Publications by authors named "Maria Hasnain"

The expanding global population and the use of conventional agrochemical pesticides have led to the loss of crop yield and food shortages. Excessive pesticide used in agriculture risks life forms by contaminating soil and water resources, necessitating the use of nano agrochemicals. This article focuses on synthesis moiety and use of nanopesticides for enhanced stability, controlled release mechanisms, improved efficacy, and reduced pesticide residue levels.

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Citrus canker is a disease of economic importance and there are limited biocontrol agents available to mitigate it in an integrated manner. This study was conducted to combat citrus canker disease using biologically active nanoparticles (Ag, Cu and ZnO and 300, 900, 1200, and 1500 ppm) synthesized from macromolecules extracted from alga, Oedogonium sp. The synthesis of the nanoparticles was confirmed by UV-Vis Spectroscopy, FTIR, SEM, XRD, and DLS Zeta sizer while their efficacy was tested against Xanthomonas citri by measuring zone of inhibition.

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Carbon dioxide (CO) emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels and coal are primary contributors of greenhouse gases leading to global climate change and warming. The toxicity of heavy metals and metalloids in the environment threatens ecological functionality, diversity and global human life. The ability of microalgae to thrive in harsh environments such as industrial wastewater, polluted lakes, and contaminated seawaters presents new, environmentally friendly, and less expensive CO remediation solutions.

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The bioremediation of soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) has emerged as a promising approach, with its effectiveness contingent upon various types of PHCs, i.e., crude oil, diesel, gasoline, and other petroleum products.

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There exists a global challenge of feeding the growing human population of the world and supplying its energy needs without exhausting global resources. This challenge includes the competition for biomass between food and fuel production. The aim of this paper is to review to what extent the biomass of plants growing under hostile conditions and on marginal lands could ease that competition.

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Good quality water and arable land are required for both domestic and agricultural uses. Increasing population leads to urbanization and industrialization increasing the need to share these resources and creating threats to the food supply. Higher meat consumption requires mitigation strategies to protect food and mitigate economic crises, especially in developing nations.

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Large-scale pollution of water and soils bodies is associated with the discharge of the untreated textile industry effluents. Halophytes grows on saline lands and accumulate secondary metabolites and other stress protective compounds. Utilization of Chenopodium album (halophytes) to synthesize zinc oxide (ZnO) and their efficiency to treat different concentrations of textile industry waste water is proposed in this study.

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The unpredictable climatic perturbations, the expanding industrial and mining sectors, excessive agrochemicals, greater reliance on wastewater usage in cultivation, and landfill leachates, are collectively causing land degradation and affecting cultivation, thereby reducing food production globally. Biochar can generally mitigate the unfavourable effects brought about by climatic perturbations (drought, waterlogging) and degraded soils to sustain crop production. It can also reduce the bioavailability and phytotoxicity of pollutants in contaminated soils via the immobilization of inorganic and/or organic contaminants, commonly through surface complexation, electrostatic attraction, ion exchange, adsorption, and co-precipitation.

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Excessive use of synthetic fertilizers cause economic burdens, increasing soil, water and atmospheric pollution. Nano-fertilizers have shown great potential for their sustainable uses in soil fertility, crop production and with minimum or no environmental tradeoffs. Nano-fertilizers are of submicroscopic sizes, have a large surface area to volume ratio, can have nutrient encapsulation, and greater mobility hence they may increase plant nutrient access and crop yield.

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