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Siderophores are low molecular weight secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms under low iron stress as a specific iron chelator. In the present study, a rhizospheric bacterium was isolated from the rhizosphere of sesame plants from Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India and later identified as Bacillus subtilis LSBS2. It exhibited multiple plant-growth-promoting (PGP) traits such as hydrogen cyanide (HCN), ammonia, and indole acetic acid (IAA), and solubilized phosphate. The chrome azurol sulphonate (CAS) agar plate assay was used to screen the siderophore production of LSBS2 and quantitatively the isolate produced 296 mg/L of siderophores in succinic acid medium. Further characterization of the siderophore revealed that the isolate produced catecholate siderophore bacillibactin. A pot culture experiment was used to explore the effect of LSBS2 and its siderophore in promoting iron absorption and plant growth of Sesamum indicum L. Data from the present study revealed that the multifarious Bacillus sp. LSBS2 could be exploited as a potential bioinoculant for growth and yield improvement in S. indicum.

Acidogenic anaerobic fermentation route was explored for the production of bioethanol and volatile fatty acids (VFA) from the press mud (PM) obtained from sugar mill. Slurry was prepared from PM having 10% of total solids and the same was hydrolyzed under acidic thermal conditions. Both press mud slurry (PMS) and pre-treated press mud slurry (PTPMS) was used as feedstock with mixed microbial consortia (MMC) and enriched mixed microbial consortia (EMMC). Mix of bioethanol and VFA were obtained in all the four cases (PMS-MMC, PMS-EMMC, PTPMS-EMC and PTPMS-EMMC), but, bioethanol and VFA yield of 0.04 g/g and 0.27 g/g, respectively obtained from PTPMS with EMMC was found to be comparatively higher. Control experiments carried out with glucose yielded bioethanol and VFA of 0.042 g/g and 0.28 g/g, respectively demonstrating that the organism was using reducible sugars in the feedstock for the generation of bioethanol by simultaneously producing the VFA from COD.

Microalgae offer a great potential to contribute significantly as renewable fuels and documented as a promising platform for algae-based bio refineries. They provide solutions to mitigate the environmental concerns posed by conventional fuel sources; however, the production of microalgal biofuels in large scale production system encounters few technical challenges. High quantity of nutrients requirements and water cost constrain the scaling up microalgal biomass to large scale commercial production. Crop protection against biomass losses due to grazers or pathogens is another stumbling block in microalgal field cultivation. With our existing technologies, unless coupled with high-value or mid-value products, algal biofuel cannot reach the economic target. Many microalgal industries that started targeting biofuel in the last decade had now adopted parallel business plans focusing on algae by-products application as cosmetic supplements, nutraceuticals, oils, natural color, and animal feed. This review provides the current status and proposes a framework for key supply demand, challenges for cost-effective and sustainable use of water and nutrient. Emphasis is placed on the future industrial market status of value added by products of microalgal biomass. The cost factor for biorefinery process development needs to be addressed before its potential to be exploited for various value-added products with algal biofuel.

Rapid urbanization combined with high economic growth, industrialization, and changes in socio-economic conditions increase the quantity of municipal solid waste. Cities located in South-Asia are facing serious issues due to waste, with countries like India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan top of the list of bad waste management. The increasing generation of solid waste and also the improper management of waste in Bangladesh leads to environmental degradation. Current waste management practice in Bangladesh is so weak that day by day it is harming the climate and creating a lot of unwanted situations. This research consists of an examination of the current administrative measures and presents another proposition for the executive cycle to decrease ecological contamination. The research study aims to decrease the amount of waste being dumped into municipal sanitary landfill sites & converting the waste into energy which is both financially and environmentally suitable by involving unemployed people in the management system. The results of this study will give an idea of how waste can be utilized as a resource and how this resource can be a capital good as well as how the local level problems can be solved by taking some strategies and making our environment suitable for future generations.

The performance of dual chambered mediator-less microbial fuel cell (MFC) operated under batch mode was evaluated under different operating temperatures, ranging between 20 and 55 °C, with step increase in temperature of 5 °C. Synthetic wastewater with sucrose as carbon source having chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 519–555 mg/L was used in the study. Temperature was a crucial factor in the performance of MFCs for both COD removal and electricity production. The MFC demonstrated highest COD removal efficiency of 84% and power density normalized to the anode surface area of 34.38 mW/m2 at operating temperature of 40 °C. Higher VSS to SS ratio was observed at the operating temperature between 35 and 45 °C. Under different operating temperatures the observed sludge yield was in the range of 0.05 to 0.14 g VSS/g COD removed. The maximum Coulombic and energy efficiencies were obtained at 40 °C, with values of 7.39 and 13.14%, respectively. Internal resistance of the MFC decreased with increase in operating temperature. Maximum internal resistance of 1,150 Ω was observed when the MFC was operated at 20 °C; whereas the minimum internal resistance (552 Ω) was observed at 55 °C.

SummaryThe adaptation of extra short duration (ESD) pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) genotypes to rainfed environments was studied on Alfisols and Vertisols at the ICRISAT Center between 1987 and 1989. Despite a slightly shorter crop duration, the grain yield of ESD genotypes was twice as large on Alfisols as on Vertisols. On both soil types, the rate of growth and grain yield were better in crops sown on time than in those where sowing was delayed. The population levels necessary to maximize yield varied among genotypes on Alfisols, where the grain yield of several ESD genotypes compared favourably with that of ICPL 87, a standard short duration genotype. However, none of the ESD genotypes yielded more than ICPL 87 on the Vertisols.

The influence of various solvents (H2O, CH3OH, and C2H5OH) on product distribution and nature of products during hydrothermal liquefaction of sargassum tenerrimum algae has been examined. Hydrothermal liquefaction was performed using H2O (260, 280 and 300°C) and organic solvents CH3OH and C2H5OH (280°C) for 15min. The use of organic solvents significantly increased the yield of bio-oil. In the case of liquefaction with CH3OH and C2H5OH, the bio-oil yield was 22.8 and 23.8wt.% respectively whereas the bio-oil yield was 16.33wt.% with H2O. GC-MS analysis of the liquid products indicated the presence of various organic compounds including aromatics, nitrogenated and oxygenated compounds and higher selectivity amount of ester compounds were observed in the presence of alcoholic solvents. NMR and FT-IR showed that present of solvents have an effect on the decomposition of sargassum tenerrimum algae.

This chapter focuses on the evaluation of adaptive capacities of community-level human systems related to agriculture and food security. It highlights findings regarding approaches and domains to monitor and evaluate behavioral changes from CGIAR’s research program on climate change, agriculture and food security (CCAFS). This program, implemented in five West African countries, is intended to enhance adaptive capacities in agriculture management of natural resources and food systems. In support of participatory action research on climate-smart agriculture, a monitoring and evaluation plan was designed with the participation of all stakeholders to track changes in behavior of the participating community members. Individuals’ and groups’ stories of changes were collected using most significant change tools. The collected stories of changes were substantiated through field visits and triangulation techniques. Frequencies of the occurrence of characteristics of behavioral changes in the stories were estimated. The results show that smallholder farmers in the intervention areas adopted various characteristics of behavior change grouped into five domains: knowledge, practices, access to assets, partnership and organization. These characteristics can help efforts to construct quantitative indicators of climate change adaptation at local level. Further, the results suggest that application of behavioral change theories can facilitate the development of climate change adaptation indicators that are complementary to indicators of development outcomes. We conclude that collecting stories on behavioral changes can contribute to biophysical adaptation monitoring and evaluation.