Mitigating Drought Stress Effects in Arid and Semi-Arid Agro-Ecosystems through Bioirrigation Strategies—A Review
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript entitled “Mitigating drought stress impacts through bioirrigation strate-gies in dryland agro-ecologies-a review” submitted for possible publication to “Sustainability” is an interesting review study. The manuscript covers the contents to some extent positively, but there are some key points lacking. The manuscript can be accepted after major revision as per comments given below:
Title
Ø The title is of manuscript is not covering the whole review, grammatically some corrections are required to make title attractive as well, I suggest to revise the title
Abstract
Ø The aims of the study described are very short, some more description of the aim should be added in abstract.
Ø The words bioirrigation and bioindicator are used in whole manuscript many times. In abstract short form of bioirrigation and bioindicator should be given and use this short form in whole manuscript.
Ø The microorganisms functions are not much briefed in abstract. Add some more lines about beneficial results of earthworms, lugworms and termites separately.
Ø How this study is helpful to study area? Kindly mention the area (India) in abstract.
Ø Remove the keywords that are used in title, also add some more keywords and rearrange alphabetically.
Introduction
Ø Update the introduction with latest references preferably among 2020-2023
Ø Kindly don’t repeat bioirrigation and bioindicator words, please use short forms of these words
Ø The tables and figures are not cross referenced. Should be cross referenced for reviewers ease.
Ø Studies regarding potential damages due to abiotic stress in study area specially rainfed area are missing, kindly include some related studies.
Ø The objectives of the review are lacking.
Need of bio-irrigation in agriculture
Ø How can these techniques be implemented on commercial level, how farmers can be convinced to use these techniques when majority of these techniques are expensive?
Ø Kindly give some examples related to reactive oxygen species (ROS) and add some lates studies about ROS from last five years.
Bio-irrigation in agricultural crops
Ø The area of the study is arid or semi-arid where the water shortage is main problem, how moisture will be available to earthworms?
Ø In arid and semi-arid region temperature is always high due to low rainfall and low precipitation. How earthworms can survive on such high temperature?
Cropping systems as bioirrigation
Ø Are these cropping systems and techniques being applicable to study area? The study are climatic conditions and soils are susceptible to these techniques?
Ø I suggest to add some statistical data about rise in crop yield after different cropping systems in study area.
Beneficial microorganisms as bioirrigation
Ø It is suggested that please add some latest studies about use of biofertilizers
Impact of bioindicators on soil's physical and chemical characteristics
Ø The physical property infiltration rate has key role in water retention in soil. I suggest to add some relevant studies of bioindicators on soil infiltration rate.
Bio-indicators on biological properties
Ø Need to add recent most studies preferably among 2020-2023.
Conclusion
Ø Role of bioindicators and microorganisms to improve soil aeration in root zone should be more elaborated in conclusion.
Ø What are the limitations of current study, how the authors would suggest to overcome for future studies?
Ø What are the major issues generated from drought stress and how it is affecting the agriculture in India?
Ø What are the key consequences to perform this study?
Ø What is the practical implementation of current study in field agriculture specially in India?
Author Response
The manuscript entitled “Mitigating drought stress impacts through bioirrigation strategies in dryland agro-ecologies-a review” submitted for possible publication to “Sustainability” is an interesting review study. The manuscript covers the contents to some extent positively, but there are some key points lacking. The manuscript can be accepted after major revision as per comments given below:
Title
Ø The title is of manuscript is not covering the whole review, grammatically some corrections are required to make title attractive as well, I suggest to revise the title
Reply: Revised as per the suggestion
Abstract
Ø The aims of the study described are very short, some more description of the aim should be added in abstract.
Reply: Thank you for the suggestion and the aim of this review article is already explained in the abstract and further is also added in the introduction chapter.
Ø The words bioirrigation and bioindicator are used in whole manuscript many times. In abstract short form of bioirrigation and bioindicator should be given and use this short form in whole manuscript.
Reply: Thank you for the suggestion and Authors differed with the reviewer suggestion. Since bioirrigation (it is a concept) and bioindicator (is an organism) are two different words and may not be used in short forms and readers gets confusion.
Ø The microorganisms functions are not much briefed in abstract. Add some more lines about beneficial results of earthworms, lugworms and termites separately.
Reply: Thank you and Please find the added sentence in line 21-23 in the manuscript-track mode change.
Ø How this study is helpful to study area? Kindly mention the area (India) in abstract.
Reply: This is a review paper, having findings from all over the world have been complied and justified for easy understanding of the readers. Therefore, the concept “bioirrigation” is a potential technique in mitigating drought stress and applicable to global arid and semi-arid regions and similar agro-ecologies.
Ø Remove the keywords that are used in title, also add some more keywords and rearrange alphabetically.
Reply: Revised as per the suggestion.
Introduction
Ø Update the introduction with latest references preferably among 2020-2023
Reply: Thank you. Bioirrigation is concept evolved during 90’s and for easy understanding and its base of the study, authors used old references along with 2021 and 2022 references. The same may be find in the text.
Ø Kindly don’t repeat bioirrigation and bioindicator words, please use short forms of these words
Reply: Thank you and Authors differed with the reviewer suggestion. Since bioirrigation (it is a concept) and bioindicator (like organism) are two different words and may not be used in short forms.
Ø The tables and figures are not cross referenced. Should be cross referenced for reviewers ease.
Reply: Thank you. Since this is a review article, all the tables and figures are solely created by the authors. Hence cross reference doesn’t exist in this case.
Ø Studies regarding potential damages due to abiotic stress in study area specially rainfed area are missing, kindly include some related studies.
Reply: Revised as per the suggestion. Please find the revised objective in line 98-101 in the manuscript-track mode change.
Ø The objectives of the review are lacking.
Reply: Revised as per the suggestion. Please find the revised objective in line 102-106 in the manuscript-track mode change.
Need of bio-irrigation in agriculture
Ø How can these techniques be implemented on commercial level, how farmers can be convinced to use these techniques when majority of these techniques are expensive?
Reply: Thank you for the query. Bioirrigation is a promising technique and required further research in this line to optimize the technology. This is a review article and authors compiled the information related to bioirrigation and same in explained in the abstract and in the introduction chapter. Once the technology has been optimized, farmers would greatly benefit from this concept.
Ø Kindly give some examples related to reactive oxygen species (ROS) and add some lates studies about ROS from last five years.
Reply: Thank you, and added the recent studies on ROS. Please find the revised ROS in line 169-174 in the manuscript-track mode change.
Bio-irrigation in agricultural crops
Ø The area of the study is arid or semi-arid where the water shortage is main problem, how moisture will be available to earthworms?
Reply: Thank you. Since bioirrigation concept can be considered for drought prone areas of arid and semi-arid regions, low to medium rainfall could be received in this regions during crop growing season (kharif season) and the amount received could be effectively utilized by the earthworms. This concept is to mitigate the drought stress in between the cropping season and whenever the rainfall receives, bioirrigation concept applies.
Ø In arid and semi-arid region temperature is always high due to low rainfall and low precipitation. How earthworms can survive on such high temperature?
Reply: Thank you. Since bioirrigation concept can be considered for drought prone areas of arid and semi-arid regions, low to medium rainfall could be received in this regions during crop growing season (kharif season) and the amount received could be effectively utilized by the earthworms. This concept is to mitigate the drought stress in between the cropping season and whenever the rainfall receives, bioirrigation concept applies.
Cropping systems as bioirrigation
Ø Are these cropping systems and techniques being applicable to study area? The study are climatic conditions and soils are susceptible to these techniques?
Reply: Thank you and this is a review article emphasizes the concept of bioirrigation and not concentric to specific cropping system or crops. It may be applied all the crops.
Ø I suggest to add some statistical data about rise in crop yield after different cropping systems in study area.
Reply: Thank you and Authors differed with the reviewer suggestion. this is a review article and not a field study.
Beneficial microorganisms as bioirrigation
Ø It is suggested that please add some latest studies about use of biofertilizers
Reply: Thank you and Authors added in the respective sentences on biofertilizers like PGPR.
Impact of bioindicators on soil's physical and chemical characteristics
Ø The physical property infiltration rate has key role in water retention in soil. I suggest to add some relevant studies of bioindicators on soil infiltration rate.
Reply: Thank you for the suggestion and we try to collect the suggested information, but as on today no information is available on infiltration rates influenced by bioindicators.
Bio-indicators on biological properties
Ø Need to add recent most studies preferably among 2020-2023.
Reply: Thank you for the suggestion and added couple of references from 2018 and 2022 related to biological properties. Please find the revised objective in line 403-411 in the manuscript-track mode change.
Conclusion
Ø Role of bioindicators and microorganisms to improve soil aeration in root zone should be more elaborated in conclusion.
Reply: Thank you for the suggestion and revised the conclusion. Please find the revised objective in line 472-475 in the manuscript-track mode change.
Ø What are the limitations of current study, how the authors would suggest to overcome for future studies?
Reply: Thank you and this is a review article emphasizes the concept of biorrigation and not concentric to any field study. Limitations related to bioirrigation techniques is already given in text.
Ø What are the major issues generated from drought stress and how it is affecting the agriculture in India?
Reply: Thank you and issues related to drought stress is already explained in the introduction section.
Ø What are the key consequences to perform this study?
Reply: Thank you and this is a review article and not a field study. The consequences related to bioirrigation is already given in text and also to enhance the bioirrigation potential, opportunities also given in this manuscript. Limitations related to bioirrigation techniques is already given in text.
Ø What is the practical implementation of current study in field agriculture specially in India?
Reply: Thank you for the suggestion. Bioirrigation is a promising technique and required further research in this line to optimize the technology. Once the technology has been optimized, farmers would greatly benefit from this concept.
Reviewer 2 Report
The manuscript contains an interesting synthesis of research results on the use of bioirrigation for drought mitigation. However, in my opinion it is a bit too long-winded, especially the introduction. The authors' conclusions regarding the topic of future research are interesting.
Comments
* Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: (optional; include country code; if there are multiple correspond- 9 ing authors, add author initials) ?
Introduction chapter is too long, please shorten
Figure 1, please indicate the source
References, please remove publications older than 10 years, especially from the 20th century.
Author Response
The manuscript contains an interesting synthesis of research results on the use of bioirrigation for drought mitigation. However, in my opinion it is a bit too long-winded, especially the introduction. The authors' conclusions regarding the topic of future research are interesting.
Reply: Thank you for the appreciation.
Comments
* Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: (optional; include country code; if there are multiple correspond- 9 ing authors, add author initials) ?
Reply: Thank you for the suggestion and revised the same.
Introduction chapter is too long, please shorten
Reply: Thank you for the suggestion. Since it is a review article, authors described the concept, applicability, source etc in the introduction and we are unable to shorten the introduction and if we shorten the same, some interesting things can be missed off.
Figure 1, please indicate the source
Reply: Thank you and Figure 1 is created solely by the corresponding author. There is no source for the figure.
References, please remove publications older than 10 years, especially from the 20th century.
Reply: Thank you for the suggestion. Bioirrigation is concept evolved during 90’s and for easy understanding and its base of the study, authors used old references along with 2021 and 2022 references. The same may be find in the text.
Reviewer 3 Report
The mitigating drought stress impacts through bioirrigation strategies in dryland agro-ecologies is shown in this work.
In manuscript was noted that the main resource limiting global agricultural productivity is water. Applying bioirrigation techniques in droughtprone areas might be a workable alternative strategy. Attention was drawn to the fact that benthic microorganisms (e.g. bacteria and microalgae) have a high water holding capacity. This makes it possible to successfully identified and used in agriculture, and they may prove to be a cutting-edge method to increase plant water use efficiency. Rainfed areas are crucial for ensuring global food security. Due to the un-predictable nature of rainfall, increasing frequency of mid-season droughts, intense rainfall, and their increasing frequency over the past few years, rainfed farmers are becoming more and more vulnerable. More research is required in this special field of utilizing bioirrigation to mitigate the effects of drought stress. To increase productivity in rainfed regions all over the world, it is crucial to identify the appropriate bioindicators for the specific regions. Moreover, earthworms, lugworms, termites, and other bioindicators found in the soil have been shown to demonstrate aeration at the root zone of crops and could be used as bioindicator.
References is good choosen to review topic.
Work is good describe.
Some sugestion follows:
- it should be good to increase the resolution of the Figure 1
- it should be good to improove of the abstract and conclusion
Author Response
Thank you for suggestion
Reviewer 4 Report
Line 19: Remove “ve” from Gram +ve and Gram –ve.
Line 22: PGPR evolved with plant roots to enhance plant resilience under biotic and abiotic stresses.
Line 27: Replace pigeonpea with some more general word, such as legume plants.
Line 38: Bio-irrigation (Koretsky et al., 2002; Baranov et al., 2015; Singh et al., 2020) is a promising technique using microorganisms, bio-indicators or other organisms to promote the soil moisture/water movement in the soil matrix.
Line 43; Line 47: Replace “creatures” with “organisms” trough the text.
Line 45: However, these ecological engineers alter the…
Line 54: Rephrase the sentence; it is unclear (check English).
Line 66: Replace “without much vegetation” with “poor vegetation”.
Line 70: How are these organisms used in agriculture? Example: microorganisms are used in a form of bio-inoculants. Describe this with more detail.
Line 72: Rainfed agriculture, which accounts 80% of all agricultural worldwide, plays a significant role in ensuring world’s food security (Rao et al., 2015). Off which, 90% of agriculture is rainfed in Latin America, 95% in Sub-Saharan Africa, 75% in East and North Africa, 65% in East Asia and 60% in South Asia (IWMI, 2010). : is this one sentence?
Line 90: in situ: italic
Line 105: …microorganisms like rhizobacteria have been used extensively…
Line 131: Drought stress is considered as the most harmful abiotic stress that affects global food security and has became worse over the past few decades.
Lines 149-152: Find some more research on this topic, such as the use of PGPR in stress management.
Line 189: When PGPRs were applied to stressed soybean plants, the build up of poly-amines was shown to be significantly reduced.
Line 193: Replace “microfaunal” with “microbial”.
Line 194: I would not agree (for global agriculture), there are plenty of studies regarding this topic, such as: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.667546, 10.3390/molecules21050573, 10.1016/C2017-0-03466-3, 10.1080/03235408.2020.1805901…
Line 207: Delete “very much”.
Line 229: Move this sentence “Hydraulic lift refers to the movement of water via a plant's root system across soil layers with different water potentials (Richards and 230 Caldwell, 1987; Caldwell et al., 1998; Sekiya et al., 2011).” after the first sentence in this paragraph.
Line 238: Saharan et al. (2018) and Singh et al. (2020).
Line 255: These microbes fix atmospheric nitrogen through symbiotic nature, thus reduce the application of excess chemical fertilizers in pulse and oil seed crops.
Line 257: Besides N fixation, some studies reported plants to have higher drought tolerance capacity in dryland crops, when PGPR are applied.
Line 267: These microbes, especially belonging to Bacillus genus, survive under low water potential….
Line 264: spp. should not be italic.
Line 272: Rephrase the sentence, it is not clear (check English).
Lines 277-278: Rephrase the sentence, it is not clear (check English).
Line 279: Do not start the sentence with abbreviation (AMF).
Line 285: Rephrase the sentence, it is not clear (check English).
Line 287: Among these PGPR, species belonging to Azospirillum and Azotobacter genus have garnered attention as potential biological fertilizers, due to their widespread geographical distribution, host plants, and wide range of significant crop plants that they can interact with synergistically, including rice, wheat, maize, sorghum, and sugarcane (Kalra, 2003).
Line 294: Biofertilizers have widely been used as a source of nutrients; however there is a lack of research regarding their use for improving the water use.
Line 296: To determine the plant physiological status under drought, the project's aims are to estimate hydraulic lift and its associated contribution to the neighbouring intercrops (Figure 1). What did you mean by “project”?
Line 299: Are these really benthic microorganisms?
Line 301; Table 2: Write all species names in italic.
Line 302: Rephrase the sentence, it is not clear (check English).
Line 344: Move this section to another place in the Manuscript, where more appropriate. Also, check English for the headline of this section.
Line 405: Bacillus species are considered as PGPR, rephrase this sentence in appropriate way: …such as PGPR, including species belonging to Bacillus genus…
Line 414: Write this section with bulleting:
1. Need to isolate benthic zone microbes which are having higher water holding capacity over the existing microbes, which are being utilized only for nutrient purpose.
2. Need to identify and develop suitable microorganisms having higher bioirrigation potential to mitigate the drought stress in the major cropping systems….
General comments:
The whole Manuscript must be checked by a native speaker.
I recommend reorganising some sections, in order for the Manuscript to be more fluent.
Author Response
Comments and reply
Line 19: Remove “ve” from Gram +ve and Gram –ve. Reply: Modified
Line 22: PGPR evolved with plant roots to enhance plant resilience under biotic and abiotic stresses. Reply: Modified
Line 27: Replace pigeonpea with some more general word, such as legume plants. Reply: Modified
Line 38: Bio-irrigation (Koretsky et al., 2002; Baranov et al., 2015; Singh et al., 2020) is a promising technique using microorganisms, bio-indicators or other organisms to promote the soil moisture/water movement in the soil matrix. Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 43; Line 47: Replace “creatures” with “organisms” trough the text. Reply: Modified
Line 45: However, these ecological engineers alter the… Reply: Modified
Line 54: Rephrase the sentence; it is unclear (check English). Reply: Revised the sentence accordingly
Line 66: Replace “without much vegetation” with “poor vegetation”. Reply: Modified
Line 70: How are these organisms used in agriculture? Example: microorganisms are used in a form of bio-inoculants. Describe this with more detail. Reply: Deleted the sentence
Line 72: Rainfed agriculture, which accounts 80% of all agricultural worldwide, plays a significant role in ensuring world’s food security (Rao et al., 2015). Off which, 90% of agriculture is rainfed in Latin America, 95% in Sub-Saharan Africa, 75% in East and North Africa, 65% in East Asia and 60% in South Asia (IWMI, 2010). : is this one sentence? Reply: Modified
Line 90: in situ: italic Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 105: …microorganisms like rhizobacteria have been used extensively… Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 131: Drought stress is considered as the most harmful abiotic stress that affects global food security and has became worse over the past few decades. Reply: Modified accordingly
Lines 149-152: Find some more research on this topic, such as the use of PGPR in stress management. Reply: All available references are cited in the manuscript on PGPR and PGPR is greatly imparts stress
Line 189: When PGPRs were applied to stressed soybean plants, the build up of poly-amines was shown to be significantly reduced. Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 193: Replace “microfaunal” with “microbial”. Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 194: I would not agree (for global agriculture), there are plenty of studies regarding this topic, such as: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.667546, 10.3390/molecules21050573, 10.1016/C2017-0-03466-3, 10.1080/03235408.2020.1805901… Reply: Modified accordingly and it is Indian agriculture
Line 207: Delete “very much”. Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 229: Move this sentence “Hydraulic lift refers to the movement of water via a plant's root system across soil layers with different water potentials (Richards and 230 Caldwell, 1987; Caldwell et al., 1998; Sekiya et al., 2011).” after the first sentence in this paragraph. Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 238: Saharan et al. (2018) and Singh et al. (2020). Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 255: These microbes fix atmospheric nitrogen through symbiotic nature, thus reduce the application of excess chemical fertilizers in pulse and oil seed crops. Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 257: Besides N fixation, some studies reported plants to have higher drought tolerance capacity in dryland crops, when PGPR are applied. Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 267: These microbes, especially belonging to Bacillus genus, survive under low water potential…. Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 264: spp. should not be italic. Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 272: Rephrase the sentence, it is not clear (check English). Reply: Revised
Lines 277-278: Rephrase the sentence, it is not clear (check English). Reply: Revised
Line 279: Do not start the sentence with abbreviation (AMF). Reply: Revised
Line 285: Rephrase the sentence, it is not clear (check English). Reply: Revised
Line 287: Among these PGPR, species belonging to Azospirillum and Azotobacter genus have garnered attention as potential biological fertilizers, due to their widespread geographical distribution, host plants, and wide range of significant crop plants that they can interact with synergistically, including rice, wheat, maize, sorghum, and sugarcane (Kalra, 2003). Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 294: Biofertilizers have widely been used as a source of nutrients; however there is a lack of research regarding their use for improving the water use. Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 296: To determine the plant physiological status under drought, the project's aims are to estimate hydraulic lift and its associated contribution to the neighbouring intercrops (Figure 1). What did you mean by “project”? Reply: It is not a project rather future research
Line 299: Are these really benthic microorganisms? Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 301; Table 2: Write all species names in italic. Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 302: Rephrase the sentence, it is not clear (check English). Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 344: Move this section to another place in the Manuscript, where more appropriate. Also, check English for the headline of this section. Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 405: Bacillus species are considered as PGPR, rephrase this sentence in appropriate way: …such as PGPR, including species belonging to Bacillus genus… Reply: Modified accordingly
Line 414: Write this section with bulleting: Reply: Modified accordingly
- Need to isolate benthic zone microbes which are having higher water holding capacity over the existing microbes, which are being utilized only for nutrient purpose.
- Need to identify and develop suitable microorganisms having higher bioirrigation potential to mitigate the drought stress in the major cropping systems….
Reply: Modified accordingly
General comments:
The whole Manuscript must be checked by a native speaker.
I recommend reorganising some sections, in order for the Manuscript to be more fluent.
Reply: Modified accordingly
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Now it is ok
Reviewer 4 Report
Manuscript has been corrected as suggested.
