Improving the sustainability of agriculture and, at the same time, reducing adverse effects of agriculture on the environment requires efficient technologies that enhance productivity while maintaining food quality and safety. The idea for the COST Action “Plasma applications for smart and sustainable agriculture (PlAgri)” stemmed from the need to address some of these challenges and help to achieve the SDGs 2030 through scientific research of multidisciplinary teams and creation of new and innovative technological solutions with the strategies for their broad implementation.

Obtaining high yields in agricultural production starts with planting seeds that rapidly germinate in high percentages after a minimal delay while producing robust plants. Therefore chemical treatment of seeds is widely used to protect seeds against pathogens and pests and for stimulation of germination and fertilization. This COST Action aims to investigate the potential of non-thermal plasmas as a green alternative to conventional fertilizers in agriculture to improve yields, increase the size and robustness of plants, and reduce (or eliminate) the need for pesticides. The Action will also address the use of plasmas for treatments of final products – treatments of food and its packaging.

In the last several years, researchers have investigated the use of LTPs to treat seeds to improve germination uniformity, yield, and rate and reduce contamination by fungi and bacteria. The results are extremely promising, clearly showing the potential of the method and that LTPs can be a very efficient tool in the processing of seeds. However, the investigations were conducted on very different systems, under a wide range of conditions and using quite different protocols, making comparisons and consequently systematic progress in the field difficult. These isolated but successful experiments have framed important and fundamental questions that must be addressed to make progress in the field:

1. What are the fundamental mechanisms responsible for the positive effects of low-temperature plasmas on seed germination and plant growth?
2. How can plasmas be used to protect seeds from fungi, viruses, and bacteria without harming the seed (or in concert with the stimulation of seeds)?
3. Are there unique properties of varieties of seeds/plants that may produce different responses to the same set of plasma parameters?
4. Evaluation of the competitiveness of plasma technologies against other technologies, new or established?
5. Can these similarities and differences in response to plasma parameters be used to define standard procedures and protocols that can be broadly implemented in agriculture?
6. Are the quality and safety characteristics of plasma-treated foods meeting the required standards?

Therefore, the scientific field of plasma agriculture would greatly benefit from leveraging the insights and abilities of researchers addressing the fundamental issues of the cross-section of two fields: physical plasmas and biological systems. As one of its goals, the COST Action (PlAgri) will have to address these fundamental issues, both scientifically and in the form of producing new technological solutions and protocols.