many of the risks inherent in outdoor crop production. With the control of light exposure, indoor temperature, relative humidity and watering levels, growers can grow food very efficiently. Vertical farming has the potential to produce food with less energy, less water, less waste and in less space than traditional methods. It also negates the need for harmful chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Developing and installing vertical farm in those areas where people need good quality healthy food, tackle the shortage of nutritive food material at a local level. Vertical farming can be defined as it is the practice of growing crops in vertically stacked layers where controlled-environment agriculture practices usually incorporated with the aims to optimize plant growth. The soilless farming techniques such as hydroponics, aquaponics, and aeroponics also incorporated in vertical farming as shown in Fig. 3.1. Vertical farming is a very old idea, and indigenous peoples used vertically layered growing techniques like the rice terraces of East Asia. The term vertical farming was coined by American geologist Gilbert Ellis Bailey in 1915. In 1999, Dickson Despommier, a professor at New York’s Columbia University, popularized the modern idea of vertical farming, building upon the idea together with his students.