A review of the use of engineered nanomaterials to suppress plant disease and enhance crop yield

Fortification of micronutrients for efficient agronomic production: a review

“…However, the systemic, nonpoint source effects observed in plants upon application of micronutrients suggest that, in addition to pathogen toxicity, they might also directly be involved in physiological processes that confer plant resistance to diseases. Such processes include stimulating the production of antioxidants and other pathogen inhibitory compounds, influencing lignin and suberin biosynthesis to toughen cell walls and reduce pathogen infiltration, and modulating N metabolism in the plant (Huber and Wilhelm 1988;Römheld and Marschner 1991;Boyd et al 1994;Bai et al 2006;Evans et al 2007;Stangoulis and Graham 2007;Taran et al 2014;Servin et al 2015a). Notably, B's involvement in cell wall regulation is related to the modulation of Ca balance in the cell wall, helping in the formation of calcium pectate that confer rigidity to the plant (Stangoulis and Graham 2007), which otherwise would be more easily weakened by disease or drought stress.…”

“…Therefore, an important challenge is how to package micronutrients in such a way that (i) their usability by the plant is enhanced, (ii) they become less harmful to the soil due to reduced fixation, (iii) they are safer for the environment with minimal losses, and (iv) they are affordable for farmers and beneficial to farm livelihoods. One technology touted as having some of the greatest promise to address these challenges is nanotechnology (see for, e.g., Liu and Lal 2015;Monreal et al 2015;Servin et al 2015a). With nanotechnology, micronutrients can be produced in the nanosize range, with the advantage of initial fast release of plant-usable ions at application and then a more sustained slow release over time (Fig.…”

“…4. These include the enhancement of clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) growth upon foliar application with ZnO NPs (Raliya and Tarafdar 2013), the influence of ZnO on peanut (Arachis hypogaea) nutrition and yield in the presence of NPK fertilizers (Prasad et al 2012), which suggests an improvement in NPK use efficiency by the NPs, as well as the reduction of disease progression in eggplant (Solanum melongena), more pronounced with NPs of CuO and MnO than with their bulk equivalents (Servin et al 2015a). Similarly, using macronutrient NPs of P (apatite), Liu and Lal (2014) also demonstrated the greater potential of NPs to enhance crop growth and yield in soybean, compared to bulk P and calcium phosphate salt (better known as single super phosphate, SSP).…”

“…Thus, this newly discovered possibility of micronutrient uptake as particles from both shoot and root could direct completely novel R&D efforts in fertilizer delivery strategies that allow uptake of nanopackaged Because micronutrients packaged and delivered to crops as nanoparticles (NPs) often demonstrate superiority in performance indicators over salts or bulk micronutrients, these outcomes could be taken as a collective research focus involving the development and use of novel micronutrient-packaging strategies, namely nanoparticles, for enhanced crop performance over bulk minerals or nutrient salts administered through different plant organs. Image modified from Prasad et al (2012), Raliya and Tarafdar (2013), and Servin et al (2015a), with permission micronutrients, so that they accumulate, are redistributed, and solubilized inside plant tissues, as shown for Cu, Zn, and also Mg (Dimkpa et al 2012b(Dimkpa et al , 2013aWang et al 2012aWang et al , b, 2013aLv et al 2014). Nanofertilizers are already used in crop production in China, but reported only for urea (Huang et al 2015), and should therefore be extended to micronutrients.…”

Emerging and Established Technologies to Increase Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Cereals

“…As a consequence, the positive effects of nanofertilizers on crop growth may occur at lower doses than with the same nutrient supplied in its bulk from. Although research on how they can be exploited in specific crops is incipient, recent results and patent requests suggest potential useful benefits [73][74][75][76]. Concerning N, it is possible to hypothesize that as N sources that are highly soluble in water, N nanofertilizers once applied would be transformed in highly dynamic forms and that this characteristic would make N nanofertilizers particularly suitable to correct rapidly severe N deficiencies.…”