Carrots, cabbages, onions: can vegetables be grown safely and at scale in urban microfarm soils?

Perspectives for the use of spent coffee grounds in agriculture

Effects of Good Agricultural Practices on Proximate Content and Sterol Composition of Hazelnut

Good agricultural practices are defined as a production method encompassing all production and marketing stages, from soil to table. Before making a decision, the crops or agricultural activities previously grown in the production area should be known and their impacts on human health and the environment should be evaluated. If there are risks that cannot be controlled, these areas should not be used for good agricultural practices. In order to protect soil health, reduce dependence on pesticides and maximize plant health, rotational production should be practiced. Studies on this production system, which prioritizes human and environmental health in hazelnut, are extremely limited. Therefore, this study was carried out to reveal the difference between good agricultural and conventional practices in hazelnut. In order to achieve this objective; moisture, total lipid, protein, carbohydrate, ash, energy value, and sterol composition of hazelnut oil were investigated. Effects of cultural practices on hazelnut chemical composition were generally found to be significant (p˂ 0.01). Total lipid, cholesterol, 5-23 stigmastadienol, 7-avenasterol, sitosterol, and ∆5-avenasterol were higher in good agricultural practices than in the conventional practices. Consequently, based on present findings that there will be great benefits in widespread of good agricultural practices in terms of human and environmental health.

Performance comparison of indoor polyculture utilizing hydroponic and soil-based systems

Due to the rapidly expanding human population, the agriculture industry has struggled to provide enough food to meet demand. This issue has prompted increased interest in new ways to make farming more efficient. One promising solution is hydroponic farming, a method of growing plants with a nutrient solution as the medium. In this study we examined hydroponics, and its potential applications in household agriculture. Among its various possible uses, one area that has not been thoroughly researched is hydroponic polyculture. In this study, we compared hydroponic polyculture (HP) with soil-based polyculture (SP). We hypothesized that the HP system would yield taller and more mature plants as hydroponic systems provide more direct nutrient delivery and greater water efficiency, and single‑plant hydroponics have been shown to grow faster than soil-based systems. We planted five types of vegetable plants: pickling cucumber, Swiss chard, basil, cherry tomato, and lettuce. We measured the height of each plant in both systems for 60 days and on the last day we assessed plant maturity, defined as the presence of at least one mature leaf or flower/fruit. In contrast with our prediction, the SP plants grew significantly taller and were more mature than the plants in the HP system. These results suggest that soil-based farming may be more effective than hydroponic farming in the case of polyculture systems.

AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCE AND FOOD SAFETY ASSESSMENT OF TOMATO (Solanum lycopersicum L.) IRRIGATED WITH POLLUTED WATER FROM RAMGARH LAKE, INDIA

The use of polluted urban lake water for vegetable irrigation presents a critical trade-off between agronomic benefits and food safety risks. This study evaluated the effects of irrigation with heavy metal-contaminated water from Ramgarh Lake, Gorakhpur, on the growth, yield, and heavy metal accumulation in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Mahyco NO.63 F1 Hybrid). A two-year pot experiment (2024–2025) compared tap water irrigation (control) with raw wastewater from the lake's outflow channel. Polluted water significantly enhanced seed germination (95.2% vs 84.9% in control), vegetative growth (28.5% increase in plant height), and fruit yield (41.1% increase). However, substantial heavy metal accumulation occurred in both soil and edible tissues. Lead concentrations in tomato fruits (1.28 mg/kg) exceeded the FAO/WHO permissible limit of 0.30 mg/kg by over fourfold, while cadmium, arsenic, copper, chromium, and zinc remained within safety thresholds. Bioaccumulation factors for fruits ranged from 0.254 (As) to 0.631 (Cu), indicating moderate metal uptake. Transfer factors from leaves to fruits ranged from 0.873 to 1.014, suggesting restricted metal translocation to reproductive tissues. These findings demonstrate that while Ramgarh Lake water offers agronomic value through nutrient supplementation, its use for tomato irrigation poses significant food safety concerns due to lead contamination, necessitating careful management and continuous monitoring.

From classical practices to precision agriculture: a multidisciplinary review of tea (Camellia sinensis)

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most widely consumed beverages worldwide and a crop of enduring cultural, economic, and scientific significance. Although many studies has examined cultivation and trade, no previous review has integrated tea’s long-term domestication history with recent advances in precision agriculture and digital technologies. This review addresses that gap by providing a multidisciplinary synthesis that links the historical, biological, agroecological, and technological dimensions of tea production. This review demonstrates that tea productivity and quality are strongly influenced by interactions among genotype, environment, and management practices, while climate variability increasingly disrupts these relationships. At the same time, precision agriculture technologies offer substantial potential to improve disease detection, optimise resource use, and support data-driven decision-making. However, their adoption remains uneven because of high implementation costs, limited accessibility for smallholder farming systems, and challenges related to data infrastructure. Based on this synthesis, we propose that future research and policy should prioritise: (i) the region-specific integration of digital technologies with traditional cultivation practices; (ii) the development of low-cost, scalable technologies suitable for smallholders; and (iii) climate-resilient cultivation strategies adapted to shifting agroecological conditions. These targeted interventions are essential for improving productivity, sustainability, and resilience across the global tea industry.

Cow Urine’s Agricultural Renaissance: Enhancing Crop Yield and Environmental Sustainability