In the current study salt tolerant-plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (ST-PGPR) Pseudomonas atacamensis KSS-6, selected on the basis of prominent plant growth-promoting (PGP) and stress tolerance properties was tested as bioinoculant to improve yield of rice grown in saline soil. The ST-PGPR KSS-6 was capable of maintaining the PGP traits up to 200 mM NaCl, however, higher salt stress conditions affected these activities. The study was designed to determine the effect of developed talc-based bioformulation using KSS-6 along with organic manure (OM) on growth and yield of paddy under saline conditions. Bioformulation broadcasting was also done to examine the effect on soil properties. It was found that the combinatorial treatment showed positive impact on growth and yield of rice under saline conditions. Co-application of KSS-6 with OM showed maximum increment in growth, chlorophyll content, plant fresh weight, and dry weight as compared to untreated control plants. Furthermore, the combinatorial treatment improved the nutrient content (P, K, Zn, Fe, Mg, and Mn) by more than 35% and enhanced the biochemical parameters such as proline, flavonoids, carbohydrates, protein, dietary fiber, and antioxidant content of rice grains by more than 32%. Soil parameters including pH and electrical conductivity (EC), moisture content, total organic carbon, OM, sodium, and chloride ions were also improved upon treatment. There was significant lowering of EC from 7.43 to 4.3 dS/m when combination of OM and bacteria were applied. These findings suggest that the application of KSS-6 in the form of bioinoculant could be a promising strategy to mitigate negative impacts of salt stress and enhance the yield and nutritional properties of rice grown in degraded and saline soil.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health threat. Quality data are needed to address the rise of multidrug-resistant clones, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In this study, we analysed the prevalence, antimicrobial resistance profile, and presence of genes encoding extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-Ec) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESBL-Kp) in environmental samples from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Of 264 samples collected, 95 (36%) and 74 (28%) contained ESBL-Kp and ESBL-Ec, respectively. ESBL-Kp was more prevalent in runoff water and in treated and untreated wastewater, while ESBL-Ec was more prevalent in manure. Interestingly, wastewater treatment did not significantly reduce the recovery of ESBL bacteria. As expected, resistance to third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins was predominant, and rare for second generation cefoxitin. Interestingly, all the isolates from treated wastewater were susceptible to ampicillin and piperacillin, while all the other clones were resistant to these antibiotics. Regarding the ESBL-encoding genes, the blaCTX-M family was the most abundant, with the blaCTX-M1 subfamily being the most prevalent. Carriage of combinations of ESBL genes was common, with the majority of the isolates harbouring 2-4 different genes. This study highlights the need for active surveillance to manage the risk of exposure to ESBL bacteria in Burkina Faso.

An on-going long term field experiment started in Rabi 1995 at the Research Farm of the Department of Soil Science, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana (India) under the pearl millet-wheat cropping system was selected to study the effect of long-term application of organic manures and fertilizers on soil organic carbon and microbiological properties. Highest soil organic carbon (SOC: 1.18 %), dissolved OC (DOC: 64.74 mg kg-1) content, microbial biomass C (MBC: 618.40 mg kg-1), dehydrogenase (DHA: 72.83 μg TPF g-1 24 hr-1), alkaline phosphatase (APA: 685.44 μg PNP g-1 soil hr-1) and aryl sulfatase (ASA: 12.56 μg PNP g-1 soil hr-1) activities were observed with the application of 15 Mg FYM+150 kg N+30 kg P2O5 ha-1. Integrated application of chemical fertilizers with pressmud showed superiority in the improvement of microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN: 73.73 mg kg-1) and urease activity (69.54 μg NH4+ g-1 hr-1) than FYM or poultry manure plus NP. Beneficial impacts of the sole application of organic manures on SOC, DOC, MBC content, DHA, APA, and ASA were found in order as: FYM > pressmud > poultry manure. Impacts of nutrient management practices on soil carbon fractions decreased with depth. Poultry manure application, either alone or in combination with NP fertilizers was inferior to FYM and pressmud. The SOC had a positive relationship with MBC (R2 = 0.95) and MBN (R2 = 0.75) and, also showed a highly positive and significant correlation with microbiological properties of soil. This dynamic equilibrium among soil properties indicated that the nutrient management practices that improve SOC could lead to improve soil fertility and accrued microbiological properties in these soils. This study revealed that conjuctive use of organic manures and chemical fertilizers have positive impact on soil fertility and microbiological properties as compared to sole application of organic manures or fertilizers; and among organic manures, FYM was superior to pressmud followed by poultry manure.

The increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) from animal manure has raised concerns about the potential threats to public health. The bioconversion of animal manure with insect larvae, such as the black soldier fly larvae (BSFL, Hermetia illucens [L.]), is a promising technology for quickly attenuating ARB while also recycling waste. In this study, we investigated BSFL conversion systems for chicken manure. Using metagenomic analysis, we tracked ARB and evaluated the resistome dissemination risk by investigating the co-occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), mobile genetic elements (MGEs), and bacterial taxa in a genetic context. Our results indicated that BSFL treatment effectively mitigated the relative abundance of ARB, ARGs, and MGEs by 34.9%, 53.3%, and 37.9%, respectively, within 28 days. Notably, the transferable ARGs decreased by 30.9%, indicating that BSFL treatment could mitigate the likelihood of ARG horizontal transfer and thus reduce the risk of ARB occurrence. In addition, the significantly positive correlation links between antimicrobial concentration and relative abundance of ARB reduced by 44.4%. Moreover, using variance partition analysis (VPA), we identified other bacteria as the most important factor influencing ARB, explaining 20.6% of the ARB patterns. Further analysis suggested that antagonism of other bacteria on ARB increased by 1.4 times, while nutrient competition on both total nitrogen and crude fat increased by 2.8 times. Overall, these findings provide insight into the mechanistic understanding of ARB reduction during BSFL treatment of chicken manure and provide a strategy for rapidly mitigating ARB in animal manure.

Replacing synthetic fertilizer by organic manure has been shown to reduce emissions of nitrous oxide (N2 O), but the specific roles of ammonia oxidizing microorganisms and gross nitrogen (N) transformation in regulating N2 O remain unclear. Here, we examined the effect of completely replacing chemical fertilizer with organic manure on N2 O emissions, ammonia oxidizers, gross N transformation rates using a 13-year field manipulation experiment. Our results showed that organic manure reduced cumulative N2 O emissions by 16.3%-210.3% compared to chemical fertilizer. The abundance of ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) was significantly lower in organic manure compared with chemical fertilizer during three growth stages of maize. Organic manure also significantly decreased AOB alpha diversity and changed their community structure. However, organic manure substitution increased the abundance of ammonia oxidizing archaea and the alpha diversity of comammox Nitrospira compared to chemical fertilizer. Interestingly, organic manure decreased organic N mineralization by 23.2%-32.9%, and autotrophic nitrification rate by 10.5%-45.4%, when compared with chemical fertilizer. This study also found a positive correlation between AOB abundance, organic N mineralization and gross autotrophic nitrification rate with N2 O emission, and their contribution to N2 O emission was supported by random forest analysis. Our study highlights the key roles of ammonia oxidizers and N transformation rates in predicting cropland N2 O.

Fusarium verticillioides, an important maize pathogen, produce fumonisins, causes stalk rot and consequentially reduce crop growth and yield. Therefore, herein we aimed to evaluate the potential use of two farmyard soil organic manures, i.e., fresh (5-6 days old) and stored (5-6 months old) organic manure, to manage F. verticillioides infections as well as borer incidence and lodging in maize plants. After 30, 60, and 90 days of sowing, samples of soil, roots, and stems were collected to isolate F. verticillioides. Moreover, we estimated ear and kernel rot induced by F. verticillioides at the final harvest. Fresh organic manure treatment increased infection rates of F. verticillioides in soil, roots, stem and kernels compared to the control treatment. In contrast, stored organic manure plots treatments decrease F. verticillioides frequency. At 90 days after sowing, stored organic manure suppressed the survival of F. verticillioides, which reduced the F. verticillioides incidence percent. These results were similar to the effect of herbicides-and insecticide-treated plots demonstrated, which show a significant decrease in F. verticillioides incidence rates. Mycological analysis on symptomless kernels revealed a higher % of pathogen infection in opened husks variety (Balady) than closed husks variety (SC10). Compared with stored organic manure, the stem borer incidence and lodging percentage were the highest in fresh organic manure plots. Finally, these results demonstrated that storing organic manure within five to six months as farmyard manure led to high-temperature centigrade within organic manure, thereby destroying spores of F. verticillioides, whereas fresh organic manure did not.

Improved agricultural practices and rapid industrialization have led to huge waste generation, and the management of this waste is becoming a global concern. The process of vermicomposting has emerged as a method of choice for converting waste into useful manure, with evidence of increase in crop productivity. During vermi-composting, the collective activities of decomposing microorganisms and earthworms lead to the humification of organic/inorganic waste, thereby generating the final product called vermicompost. Different types of industrial wastes such as waste from paper industries, tanneries, sugar mills, and pulp and textile industries have been effectively converted to vermicompost and successfully used to improve plant growth. The vermicompost thus formed was also demonstrated to increase the production of pharmaceutically important plant secondary meta-bolites such as withanolides and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Microbial amendment with different bacterial and fungal strains during vermicomposting further proves to be beneficial by increasing nitrogen content, decomposing organic waste, providing aeration, and stabilizing the vermicompost. These microorganisms after passing through the earthworm\'s intestine increase in numbers in the vermicast, thus becoming enriched in vermi-compost, which is particularly important for their use as biofertilizers. The precise role of different microbial pretreatments in improving the quality of vermicompost generated from industrial and agricultural waste is, however, not completely understood. To fill this gap in knowledge, the present article aims to review published literature to highlight the potential of microbial amendment during vermicomposting for bioremediation of industrial and agricultural waste. Microbial pre-composting followed by vermicomposting emerges as an eco-friendly and economical approach for managing agricultural and industrial waste.

Different from the previous studies on social and economic impacts, this study focused on the assessment of psychological factors on farmers\' application of organic manure. We explored the psychological evaluation based on the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB), which consists of attitude (AT), perceived behavior control (PBC), subjective norm, moral norm (MN), environmental risk perception (ERP), and perceived policy effectiveness (PPE). Further, we explored the moderating effects of PPE. We studied 235 tea growers in China to verify the model and analyzed the psychological factors in their decisions regarding organic manure application. The results showed that by incorporating psychological factors, such as MN, ERP, and PPE, the extended TPB\'s ability to explain farmers\' intention to apply organic manure increased by 6%. The results also confirmed that psychological factors (ERP, PPE, AT, PBC, and MN) positively influenced farmers\' inclination to use organic manure. Finally, PPE was found to have a negative mediating effect on attitude and intention. Given the influence of these psychological factors (PBC, ERP, and PPE), we discovered that increasing the policy publicity, raising the policy subsidy, and promoting the popularization of sustainable agriculture and environmental awareness, are essential to encourage farmers\' utilization of organic manure.

In recent decades, organic kiwifruit farming has come up as a feasible method for high-quality kiwi production without using chemical fertilizers. The primary objective of this research was to investigate how the sole application of organic and the combined application of organic manures affected the growth, yields, and quality of Allison kiwifruit, as well as the soil\'s physicochemical characteristics. The field trial was conducted on cv. Allison to determine the efficacy of organic manures (OM) on growth, nutrient absorption, production and soil health. The experiment involved eight treatments, viz.: T1: 100% Dairy manure (DM); T2: 100% Vermicompost (VC); T3: 100% chicken manure (CM); T4: 50% DM + 50% CM; T5: 50% DM + 50% VC; T6: 50% CM + 50% VC; T7: DM + CM + VC in equal proportions; and T8: Recommended nutrients inorganic NPK + 40 kg DM. A randomized complete block design comprising three replicas was used in this investigation. The use of inorganic fertilizers (NPK) in combination with DM enhanced Spad Values Chlorophyll, fruit production, leaf number, leaf area, and stem diameter while also improving the soil\'s chemical characteristics. The flower initiation was recorded with DM and Vermicompost (50:50). Furthermore, when compared to inorganic fertilizer treatment, OM treatment significantly improved fruit quality by improving fruit chemical composition in terms of soluble solids contents and leaf nutrient status, as well as improving soil\'s physical properties with DM and Vermicompost (50:50). The study\'s outcome revealed that OM had a significant impact on flowering time, fruit SSC, leaf nutritional status, and soil physical characteristics. In comparison to organic treatments, recommended fertilizer dosages (NPK + DM) improved plant growth, fruit yield, and soil chemical characteristics.

In recent years, the demand of people for medicinal and aromatic plants has dramatically increased. For this reason, a large number of researches are being conducted to make these plants more quality. In this sense, this study explored the effects of domestic peat, bat guano, chicken and sheep manures, and vermicompost on the growth, quality traits, and nutrient contents of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.). For this purpose, an experiment in greenhouse conditions was arranged in a completely randomized design with four replications. The treatments included control (100% Peat/Perlite) and three doses (2%, 4%, 6%) for each of four organic manures. In total, there were 13 treatments. The study showed that there were significant differences among treatments for aesthetic appearance score, height, and fresh and dry weights of plants with the exception of crown width. Control and \"94% Peat/Perlite + 6% Bat guano\" had the lowest and highest values of all growth and quality traits. Overall, it concluded that \"94% Peat/Perlite + 6% Bat guano\" should be used in planting basil. Further studies including different organic manures and their combinations are required to obtain better growth and quality traits as well as physiological traits of basil.