Particulate Matter Pollution and Global Agricultural Productivity

Following last few decades, global agriculture is facing tremendous challenges from diverse issues like increasing population, unrestrained urbanization, and uncontrolled environmental pollution and so on. Productivity of major crops has been declined severely leading to higher global hunger index as well as uncontrollable food crisis both in quantity and quality. Among the major issues, environmental pollution followed by the climate change play the most critical role. Particulate matter is one of the most underrated emerging contaminant which triggers adverse effects on plant and human health and efficacy. The main sources for particulate matter air pollution are both natural, which include forest fire, sea salt, dust (such as airborne soil), pollen, volcanic eruptions and particles formed from natural gaseous precursors, and anthropogenic, which include agricultural operations, industrial processes, combustion of wood and fossil fuels, construction and demolition activities, and entrainment of road dust into the air.