Asher Bar-Tal

This collection features four peer-reviewed reviews on major contaminants in agricultural soils. The first chapter discusses emerging technologies for remediating soil polluted with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and their contamination routes. The chapter also addresses techniques for their identification and tracking, persistence and bioaccumulation in the soil and risks to and effects on human health and soil health. The second chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the pathways through which antibiotics reach the soil, the processes that influence their fate within the soil and the techniques and efforts used to predict their behaviour and fate. The chapter also offers insights from specific case studies and discusses future research directions to address environmental challenges. The third chapter addresses the risks associated with using treated wastewater in irrigation systems for crop production, including an elevation in soil water osmotic pressure, the addition of toxic ions and organic contaminants to the soil and the deterioration of the physical and hydraulic properties of soil. The final chapter reviews the impact of heavy metal contamination on soil health, focussing on its effects on soil biogeochemical processes, nutrient cycling and soil functions in crop production, environmental quality and food security. The chapter also discusses common indicators of soil contamination and remediation techniques.

This book features four peer-reviewed reviews on the recent advances in fertiliser use and fertiliser technology in agriculture. The first chapter describes features of field crop sprayers for precision agriculture, including control of delivered dose, spatial resolution, matching physical characteristics of sprays to target requirements and minimising drift and exposure of systems outside the treatment area. The second chapter reviews the range of system inputs that are used to inform site-specific nutrient management systems. The chapter also includes examples from the Midwestern and Western regions of the United States to illustrate system processes and outputs. The third chapter discusses the history, current status, and future needs of fertiliser developments in light of the goal of global sustainability for both agriculturally advanced and deficient areas. It reviews developments in using efficient fertilisers sources using proper techniques of rate, placement, and timing to meet the needs of advancing yields of modern crop cultivars. The final chapter reviews the latest research on the ways that fertigation can be used to optimise the fertiliser application process, focussing on the ‘4Rs’ principle. The chapter discusses nutrient consumption curves and supply, optimising irrigation efficiency, as well as the use of models and decision support systems to support fertigation systems.