Special Issue: Plasma and agriculture II

Low-temperature plasma (LTP) science and technology are rapidly establishing their place in agriculture, with already existing or envisaged future commercial applications in (i) sustainable fertilizer production, (ii) food safety “from farm to fork,” and (iii) in reducing pollution and pathogens. The fact that plasma is able to generate highly reactive chemical species from electricity, water, and air makes LTP technology a very attractive alternative to many conventional chemical approaches: LTP clearly has the potential to become disruptive toward the chemical industry that currently drives agricultural growth in a centralized way. On-demand local fertilizer production or pathogen inactivation at the farm by LTP technology will reduce the need for complex logistics. A vision for the future of LTP is to develop novel technologies that help reduce the environmental impact of agriculture, while at the same time meeting the increasing demand of our growing world population for a reliable supply of accessible and safe food. Topics of LTP technology in agriculture include decontamination and pollution reduction; increased plant growth and yield; safe production, distribution, and consumption of food; and fundamentals of plant biology. Research interest worldwide has reached a new high, including that from increasing numbers of industrial participants. This journal, Plasma Processes and Polymers (PPaP), has accompanied the above-described developments in “Plasma and Agriculture” by publishing numerous research reports over the past years. A first special issue (S.I.) devoted to the topic appeared in 2018 under the guest editorships of professors M. Gherardi (Bologna, Italy), N. Puač (Belgrade, Serbia), and M. Shiratani (Fukuoka, Japan).[1] During the intervening period, this important area of applied plasma research has continued to evolve and flourish, to the point that we are now presenting this second S.I. on this same topic. The 3rd International Workshop on Plasma Agriculture (IWOPA 2020) was scheduled to take place from March 1 to 4, 2020, in Greifswald, Germany, organized at the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP) under the chairmanship of Prof. K.D. Weltmann. However, the workshop had to be canceled when the COVID 19 pandemic broke out in early 2020. Many of the studies presented in this S.I. were scheduled for presentation at the IWOPA 2020 workshop. We have decided to proceed with publication and are proud to present research of the workshop's speakers in this new S.I., “Plasma and Agriculture II”. The 3rd IWOPA, hosted by the INP Greifswald, will now take place virtually from March 1 to 3, 2021 (www.iwopa.org). This current S.I. consists of one review article and 14 original research papers, focusing on state-of-the-art LTP applications in agricultural and food-related fields, ranging from the basics of activating air and water by electrical discharges and the treatment and decontamination of seeds and plants, to LTP use as a food processing technology. All papers have been fully peer-reviewed to the high standards required for publication in PPaP. The review by Ranieri et al.[2] details the role of nonthermal plasma in the development of plants from seeds to crops, and it provides the context to design plasma-based fertilization strategies to address the needs of plants and their ecosystem. Next, several research papers deal with plasma activation of air and water for agricultural purposes, first from general scientific points of view,[3-5] but then also related to specific applications like toxin removal,[6] decontamination of crop seeds,[7] and viniculture.[8] A key subtopic, LTPs in the treatment of seeds and plants, is addressed in five articles, specifically as it applies to wheat,[9] Norway spruce,[10] red clover,[11] rice,[12] and maize and barley.[13] Finally, the last subtopic, LTPs in food technology, comprises three papers dealing with eggs,[14] chicken,[15] and milk.[16] Regrettably, a single contribution to the subject of insect pest control[17] could not be received in time for this S.I., but it will appear in a later issue of this journal in 2021. Altogether, this collection of original research articles bears witness to world-wide interest, as well as growing maturity and sophistication in this strategically important subject, “Plasma and agriculture”; these papers originate from laboratories in the USA, several Asian countries, and several countries throughout Europe. Clearly, the subject is one of steadily advancing impact for humankind and for the overall wellbeing of our environment. Finally, we wish to thank all contributors to this special issue, the reviewers of these articles, and the editorial staff of PPaP for their outstanding support. We hope that this issue will contribute to further understanding of the field, to enhance the state of the art of plasma agricultural applications, and that it will help promote interdisciplinary collaborations between plasma scientists, plant biologists, agricultural experts, and food technologists. Such interactions are, of course, essential to clarify mechanisms that underlie these new processes and, in future, to implement and upscale the associated technologies.

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