Nanotechnology in pest management: advantages, applications, and challenges

Abstract

Pests are one of the most concerning biotic problems in agriculture and food. Humans are constantly in search of new strategies to control them. Traditional strategies like integrated pest management used in agriculture are insufficient, and applying chemical pesticides has adverse effects on animals and human beings in addition to declining soil fertility, pest resistance, elimination of natural enemies, environmental pollution, loss of biodiversity, and human health hazards. Using nanotechnology in pest management as an alternative strategy can be one of the most promising ways to overcome the problems of using conventional chemical pesticides. Although they still face many obstacles and uncertainties and More research is needed to improve their development, evaluation, and regulation, The advantage of nanotechnology as an alternative for the management of insect pests is increasing efficiency against target organisms and low toxicity of nanocides to non-target organisms, highlighting the insufficient collateral environmental damage were reported in this work. It also provides selective, targeted, and long-term-controlled release of formulated nanomaterial, which is ecologically more viable. So, using nanotechnology for insect pest management is considered environmentally sustainable and an excellent insect control strategy in green agriculture.

Mg–Al LDH nanosheets as a nanotechnological tool in agriculture: an exploratory toxicity evaluation study

“…Nanotechnology pervades every scientific field, promoting advancements in developing new solutions for energy, biomedicine, biotechnology, and environmental remediation. 1–3 Agricultural science has been contributing to technological advances by incorporating and developing nanomaterials and nanocarrier solutions for pest control and monitoring, 4,5 soil fertilization, 6,7 improvement of the soil condition, 8,9 and plant pathology, 10,11 among others. 12,13 Different nanomaterials, such as metal nanoparticles (NPs), biopolymer-based nanoparticles, and nanocomposites, have been employed to fulfill those necessities.…”

Construction of a nontoxic nano-pesticide and its co-application with natural predators for perfect cooperative pest management: an innovative strategy for pesticide reduction

“…16–18 Compared to traditional chemical pesticides, nano-pesticides exhibit enhanced dispersion, efficient delivery capabilities, and superior pest control effects, thereby reducing the application of pesticides and minimizing adverse impacts on the environmental and human health. 17,19–21 Our group designed and synthesized a star cationic polymer (SPc) that can assemble with various pesticides to reduce their particle size, increase their dispersibility, and improve their plant uptake, thus increasing the biological activity. The SPc is positively charged (+20.9 mV) with a particle size of 100.5 nm and molecular weight of about 40 296 Da.…”

Co3O4 Nanostructured Sensor for Electrochemical Detection of H2O2 as a Stress Biomarker in Barley: Fe3O4 Nanoparticles-Mediated Enhancement of Salt Stress Tolerance

“…Nanoparticles, with their unique properties at the nanoscale, have emerged as a promising avenue for addressing these challenges in agriculture [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Scientists are exploring the application of nanoparticles to improve nutrient delivery [ 8 ], enhance pest [ 9 , 10 ] and disease management [ 11 , 12 ], optimize water use efficiency [ 13 ], and bolster crop resilience to environmental stresses [ 14 , 15 ].…”