Organic Farming, Pest Control and Remediation of Soil Pollutants (eBook)

Dr. ERIC LICHTFOUSE, born April 2, 1960, completed his Ph.D. in organic geochemistry in 1989 at Strasbourg University. After post-doctoral fellowships at Indiana University, USA and the KFA research center in Jülich, Germany, he became engaged as a soil scientist at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in 1992. His study on soil organic matter and pollutants led in particular to the first determination of the dynamics of soil organic molecules in long-term maize field experiments using 13C labeling at natural abundance. In 2000 he founded the European Association of Environmental Chemistry (ACE) and in 2003 the Journal Environmental Chemistry Letters. He has co-edited the book Environmental Chemistry (Springer, 2005). He is currently working in Dijon for the INRA Department of Environment and Agronomy as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development. He is growing fruit trees and vegetables in his home backyard and travelling from home to work by bicycle. Eric Lichtfouse is also finisher of 10 ironman competitions, including the World Ironman Championships in Hawaii in 2006.

Contents 5
Contributors 7
Sustainable Agriculture as a Central Science to Solve Global Society Issues 11
References 13
Mother of Necessity: The Soil 14
1 Enhancement of Soil Organic Carbon and Soil Structure 16
2 Creating a Positive Nutrient Budget 16
3 Soil Restoration 16
4 Adapting Agriculture to Changing Climate 16
5 Land Saving Technologies 17
Technology Without Wisdom 19
Transgenic Cotton for Sustainable Pest Management: A Review 23
1 Abbreviations 24
1 Introduction 24
2 What Is a Transgenic Plant? 27
3 Conventional and Transgenic Plant Breeding Methods in Insect Resistant Cotton 28
4 How Transgenic Cottons Were Developed 32
4.1 Bollgard ® Cottons 33
4.2 WideStrike ® Cottons 35
4.3 VipCot ® Cottons 36
4.4 Herbicide Tolerant Cottons 37
5 Potential Nontarget Effects of Bt Cottons 39
6 Resistance and Resistance Management 44
7 Bt Cotton Perspective in Brazil 51
8 Future of Transgenic and Pest Management in Cotton 53
References 54
Conservation Agriculture: A Different Approach for Crop Production Through Sustainable Soil and Water Management: A Review 62
1 Introduction 63
2 Agronomic and Environmental Aspects of Conservation Agriculture 66
2.1 Soil Protection 66
2.2 Water Protection 69
2.3 Air Protection 70
2.4 Biodiversity 71
3 Conservation Agriculture Adoption in Annual Crops and Orchards 73
3.1 Annual Crops 74
3.2 Orchards 76
4 The Diffusion of Conservation Agriculture 79
5 Conclusion 81
References 83
Recurrent Mass Selection for Routine Improvement of Common Wheat: A Review 91
1 Introduction 92
2 Sustainability of Rust Resistance 96
3 Establishing a Recurrent Mass Selection Base Population at Stellenbosch 98
3.1 The Recurrent Mass Selection Breeding Plan 99
3.2 Making of Crosses and Hydroponic Maintenance of Cut Tillers 99
3.3 The Crossing Block 102
3.4 The Breeding Cycle 102
3.5 Effective Population Size 104
4 Raising Allele Frequencies through Recurrent Mass Selection 104
5 Marker-Assisted Breeding 105
5.1 Use of Markers in Conjunction with Recurrent Mass Selection to Pyramid Rust Resistance Genes 106
5.2 Evaluation of F 6 Inbred Lines 107
5.3 Introgression of New Resistance Genes through Recurrent Backcrosses 107
6 Conclusion 108
References 109
Rotation Design: A Critical Factor for Sustainable Crop Production in a Semiarid Climate: A Review 112
1 Introduction 113
2 Biological Trends with No-till Cropping Systems 114
2.1 Land Productivity and Economics 114
2.2 Soil Restoration 115
2.3 Resource-Use-Efficiency 116
2.3.1 Water 116
2.3.2 Nitrogen and Phosphorus 117
2.4 Pest Management 118
2.4.1 Root Diseases 118
2.4.2 Weed Management 119
3 Rotation Design and Sustainability 120
3.1 Can We Replace Fallow Time with a Crop in this Semiarid Climate? 121
3.2 Benefits of Rotations with the Cycle-of-Four Design 122
4 A Spiral of Soil Regeneration 124
References 124
Parasitic Plants in Agriculture: Chemical Ecology of Germination and Host-Plant Location as Targets for Sustainable Control: A Review 127
1 Introduction 128
2 The Major Parasitic Plants in Agriculture 129
3 Parasitic Plants Use Chemical Cues to Locate Hosts 131
3.1 Root Parasitic Plants: Germination Stimulants 132
3.2 Shoot Parasitic Plants: Plant Volatiles 133
4 Control Strategies Targeting Germination/Host Location 134
4.1 Suicidal Germination 134
4.2 Inhibiting Germination of Parasitic Plants 135
4.3 Reducing the Production of Germination Stimulants by Crop Plants 135
4.4 Disruption of Volatile Host Location by Cuscuta spp. 136
5 Conclusion 136
References 137
Rice Seed Invigoration: A Review 141
1 Introduction 142
2 Seed Invigoration Strategies 143
2.1 Seed Hydration Treatments 144
2.1.1 Pre-Soaking 153
2.1.2 Seed Priming (Controlled Hydration) 155
2.2 Other Seed Invigoration Tools 161
2.2.1 Thermal Treatments 162
2.2.2 Seed Coating 162
3 Factors Affecting Seed Priming 162
3.1 Oxygen 163
3.2 Temperature 163
3.3 Water Potential 163
4 Mechanism of Rice Seed Priming 164
4.1 Physiological and Biochemical Basis 164
4.1.1 Enzymes 164
4.1.2 Metabolites 168
4.2 Molecular Basis 169
5 Seed Priming and Dormancy Management 169
6 Rice Seed Priming and Stress Tolerance 170
6.1 Drought 170
6.2 Salinity 171
6.3 Low Temperature 171
6.4 Submergence and Water Logging 172
7 Conclusion 172
References 173
Soil Management for Sustainable Crop Disease Control: A Review 180
1 Introduction 181
2 Soil Fertility 182
2.1 Nitrogen 182
2.2 Phosphorus 185
2.3 Potassium 185
2.4 Other Macro- and Micro-Nutrients 186
2.5 Soil Organic Matter 186
3 Soil Microbial Biomass 188
4 Soil pH 190
5 Soil Texture and Structure 191
6 Soil Moisture and Temperature 192
7 Cropping System and Agricultural Practices 194
8 Conclusion 197
References 198
Soil Protection Through Organic Farming: A Review 205
1 Introduction 206
2 Soil Organic Matter 207
3 Nitrogen 210
4 Phosphorus and Potassium 212
5 Soil Structure 215
6 Erosion 220
7 Conclusion 222
References 224
Surfactants in Sludge-Amended Agricultural Soils: A Review 229
1 Introduction 230
2 Uses and Consumption of Surfactants 231
2.1 Types of Surfactants 231
2.2 Uses of Surfactants 232
2.3 Analysis of Surfactants in Environmental Matrices 235
3 Surfactants in Sludge-Amended Soils 238
3.1 Biodegradation of Surfactants 239
3.2 Transport and Fate of Surfactants in Wastewater Treatment Plants 241
3.3 Fate of Surfactants in Waters and Soils 244
3.4 Interaction of Surfactants with Soil Contaminants 247
4 Conclusion 249
References 250
Mineral Nutrition for Legume-Rhizobia Symbiosis: B, Ca, N, P, S, K, Fe, Mo, Co, and Ni: A Review 254
1 Introduction 255
2 Mineral Nutrition in the Legume-Rhizobia Nitrogen Fixing Symbiosis 257
2.1 Macronutrients 258
2.1.1 Nitrogen 258
2.1.2 Phosphorus, Sulfur, and Potassium 259
2.2 Micronutrients 259
2.2.1 Iron, Molybdenum 259
2.2.2 Cobalt 260
2.2.3 Nickel 260
3 Major Importance of Boron and Calcium in Legume Symbiosis 260
3.1 Boron and Nitrogen Fixing Rhizobia-Legume Symbioses 262
3.2 Calcium and Nitrogen Fixing Rhizobia-Legume Symbioses 265
3.3 B--Ca Relationship in Biological Nitrogen Fixation 266
4 Conclusion 269
References 270
Uncommon Heavy Metals, Metalloids and Their Plant Toxicity: A Review 276
1 Introduction 277
2 Heavy Metal and Metalloid Uptake by Plants and Their Bioavailability 279
3 Transport of Heavy Metals and Metalloids in Plants 279
4 Metals/Metalloids Toxicity and Tolerance 280
4.1 Thallium 282
4.2 Chromium 285
4.3 Antimony 288
4.4 Selenium 289
4.5 Bismuth 293
4.6 Other Rare Heavy Metals and Metalloids 294
References 300
Role of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria in the Remediation of Metal Contaminated Soils: A Review 319
1 Introduction 320
2 Growth Promotion by Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) 321
3 Biological Availability of Metals in Soil 325
4 How Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Combat Heavy Metal Stress 325
5 Bioremediation: A Natural Method for the Restoration of Contaminated Soils 328
5.1 Advantages and Limitations of Bioremediation 329
6 Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria-Assisted Remediation of Heavy Metals 330
7 Rhizoremediation by Symbiotic Nitrogen-Fixing Organisms 333
8 Phytoremediation 337
8.1 How Plants Help Restore Degraded Soil 339
8.2 Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria Affecting Phytoremediation 341
9 Conclusion 342
References 342
Phosphates for Pb Immobilization in Soils: A Review 351
1 Introduction 352
2 Pb Geochemistry in P-Amended Soils 354
3 Different Sources of P for Pb Immobilization in Soils 356
3.1 Amendments with Apatite 356
3.2 Amendments with Water-soluble Phosphates 358
3.3 Amendments with Phosphate Rock 360
3.4 Amendments with Other Phosphorus Materials 362
3.5 Mixed Phosphate Amendments 364
4 Conclusion 365
References 366
Cadmium Phytotoxicity: Responses, Mechanisms and Mitigation Strategies: A Review 371
1 Introduction 372
2 Cadmium in the Soil System 373
3 Cadmium Phytotoxicity Responses 373
3.1 Morphology, Growth and Yield Responses 378
3.2 Anatomical and Developmental Responses 379
3.3 Cell and Tissue Localization 380
3.4 Physiological and Biochemical Responses 380
3.4.1 Photosynthesis 381
3.4.2 Water and Nutrient Relations 381
3.4.3 Antioxidants and Other Enzyme Functions 382
4 Cadmium Tolerance and Detoxification Mechanisms 383
4.1 Soil Mechanisms 384
4.2 Whole Plant Mechanisms 385
4.3 Cellular Mechanisms 385
4.3.1 Cell Wall Binding 386
4.3.2 Reduced Transport 386
4.3.3 Compartmentalization 387
4.3.4 Chelation 387
4.3.5 Complexation 389
4.4 Physiological Mechanisms 389
4.4.1 Water and Nutrient Transport 389
4.4.2 Photosynthesis and Assimilate Partitioning 390
4.4.3 Membrane Damage and Antioxidative Defense 390
4.4.4 Modulation of Hormonal Levels 391
5 Mitigation of Cadmium Toxicity Effects 391
6 Conclusion 394
References 395
Index 404