Biofungicides: Advanced Delivery for Sustainable Crop Protection

Biofungicides: Advanced Delivery for Sustainable Crop Protection offers a thorough understanding of challenges in biofungicides delivery. The advent of nanoparticle formulations and encapsulation techniques has opened new possibilities for targeted delivery systems, controlled release, and improved stability of antifungal compounds. A combination of precision spraying technologies, such as variable rate applications, sensor-guided sprayers, and drone-based application systems, with Internet of Things tools like smart sensors, data analytics, and automated delivery systems, further increases the likelihood of success. This book also addresses the regulatory aspects of biofungicide development, including safety evaluations and registration procedures. It emphasizes the need for future research into biofungicide mechanisms of action as well as challenges related to stability, shelf life, environmental impact, slow action, production costs, market acceptance, and the integration of biofungicides into integrated pest management (IPM) programs. IPM programs reduce the reliance on chemical pesticides by combining various pest control methods, thereby supporting sustainable crop protection for the farming community.

Kamel A. Abd-Elsalam, Ph.D., is currently a Research Professor and Deputy Director for Research at the Plant Pathology Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt. Dr. Kamel’s research interests include developing and improving plant biosecurity diagnostic tools, understanding fungal pathogen genomes, and creating eco friendly hybrid nanomaterials for controlling toxigenic fungi and plant diseases as well as applications in agroecosystems. Kamel earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Plant Pathology from Christian Albrechts University of Kiel (Germany) and Suez Canal University (Egypt). In 2008, he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the same institution. Dr. Kamel served as a Visiting Associate Professor at Mae Fah Luang University in Thailand, the Institute of Microbiology at TUM in Germany, the Laboratory of Phytopathology at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, and the Plant Protection Department at Sassari University in Italy.

He has published 35 books related to nanobiotechnology applications in agriculture and plant protection with major publishing houses such as Springer, Taylor & Francis, and Elsevier. Since 2019, he has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier book series Nanobiotechnology for Plant Protection and as the Series Editor for Applications of Genome Modified Plants and Microbes in Food and Agriculture. Additionally, he has been an active member of the Elsevier Advisory Panel since 2020, providing feedback and suggestions to improve Elsevier’s products and services. He has published more than 302 scientific research articles in international and regional specialized journals with high impact factors, and has an H-index of 51, an i-10 index of 163, and over 10,134 citations. He served as a Guest Editor for the Journal of Fungi, Plants, and Microorganisms, and as a Review Editor for Frontiers in Genomic Assay Technology, Agrochemicals, and Plant Nanobiology. He was ranked in the top 2% of the most influential scientists in the world in nanobiotechnology for 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 by Elsevier and Stanford University. In 2014, he was awarded the Federation of Arab Scientific Research Councils Prize for excellent scientific research in biotechnology (fungal genomics), ranking first. Additionally, he received the Egyptian State Award for Agricultural Scientific Excellence from ASRT, Egypt, in 2022 with a silver medal.

Dr. Mirza Abid Mehmood is a Lecturer in Plant Pathology at the Institute of Plant Protection, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan. He completed his Ph.D. in Molecular Plant Pathology from Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, P.R. China. He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, China. Dr. Mirza’s research interests include the use of eco-friendly approaches to manage biotic and abiotic stress, soil microbial ecology, phytobiomes, metagenomics, meta-transcriptomics, meta-proteomics, and metabolomics. He has published 7 book chapters with Elsevier and Springer Nature. He has published 35 research and review articles in international peer-reviewed journals, including Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Microbiology Spectrum, Plants, Horticulturae, Journal of King Saud University-Science, Stress Biology, International Journal of Tropical Insect Science, Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, and the Journal of Environmental Management. Dr. Mirza is a reviewer for journals including Journal of Environmental Management, Phytopathology Research, Frontiers in Microbiology, Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, SN Applied Sciences, Soil Systems, and Agronomy.