Ecological pest control fortifies agricultural growth in Asia-Pacific economies.

The Green Revolution is credited with alleviating famine, mitigating poverty and driving aggregate economic growth since the 1960s. In Asia, high-input technology packages secured a tripling of rice output, with germplasm improvements providing benefits beyond US$4.3 billion yr-1. Here, we unveil the magnitude and macro-economic relevance of parallel nature-based contributions to productivity growth in non-rice crops over the period 1918-2018 (across 23 different Asia-Pacific geopolitical entities). We empirically demonstrate how biological control resolved invasive pest threats in multiple agricultural commodities, ensuring annually accruing (on-farm) benefits of US$14.6-19.5 billion yr-1. Scientifically guided biological control of 43 exotic invertebrate pests permitted 73-100% yield-loss recovery in critical food, feed and fibre crops including banana, breadfruit, cassava and coconut. Biological control thereby promoted rural growth and prosperity even in marginal, poorly endowed, non-rice environments. By placing agro-ecological innovations on equal footing with input-intensive measures, our work provides lessons for future efforts to mitigate invasive species, restore ecological resilience and sustainably raise output of global agrifood systems.

Author Correction: Ecological pest control fortifies agricultural growth in Asia-Pacific economies.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Antibacterial action of functional silicon dioxide: an investigation of the attachment and separation of bacteria.

Bactericidal proteins from the Moringa oleifera seed are reported to be suitable alternatives to conventional methods of bacterial reduction in water. In this study the cationic bactericidal M. oleifera proteins were isolated by attachment onto the surface of silicon dioxide. This functionalised SiO2(ƒ-SiO2) was then exposed to Escherichia coli and Micrococcus luteus to examine whether the ƒ-SiO2 could be used to inactivate the bacteria. The effect of the non-ionic surfactant dodecyl glucoside on the attachment of these bacteria to the ƒ-SiO2 was examined with the aim of developing a method of reusable bacterial inactivation. The primary result of this study was that the E. coli could be readily separated from the ƒ-SiO2, allowing the ƒ-SiO2 to be used for further bacterial inactivation. The regeneration of the ƒ-SiO2 was demonstrated using fluorescence microscopy on bacterial cells stained with propidium iodide, and zeta potential measurements. Future applications of this work include a reusable method of removing bacteria from contaminated water.

Moringa oleifera functionalised sand - reuse with non-ionic surfactant dodecyl glucoside.

Moringa oleifera seeds are well known for their ability to cause flocculation in turbid water and facilitate bacterial inhibition. These effects are due to the cationic polypeptide MO2.1, which affects the surface charge of suspended particles and causes lysis of bacterial cells. However, the attachment of bacteria to MO2.1 prevents further bacterial attachment, reducing the effectiveness of the seeds. This research investigated the effect of surfactants on functionality and reuse of Moringa seeds to develop a sustainable water treatment technique. The seed extracts (MO2.1) were used with a functionalised sand system, and the sands were exposed to commercially available (ionic and non-ionic) surfactants, dodecyl glucoside and sodium dodecyl sulfate. Artificially polluted water contaminated with Escherichia coli was used to evaluate the efficiency of the system. The non-ionic surfactant was found to be effective at separating E. coli from the functionalised sand without the detachment of the MO2.1 and subsequent loss of the system efficiency. This was successfully repeated four times. The results demonstrated a sustainable, reusable technique to inhibit bacterial contamination in water.