Agricultural Soil Remediation and Its Tangible Relation with Food Security in Qatar: A Short Review
摘要
Soil health is one of the most vital environmental indices that could affect the whole health chain. Due to various human activities that are direct results of industrialization, the soil is prone to pollution by various pollutants like heavy metals, pesticides, petroleum products, etc. These pollutants are absorbed by plants and finally consumed by humans. Agriculture is one of the most strategic industries in Qatar, with a growing share in GDP after 2017, when the country faced a sea, air, and land blockade by the neighboring countries. Hence, monitoring the soil quality and maintaining its health constantly is significantly important. Various physical, chemical, and biological remediation methods can be employed for soil remediation, and each of them brings its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of energy consumption, possibility of secondary pollution, altering soil community, and efficiency. Compared to conventional remediation methods, bioremediation is an attractive alternative where pollutant degradation occurs through microbial activities, offering cost effectiveness, safety, and sustainability. Some biological agents like yeast, fungi, bacteria, algae, and amendments are employed to consume pollutants as feed and alter them into harmless products like ethane and methane. In this work, we will introduce some major soil pollutants, assess various soil remediation methods, and focus on bioremediation as the sustainable and green alternative. Finally, the promising features of biochar as a sustainable and green alternative for soil remediation in Qatar will briefly be discussed.