Enhancing the Productivity of Field Crops through Nano-Fertilizer

Abstract

The growth of agricultural sectors can be maintained by increasing crop productivity through soil, water, and nutrient management. The most important management practice is nutrient management, which is supported by the effective use of nano-technology, especially nano-fertilizers. It is well known that nano-fertilizers are nutrient carriers of nano dimensions ranging from 30 to 40 nm (10−9 m or one-billionth of a meter). Due to their high surface area, they can hold abundant nutrients ions and release them slowly and steadily, commensurate with crop demand. Nano-fertilizers are easily uptaken and assimilated by the plants because of their ease of solubility, stability, controlled release in time, and easy mode of delivery and disposal. Due to nano fertilizers characteristics, different commercial products are available in the market, namely Nanogro, Geohumus, NanoGreen, and Lithovit High Yield fertilizer, which can be demonstrated among the farmers for increasing agricultural performance through soil and nutrient management. Besides, nano-fertilizer has good criteria like disease resistance properties. Nanoparticles of ZnO, CuO, and MgO can kill different fungal infections of crop plants. Though nano-fertilizers can be beneficial for improving agricultural performance, it has a detrimental effect on soil microflora, fauna, animals, and humans. It is associated with several diseases or hazards like high blood pressure, blood clots, stroke, arrhythmia, heart disease, etc. Nano-fertilizer also improves the yield of several field crops like pearl millet, wheat, pomegranate, onion, tomato, soybean, and vegetable crops like spinach and cucumber. Nano fertilizers also have sound capabilities to find the solution against the issues arising in modern agriculture due to conventional fertilizer application. Thus, nano-fertilizer has the potential to improve the yield of several field crops.

Nanofertilizers: The Next Generation of Agrochemicals for Long-Term Impact on Sustainability in Farming Systems

“…However, using NFs in agriculture has been reported to have beneficial, growthpromoting effects at very low concentrations. Considering various research studies, it is evident that NFs do not cause any significant toxic effect on the environment at such low concentrations [78][79][80][81].…”

“…The development of thorough and comprehensive knowledge must be the primary goal for the application of NFs in aeroponics and hydroponics based on detailed research. Nanotechnology-based approaches are, therefore, proving to be an effective methodology for nutrient utilization and negligible resource loss [80,82,[87][88][89].…”

Optimising nitrogen use efficiency of prilled urea through integrated use of nano-ZnO and green manuring for better productivity, quality and nutritional status of Basmati rice crop

“…ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) are particularly notable due to their enhanced reactivity, attributed to their nano size, which facilitates improved nutrient delivery (Baral et al, 2019(Baral et al, , 2020Al-Khayri et al, 2023). These NPs swiftly dissolve into ions in soil systems, potentially enabling the reduction of nutrient application rates without diminishing yields, thereby promoting cost-efficiency and a minimized environmental impact (Sadhukhan et al, 2021;Akhtar et al, 2022;Nongbet et al, 2022;Kumar et al, 2023;Yadav et al, 2023). Earlier findings suggest that ZnO NPs contribute to improved nutrient uptake and yields in rice compared to traditional approaches (Adhikary et al, 2022;Sheikhnazari et al, 2023).…”

Implementation of nano-urea and nano-DAP for increasing crop growth, yield and soil fertility in cauliflower and tomato

“…Innovative, precision, and smart farming technologies significantly have taken over the unrestricted applications of harmful fertilizers, where nano-technology emerged as an environment friendly and sustainable approach in late 20s. Furthermore, nano-fertilizers have successfully deployed incredible utilisation efficiency while facilitating optimal nutrient assimilation and uptake [4][5][6][7]. The present-day agriculture clearly exemplifies the imbalance among different nutrient inputs.…”