مجله پژوهشهای راهبردی در علوم کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی
سال نهم شماره 1 (بهار و تابستان 1403)

Increasing world population and food supply is one of the challenges facing mankind. One of the most important and effective ways to increase food production is the use of genetic engineering; and CrisperCas9 is one of the new known and accurate genome editing methods. Simplicity of use, cheaper, accuracy and proper efficiency are among the most important features of this technology that make it different from other similar methods. CrisperCas9 is somehow related to the immune system related to a short sequence of DNA. In fact, CRISPR is the prokaryotic immune system that creates resistance to external threats, such as DNA phages, plasmids, and viruses. This system has three main parts. A part of it is CrRNA which has a repetitive sequence. which is complementary to the sequence in Trac RNA. CrRNA binds to the target site through its complement, and the Trac RNA sequence also binds to its complement, which is the repetitive sequences in CrRNA. This spatial structure causes the Cas9 protein to be called to the target site. In the food industry, the CRISPR system can be used as a powerful tool in the management of fermentation products for its use in increasing phage resistance, plasmid vaccination, genome editing, and antibacterial activities, which are reviewed in this article.

In recent decades, Iran has witnessed a noteworthy surge in agricultural water consumption due to population growth, economic development accompanied by irrigated agricultural lands, and changes in dietary habits. Unfortunately, the ratio of consumption to renewable water has consistently exceeded four times the threshold of water stress for several decades.  A recent analysis of annual groundwater depletion using the GRACE satellite observations was estimated to be about 15.9 BCM/year, significantly higher than the previously estimated value of 4.7 BCM/year obtained using the conventional estimation methods. In fact, this research estimated that the accumulated depletion of groundwater supply in 2021 could be more than 350 BCM, contrary to the reported amount of 143 BCM. Despite the severity of the situation, water consumption in Iran has not been adequately reduced to balance the low recharge rate of its water resources.  In fact, by building many dams and digging many wells, more water than the share of the environment has been consumed. To prevent environmental severe water stress or consumption of 60% of renewable water, a 44% reduction in agricultural water consumption is necessary. However, achieving this significant reduction in agricultural water consumption, it poses several social and economic challenges, such as gaining the consent and cooperation of farmers to participate in reducing water usage, ensuring accurate measurement of water delivery, securing sufficient foreign currency for importing agricultural products, creating alternative job opportunities for farmers, and leading to a significant increase in the price of agricultural products.

Examining the environmental challenges of natural resources is valuable from a management point of view and is of great importance due to clarifying the state of natural resources and its future path. Since the distant past, natural resources have been faced with many destructive factors due to the socio-economic relations of people with the forest, which has caused the forests and pastures to undergo serious destruction. Some of these destructive factors include under forest layer agriculture, extensive livestock grazing, indiscriminate cutting of trees, harvesting of none wood-products and coal mining projects, which are of human origin. Some other destructive factors that are the result of the events of the last decade in the area of Zagros forests include regional climate changes, drought, dust, desertification and expansion of deserts, tree decline and fires. The current article focuses on the environmental destructions resulting from the past exploitation of natural resources and from the events of the last decade, and has examined the resulting environmental challenges. The result of these investigations was the determination of the future environmental challenges of natural resources in the Zagros vegetation area. Based on this, basic measures to manage the challenges and prevent the quantitative and qualitative reduction of forests and their restoration include the correct implementation of livestock grazing and land use management, strengthening the regeneration of forest species with appropriate methods and environmental education at the level of schools, universities and media were suggested.

Effective assay of the disease agents is a prerequisite for successful management of plant diseases caused by viruses and virus-like pathogens. The assays may be biological (i.e., based on infectivity), morphological (shape and size, e.g., based on electron microscopy), or based on the properties of the pathogen proteins and nucleic acids. Methods based on the properties of the pathogen proteins include various serological techniques such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), microarray, electrophoresis and certain types of biosensing. Methods based on the properties of the pathogen genome include hybridization tests, microarray chips, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. Combinations of these methods such as immuno-electron microscopy, immuno-electrophoresis and immunocapture PCR may also be used. In this article feasibility, sensitivity, specificity and uses of these techniques are pointed out. At the present the most commonly used methods for targeted detection of plant pathogens are various modifications of ELISA, LAMP and PCR. Types of NGS technologies are the methods of choice for non-target assay of plants for these pathogens. Bioinformatics tools have played an unparalleled role in the advancement of new technologies. All technologies are eco-compatible and can be used or adapted in the country.

In recent decades, the deployment of technologies such as robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles, and satellite operations has become increasingly evident in all farming activities. The revolution known as smart agriculture, employed to enhance the efficiency of agricultural products, allows farmers to achieve higher yields while minimizing the use of fertilizers and other chemicals, thereby contributing to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change. This paper investigates and analyzes the challenges and constraints of eco-friendly innovative technologies in the field of smart agriculture globally and in Iran. It also proposes indigenous solutions for the localization of eco-friendly innovative technologies within the country. The localized management of nutrients in domestic farms, despite their small size, is expected to provide relatively positive outcomes. Agriculture presents an excellent opportunity for the introduction of various types of robots. Countries such as China, Japan, and Australia have made significant strides in the development of automated tractors capable of performing various tasks on the farm. The use of drones in domestic farms has demonstrated an increase of approximately 30% in pesticide consumption efficiency. A national type of drone developed within the country has significant advantages over its foreign counterparts in terms of electronic engines, operational types and services, cameras and sensors, flight types, and monitoring functions. It is anticipated that the mentioned technologies, as part of smart agriculture, will significantly reduce the human labor intensity in farms to a much lower level than before.

It is necessary to move towards a productive and environmentally friendly agricultural system. Some microorganisms known as plant probiotics, can be used as biological fertilizers in the production of crops. Plant probiotics are compatible with any agricultural system, including the organic system, and play a special role in protecting the environment, reducing the need to use chemical pesticides, maintaining and improving the soil structure, and producing food for the growing world population. A better awareness and understanding of the functions of plant probiotics leads to accelerate the acceptance of the advantages and use of these microorganisms and creates a potential to overcome the obstacles to the acceptance of this management process. Some of the solutions to accelerate the adoption of biological control are increasing the awareness of farmers and stakeholde in the field of successful applied examples, clarifying the economic and environmental benefits of biological control as compared to chemical control, as well as incentive policies for the use of plant probiotics through the government and private sectors.  In this article, in addition to addressing the importance of plant probiotics and their application to achieve an environmentally friendly and sustainable agricultural system, the challenges of using this management method and the solutions to solve these challenges have also been discussed.