Food sovereignty is the rights of every nation to maintain and develop skills in producing basic foods, with respect for cultural and product diversity. The food sovereignty of a nation would be viable provided that the natural resources essential for plant growth are available and one of them is water. However, the increase of water demand far exceeds its availability, thus water shortage for agriculture with, as water is also needed by other organisms. As a tropical country, Indonesia has sufficient water supplies from both rainfall and groundwater. With good water management and conservation strategy, it should suffice the demand. Therefore, save the water movement as part of water sustainability program would highly contribute in achieving sustainable food production hence food sovereignty in the long run.

Cold plasma is an emerging non-thermal disinfection and surface modification technology which is chemical free, and eco-friendly. Plasma treatment of water, termed as plasma activated water (PAW), creates an acidic environment which results in changes of the redox potential, conductivity and in the formation of reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen species (RNS). As a result, PAW has different chemical composition than water and can serve as an alternative method for microbial disinfection.This paper reviews the different plasma sources employed for PAW generation, its physico-chemical properties and potential areas of PAW applications. More specifically, the physical and chemical properties of PAW are outlined in relation to the acidity, conductivity, redox potential, and concentration of ROS, RNS in the treated water. All these effects are in microbial nature, so the applications of PAW for microbial disinfection are also summarized in this review. Finally, the role of PAW in improving the agricultural practices, for example, promoting seed germination and plant growth, is also presented.PAW appears to have a synergistic effect on the disinfection of food while it can also promote seedling growth of seeds. The increase in the nitrate and nitrite ions in the PAW could be the main reason for the increase in plant growth. Soaking seeds in PAW not only serves as an anti-bacterial but also enhances the seed germination and plant growth. PAW could potentially be used to increase crop yield and to fight against the drought stress environmental conditions.

Climate change increases the need for effective and sustainable technologies in food and agriculture. Plasma-activated water (PAW) emerges as a green and sustainable technology in food processing and production. Synergy of a myriad of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RNOS) in PAW contributes to desirable properties of PAW. Compared to conventional methods, PAW is fast and effective for various products, not limited by the volume or shape of the treated samples. In this review, we will first introduce the fundamentals on plasma generation, physicochemical properties and characterization of PAW. Among various approaches for activation improvement, we highlight a recent progress in improving the cold plasma activation by microbubbles. Then we critically review the treatment conditions by PAW, and effectiveness of PAW for bio-film removal, food processing, plant growth in agriculture, and environment. As the research output on PAW is expanding exponentially, this review focuses on the work published within the last two years (2020–2021) to summarize the current understanding of the principles of the effects from PAW and to reflect potentials of PAW in applications for the food science and technology.

High volumes of flowback and produced water are generated everyday as a byproduct of hydraulic fracturing operations and shale gas developments across the United States. Since most shale gas developments are located in semi-arid to arid U.S. regions close to agricultural production, there are many opportunities for reusing these waters as potential alternatives or supplements to fresh water resources for irrigation activities. However, the impacts of high salinity and total organic content of these types of water on crop physiological parameters and plant growth needs to be investigated to determine their utility and feasibility. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the response of switchgrass and rapeseed to treated produced water as an irrigation water source. In this greenhouse study, the influence of produced water at four total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations [1.22, 38.3, 232.2 and 1352.4mg/l] and three total dissolved solids (TDS) levels [400,3,500, and 21,000mg/l] on rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), two relatively salt-tolerant, non-food, biofuel crops, was studied. Seedling emergence, biomass yield, plant height, leaf electrolyte leakage, and plant uptake were evaluated. Irrigation water with the highest salinity and TOC concentration resulted in significantly lower growth health and physiological characteristics of both crop species. The organic content of the produced water had a negative impact on biomass yield and physiological parameters of both species. The results of this study could be valuable for regulators and stakeholders in development of treatment standards in which organic matter should be removed to less than 50mg/l to keep leaf EL (cell damage) to less than 50% and a TOC concentration of less than 5mg/l required to keep a sustainable biomass production rate.

Very little is known about how products derived from the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of municipal waste affect the availability and uptake of nitrogen in plant nutrition. This study examined the effects of 60% sewage sludge and 40% food waste HTC products, i.e., biochar (BC) and process water (PW), as nitrogen sources on garden cress growth and quality. A fertilization program using four nitrogen doses [(control), 9, 12, and 15 kg da&minus:1 N] and BC, PW, chemical nitrogen (CN), and their combinations were used in a pot experiment conducted under greenhouse conditions. The highest nitrogen dose often produced better results in terms of plant growth and quality. Additionally, fertilization with PW+CN and BC+CN at the highest nitrogen dose significantly improved plant height, plant fresh and dry weight, and root dry weight parameters of garden cress over the previous treatments. The highest stem diameter, number of leaves, and plant area values were obtained in the 15 kg da&minus:1 N dose PW+BC application. The vitamin C content in cress decreased with the increasing levels of CN. The highest vitamin C content was obtained with 15 kg N da&minus:1 PW fertilization. BC+PW and CN fertilization applications improved chlorophyll a, b, and the total contents of garden cress leaves. Moreover, the nitrate (NO3) concentration of cress increased with CN doses while it decreased in all BC and PW administrations. The 9, 12, and 15 kg N da&minus:1 doses of PW+CN and the 15 kg N da&minus:1 dose of BC+CN yielded the highest agricultural nitrogen utilization efficiency (ANUE) values. Plant nutrient content was positively affected in all fertilization applications, except for Na and Cl. However, it was determined that BC+CN fertilizer application improved plant nutrient uptake. Surprisingly, PW+CN treatment at the lowest nitrogen dosage resulted in the highest soil organic matter and total nitrogen content. In conclusion, it has been determined that biochar and process water have a synergistic effect with CN to increase plant growth by improving nitrogen efficiency, but their application alone without CN is insufficient to meet the nitrogen requirement.