Prem Rajak

Agriculture is an essential sector needed for survival of the human community. Several measures have been taken to enhance the crop production. However harsh environmental conditions and frequent pest infestation lead to the agricultural loss. In such scenario, integration of advanced technologies such as advanced sensors coupled with internet of things could escalate the agricultural production and minimize the economic loss. Studies have been conducted across the world that satisfactorily demonstrated the implication of integrated IoT-smart sensors in monitoring environmental factors such as moisture, humidity, temperature and soil composition that are critical for crop growth. Green house gases such as carbon dioxide, methane etc are also measured through automated sensors. Smart farming also enables measurement of nitrogen contents in soil that helps farmers to determine the amount of fertilizers to be used in farm lands. Some IoT enabled equipments and UAVs are useful in accurate surveillance of pest attack and associated diseases in farm vegetation. Though the smart farming has great scopes in future, it faces certain limitations related to implementation cost, data security, and lack of sufficient digital knowledge in farmers. Special economic policies, data encryption and digital literacy could ease IoT enabled smart farming in future.

Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) are synthetic compounds widely used as consumer items such as cosmetics and therapeutic drugs across the globe. The inappropriate disposal of PPCPs in the environment has raised serious concerns regarding their potential adverse impacts on human and animal health. Hence, the present study aims to delve into the environmental contamination of numerous PPCPs and their detrimental impacts on biota and climate change. Mining of data published in the relevant literature has revealed that active ingredients of PPCPs and their metabolites generally invade the ecosystem via multiple sources. Varying concentrations of these contaminants are reported in surface water, groundwater, and wastewater treatment plants. The majority of PPCPs pose acute and chronic toxicity to living organisms. They adversely affect the structure and function of the algal community along with the feeding, mating, metabolic activities, and reproductive behavior of invertebrates, fishes, and higher vertebrates, including humans. The occurrence of antibiotic resistance in bacterial populations as a response to PPCP contamination is another health concern. In addition, targeting mitochondrial respiratory proteins and cytochrome enzymes by PPCPs might contribute to the onset of multiple physiological ailments. Studies have deciphered the connection between PPCP contamination and methanogenesis, which could potentially impact climate change. Several degradation methods have been used for the removal of PPCPs. However, none of them completely remove the PPCPs from samples. Therefore, developing more advanced eco-friendly approaches is warranted for better treatment of PPCPs in water media. In addition, further investigations are required for the risk assessment of several PPCPs that have not yet been investigated.

Pesticides are integral components of modern agricultural practices. The primary benefit of pesticide application includes immediate gain in terms of quality and quantity of food production. It further enhances the economic wealth and well-being of any nation. Unfortunately, pesticides are extensively used while ignoring their associated risks to the biosphere. Hence the present study aims to unravel potential impacts of pesticides on agricultural lands and different taxa of organisms. For this purpose, PRISMA guidelines were employed. Various search-terms were used to screen literature on ScienceDirect and PubMed databases. Original peer-reviewed articles published till January 2023 in English language were selected and assessed for relevancy. Study of the literature has revealed several cases of pesticide-induced mass mortality and sub-lethal impacts on pollinators, earthworms, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Residues of pesticides have been reported in vegetables, grains, and dairy products that might act as sources of pesticide exposure. Moreover, people dealing with pesticides are directly exposed to these chemicals. Hence, the present work provides an extensive review of the detrimental impacts of pesticides on biotic components of the biosphere. It also illustrates the scope of IPM, organic-farming, remote-sensing, and GPS in reducing the irrational use of pesticides and subsequent negative impacts on biosphere.