The potential of Ag-NPs to suppress Monilia fructicola isolates and to broaden the effectiveness of fungicides to overcome resistance was tested in vitro and in vivo. Twenty-three M. fructicola isolates were subjected to fungitoxicity screening with a number of fungicides in vitro, which resulted in the detection of 18 isolates resistant to benzimidazoles (BEN-R) thiophanare methyl (TM) and carbendazim (CARB). DNA sequencing revealed the E198A resistance mutation in the β-tubulin gene, target site of the benzimidazole fungicides in all resistant isolates. Ag-NPs effectively suppressed mycelial growth in both sensitive (BENS) and resistant isolates. The combination of Ag-NPs with TM led to a significantly enhanced fungitoxic effect compared to the individual treatments regardless resistant phenotype (BEN-R/S) both in vitro and when applied on apple fruit. The above observed additive/synergistic action is probably associated with an enhanced Ag-NPs activity/availability as indicated by the positive correlation cing doses needed for the control of the pathogen.This study was conducted to estimate the influence of composted rice straw (CRS) on the growth and nutritional composition of purple cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitate L.). In order to select the proper preparation method of CRS based media, growing media were prepared by mixing peat, perlite, vermiculite and sand with CRS in different ratios. The general proportions of CRS in substrates were 25% and 50% (v/v). A mixture of 50% peat with 50% perlite (v/v) was the control (CK). read more Completely randomized design was used in the experiment under greenhouse conditions. The physicochemical characteristics of all growing media were determined before transplanting. Plant growth parameters as well as the mineral elements were also measured. In general, plants grown in most CRS based media were improved in growth and element nutrition in comparison with control. 25% CRS addition was the most-suitable rate for the growth of purple cabbage. The highest leaves yield obtained from T3 (25% CRS 25% peat 50% vermiculite, vvv) increased by 105.99% compared to control. CRS can be an alternative constituent to replace the generally using peat in growing media.Sugar beet processing generates a large amount of wastewater with a high chemical oxygen demand (COD). During wastewater storage and treatment, the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) generated from anaerobic digestion (AD) poses unique safety and environmental challenges due to air emissions to the local environment. A new approach of low-voltage electrochemical treatment using low-cost sacrificial anode material was developed in this study to remove sulfide, maintain a proper pH, and produce low-H2S biogas during the AD of beet sugar wastewater. The wastewater collected was categorized as the medium or high strength wastewater depending on the COD content. By using the medium strength wastewater as the test media, the effects of electrochemical and storage conditions, including the applied voltage, immersed electrode area, initial sulfate level, and operating temperature, on the sulfide removal were studied. The effective electrical charge consumption ranged from 6.0 to 14.4 C·mg-1 S2-, and the headspace H2S concentration was reduced by over 96% for most conditions after 204 h treatment. During the 10-week experiment on high strength wastewater, intermittent electrochemical treatment at 0.7 V applied voltage and 1.2 cm2·L-1 electrode area for two weeks reduced the H2S content in the biogas by up to 96%. The cathodic hydroxyl anion generation during the electrochemical treatment significantly increased the pH from 4.61 to 6.95 and led to earlier biogas production than the one without electrochemical treatment. This technique may feasibly be applied in the AD of other sulfur-compound-rich waste streams.With an increase in global mean temperature predicted for this century accompanied by more frequent extremes, will farming communities need to brace for increased crop failures and hardship? Solar dimming climate geoengineering has been proposed as a possible solution to combat rising global temperature but what effect will it or other climate related adaptation have on crop failures? We performed a crop modelling study using future climate and geoengineering projections to investigate these questions. Our results indicate that groundnut crop failure rates in Southern India are very sensitive to climate change, and project an increase of approximately a factor of two on average over this century, affecting one out of every two to three years instead of one in every five years. We also project that solar dimming geoengineering will have little impact on reducing these failure rates. In contrast, the projections for the rest of Indian regions show decreasing failure rates of 20-30%. In this research, we indicate why south India is more susceptible than the rest of the country and show that neither Solar dimming geoengineering nor reducing heat or water stress are able to fully counteract the increase in failure rates for this region. Thus our modelling projections indicate the potential for a grountnut crop failure crisis for the South India.Forest deadwood is a relevant factor in the provision of ecosystem services (forest biodiversity, carbon sequestration, recreational and aesthetic values), but it also influences the risk and impact of forest perturbations. Hence, reliable estimations are urgently need in the lack of detailed information in Mediterranean forests at large scales. In this study we provide, for the first time, national-level estimations for Spain based on the information from the Spanish National Forest Inventory (38,945 plots). In addition, we compare and validate two approaches for estimating deadwood stocks where data is lacking; the first of these being a modelling approach based on stand, climatic and physiographical variables, and the other considers the ratio between deadwood and living biomass. We also examine the different patterns stock across forest types in four biogeographical regions according to a broad-spectrum of species groups and forests with different degrees of anthropogenic influence. The degrees are based on levels of protection and naturalness categories.