Aerial roots elevate indoor plant health: Physiological and morphological responses of three high-humidity adapted Araceae species to indoor humidity levels.

Heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a global increase in urban greenspace appreciation. Indoor plants are equally important for improving mental health and air quality but despite evolving in humid (sub)tropical environments with aerial root types, planting systems ignore aerial resource supply. This study directly compared nutrient uptake preferences of aerial and soil-formed roots of three common houseplant species under high and ambient relative humidities. Growth and physiology parameters were measured weekly for Anthurium andreanum, Epipremnum aureum and Philodendron scandens grown in custom made growth chambers. Both aerial and soil-formed roots were then fed mixtures of nitrate, ammonium and glycine, with one source labelled with 15 N to determine uptake rates and maximum capacities. Aerial roots were consistently better at nitrogen uptake than soil roots but no species, root type or humidity condition showed a preference for a particular nitrogen source. All three species grew more in high humidity, with aerial roots demonstrating the greatest biomass increase. Higher humidities for indoor niches, together with fertiliser applications to aerial roots will support indoor plant growth, creating lush calming indoor environments for people inhabitants.

European Innovation Partnership – Plant Health

Between 2018 and 2021, in Pays de la Loire region (north-west of France), a network of regional partners from different plant sectors worked together within the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) "Plant Health” project, with the support of the Pays de la Loire Region Council and the European Commission. In total, nine thematic operational groups, associating producers, economic actors and R&D actors have worked, based on case studies, to identify new measures to improve plant health and validate their feasibility. Main themes addressed alternatives to plant protection products, with a focus on bridges between sectors (Is a solution or technique available in one sector easily transferable to another?), soil cover for weed management (Are mulching and direct seeding in a cover crop new practices to be mobilized?), and diversification of crop rotation and structuring of supply chains, with both technical questions (mastering a new crop, sorting out associations) and structural questions (which organizations, relationships between actors, etc.). After 4 years of work and despite the COVID-19 sanitary crisis, which slowed down some parts of the project, each operational group has been able to draw conclusions from the results obtained. © 2022 International Society for Horticultural Science. All rights reserved.

Pesticide Importation in Sierra Leone, 2010-2021: Implications for Food Production and Antimicrobial Resistance.

There are no previous studies reporting the type and quantity of pesticides for farming from Sierra Leone and the impact of Ebola or COVID-19 on importation. This study reviewed imported farming pesticides by the Sierra Leone, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), between 2010-2021. It was a descriptive study using routinely collected importation data. We found the MAF imported pesticides for farming only during 2010, 2014 and 2021, in response to growing food insecurity and associated with Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks. Results showed insecticide importation increased from 6230 L in 2010 to 51,150 L in 2021, and importation of antimicrobial pesticides (including fungicides) increased from 150 kg in 2010 to 23,560 kg in 2021. The hazard class risk classification of imported pesticides decreased over time. Increasing amounts of imported fungicides could increase the risk of future fungal resistance among humans. We found that in responding to escalating food insecurity, the government dramatically increased the amount of pesticide importation to improve crop production. Further support is necessary to decrease the risk of worsening food shortages and the possible threat of emerging antimicrobial resistance. We recommend continued monitoring and surveillance, with further studies on the most appropriate response to these multiple challenges.

Appraising Agroecological Urbanism: A Vision for the Future of Sustainable Cities

By the mid-century, urban areas are expected to house two-thirds of the world’s population of approximately 10 billion people. The key challenge will be to provide food for all with fewer farmers in rural areas and limited options for expanding cultivated fields in urban areas, with sustainable soil management being a fundamental criterion for achieving sustainability goals. Understanding how nature works in a fast changing world and fostering nature-based agriculture (such as low-input farming) are crucial for sustaining food systems in the face of worsening urban heat island (UHI) effects and other climatic variables. The best fit for the context is transformative agroecology, which connects ecological networks, sustainable farming approaches, and social movements through change-oriented research and action. Even though agroecology has been practiced for over a century, its potential to address the socioeconomic impact of the food system remained largely unexplored until recently. Agroecological approaches, which involve effective interactions between researchers, policy makers, farmers, and consumers, can improve social cohesion and socioeconomic synergies while reducing the use of various agricultural inputs. This review presents a timeline of agroecology transformation from the past to the present and discusses the possibilities, prospects, and challenges of agroecological urbanism toward a resilient urban future.

Plant Health in a One Health context Special Issue

This issue encompasses how the health of plants influences wider elements of ecosystems, including our own food and health, while at the same time being affected by broad factors such as climate, pollution, and agricultural practices. Indeed, the accumulated finished SARS-CoV-2 genomes is comparable in scale to the entirety of fungal and plant genomes submitted over the last 25 years (with the caveat that it is frustratingly difficult to find comprehensive data on phytopathology genome-related resources). Traditionally, this has involved one crop and one pathogen, usually to identify a single intervention to control the disease effectively. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Plant Pathology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Plant Health in a One Health world: missing links and hidden treasures

The One Health conceptual framework was designed and developed to highlight and investigate the interconnections between human and animal health, and to understand their dependence on the state of their environment (e.g., Gebreyes et al., 2014). HIDDEN TREASURES AND OPEN QUESTIONS IN AN EXTENDED ONE HEALTH FRAMEWORK Hidden treasures Considering plants and plant health as a component of One Health equivalent to medical or veterinary health offers several advantages. REPRESENTING ONE HEATH: FROM SIMPLE TRIANGLE TO NESTED TETRAHEDRONS Plant pathologists are familiar with a form of disease representation known as the disease triangle, which in a way mirrors the One Health triad. We believe that extending One Health boundaries to include plant pathology as a core factor (in the same way as human and veterinary medicine), and investigating the deep relationships between plant, human, and animal health will strengthen and expand this very rich conceptual framework, and will eventually provide a truly holistic view of heath interactions and interdependence in the biosphere: a true One Health approach. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Plant Pathology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)