Emerging Trends in the Valorization of Agricultural Waste and Their Utilization in Agricultural, Pharmaceuticals, and Environmental Cleanup

Millions of tons (MTs) of agro-waste are generated annually and are responsible for land and water pollution worldwide. The major agro-waste are rice husk and straw, wheat husk and straw, corn cob and stalk, shells from various nuts, citrus peels, sugarcane bagasse (SCB), etc. Some of these agro-waste have significant moisture, while others have less. The dumping of high moisture-containing agro-waste openly in the environment attracts the flies and becomes the breeding site for the flies and mosquitos. Agro-waste has more carbon and silica, which can be used in bioenergy, food sectors, bioactive compounds (BAC), and agriculture. Using this agro-waste to manufacture value-added materials may help minimize the waste generated from these. Here, the investigators reviewed various types of agro-waste the agricultural sector generates. Further, the authors have focused on the multiple methods for developing value-added materials from this agro-waste. The authors have reviewed conventional agro-waste uses, their emerging uses in the pharmaceutical, agriculture, and food industries, and environmental clean-up. Emphasis has been given on the recovery and synthesis of nanoparticles from agro-waste. Finally, the focus was on present and future applications of agro-waste as an adsorbent for eliminating organic and inorganic pollutants from wastewater. [GRAPHICS] .