Agricultural waste management strategies for environmental sustainability.

Globally, abundant agricultural wastes (AWs) are being generated each day to fulfil the increasing demands of the fast-growing population. The limited and/or improper management of the same has created an urgent need to devise strategies for their timely utilization and valorisation, for agricultural sustainability and human-food and health security. The AWs are generated from different sources including crop residue, agro-industries, livestock, and aquaculture. The main component of the crop residue and agro-industrial waste is cellulose, (the most abundant biopolymer), followed by lignin and hemicellulose (lignocellulosic biomass). The AWs and their processing are a global issue since its vast majority is currently burned or buried in soil, causing pollution of air, water and global warming. Traditionally, some crop residues have been used in combustion, animal fodder, roof thatching, composting, soil mulching, matchsticks and paper production. But, lignocellulosic biomass can also serve as a sustainable source of biofuel (biodiesel, bioethanol, biogas, biohydrogen) and bioenergy in order to mitigate the fossil fuel shortage and climate change issues. Thus, valorisation of lignocellulosic residues has the potential to influence the bioeconomy by producing value-added products including biofertilizers, bio-bricks, bio-coal, bio-plastics, paper, biofuels, industrial enzymes, organic acids etc. This review encompasses circular bioeconomy based various AW management strategies, which involve 'reduction', 'reusing' and 'recycling' of AWs to boost sustainable agriculture and minimise environmental pollution. 

Agricultural waste management strategies for environmental sustainability

Recent advances in commercial biorefineries for lignocellulosic ethanol production: Current status, challenges and future perspectives.

Recent advances in commercial biorefineries for lignocellulosic ethanol production: Current status, challenges and future perspectives

Exploitation of Parthenium hysterophorous biomass as low-cost substrate for cellulase and xylanase production under solid-state fermentation using Talaromyces stipitatus MTCC 12687

With the aim to utilize deoiled rice bran, an agro-industrial waste, as a feedstock for the co-production of multiple carbohydrases, a fungal strain was isolated which could utilize DORB to co-produce a consortium of cellulases, hemicellulases, pectinase and amylases and was named as Aspergillus niger P-19 after molecular identification. Further, optimization for the co-production of all the enzymes was carried out by one factor at a time approach. Time profile studies of the production of enzymes revealed that 5th day of incubation was best suited for the extraction of enzymes. An initial solid to moisture ratio of 1:1.5 and an inoculum size of 5 × 107 spores gds−1 were found to be optimum for maximum productivities. Enzyme yields were significantly improved with the exogenous supplementation of carbon source, nitrogen source, surfactants and lignocellulosic inducers. This is the first report of its kind where DORB has been utilized for the co-production and co-optimization of eight different enzymes which can have a potential application in biofuel industry as the enzyme preparation could effectively hydrolyze steam pre-treated DORB releasing a total reducing sugars of 356.17 ± 9.58 mg gds−1.

Deoiled Rice Bran: A Substrate for Co-Production of a Consortium of Hydrolytic Enzymes by Aspergillus niger P-19

A low-cost approach for the generation of enhanced sugars and ethanol from rice straw using in-house produced cellulase-hemicellulase consortium from A. niger P-19

A low-cost process for efficient hydrolysis of deoiled rice bran and ethanol production using an inhouse produced multi-enzyme preparation from Aspergillus niger P-19

Priya Chugh

Papers

Deoiled Rice Bran: A Substrate for Co-Production of a Consortium of Hydrolytic Enzymes by Aspergillus niger P-19

A low-cost approach for the generation of enhanced sugars and ethanol from rice straw using in-house produced cellulase-hemicellulase consortium from A. niger P-19

A low-cost process for efficient hydrolysis of deoiled rice bran and ethanol production using an inhouse produced multi-enzyme preparation from Aspergillus niger P-19