More than half of Uzbekistan's irrigated land is saline to some degree. The drying up the Aral Sea has intensified this process. For many years, chronic salt storms in northern part country have sprayed large quantities onto agricultural land, leading increased salinization. These processes cause water required flush soils year after year. problem exacerbated by shortages worldwide, including C...

This study investigated the cultivation of the marine microalga Chlorella sp. without supplying an inorganic carbon source, but instead with enriching the media with extracts of oyster shells pretreated by a high-pressure homogenization process. The pretreated oyster shells were extracted by a weak acid, acetic acid, that typically has harmful effects on cell growth and also poses environmental...

The cultivation of higher plants occupies an essential role within bio-regenerative life support systems. It contributes to all major functional aspects by closing the different loops in a habitat like food production, CO2 reduction, O2 production, waste recycling and water management. Fresh crops are also expected to have a positive impact on crew psychological health. Plant material was first...

Recently, the so-called "plant factory with artificial lighting" (PFAL) approach has been developed to provide safe and steady food production. Although PFALs can produce high-yielding and high-quality plants, the high plant density in these systems accelerates leaf senescence in the bottom (or outer) leaves owing to shading by the upper (or inner) leaves and by neighboring plants. This decreas...

The USDA established the National Organic Program (NOP) to develop national standards for organically produced agricultural products and establish an organic certification program as required by the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) passed by Congress in 1990. Organic crop production excludes conventional pesticides, petroleum – based fertilizers, and sewage sludge based fertilizers with some...

Xylanolytic and cellulolytic potential of a soil isolate, Aspergillus fumigatus (MS16) was studied by growing it on a variety of lignocellulosics, purified cellulose and xylan supplemented media. It was noted that carboxymethyl cellulose, salicin and xylan induce the production of endoglucanase, β-glucosidase and xylanase, respectively. The study revealed that Aspergillus fumigatus (MS16) co-se...